Soy and Garlic Pork Chops

Many many years ago . . . I was given a recipe for grilled pork chops. Amy, the recipe donor, tried to impress upon me just how great these chops were. I shrugged and smiled, thinking to myself, "Soy sauce, garlic, and brown sugar? I don't think so." Then I made them. I changed my mind.

I've lost the actual recipe that she gave me, but here is the way I do it. I've used fresh garlic rather than the powder she had listed and I switched the regular soy sauce for low sodium.

• 4-6 center cut pork chops

Marinade

• 1 cup of low sodium soy sauce
• 1 head of bruised (before peeling and chopping, use the flat side of a knife to crush the cloves. This will also make it easier to peel the skin from the cloves.) and then coarsely chopped garlic
• approx. 1/4 cup of brown sugar (I don't really measure mine. I want the soy to thicken a little.)
• chopped ginger (optional, I add it when I have it.)

Stir all marinade ingredients together. Let sit for a few minutes so the sugar can dissolve. Then stir again before adding marinade to pork chops.

Place the pork chops in a 9x12 glass dish. Pour marinade over them. I usually marinate the chops for 24 hours in the refrigerator, turning them occasionally. The original recipe said to marinate for an hour at room temperature, but I think they have a much better flavor with the lengthened marinade time and leaving pork out on my counter for any length of time concerns me.

Then grill.

New Cookbooks

Some of my recent purchases:

Martha Stewart's Cupcakes; 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat

This is a beautiful book. I'm not really a Martha Stewart fan, but after I picked this up and looked at it, I knew I had to have it.

On the "Gotta Make" list

• Tiramisu cupcakes
• Chai tea mini cupcakes
• Blackberry-cornmeal cupcakes
• Snickerdoodle cupckes
• Chocolate Fleur De Sel cupcakes

Beer Can Chicken and 74 Other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill
by Steven Raichlen

This is another beautiful cookbook. His explanations are concise and easy to follow. In addition to the recipes, he gives great grilling tips.

• On the "Gotta Make" list
• Lacquered Saigon Chicken
• Ginger Ale Chicken
• Thai Coconut Chicken
• Kielbasa-Barbecued Cabbage
• Mozzarella S'mores

Make Mine Vodka; 250 Classic Cocktails and Cutting Edge Infusions

by Susan Waggoner and Robert Markel

The Stonewood Restaurant down the street from me has infused vodkas. The make a blueberry martini with their own blueberry infused vodka and it is superb. That is what got me interested in infusions. And when I saw this on the discount table, I had to have it.

On the "Gotta make" list

• Blackberry Buck
• Cherry Bomb
• Devil's Torch (just for the name alone)
• Persephone's Kiss
• Windex (again just for the name alone)
• Limoncello
• Vishnyovka (sour cherry)

Curry Bible; Exotic and Fragrant Curries from Around the World by Mridula Baljekar

Nice heavy hardcover book. The photography is stunning.

On the "Gotta Make" list

• Thai green curry paste
• Mussaman curry paste
• Chicken Biryani
• Lamb Dhansak
• Coconut beef curry

My triumphant return

Alright . . . I guess the title is overkill. I just don't get to use the word triumphant often and it sounded good.

Once again I return from the deep, dark, sucking hole of life to my food blog. I've missed it. With grad school, it is almost next to impossible to have a lot of fun. It's too time consuming. But I only have two classes left so at least the end is in sight.

I'm on a food kick. I've made chicken Marsala and a Parmesan risotto this week. All of my current desires are food related. I want a kitchen torch (I will make creme brulee and s'more cupcakes!!), a good food processor, a rice steamer, and a pastry bag with lots of piping tips. (Now tell me I'm not a food geek.)

I've also been buying cookbooks. And I need to stop. The deal I made with myself was that I could fill the one bookcase with cookbooks. Then I had to stop and at least sell some if I wanted some new books. I'd say I could jam maybe one more in there.

I have already planned some of my upcoming posts. I have 2 restaurant reviews, recent cookbooks purchases, soon to be arriving cookbooks, and a plethora of recipes. Now let us see if I actually do it.