Pork Chops, Cauliflower and???

Hello Hello!!!

It's Sunday and the race is on!!!   Tony Stewart started 2nd next to Mark Martin on the pole.  Go Tony!!!

So, yesterday I took out pork chops and didn't know what to do with them.  I thought they were bone-in 1" chops x2, but they were 1/2" chops x4.  So, splitting them and stuffing them was out of the question.  What to do?  I decided to make them like I sometimes make chicken breasts.  They came out good, and why not?  It's all good ingredients.  Today I decided to make Pasta and Cauliflower.  We hadn't had it for a long time, so it was time, yanno?  And, at the grocery store today, my hubby said, "hey, we haven't had lentil soup all winter!"  So, you know what's coming..........lentil soup!  But, that will be next week.  Hopefully it will still be cold out and we can enjoy it.  Lentil soup is definitely a winter food and we've had such a mild winter, I didn't even think of making it.  Oh well..........we'll get over it.

Here are the recipes:


Pork Chops and Rice

4 x 1" with bone port chops
1 large onion, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
salt, pepper
1 tsp basil (dried or 2 tsp fresh, chopped)
1 tablespoon parsley (dried, or 2 tbsp fresh, chopped)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup rice
olive oil

Salt and pepper the chops first.  Then, in a 12" skillet, add olive oil to coat the pan, then lightly brown the chops.  Remove.  Add the onions, garlic, tomatoes and seasonings and saute for a few mins, onions will begin to soften.  Add the pork chops and juices back in the pan, underneath the mixture.  Cover and cook for an hour and 10 mins on med-low heat, turning once 1/2 way.  The mixture will make enough liquid to add the 1 cup of rice making sure all of the rice is submerged in the liquid.  Cover and cook until rice is done, about 20 minutes. 



Pasta and Cauliflower

1 large head cauliflower, chopped into small florets
1 lb boxed campanelle
1/2 cup olive oil
7 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup Locatelli cheese (or 1/2 c Locatelli, 1/2 cup Grana Padano mix)


In a 6 quart pot, boil water adding salt to taste.  Depending on the time to make your pasta al dente, add either the cauliflower first or the pasta.  The cauliflower takes 8 mins to cook, pasta about 10 mins.  So, I add the pasta first, set the timer for 2 mins, then add the cauliflower and cook for an additional 8 mins.
While the pasta mixture is cooking, heat the olive oil, fry the garlic, parsley and pepper until the garlic is sizzling.  If this gets done first (garlic will be light brown - do not burn!!!), turn the heat down to extremely low.  When the pasta mixture is done, add 1 cup of the pasta water to the oil and then add the pasta and cauliflower to the oil and garlic.  Do not drain the pasta like you normally would, you may need some more liquid, or if you do, drain it into a bowl to reserve the liquid.  Add the pasta mixture to the oil mixture and stir well.  Add 1 cup Locatelli and stir. Remember, Locatelli is pecorino romano cheese.   Serve immediately and enjoy!


I hope you enjoy these recipes!  Please make them and let me know!!!