Roast Pork Steak with Mustard Gravy

I am experiencing a writer's block right now so I have no idea how to start this blog. The most difficult step is the first, or so they say.

Can I start by talking about the weather?

The weather's always a safe start.

How's the weather on your side of the world?

I've started using accuweather.com for forecasts now and it's so cool. Here's why. We were scheduled to check in at a resort the other weekend and a day before that most awaited day I receive a text message from my buddy: "Is it going to rain tomorrow?"

I thought, are you kidding me?

How in the world am I supposed to know if it will rain tomorrow?

I frown.

But I start to wonder too, if it will rain tomorrow.

I googled Cebu Weather, knowing this would be so totally useless because nobody cares to monitor the weather in this country.

Anyway I got on Accuweather.com for a forecast of Cebu and typed the forecast to my friend in reply. The next day it rained at the exactly time that accuweather.com said it would. I was amazed.

Sunday morning I went on accuweather.com again to see what the weather would be like. It said, "WARNING: 0.52 inches of rain on the way!" Or something to that tone. Now wait, it looked pretty sunny out. I rolled my eyes. But just in case, I ran outside.

And lo and behold!!!! After about three minutes of messing outside, 0.52 inches of rain tip tapped on my face!!!

 How cool is that???

No, duh, I didn't measure the rain! I'm not THAT geeky...

FINALLY, I told myself, there's one reliable weather forecast for a third-world country like the Philippines. Oh oops, I almost forgot! It's not right to use "third-world country" because it is so demeaning... etiquette says must use PROGRESSIVE country, instead.

In my progressive side of the country I make roast pork steak with mustard gravy for Saturday night's dinner.

I take out the pork meat. I use pork loin chops. Sometimes they call this pork tenderloin, pork prito cut, pork steak. I used to make this with pork chops, but now I discovered pork loin is so much better. But if all you've got is pork chops, use them.

Salt and pepper both sides and put on a baking dish.

Prepare your rub: honey, yellow mustard, dijon mustard, italian seasoning.

Mix together 3 tablespoons of yellow mustard, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard.

Rub this mustard mixture on the chops.

Lightly sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

Flip your chops and repeat on the other side. Then throw in the oven and bake at 150 celsius for an hour.

When the chops are cooked, transfer them to a nice plate.

To make your mustard gravy, spoon about half a cup of the drippings to a saucepan on medium heat.

Add half a tablespoon of flour and stir. 

Let the flour cook for a couple of minutes.

Add half a cup of milk and bring to a boil.

Keep stirring until the gravy thickens. Season with 1 tablespoon worchestire sauce, salt, and pepper.

Turn off heat and spoon the mustard gravy on top of your chops. Or serve the gravy in a nice gravy boat alongside the pork loin. 

If you don't have a gravy boat you can use a magic lamp but leave the lid out.

Just kidding.

These steaks are so tender and good! Even your kids will love them!

Here's a close up.

Lamb Ragu

It's another special occasion for our family tonight - the eve of my hubby's **th birthday! I know I know... I'm such a sucker for celebrations. I think we have close to a hundred "special occasions" for this family that I cannot let pass without some sort of celebration.

The **th birthday is a secret.

So tonight I make Lamb Ragu. It's fancy for pasta with ground lamb.

I'm really not a big fan of lamb, I must confess... The smell bothers me so much its an effort to get the lamb to my mouth. Actually, I'm not even a fan of mediterranean cuisine. Once, my mom and I went to a five-star hotel in Florida called The Gaylord Palms. It is one of those very beautiful hotels. And by very beautiful, I mean it is so very majestically picturesque, you'd gasp the moment you walk in it.

You'd gasp when you get your bill too.

Anyway, that night at the hotel my mom and I decided to splurge on a $75 per head buffet spread inside the hotel. It was a Mediterranean spread - lamb cooked in all different ways, cous cous, pita, tzatziki...

I was gagging the whole time. Mediterranean food and me just don't click like that.

I think hummus and pita made all of my $75's worth.

Here's the recipe for lamb ragu. This is Giada de Laurentiis's recipe, modified just a little bit.

Start by heating 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add your garlic.

In goes your chopped red onions. Inhale that good, good aroma. Trust me.

Add in your ground lamb.

If you are like me and you don't like the smell of lamb, exhale the bad, bad smell and walk away. This would be a good time to call your kitchen help.

