Monday, July 4, 2011

Summer Recipes

I used to say I hated pork except for bacon and the occasional ham. Then I realized that it's sort of un-Kentuckian of me to dislike the other white meat. There are so many local sources for great pork. I've come to realize I only hated pork because I'd been eating it wrong for too many years. Pork doesn't need to be cooked to death which is an important thing to understand.

This has become my go-to marinade for chops on the grill. Especially because it helps me utilize some of the rosemary I've been growing.

Tonight's Dinner: Pork Chops

Pork Marinade (30 minutes!)
1/4 cup lemon juice, fresh if possible
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil, or vegetable
3/4 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt (kosher)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4-6 Pork chops

In a plastic bag put in the pork chops and cover with the marinade. Refrigerate for 30 minutes but no more than 4 hours. Don’t do this over night or the pork will be inedible.

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A few nights ago I had the best pasta salad ever. I had to request the recipe and I made a huge batch to go with tonight's dinner and for a couple of lunches this week.

Pasta Salad
1 bottle of Kroger creamy Italian salad dressing
1 bottle of Wishbone robusto Italian dressing
2 16oz boxes of salad rotini
enough tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, shredded carrot and shredded cheddar cheese to suit your tastes

Cook your pasta, rinse & drain then mix with all other ingredients.

The key is using both of those particular salad dressings. All of the homemade pasta salads I've attempted before did not turn out nearly as well as this one.

{{photo credit}}

1 comment:

Karen said...

I used to hate pork, too. Then Tony convinced me that I'd just never had a good pork recipe. I'm sure you've tried the Alton Brown brine recipe, but just in case, this is the recipe that changed my mind about pork:

http://www.food.com/recipe/alton-browns-2-hour-mustard-brine-for-pork-chops-or-roast-191816

It turned out Tony was right. I only hate pork because it was always bland and overcooked.

We'll definitely have to try your marinade, too!