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!
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| Fresh, garden-grown tomatoes and banana peppers. |
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| I used the tomatoes and banana peppers as the main ingredients in a pico de gallo type salsa. |
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.
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| All I can say is OMFG! It is so good! |
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| Seriously good chips & salsa. Thanks, Beckster. |
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| Overall, Chef G. gives this post a huge "Iowa thumbs up." |
Nothing like fresh produce from the garden! In addition to corn and tomatoes, I remember eating a lot of garden green beans as a kid. The salsa looked great!
ReplyDeleteThe pork looked nicely charred with perfect grill marks. My parents dragged us kids to the State Fair every summer. I hated it. Your feet got all wet walking across the wet grass in the morning and stayed wet all day in the humid heat. We never got drinks except at lunch so got really dehydrated. My parents always had to have lunch at the Pork Producers tent, too. I have never liked pork, so refused to eat it, so my lunch was just coleslaw. We never were allowed to play any of the games or go on any rides either. - just got to look at a million boring 4H exhibits. The only redeeming part of the day was getting an elephant ear in the afternoon. But pork was definitely a big deal in IN too - whenever I smell it cooking I think of the state fair.
I think chef g needs a tripod, I was absolutely willing those peppers to slide in the bowl....
Emily
Ah yes, the state fair. My parents only took my brothers and I to the Iowa state fair one time, but my memories of it are pretty similar to yours: heat, humidity, boring 4H exhibits (LOL), and very limited access to the rides. One of my favorite things, as I recall, was walking through the animal barns and seeing cows & pigs & sheep & chickens up close.
DeleteA couple decades later, Mrs. Chef G. and I took our own kids to the Minnesota State Fair, which is famous for being one of biggest state fairs in the country, if not THE biggest. We gave them a little more freedom than I got in regard to riding the rides and choosing their own meals. I learned a few things from that ordeal: 1) The state fair is ridiculously expensive. 2) The state fair is ridiculously crowded. 3) State fair food looks much better than it really is. 4) The more exciting a ride looks, the more likely it is to make me feel sick. I only rode a couple of them. They were fun at first, but after a minute, my stomach felt like it was being turned inside-out. At least I didn't vomit. 4) Viewing the farm animals up-close was no longer enjoyable. I felt sorry for them being displayed for tens of thousands of people to gawk at every day. I especially felt sorry for what was touted as the state's largest pig. It was so fat it couldn't even get up on its feet. It just lied there on a bed of hay, enduring the flies.
Somehow, I still like pork.
Also, thank you for recommending Tum Kha Kai. I Googled it and yes, it looks delicious. I even found a few recipes, but it looks like the kind of dish I should try in a Thai restaurant rather than make it in the Chef G. kitchen. I learned that lesson in my attempt to replicate a Vietnamese Pho.