I love to cook for my beautiful wife Lolis whenever possible, and there are several reasons why. We save money overall by not going out to eat, plus I feel that I can “whip up” a pretty darn good meal when I get the cooking itch! Case in point: This past weekend when I made Spicy Pork Chops with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Coleslaw and Sweet Corn. Total cook time took about 2 ½ hours and everything turned out very, very good.

I started by cooking the pork chops, since they need to cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours at 325. This way they can cook slow and easy and come out tender as can be. In our large casserole dish, I added a little extra virgin olive oil and about a ½ inch layer of beef broth, so the chops don’t dry out during cooking. Then I mixed the spices for the pork chops, which included the following ingredients:

Black pepper
White pepper
Kosher salt
Chipotle powder
Chorizo powder
Garlic salt
Season all
Lawry’s season salt
Mrs. Dash lemon pepper
Ground Coriander seed
California chili powder
Cayenne
Paprika
New Mexico Chili Powder

Nothing too heavy, all in moderation and light on all salty spices, so the perfect balance. Cover every pork chops front and back with the great spice mixture and put in the oven for the first hour. Set the timer. Once the timer goes off, you want to take the chops out of the oven for a moment, grab a spoon and “spoon” some of the juice in the pan over the chops to marinade even more, then put back into the oven for another 30 minutes to an hour. Make sure your chops DO NOT dry out. You can add more beef broth if needed. At this point, you would begin the additional sides you intend to pair with your pork chops so everything it finished at the same time. Here are our finished pork chops that cooked for 2 hours at 325 degrees. Doesn’t that look good…?!

My goal is this. I am hoping that one day, maybe a rental guests who might be staying in a wonderful rental in Arizona provided by Arizona Lodging Experts, the premier property management in Phoenix, AZ, Scottsdale, and many other areas, might see my blog and try one of my meals and give me some feedback. I know my wife Lolis likes my cooking, and so do my sister Acacia, my niece Caitlin and my Papa Rick, but I am dying for some outside feedback, good or bad. That is my wish for 2011.

Spicey Pork Chops

Cooked To Perfection

Pork Chops, Coleslaw, Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Corn

I have a wonderful appetizer that you can serve at your next family gathering, and it will be “love at first bite”! This recipe was inspired by the Jerome Brewery in Jerome, Arizona.

This recipe is called Chef-Shea’s Artichoke Bruchetta.

Here are the ingredients you will need.
(This recipe feeds 3 to 5 people)

3 Medium to Large Artichokes
1/2 – 1 Cup of Mayonnaise
1 5oz Container of Shredded Parmesan/Reggiano
Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

First, you will need to steam the artichokes in a large pan for 40 to 45 minutes so the leaves and heart get nice and soft. You will want to add water about every 15 minutes or so to ensure that you don’t run dry during the steaming process. It can evaporate fast if you’re not watching. Cover the pan and let the steam go to work, checking every 15 minutes when you add water.

Steamed Artichokes

Once the artichokes are steamed to perfection, you can remove them from the steamer and place them on a large plate to cool for a few minutes. You don’t want to “dive right in” and begin shucking and scraping the leaves because they are piping hot right now. Let them cool a little, but not too long.

steamed for 45 minutes

Now, after a short cooling down period, you want to begin to remove the leaves one by one and scrape each leaf from top to bottom with a spoon to scrape off all the wonderful soft “meat” and then put the goodies you scraped in a bowl for mixing later. You will get a good amount of scrapings from the leaves, which you will add together with the artichoke heart, once you reach the heart of each artichoke. For each heart, all you want to do is scrape off the fuzzy part on top of the heart and cut off any of the green stem left on the bottom, so all you have left is a clean artichoke heart, like so.

Now we need to mash the artichoke hearts with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of mayonnaise, depending on how much scraping you end up with, and a 1/2 cup of parmesan reggiano cheese. Add ground black pepper to taste. Mash with a fork until creamy and spreadable.

creamy artichoke goodness!

Turn the over to 400 degrees.

Next, you want to arrange some slices of bread on a baking sheet and spread your fresh bruchetta over as many pieces as possible until the mash is all gone. You also want to sprinkle a little more cheese over each piece as well. When the oven reaches temperature, you want to place the cooking sheet in the oven on the middle rack and set the timer for about 8 to 10 minutes. Here is the end result!

Ready to eat!

My wife and I love to use a nice fresh round loaf of Italian bread. This tasty treat will delight everyone who tries it. Not all the Property Management Companies in Phoenix give away secrets like this. Enjoy!