Tonight's dinner turned out well. The menu was broiled pork chops and tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, steamed cabbage, and garlic asparagus. I'm happy with the mushrooms now so the entire recipe will be included.

The cabbage is the easiest part and I started it first. Simply slice it into bite sized pieces, place it in a large skillet, with about 1/4" water on medium heat. I also add real bacon pieces. Cover. When it starts to boil turn it down to low and let it steam until tender.

I started the mushrooms next. See my recipie below. While the mushrooms were sauteeing, I washed and prepared the asparagus. I steamed them in the microwave for 5 minutes close to the texture I like but not all the way. Soft but still crispy.

I then washed and quartered two roma tomatoes to broil after the pork chops are flipped.

At this point I set the oven to bake at 350F. While it's preheating I rinsed the butterfly cut pork chops and placed them on the broiling pan. Dashed with a little worchestershire sauce and then rubbed with ground sage. I also put a little bit of water in the broiling pan to make it easier to clean and provide some moisture during cooking.

After the meat was ready and the oven still heating. I sliced one peeled head of garlic into small slices. Put it in a small bowl and covered with extra virgin olive oil and let it sit.

Once the oven finished heating, I switched it to broil (500F) and put the pork chops in on the middle rack for 6 minutes. While it was cooking, I added the olive oil and garlic to a larger skillet and sauteed the garlic.

After 6 minutes, I moved the chops to the top rack for 2 minutes. When the two minutes were up. I pulled the chops out, flipped them, added pepper, put the quartered tomatoes on the broiler pan, then placed them back on the top rack for 5 minutes.

While the meat was finishing, I sauteed the asparagus in the olive oil with garlic. Adding just enough to cover the pan and flipping after about 1 minute. I repeated this until all of the asparagus where sauteed. Add a touch of salt to the asparagus to pull out the flavor after they're sauteed.

When the pork chops were done, I pulled them out and let them rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

The meal turned out well, but I'm going to make a couple of adjustments next time. Firstly, I'm going to try adding white vinegar to the cabbage to offset the sweetness a bit and complement the mushrooms better. Secondly, I'm going to remove the garlic slices from the oil just after they start to brown to get a richer feel and preserve more of the taste.

Sauteed Mushrooms with Shallots

1/2 pint white mushrooms sliced thin (1/2 container)

1 shallot sliced thin

red cooking wine

extra virgin olive oil

 

In a warmed skillet add just enough oil to cover the bottom of a small skillet. Give the oil a couple of minutes to heat up then add the sliced shallot. Saute until the shallots start to caramelize then add the mushrooms. I add a splash of red cooking wine and cook until the mushrooms are tender and darken. When the mushrooms are close to done, put about 1/2" of red cooking wine in a small sauce pan and bring it nearly to a boil. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the sauce pan, cover, reduce the head, and let it simmer until you're ready to serve the rest of the meal.

 

SuperCook.com looks like it could be a new favorite site for me. The concept is simple. Look around the kitchen and add ingredients to the page supercook will scour the web and find recipes given the ingredients.

I couldn't resist seeing what was available for sardines. I can honestly say I had never considered frying sardines in beer-batter, but most things in beer batter are good, so why not sardines.

The site also provides a tag cloud right below the ingredients you've entered showing the their relative occurence in the available recipes.

While I'm certain that I would be the only one in my house eating sardines in any form, you can't deny the utility of having a site that searches based on what you have available.

If you're ever in Stockholm you should definitely stop by the Glenfiddich Warehouse No. 68 in Gamla Stan (The Old City). It's one metro stop from T-Centralen and a short walk. I had Grilled fillet of Reindeer with lingonberry cream sauce & potatoe cake and it had to be the most flavorful and tender steak think I've ever had.

They have a large selection of beer including several Swedish microbrews and a very nice Scotch selection as you might expect. I was tempted to try a dram of their 15yo Glenfiddich 'Solera' straight from the cask, but decided to save it for later. I might have time to stop by on my way out of town tomorrow and give it a sample.

As the only restaurant in the world, we are proud to be able to serve you a dram straight from our cask of  Glenfiddich 15 y.o 'Solera' cask 56,1% ABV.

If you do make it, don't be in a rush. Sit down and enjoy.

No picture for this one because I inhaled it. Best burger I've had in ages, not something you expect outside of Texas. If you ever happen to visit give it a try.

- Pattie, medium was wonderfully juicy
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Bacon
- Red Onion (fresh)
- A touch of a smokey barbecue sauce
- Swiss Cheese (I can handle a little cheese)

The fries were nice and fat with crispy shell and moist centers.

It was messy and wonderful.

I was getting a little hungry, but I wasn't going to let myself go get food until I'd finished the UI guide I'm working on. My tummy then reminded my brain that I had squirreled away a tin of sardines just in case I got to Stockholm and didn't/couldn't find food.

This looks like a store brand of sardines, but I have to say they're much better than the stuff I've been buying at home. I may have to look around a bit harder rather than just grabbing what's on the shelf when I get home.