When the ground lamb has browned nicely, throw in some dried rosemary. This can really help you go through the cooking process by making the lamb aroma less pungent.

Just slightly less pungent. I.e. it's not gonna smell like beef. Unfortunately.

Pour in a cup of red wine. Stir and simmer for a bit.

Throw in some sliced enoki mushrooms. Cook until brown.

Add 2 cups of tomato sauce. I used the Italian variety with chunky tomatoes. Stir until bubbling hot.

Throw in your cooked rigatoni pasta. Stir and add some chopped parsley.

Turn off heat and stir in the ricotta cheese.

Mix well.

Below is Giada's original recipe for Lamb Ragu, from the Food Network website. You should really use mint like Giada did. There's no greater serial killer than lamb breath!

Ingredients

• 1 pound rigatoni pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup red wine
• 4 cups marinara sauce, store-bought or home made
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, torn
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet warm the olive oil over high heat. Add the shallots and the garlic and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the ground lamb, salt, and pepper. Cook until the lamb has browned and the juices have evaporated. Add the wine, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan using a wooden spoon. Simmer until the wine has reduced by half. Add the marinara sauce and simmer over low heat until the flavors have blended, about 10 minutes. Add the mint and ricotta and stir until mixed. Add the pasta and stir to coat. Serve immediately.

Lemon Spaghetti with Fresh Oyster Mushrooms

by Cress Sia

This dish is for all vegetarians out there!

I salute you brave hearts for choosing that difficult road! Man, I can't imagine the temptations you come face to face with everyday... I mean, whoa! That can't be easy!

I highly doubt I'll ever be a vegetarian... in the near or far future. I love food too much. Wayyyyyyy too much!

But I'll never say never.

Here's one vegetarian dish I surprisingly like. (Because I usually don't like vegetarian dishes. I had to force myself to eat veggies when I was pregnant! It was agonizing... Opening my mouth to spinach and eggplants and okra and kangkong and chop suey?? Blech!)

Oh by the way eggplants are not veggies. So are squash and tomatoes and zucchini. (Too bad huh?? Can't pat yourself on the back for eating pumpkin soup!) They are fruits, for your information ladies and gentlemen. I don't know how the world including myself came to know them as veggies.

On the other hand, potato is a veggie. Remember that. ESPECIALLY when you're eating french fries.

So every time a mom scowls at you because you let your kids eat french fries, get MAD!

Scowl back at her and say, "french fries ARE vegetables!"

Stick your tongue out too!

YEAH!

TAKE THAT!

And go ahead and add, "Bet you didn't know that, did you!"

YEAH!

Go MOMMA!

Lol.

But yes, potatoes are vegetables, albeit starchy vegetables.

The best vegetables are the leafy ones (yep, the ones that taste blech!).

Here's the recipe for my lemon spaghetti with fresh oyster mushrooms.

Prepare the following:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed kalamansi juice
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
250 grams spaghetti
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups fresh oyster mushrooms, sliced.
1 tablespoon chicken powder
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Begin by cooking your spaghetti al dente, around 8-10 minutes in boiling water, uncovered.

While the water for your pasta is coming to a boil, heat a wok on medium low heat.

Add your olive oil.

Throw in your chopped garlic and let sizzle.

Dump your chicken powder and stir.

At this point the water for my pasta has boiled and my kitchen helper asks me if she should put in the "eh-spagghet-teh" and I say yes without trying to laugh.

I hope my son Cooper didn't just hear her or he'd say it again a bunch of times innocently and I wouldn't be able to stop myself from laughing then.

"Eh-spagghet-teh"

Sounds like a horror movie. "Ehhhhh-spaaaaaa-gheeeeee-teeeeeeeh"

I look to the living room and Cooper seems busy with his Lego. That's a relief!

To your wok, add the fresh oyster mushrooms and the chopped tomatoes and stir together, making sure to coat the mushrooms with the oil

Next, pour in your lemon juice.

Once your eh-spaggheteh is aldente, drain it. But reserve a half a cup of pasta water.

Then, immediately dump the pasta and the half a cup of pasta water to your walk.

Throw in 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese.

Cook for a little bit more.

Then serve.

Eat and be merry!

Spinach Artichoke Spread with Black Olives

French bread is pretty easy to find and readily available. If you don't know what it is, let me describe it for you: It is a long, round bread that is crusty on the outside, but soft on the inside. It is also called French baguette.

