Garden of Light: Thai Red Pork and Pumpkin Curry

This happens to me every year.  December is another busy month.  Since we're out of town for Christmas, we pack so much into every weekend, and the days come faster and faster and my blogging, well, I end up telling you all about December in January.

So stay tuned for Christmas and Chanukah, but for now let's backtrack to earlier this month when we made our annual trek to the Botanical Gardens "Garden of Light."

BH has a couple new words this month, including "Christmas Tree" and "Lights."  Both of which got used a lot that night. 

He definitely got more out of it than last year.  Chasing after his brother.  And Thatkid is old hat at it now, remembering all his favorite spots and sharing them. Like the trains.

Both boys sat enthralled by the singers as we ate our dinner.

And then it was time to visit Santa.  Thatbaby was 0 for 2 on Santa visits, but I was hoping the familiarity would help.  That and having the entire family in the picture.  As usual, he was very interested up until it was our turn.

But once we got up to the big guy, he was all out.  In a series of pictures, this was the best one.  And it's not good!

As a reward for bearing with us through Santa, we brought the boys over to Thatkid's favorite part of the garden - the snow!  Thatbaby tried sledding with Thatboy and was scared out of his ever lovin' mind. 

So he sat and drank hot cocoa while watching his brother sled.

And when Thatkid finished up on the sled, they practiced their snowball technique for a bit.

Unfortunately, this was an exceptionally warm weekend, and so both the sledding snow and the snowballing snow was mushy and melty.  Not ideal conditions.

It definitely got colder as the month went on.  I had several runs that were in 30 degree weather.  Weather like that makes me worry that I'm cold blooded.  I don't mean that in a "heartless" way, but when I go out in the cold, I feel like it takes me days to warm up.  I spend the days shivering through the house no matter how many blankets and sweatshirts I put on.

Sometimes you need to get warmed from the inside out.  Curry is fantastic for that.  Both because it's a nice, warm, dish, and, because the spice level is also good at raising your internal temperature.  I have a week spot with curries that have a coconut base, and this one seems especially seasonally appropriate with pumpkin being one of the star ingredients.  Don't skimp and use coconut milk.  I mean, flavor wise it would be fine, but coconut cream gives a beautiful thickness to the sauce.  This works fine with chicken, but pork has such a great fall apart quality when cooked into a curry.  So if your days (or hearts) are cold, this is a perfect recipe to thaw you out.

Thai Red Pork & Pumpkin Curry

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb pork loin, cut into cubes

2 red chiles, seeded and chopped

2 Tbsp Thai red curry paste

12 oz coconut cream

1 3/4 cup chicken broth

1 lb pumpkin, cut into cubes

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the pork and sear until lightly browned.
2. Add the chiles and red curry paste and stir fry for 4 minutes.
3. Pour the coconut cream into the pan and stir, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
4. Add the chicken broth and pumpkin.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender.  Season with salt and pepper.

O Christmas Tree: Pork with Apples and Lima Beans

We're big on traditions in our family.  I'm sure part of it is related to my anxiety disorder, but whatever the reason, we've passed this love of repeating the same things every year on to Thatkid.  

The Christmas season officially begins when Santa appears in the Macy's Day Parade.  And so, the weekend after Thanksgiving, we went to pick out our Christmas tree!

This year we went to a new Christmas tree farm.

Thatbaby was only mildly interested in the trees.  Or rather, he was interested....until he saw the tractor.

 

He has obviously entered the tractor phase of toddler-hood.  I couldn't get him off the thing.  I had to pull him screaming off so Thatkid could take a turn.

But we got our tree, and took it home to decorate.  Our decorating movie, as picked by Thatkid was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  

And Thatbaby had his first taste of hot chocolate.  Which he loved.  Big surprise.

 

 

This year both boys helped decorate the tree,  Thatbaby got the nonbreakables, for the low hanging branches.  Mostly he brought them over and showed me where he wanted them.  Or put them on a branch for me to place.

Thatkid took the higher branches with more breakable ornaments.

And put the star on  the top.

Our finished tree!

And that's where our tree-trimming traditions end.  We don't have a special meal planned after, although that would be fun to incorporate.  Instead we had one of those "odds and ends" kind of dinners. For Christmas this year Thatboy and I are getting each other a new refrigerator, and I'll post more on that another time.  Just know that I'm trying to clear out our freezer now in anticipation for the new arrival.  We had both pork and lima beans in the freezer, which I felt could easily be combined with the overflowing bowl of apples on our counter.  Pork and beans, pork and apples, why not pork, beans AND apples?

This dish finds itself nicely spiced by a combination of sweet cider and some eastern flavors of lemongrass, tumeric, and curry.  It gives it a more exotic feel than your typical roast pork dish.  I especially love the addition of cider, which for me is a quintessential fall flavor.

