Cook the Cookbook Project- week 4

 

 

This week the menu was a braised pork chop, candied sweet potatoes, Waldorf salad, rye bread, and baked custard.

For the braised pork chop I had been keeping my eyes open at the grocery store for any chops on sale for a couple of weeks. I had come across a package of 2 thick cut chops (labeled as “princess cut”) and had stashed them in my freezer for this meal. They were very thick but wonderfully tender and they tasted really nice. I don’t often braise my pork chops but these were very nice. I did the recipe as written, which is the whole idea of this journey. So I only used the salt and pepper called for so that was a bit limiting. Normally I would have seasoned them a little differently. Also the recipe did not have me do anything with the liquid left in the pan which I think was a true loss. I could have made a wonderful pan sauce with just a few additions but that would have been straying from the project.

The candied sweet potatoes were very nice but very filling. The recipe called for 2 or 3 sweet potatoes so I only used 2 and picked the smallest ones available at the store. It was still way more that 2 servings I could have gotten away with just using 1 sweet potato and would have had enough to make two servings in my opinion. The recipe called for cooking the sweet potatoes then cutting them into slices and coating them with a syrup before baking. Normally when I cook sweet potatoes I stick to a more savory angle so this was a departure for me in that regard.

The Waldorf salad was the other side dish which to me really didn’t fit the menu all that well. I can think of dozens of other things that would have been better. The main problem for me was this was sweet on top of the sweet potatoes being extremely sweet and it was just too much sweet. I mean I do like a Waldorf salad from time to time but I usually wouldn’t serve it with another sweet side dish.

The rye bread was a nice counterpoint to all the heavy sweet parts of the meal. I always forget how much I enjoy rye bread. I did take the easy way out and bought a loaf of pumpernickel which is so nicely bitter and goes so well with so many other foods.

For dessert the menu had me make a baked custard. This is the exact same baked custard I have been making all my life. It is also the same recipe my mom made on a regular basis and I know from what my mom told me growing up it was a recipe my grandmother made a lot also. The book wanted me to un-mold the custard onto a plate, but mine would not budge from it’s dish so I just ate it in the dish like I always do. The book also said to top it with either thawed frozen raspberries or grape juice. I went with the raspberries since I already had some on hand. It was okay but I think I will stick with just a sprinkle of nutmeg in the future.

So my thoughts on the menu, most of which I’ve already stated today. It just had way too much sweet and not enough savory for me this time. Again the portions were much bigger than I would normally make but I am getting to the point where that is my expectation.

I will probably make braised pork chops more often since I have been reminded of them but believe me I will be making a delightful pan sauce to pour over them.

For next week I am looking forward to Spaghetti with a meat sauce.