In our household, Russ makes does the grocery shopping and I put the groceries away and organize the kitchen. I also do the most of the cooking, which is something I really enjoy. Now don't get me wrong, Russ knows his way around the kitchen. His chicken and dumplings are to die for. One of my favorite winter meals EVER and he also makes a kick ass stir fry. He's great on the grill as well. You get the picture, we eat well at 918 Sawyer Street.
Well, eating well wasn't enough for us, we decided we wanted to eat "better." We wanted to be healthier, as well as expand our horizons. Russ remarked last week that he feels like we buy all the same things and eat all the same things. Which, sadly enough, is true. We are creatures of habit. Well...this week we decided to make a change. Russ found a few cool recipes in his new issue of Men's Health Magazine and tonight was our first night expanding our horizons. I have to be honest, I was nervous. At home, I tend to be a creature of habit because I know what I like and I'll be quite honest, I usually only venture outside of my food comfort zones when I'm in a really nice restaurant. I have no idea why it never occurred to me that I could make have really nice restaurant food at home. So, tonight, Russ and I had Grilled Pork Chops with Peaches and Jalepeno Corn Chowder. Both were so incredibly delectable that I absolutely cannot wait to try other new and exciting meals. Just so you can enjoy what we ate tonight, I'm posting the recipes.
Grilled Peach Pork Chops
You'll need 2 8oz boneless pork chops
2 firm peaches halved and pitted
2 Tbsp pine nuts toasted
1 small red onion
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1. Preheat a grill set on high. Brush the pork with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes on each side. The outside should be charred (not burned), but the meat should be light pink in the middle.
2. While the chops cook, brush the peach halves with oil and add to the grill face down. Grill for 5 minutes or until soft. remove, slice, and toss with pine nuts, onion, blue cheese and vinegar. Add sald and pepper to taste. Top each pork chop with half the salad and serve.
Jalepeno Corn Chowder
3 to 6 cups of loosely packaged frozen corn (up to you how much corn you want)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk or light cream
1 to 2 pickled jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped (this part was a tad confusing because the pickled jalapeños that I bought were sliced, so I added what I thought would add up to two jalapeños).
1/4 of a jar roasted red pepper drained and chopped. (This was confusing as well because there were a few different sized jars , so I picked the 5 oz jar and added them all).
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Cut off kernels from the ears of corn, if using. In a blender container combine half of the corn and the broth. Blend till nearly smooth.
In a large sauce pan, combine broth mixture and remaining corn kernels. Stir in milk or light cream, jalapeño peppers, and red peppers. Heat through.
Top each serving with cheese and garnish with more peppers if desired. Warning, this is SPICY in such a good way. I eat it with bread, soda crackers or a sandwich. I think you'll love it.