Pork with Apples and Lima Beans

4 Tbsp canola oil

2lb pork fillets, sliced into thin strips

3 shallots, sliced

1 stalk lemongrass, sliced

2 yellow bell peppers, sliced

1 Tbsp tumeric

1 Tbsp curry powder

2 granny smith apples, cored and quartered

1 1/4 cups apple cider 

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 cups frozen lima beans, thawed

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1. Heat a wok over high heat.  Add 2 Tbsp canola oil and heat.  Add pork strips and saute until browned.  Remove pork from wok.
2.  Add remaining oil to the wok and heat.  Add the shallots, lemongrass, and bell peppers and saute for 1 minute.
3. Stir in the tumeric and curry powder and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the apples and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the cider to the wok and simmer until reduced by half.
6. Add the chicken broth and again simmer until reduced by half.
7. Stir in the beans, pork, and cilantro and season to taste.

Christmas is For Kids: Lazy Carnitas

We got home from vacation just in time to head over to the Pirates for their holiday party.  Thatboy remarked that in the span of a year, the party guests ratio had changed.  We are now outnumbered by children.  Which isn't so bad considering that kids really get into the magic of the holidays.  We headed down to the beach to watch the tree lighting.

We actually ended up missing the lighting itself because the boys were going crazy on the playground.  We did catch a quick glimpse of Santa before Thatbaby flipped out screaming that he didn't want to see Santa.  I believe 2014 will be the year of no Santa pictures.  Instead we got a quick picture of the lighted tree before heading back to the Pirates.

Once there, the kids did a gift exchange and popped open Christmas crackers.  Which reminds me, I need to find that silly crown and tape it for him.  Or maybe I'll just wait until he remembers it.

Then the Pirates popped on some Christmas cartoons and the kids gathered around the firepit watching Rudolph and Frosty until their little eyes got droopy and yawns formed on their little lips.  Then we all went home and dreamt of sugarplums.

This pork is very un-holiday-ey.  Tamales are traditional for Christmas.  And I love tamales. But tamales are a little time consuming.  This is ridiculously easy.  And not so time consuming.  Usually when I make carnitas it's an all day affair.  For my crockpot.  This is a 15 minute meal, tops.  It probably can't really be called carnitas, it's just pork with taco seasonings.  But carnitas sounds fancier right?

Lazy Carnitas

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

1 pork tenderloin, cubed

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp oregano

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.
2. Add pork and spices.  Stir and cook for 6 minutes, until cooked through.

Summer Soba Noodles

You probably didn't know that noodles were seasonal, but if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense.  You don't want a heavy bolognese in the heat of summer.  And somehow a bowl of spaghetti dressed with fresh tomatoes and olive oil just doesn't seem to fit a cold winter night.

I really like soba noodles in the spring and summer.  The buckwheat flavor seems lighter than the typical noodle, and carries so much flavor that a heavy sauce would not do it justice.  So instead, I load it with meats and veggies, letting the flavors of each ingredient speak for itself.  Each one expertly blending with the others as though their only goal in life was this moment, this bite. 

Soba noodles don't give you that heavy feeling that some noodle dishes do.  Instead you feel satiated.  Full, but not uncomfortable.  Ready to enjoy these last few days of summer.

Summer Soba Noodles

2 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb thinly sliced pork
1 chicken breast, thinly sliced

 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup cabbage, shredded
1 cup green beans, julienned
2 carrots, julienned
  12 oz shiitake mushrooms
1 pkg soba noodles
4 green onions, sliced

1. Heat oil over medium high heat in wok. Saute garlic and onions until tender. 
2. Add pork, chicken and shrimp, and cook until browned. 
3. Stir in soy sauce. 
4. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. 
5. Add cabbage, green beans, carrots and mushrooms. Cook until vegetables are tender crisp, about 5 minutes. 
6. Add noodles, mixing gently to prevent them from breaking. Cook until liquid is absorbed and noodles are done, about 10 minutes. 
7. Garnish with green onions.

Babies and Bowls: Carnitas Bowl

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.  As usual it marks the descent into madness around these parts, starting early Saturday morning and continuing into November.  I'll update about the race portion of the weekend on Sunday, but the other highlight of the long weekend was getting to spend time with Baby B.

Thatbaby and I made several visits to our cutest little family member.  I had completely forgotten what it feels like to hold a baby that actually fits in your arm, as opposed to Thatbaby who wants to be held all the time, but takes two arms and a forklift to carry around.  At one point I was holding Baby B and balancing Thatbaby on a knee as we sat around the table talking to Thatbrother and UDubb.

And Thatbaby is adorably smitten with his new cousin.  He wanted to watch her, to touch her, to hug her, and he spent a great deal of time singing her his new favorite song.

