CHOPS WITH SALSA: Chef G. Cooks Iowa Pork

 

Hi folks, world famous cooking specialist Chef G. here.  Once again, I'm interrupting your day with another irresistible recipe.  It is officially autumn now and I feel a little bad that you've chosen my humble little blog over going to your son's high school football game, or seeing him being coronated as Homecoming King, or watching your daughter's la crosse championship game, or harvesting your crops, or raking your lawn, or keeping your reservation for an all-expenses-paid leaf-viewing trip to Vermont.

I don't claim The Chef G. Cooking Channel is more important than those autumn life events, but I'm not denying it either.  I'm pretty sure this post will be bigger than the Super Bowl, The World Cup, and the final episodes of M*A*S*H*, Seinfeld, and The Bachelorette combined.

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Today's episode is basically an homage to Iowa, the state where I grew up from a shrimpy 4th grader to an immature high school graduate.  It will feature Iowa grown fruits and vegetables, and pig meat raised and marketed in that great state.

Most importantly, this episode was conjured up while on one of my monthly visits to Iowa, where I visit my dad and take him to medical appointments.  It began when my brother's girlfriend (let's call her "Beckster") delivered some fresh tomatoes and banana peppers.  She grew them herself in her garden and was kind enough to share them with me.  My amazing culinary mind immediately began thinking about ways to incorporate those things into a signature Chef G. dish. 

My mind isn't as sharp as it used to be--so it took a couple of days--but I eventually came up with something that sounded too good to be true.  Check it out! 

     

Fresh, garden-grown tomatoes and banana peppers.

I used the tomatoes and banana peppers as the main ingredients in a pico de gallo type salsa.

You might be wondering, "How did you do that, Chef G?"

My answer would be, "Have a little patience.  I'm about to show you by way of a video produced by the professional team at Chef G. Studios.

When the salsa task was completed, I moved on to the meat portion of my recipe.  With the possible exception of corn on the cob, pork chops are the quintessential Iowa dish.  In my opinion, thick cut Iowa Pork Chops are every bit as delicious as a filet mignon, a rack of lamb, or a salmon steak.  (By the way, I received no payments from the Iowa Pork Producers Association for that endorsement.)

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The pork portion of this production will proceed with a properly placed video of the pork chop preparation:

Proceed to put the professionally seasoned pork onto your grill grate directly above the hot charcoals.  Cook them for about six to eight minutes on each side.  When they achieve the Chef G. perfection shown in the next picture, it will be time to remove them from the grill, run them up to the kitchen, and let them rest for a few minutes.

Then the fun part begins.  Slather those pork chops with the salsa you prepared earlier.  Let the juices sink in.  Then, chow down like there was no tomorrow.

All I can say is OMFG!  It is so good!

Indeed, the pork chops were excellent.  I was even able to enjoy most of the second one the next day.  Better than that, I enjoyed the rest of the salsa the next day by scooping tortilla chips into it and stuffing all of it into my mouth.

Seriously good chips & salsa.  Thanks, Beckster.

Overall, Chef G. gives this post a huge "Iowa thumbs up."

TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF SHRIMP

 

Hi folks, Chef G. here with another episode of the award-winning Chef G. Cooking Channel.  One day, a skeptical reader asked, "what award did you win?"

"There are too many to name," I replied.

"Just name one," was his comeback.

"I refuse to dignify your stupid question with an answer."  I sure put him in his place!   

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Today, I'm going to tell you about my two-day fling with shrimps.  Yes, in Chef. G.'s world, the plural of shrimp is shrimps.  Not only that, but shrimps have a special meaning to me.  That's because I used to be a shrimp.  Not a literal shrimp, but a figurative shrimp.  That's right, between First and Tenth Grades, in four different towns, I was always one of the smallest kids in my class.

If I have no other purpose in this world, I hope my journey from shrimpy kid to culinary giant will inspire underdogs everywhere to strive for the stars . . . and beyond . . .

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DAY ONE OF MY RELATIONSHIP WITH SHRIMPS: Pan Fried

Tigers are known for their ferociousness.  When I saw something called "Tiger Shrimp" in my local grocery store's meat department, I worried about getting attacked by man-eating shrimp.  Thank goodness, I overcame my fear.

The tiger shrimp, while quite large, seemed pretty harmless--especially with their heads chopped off.  So, I brought a dozen of them home to test my shellfish cooking skills.

To my delight, the meat department guy accidentally gave me 13 shrimps--not the dozen I ordered.  Also, I was surprised that the 13 shrimps amounted to One American Pound of fresh seafood.  I divided the batch in two.  I put one half in the refrigerator for tomorrow and prepared the other half for today.  

 

As it turns out, Tiger Shrimp are so named because of the black stripes around their shells.  They have nothing to do with actual Bengal Tigers. 

My preparation began with melting some butter in a pan with olive oil.

Then you must throw some minced garlic into the pan.  Shrimp and garlic go hand-in-hand.

Then I added lime juice and soy sauce.

Saute for a couple minutes

Flip them over and saute for a couple more minutes

Sprinkle some chopped cilatro leaves over the top

And serve over a bed of brown rice.  DAMN that was good.

DAY TWO OF MY SHRIMPIAN ADVENTURE:  Charcoal Grilled

A half-hour before grilling, I whipped up a marinade for the shrimps.  My marinade recipe was excellent, but the video of me preparing it was beyond excellent.  It was brilliant.  Kudos to me and my team of cameramen, sound engineers, & technical advisors.  Check it out.

After the shrimps marinate, I'm going to stab a wooden skewer through them before grilling.  I'm glad I remembered an important step along the way.

One thing I've forgotten to do while making shish-kabobs in the past, is to soak the wooden skewers in water before putting them on the grill so they don't start on fire.

After a couple minutes over direct heat, the bottoms of the shrimps will turn orange.  That's the time to turn the skewer over.

Then, grill them for two minutes on the other side.

The photo is bad, but the shrimp was excellent.