Playing CHOPPED in my kitchen tonight

I only use recipes for dinner now and then -- I am more of a "on the fly" kind of cook (think CHOPPED). Tonight I came up with two GREAT recipes that I want to write down (or we'll never have them again).

We had such a great dinner tonight! After 34 years of eating my cooking, my husband got up from the table and said "That was one of your Top 10 best meals". Gasp!

My produce basket from GreenBean Delivery  included collard greens (which I've never cooked before), and I still had some beautiful butternut squash left from a previous basket. I thought the collard greens would go well with pork chops, so my basic starter ingredients were:

3 boneless pork chops
1 bunch of collard greens
2 small butternut squash

So here is what I came up with.

I made maple flavored mashed squash - recipe here (except I omitted the rum).

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.  Make the squash recipe first and get it in the oven according to recipe.

For the PORK CHOPS (serves 2):

3 boneless pork chops
6 tsp horseradish sauce
6 tsp Gulden's Brown Mustard
Black pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chicken stock

Heat the olive oil in non-stick fry pan. Meanwhile, use a pastry brush and "paint" one side of each pork chop with a tsp of horseradish sauce, then 1 tsp of the brown mustard, then sprinkle with black pepper to taste. Place "painted" side down in hot pan. Then "paint" the top side of each pork chop with horseradish and mustard exactly the same way. Cook over med. high heat, turning after 4 to 5 minutes.

Once both sides are nicely browned, slide pan into oven (where you already have the maple butternut squash cooking). Cook in oven for about 10 -12 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and remove chops from pan. Place pan over medium low heat, slowly add chicken stock and "deglaze" the pan - stirring to get all the little bits of horseradish and meat up off the bottom and blended into the stock. It will turn dark brown. Keep adding chicken stock and stir as you go.

Serve the pork chops and pour a large spoonful of the sauce over each chop.

Don't omit the sauce! You'll notice the horseradish and mustard really didn't stick to the pork chops -- it's all on the bottom of the pan you cooked the chops in. When you "deglaze" the pan, all that flavor is incorporated into the chicken broth, and adds real depth of flavor to the pork chops via the sauce.



BLT COLLARD GREENS

1 large bunch of collard greens, washed
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
6 grape tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt to taste

Cut stems off of collard greens, then cut leaves into 1/2 to 1 inch slices. Set aside.

Pam spray deep-sided fry pan (that you have a cover for), heat over medium high heat, and add diced bacon. Cook until bacon is crumbly. Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon.

Add onions to pan and cook until almost translucent. Add garlic, and chopped collard greens and stir so onions and garlic mix throughout. Return bacon to pan. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, stir, cover and cook over low heat until collard greens are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

When greens are tender (not soggy like spinach! You want them to still have a bit of "bite" to them), add tomatoes, return cover to pan and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove cover and add vinegar and stir to distribute it throughout the greens. Serve.

Enjoy!