We came home on Monday and swept right back into the swing of things, a birthday party Monday night and a very eventful weekend on the horizon - I think we have at least 6 events planned for those 2 days!  The fall rush means easy dinners abound around these parts.  Because there's just no time for anything else.  And repurposing leftovers is a big help.  This is especially helpful when you make a big crockpot full of carnitas - of which there is always leftover.  For nights like that, it doesn't get easier than throwing some carnitas over some rice and beans.  This also makes an excellent "next day lunch" which is one of my favorite things to do with leftovers.

Carnitas Bowl

3 cups cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon orange zest (lemon or lime works too, but as I've said before, having an orange tree in the backyard means using lots of oranges)
2 cups cooked black beans
2 cups pico de gallo
2 cups carnitas
1 cup shredded Cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 green onions, chopped

1. Combine rice with cilantro and orange zest.  
2. Place rice in bowls and top with black beans and half of the pico de gallo.
3. Top the beans with carnitas and remaining pico de gallo.
4. Top with cheese, sour cream, and green onions. 

Rainy Day Sunday: Cornmeal Crusted Pork Chops

We've been having unusual weather here.  You may have heard "it never rains in Southern California."  That's not true.  Although it usually does hold true for the summer.  Not this year.  Thatbaby has had two playdates completely rained out.  Well, not completely.  We let the kids splash in the rain for quite some time.  Like I said, summer thunderstorms are rare here.  Although honestly, it's been so dry this winter that even I can't get too upset about rain in the summer.

The first big rain I didn't think to pull out my camera, but I should have.  The kids got soaked and had a blast riding their bikes in the rain.  We convinced them the slides were waterslides.  The only problem with our brilliant plan is no one had brought dry clothes.  I stripped Thatbaby down and bundled him up in my spare sweatshirt I keep in the car when it became clear the rain wasn't letting up.

The second rain I was better prepared and whipped out my camera to catch the kids in action as they splashed through the showers and puddles.

I love the moodiness the rain brings, and I kind of missed it this winter.  Although, I think I prefer the rain in the summer, when the summer heat makes it seem almost refreshing.  I made a special "rain playlist" I've been playing a lot lately, because mood music is so important.  Mood food is important too.  And on a rainy weekend, comfort food definitely sets the mood.  Like pork chops and potatoes.  But not just any pork chops, you need pork chops with a bit of heft to them.  Like these, which are coated in cornmeal and spices.  Served with potatoes and green beans, there's something so homey about them.  Makes you want to curl up beside the fire and watch the thunder roll.

Cornmeal Crusted Pork Chops (From Elly Says Opa)

 

1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 eggs
4 bone in pork chops
1.5 TBSP canola oil

1. Preheat the oven to 425. In a shallow bowl or plate, mix the cornmeal, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and a good amount of salt and pepper to taste. 
2. In another shallow bowl, whisk the eggs.
3. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. 
4. Dip the pork chops into the beaten eggs, and then dredge into the cornmeal mixture, making sure to coat all sides.
5. Heat the oil in a large oven-safe nonstick (or well-seasoned cast iron) skillet. Once hot, add the chops to the pan. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown on one side. Flip, and cook for another 2 minutes.
6.  Place the pan into the oven and continue cooking until pork chops are cooked through, about 10-12 minutes, or until pork chops reach an internal temperature of 140º.

Backyardigans: Chipotle Orange Pork Chops

Now that we have one, we're spending a lot of time in the backyard.  It started innocently enough - our dining room table was covered with boxes, so we started eating outside.  Every meal.  We've since moved breakfast back inside, but weekend lunches and all dinners are outside.

Next we unpacked Thatbaby's wheels.  Which meant every free moment, he was asking us to go skate outside.  He skateboards daily.  It's kind of cute and he's made some real progress over the past few weeks.

The final step towards our backyard bliss was getting the blow up pool.  We spent the entire weekend in there.  Sometimes just Thatbaby, sometimes Thatboy and Thatbaby, sometimes me and Thatbaby, and sometimes all three of us.  It's a great summer addition.

I don't really mind spending so much time in the backyard.  It's nice back there - grass, cement, a pool.  And a giant orange tree.  I'm loving that most of all.  You're going to start seeing a lot more recipes involving oranges here, because it's just so easy to grab a couple and use them.  Like this pork dish.  Sure we've been doing a chipotle sauce around here for a while, but this is an orange chipotle sauce.  Which meant I got to go fruit picking while cooking.  I'm sure this would work well with other citrus too, especially meyer lemon, but using oranges has the bonus of giving it a nice sweetness which pairs well with the smokey chipotle.  Plus, we've got oranges.  Lots of oranges.

