Not to be outdone.... but I was

In an effort to keep up with my culinary hubby I decided that I had better step up my game! But, figured I had better use up the pork chops and cabbage (I know I know) that I had in the fridge. Hence I decided to put a little spin on a traditional German-ish comfort food using the Bon Appetit cookbook as the foundation for the recipe.

I don't know if I actually surpassed Jason's recent cooking adventures, but I made a damn good meal for about $1.25 per serving.
Here it goes:
Asian Inspired Pork Chops and Cabbage
4 centre cut pork loin chops, boneless
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 green onions chopped
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
7 ounces chicken or beef stock, divided
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp chinese 5 spice powder
2 tsp cornstarch

Season pork on both sides with salt and pepper. Place in heated frying pan with oil. Saute until browned on both sides. Move the chops over to the side of the pan and toss in the green onions, ginger and garlic. Cook for a minutes until fragrant and then put in all (minus about a 1/4 cup of the broth), soy sauce, sugar and five spice powder. Cover and let simmer for a bit while you work on the cabbage.

For the cabbage:
1 tbsp veggie oil
one small cabbage (1.5 lbs-ish) sliced thinly
4 green onions chopped.
1 tbsp minced gresh ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil.

While the pork is cooking, heat oil in a new frying pan. Add the ginger and saute until fragrant - about 30 seconds. Add about half of the cabbage and cook until wilted. Then add the remainder of the cabbage and the green onions. Cook until cabbage is almost done. Toss with the sesame oil and stir fry while you are finishing the pork.

Finishing the pork and serving:
Stir the cornstarch into the remainder of the broth until smooth. Pour into the frying pan with the pork and let simmer for a minute until thickened. Place all of the cabbage into a large serving plate. The place the porkchops on top with the good sauce poured over top of everything. Serve at once.

Thinking Outside of the Can

The other day I was making Lazy Cabbage Rolls. I was in search of a substitute for the Campbell’s canned tomato soup that is used in the recipe.

Why you might ask?

MSG, preservatives, lots o’ salt, a bunch of ingredients I can’t pronounce. Not that I am against Campbell’s because I have used it a lot in the past, BUT I am looking for a change.…and I think I found it. I tried Pacific Foods Organic Creamy Tomato and Amy’s Organic Cream of Tomato Soup. The winner was:

Amy's was more tomatoey and better texture. I added just a bit of tomato paste to thicken it up. Of course, it has a much different consistency, but worked well for how it is used in the Lazy Rolls. The Pacific Foods tomato soup is an excellent substitute if you are looking for a cream of tomato soup version that you would get from Campbell’s. It is not; however, suitable for any Lazy Rolls. I realize our mothers in the 70's and 80's were a slave to the markets. Campbell's was probably all that was available, but nowadays we have plenty other options to check out.

Lazy Cabbage Rolls - Sooooo Easy!!!

1 lb. ground beef
3-4 cups cooked long grain white rice
1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 or 2 cans tomato soup

Cook rice. Brown ground beef. Cook onion 3-4 mins in oil or butter with a pinch of salt. Add cabbage and continue cooking over medium heat until it wilts, but no browning, and onions are translucent. Add the ground beef to the rice (this works well if done in a large, shallow bowl). Butter a casserole dish. Add rice mixture, followed by cabbage mixture, and top off with 1 or 2 cans of tomato soup depending on how much "sauce" you want. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

You can also use tomato sauce if you prefer a stronger tomato flavour and omit the ground beef if you want to do a vegetarian version. You can also try other options, like sausage (which Car did a long time ago).