Groovin' in the kitchen, dancin' in Missoula.
Name that movie! The blog world has gone pumpkin crazy. Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake, pumpkin ravioli and even pumpkin macaroni. I love it, but Nick swears he just doesn’t like pumpkin. Sad face for me. So instead of a pumpkin recipe, I bring […]
More of a “why have I not been doing this for years?” post. Remember back when I made caramel sauce? For some strange reason, I haven’t made it since then. I know, right!? The other day, I decided to make caramel sauce. I had no […]
I know, I know. I’m not supposed to like pork.
Here’s the thing–I can admit when I’m wrong. About food. I can totally admit when I’m wrong about food.
This was one of those recipes that I’ve never tried before, and hadn’t really put much thought into, and didn’t exactly involve a recipe.
But really, how can you go wrong with freshly squeezed orange juice, soy sauce and ginger? You can’t, really. It’s pretty much a sure thing. Little of this, splash of that, shake here and there. Voila, dinner.
Start with some orange juice. Toss it into a bag. Add some splashes of low sodium soy sauce. Put some pork chops into the bag. Put the bag into the refrigerator. Go to work. Dream of dinner.
Get home. Put some more fresh orange juice into a pan. Add brown sugar.
Add corn starch. Whisk like crazy because you’re not familiar with how corn starch works.
Remember that ginger would be absolutely perfect in here. Remember that you have no fresh ginger to grate on your new microplane. Remember that you have the next best thing.
Whisk like crazy and try not to add 8 teaspoons of cornstarch to thicken it up instantly. Cornstarch takes a minute to work its magic.
Get really excited when your sauce starts to visibly thicken.
Pour it into a bowl and let it cool. Dip the tip of a finger into the bowl. Lick the sauce off of your finger and resist the urge to go at the sauce with a spoon.
Admire the sauce and wonder what else it would be good with. Steak? Pancakes? More sauce?
Gather your grilled pork and some quinoa or white rice.
Start the drizzling.
Keep drizzling.
Drizzle with wild abandon.
Enjoy.
Grilled Pork with Citrus Glaze
Serves 4
4 pork chops
3 oranges
1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp ginger powder
Combine the pork chops, soy sauce, and the juice of one orange in a container. Allow the pork to marinate at least two hours (all day is best).
Grill the pork, occasionally adding the leftover marinade to keep things juicy.
Meanwhile, squeeze the juice of the remaining two oranges into a pan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, corn starch and ginger, whisk to combine. (This is when you should also cook the quinoa or rice, according to package directions)
Allow the sauce to thicken, stirring regularly. When it reaches the desired consistency, remove from heat and let it cool.
When the pork is cooked completely, drizzle the sauce over it and serve.
This is a great mix of sweet and savory. If you want to spice things up a bit, add some red pepper flakes to the sauce.
PS: Pretty soon I’ll have progress shots of the new kitchen! w00t w00t!
What happens when you take three things you “hate” and put them together to make a meal? Epic success, apparently. What are my hates? Well for this meal, they were pork, mango and cilantro. Normally, the only pork I like is bacon. Very rarely, I’ll […]
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Complete recipe written up neatly at the bottom
I had some time yesterday morning. Because my alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning, and even the thought of going to the gym couldn’t get me out of bed. I was tiiiiiiiirrrrrred.
But then, at exactly 6:15, I decided I was awake and had better get out of bed. My workout was scrubbed for an extra 45 minutes of sleep. Sometimes you just have to give yourself those little indulgences.
So, with all my free time in the morning, I decided to marinate tofu.
This tofu was pressed to remove the extra moisture for about 10 minutes.
Then cubed.
Stuff was thrown in a bag.
And then smooshed to combine.
Tofu was added, and then shaken. Not stirred.
And then I threw the bag in the refrigerator and went to work.
When I came home, I turned the broiler on, covered a cookie sheet in foil, and used my new Misto to spray some olive oil on the foil. (Heehee, I rhymed!)
The tofu had sucked up almost all of the marinade, but I tossed it out onto the cookie sheet and poured the last drops of marinade on top.
Once that was in the oven for a few minutes, I started some quinoa.
About ten minutes later, in between stirring the quinoa, I stirred the tofu around a bit,
It smelled so delicious!
Chopped some vegetables for a salad,
And then all that was left was assembly.
This was so fast and easy. From turning the broiler on to sitting down at the table was about 30 minutes.
Although this tofu wasn’t knock your socks off and “call yo’ mama” good, it was delicious and far moister than my typical (10 minutes) marinated tofu.
So if you have some time tomorrow morning, give it a shot.
Easy tofu marinade:
1 block of extra firm tofu
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp minced garlic (or one whole clove, pressed)
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp five spice powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
Wrap tofu in a towel or paper towel and press under a few plates or cook books for about 10 minutes. Dice into desired shape (cubes or slices) and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a ziplock bag or bowl, whisk or shake to combine. Add tofu, then refrigerate for half an hour or up to 8 hours.
Preheat broiler and cover a cookie sheet with foil. Spray the foil with olive oil or cooking spray, and then spread tofu into a single layer on the cookie sheet.
Remove tofu from the oven when the corners are crispy and the tofu is a nice dark color. Serve over quinoa, rice, couscous, or whatever floats your tofu boat!
I love making things from scratch. It just tastes better, 99% of the time. There’s so much satisfaction in saying “I made it myself.” You always know exactly what went in it, and you can tailor it to suit your tastes. That being said, I […]