 Chipotle Orange Pork Chops (From Elly Says Opa)

1/3 cup orange juice

1 chipotle in adobo, chopped

1 tsp soy sauce

 2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pork chops

1.  Combine orange juice, chipotle, soy sauce, and garlic in a food processor.  
2. Place the pork chops in a shallow bowl and pour the sauce over them.  Let marinate for 20-30 minutes.
3. Preheat the broiler.  Remove the pork from the marinade and put on a broiler pan.  Pour the marinade into a small pan and boil until reduced by half.
4. Season the pork with salt and pepper and broil about 3 minutes per side.  
5. Brush the pork chops with the reduced marinade and broil another minute.
6. Flip, brush, and broil another minute.

Herb and Cheese Crusted Pork

Pork with Peppers

Thatbaby  has recently discovered the world of "Selfies."  I'm not entirely sure where he got it from, since the lack of photographs of me on this blog should be evidence enough that I'm not exactly providing him a model to copy from.

It's possible that he caught on to the self-timer trick we used to capture pictures of Thatboy's entire family over Christmas, and knows that you can press a button, and then run to be in the picture. 

I surmise this, because a couple weeks ago he started saying he wanted to take a picture, set my camera on the coffee table, pushed the button then looked into the lens and said "cheeeeeese."  Which then transitioned into me showing him the right way to face the camera, letting him push the button, and lifting him onto the couch with us to be in the picture. 

He's been hooked on the idea ever since and uses every opportunity he can to take his own picture.  In fact, when I went to download some pictures this week, I noticed a series of images that showed me how the boys spent some time while I got my nails done last weekend.

The other thing Thatbaby has been really into the past few weeks is pork.  I know, weird, right?  My kid didn't eat the veggie burger I packed in his lunch yesterday.  He completely ignored the flautas for dinner last night.  But put some pork in front of him?  He's all about it.  We've had pork once a week since the new year, and each time he is happy to finish his chop.  I was a little worried about these chops, with jalapeno, but a de-seeded jalapeno has very little spice.  Just make sure to get rid of those seeds.  And take out your contacts first!

Thatboy and I also really liked the pork.  We're a little easier to please with dinner, but there's something nice about a colorful topping to pork.  And the sauce helps to keep it from being dry - a big problem with pork!

Pork with Peppers

 2 Tbsp olive oil
3 boneless pork chips

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 bell pepper, sliced

1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup chicken broth

juice from 1/2  a lime

1. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet.  Season the chops with the chili powder, cumin, and some salt and pepper.  Place the pork in the pan and cook 3 minutes per side.  Remove pork from pan.
2. Add another Tbsp of oil to the pan and saute the peppers, onions, and garlic for about 10 minutes, until the peppers are soft.
3. Add the chicken broth and lime juice and bring to a boil.  Lower to a simmer and add the pork chops.  Continue to cook until the pork chops reach an internal temperature of 150.  Serve pork chops with sauce, peppers, and onions.

Christmas at the Del: Crockpot Hoisin Pork

One of our favorite things to do around the holidays is a trip to the Hotel Del in Coronado.  Before Thatbaby was born, this included skating on their ice skating rink, but the thought of my toddler on two metal blades that are as sharp as knives, on hard frozen ice just isn't that appealing.

So now we go and just enjoy the Christmas spirit.

There's the giant tree in the lobby, which was covered in "Samtas."  Thatbaby also loved the garland strung on the upper railings.

And he also wanted to sit and watch the wreath.  We have a smaller version on our front door which he also loves.  But this one had balls on it!

We don't have window displays like NYC or even San Francisco, but the shops inside the Del do something similar.  This window featured a moving cityscape that kept both the boys interested.

Thatbaby's new favorite Christmas treat is Hot Cocoa.  So we grabbed a seat by the fire and enjoyed some cocoa on the beach.  A very California Christmas.

Although for me, this picture really captures Christmas time in Southern California.  An ice rink, on the beach, surrounded by palm trees.  Thatbaby watched the skaters for a very long time.  He was fascinated.  I think he's going to be very excited when he finally gets a spin on the ice himself.

There was an artist building sandcastles on the beach, and we headed down to check them out.

As the sun set, we let Thatbaby get his energy out with a run on the beach.  He chased seagulls, had us chased him, and generally had a great time burning off that cocoa.

While we played on the beach, dinner was cooking away at home.  Seriously, I love my crockpot.  Especially on these busy weekends.  This dinner was such a success we've already done a repeat with chicken.  Thatbaby is a big fan of the rice noodles.  Thatboy and I are a big fan of an easy night's meal. You can definitely play with the heat and protein, but the sweet and garlicy sauce makes just about everything taste good.

Crockpot Hoisin Pork

1 boneless pork loin

1 cup hoisin sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp crushed ginger

1 Tbsp chili paste

1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

 2 tsp sesame oil

4 tsp cornstarch

1. Place the pork roast in the crockpot.
2. Combine the hoisin, garlic, ginger, chile paste, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a small bowl.
3. Whisk in corn starch.  Pour over the pork.
4. Cook for 6 hours on low.