Actually, forget that. Here's a much better description: it's the bread that your kids play with when you go inside a bakery. Yeah, the one they use as pretend sword to play sword fight. That's it.

If there was French bread in my pantry, it would be sliced inch-thick, buttered, and toasted. My husband and I particularly like that for breakfast.

But one evening, I decide to do something else with the french bread I bought earlier that day. I decide to sweat it out and make a spinach artichoke spread to go with it.

To make this delicious spread, take about two packs of spinach, and pull out the leaves. Throw away leaves that are brown, rotten, or those with holes in them. You don't want to use that stuff.

Wash the fresh green spinach leaves with cold water.

Normally I use frozen packed spinach, because they're so much easier to work with. All you basically need to do with them is thaw and drain. But it is hard to find. So when they're available, go ahead and stock up on those. Just stick them in the freezer until ready to use.

And no, fresh isn't necessarily better than frozen produce. In fact, the frozen variety can have a higher nutrient content than the fresh ones. That's because they're frozen right after picking. Fresh ones can sit in your local grocery shelf for quite some time, often subject to contamination.

And PLUS, the frozen variety can taste even better than fresh ones.

And PLUS PLUS it generally costs less than the fresh counterpart.

Nope, didn't make that up!

That information is straight from Reader's Digest September 2012 issue.

Page 67.

Because I read RD regularly. That stuff is brain food my friends.

Oh by the way, my fresh spinach only cost me thirty-six pesos. That makes me happy.

I take out a can of artichokes from my shelf.

That cost me one hundred seventy-five pesos! That makes me sad...

I try to recall buying any piece of canned anything more expensive than that... canned blueberries maybe?

I open the can, drain the artichokes, rinse them several times with cold water, drain them again, and finally chop them up into bite size pieces.

Then I take out about a dozen piece black olives. These usually come in jars submerged in some olive-y solution. No need to wash them.

I heat up a saucepan on medium high heat. Throw in a tablespoon of butter and let melt until sizzling. Feel free to use olive oil if you prefer.

Add a tablespoon of chopped garlic.

Dump in the artichokes and cook for a bit.

Throw in all of your spinach and cook until wilted.

Yes it will wilt. Eventually. Just keep stirring.

And BE PATIENT!

When the spinach has wilted, take the whole thing out of your saucepan and let cool. You may or may not want to chop the whole thing into smaller pieces. I chop mine.

To make the base of the dip, heat two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. I use the same saucepan. Please excuse the artichoke pieces still left on it.

Add two tablespoons of flour and mix with your butter. You should have a roux. You know, that pasty like substance. Let that cook for a minute.

Add two cups of milk. Stir.

Stir some more.

In fact don't stop stirring until the mixture comes to a boil.

When it does, add a cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Stir again until cheese has melted and blended with your base.

I told you this was sweating it out.

By the way you can also use parmesan cheese. That would have more bite in it.

Finally mix in your spinach artichoke olive mixture to the base.

Turn off the heat if it starts looking like so:

Now on to your french bread. Cut this in half. Then cut the half in half lengthwise. Make sure they are about equally thick. 

Don't be like me. One side was twice as thick as the other. 

I only need to slices, one for me and one for hubby. 

I put the slices in a small baking dish, then spoon some of the spinach spread liberally on top. 

Then I top the whole thing with some more shredded cheddar cheese.

I know I know I really suck at taking pictures. In fact I'm so bad your eyes are starting to hurt.

How do I know??

Because my eyes are hurting too.

Stick the whole thing it in the broiler for five minutes to let the cheese melt on top.

If you're serving this as a spread, put some spinach mixture in a ramekin. Then spoon some shredded cheese on top.

You may or may not want to stick that in the oven. Up to you! But serve that with half-an-inch thick sliced and toasted french bread.

I have so much leftover spinach spread, so I get a very, very clean empty glass jar (I sterilize it just to make sure) and put my still hot spread inside. I will put that jar inside the ref.

This spread don't keep for two long, maybe three days max. So yes, we will be having this spread for the next two days or so. 

Now, time to enjoy.

Dig in my friends!

Mmmm... delish!

Eat and be merry!

Summary of Ingredients:

Half of a french loaf

12 pcs black olives

2 packs of fresh spinach (or 2 pack of frozen spinach)

1 can artichoke

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (divided)

3-4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk