I will never pan fry pork chops again

Slow Cooker Pepper Pork Chops
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2006
See this recipe on air Wednesday Nov. 15 at 7:00 PM ET/PT.
Show: Good Eats
Episode: Major Pepper


2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, slightly crushed
1 pound ice
4 (1 to 1 1/2-inch thick) bone-in pork chops
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 ounces dried apple slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, julienned
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Combine the vegetable broth, 1/2 cup kosher salt, brown sugar and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until the salt and sugar dissolve, then remove from the heat and add the ice. Place the pork chops into a 2-gallon zip-top bag along with the mixture and seal. Place in a plastic container and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat dry. Season on both sides with the kosher salt and set aside

Place the apples in the slow cooker.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch stainless steel saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the pork chops on both sides until golden brown, approximately 5 to 6 minutes per side. Once browned, place the pork chops into the slow cooker atop the apples.

Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan followed by the onions and saute until they begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth to the pan to deglaze. Add the black pepper and thyme and stir to combine. Transfer this to the slow cooker, set to high, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Decrease the heat to low and continue cooking for another 4 hours and 30 minutes or until the pork is tender and falling away from the bone.

giggling madly

penguins and Pottercast

Pottercast.com is the subject for today. Epi 63 concerned the fact that Friday night the new kiddy flick Happy Feet opens; and thank god it isn't Scooby-poo! You see freaky darling-- Last time we were anticipating a new HP film I actually *paid* for four tickets to that pile of pabulum. Just to see the trailer for GoF. Ack.
Well I am excited this time because at least this happy dancing penguin thing looks palatable. The peeps on Pottercast were trying to decide what would or would NOT be included in the teaser. I wonder-will auror Dawlish be there??
Will McGonagall get some stylish robes? I need to see my Snapey-poo. There is much discussion concerning both Neville and the Harryhair. Apparently somebody in make up decide to comb those boys out. They did read the books?

I have to agree with one point that I believe her Anelli-ness pointed out--very soon WB is gonna have to stop promoting these films w/ the PG-13 rating. HBP was dark. I truly doubt JKR is gonna make the final volume cheerful and light--not so much. I and a few thousand Snape fans could spin it so daRk (note the capital "R") you would need a flashlight just to buy the ticket!

Turnips & Lutes or return of the bomb

Sometimes things tell me directly--a moment will occur and I will understand that this is a bloggable thing. It maybe an obsessive reaction to a book, a film or a news article. Maybe a new band entered my realm of consciousness and i NEED to SHARE!! Or maybe, a brilliant friend--(a certain Queen of Milwaukee) will mention that she enjoyed a new album... and then as fate would have it another friend stretches to change the background music at her garb workshop and lo and behold I need to be downloading some music! It seems one of my favorite "stingers" has done it again. Songs from the Labyrinth Which should not be confused with David Bowie's wonderful film The Labyrinth which does have a great soundtrack but I digress--of course--isn't that why we are here? Oh freakey darling imagine my knees turning to jelly (I know not a difficult task) when Sting's ubervelvet voice slides around my spine... I do humbly beseech you... SIGH
Okay the new Sting album explains the lutes but I'll bet somebody is wondering why I mentioned turnips--consider a bleu cheese gratin. NEW RECIPE ALERT!! Creamy smooth and tangy all at the same time! I had never eaten turnips before, at least not knowingly, and I had certainly never prepared them; but in honor of clan sisters who actively seek out new veggies I tried this odd little root. It smelled like radishes. I expected it to cook like a tater--hmm not so much-- 1 hour 45 at 375F and they were still crisp. The mouth feel was kinda like jicama. The kids ate them tho Izzy did pronounce them "terrible". Pete loved it but he will eat anything that is accompanied by bleu cheese. yes..you little smutmongers..anything...

Turtleboy

I hate Patrick WAAAA so much. How much do I hate him? I hate him sooo much I don't even TRY to pronounce his name correctly even tho I am desperate to be fluent en francais. I hate him sooo much I am not even gonna bother to transcribe his link into blue highlight code for you. If you want to learn about the evil one you can copy and paste into your browser.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Roy

My boys were quoted in theFreep this morning--they were saying nicey nice things about how he can stop pucks standing on his head--but dude..ya know..sometimes..the enemy is just the enemy--the Avs can suck it--stupid expansion team
Nhl Top 5 Goalie Fights - video powered by MetacafeThe little wuss is in this clip TWICE--okay--um goalies aren't supposed to fight! And they are putting THIS whiney nancyboy in the Hall of Fame??? Poor Ozzie-- ack.