A Leisurely Friday

As we all well know, Nemo hit Friday afternoon and blanketed the city rather quickly in some heavy snowfall. Since I was lucky enough to leave work early, I stopped at the grocery store and took advantage of the not yet faded sunshine by walking the two subway stops home. Yes, I had a bag of groceries to carry. Yes, it was still snowing. Yes, it was cold. But it was bright and refreshing and the snow was still so clean - I just wanted to enjoy a little bit of New York at it's prettiest. 

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I wanted a quick yet hearty dinner so I opted for roasted potatoes, pork chops and an easy kale salad. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

First the dry rub:

- 1 TBSP brown sugar

- 1 tsp kosher salt

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

- 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Massage the rub into the pork chops and let them marinate while preparing the potatoes. 

Scrub and slice about one pound of fingerling potatoes and tossed them with the following:

- 1 TBSP olive oil

- 1 scant tsp sea salt

- fresh ground black pepper to taste

- 1/4 tsp garlic powder

(feel free to mess with the measurements as you please)

Lay them out in a single layer in a glass baking dish and put in the lower third of the oven. 

Meanwhile, heat about 2 TBSP olive oil in a cast iron skillet over med-hi heat until shimmering. Add your pork chops to the pan and brown, approximately 1-2 minutes on each side. Once browned evenly, transfer skillet to the upper third of the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes. 

While the pork and potatoes are baking, wash your kale. Make sure to slice off and discard the tough spines and chop the remaining pieces until very fine. Toss about 1 tsp of sea salt into the shredded kale and massage with your hands until the kale begins to wilt, then set aside. 

Dressing:

- 1 TBSP white balsamic vinegar

- 1/4 tsp garlic powder

- fresh ground black pepper to taste 

- 1 egg yolk 

- 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

Whisk all ingredients except olive oil in a small glass bowl until fully combined. In a slow steady stream pour in olive oil while constantly whisking until the dressing is light and creamy. The salt already on the kale should be enough to season the dressing but feel free to add a bit more if you'd like. 

At this point your pork and potatoes should be just about finished. The pork is well done when the internal temperature hits 145 degrees Fahrenheit, and the potatoes are done when a fork slides in and out easily. 

Toss your kale with the dressing, tweak the seasoning if you want to, and serve! 

quick salmon for two

Last night I stopped at the grocery store - exhausted after getting out of work late. It was much too cold to venture out to a restaurant so I had to choose something simple yet tasty. I already had a great beet soup ready to go in the fridge (care of my mother) so I decided to go with salmon - quick, easy, and delicious.

(I picked a fillet that came in just under a pound - to share with my boyfriend.)  

I had read in Food and Wine magazine this month about a great Salmon dry rub but I was in too much of a hurry to look up the recipe (usually not wise) so I tried recreating it from memory. 

First I set the rice to steam, as that takes about half an hour, and I turned my oven on to 350 degrees F. 

I toasted some spices, about a tablespoon of each:

Fennel seeds

Whole Black Pepper 

Red Pepper flakes

When they were golden and fragrant I moved them to my mortar + pestle and ground them to a coarse powder along with a teaspoon of each of the following:

kosher salt

garlic powder

ground cumin

I then rubbed the spice mix into the salmon - both sides - wrapped it in plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge for 10 minutes. 

When the rice was almost finished I put the soup on the stove to heat up. After unwrapping the salmon I rubbed it with about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and pan fried each side to make a nice crispy crust. Next I transferred it to a rimmed baking sheet and into the oven it went for 7 or 8 minutes - until just flaking. 

(use a rack towards the upper third of the oven) 

Everything should finish at about the same time - making this a perfect dinner when you're in a hurry - or just don't feel like slaving in the kitchen for hours :-)

All in all it was a great dinner! I still had enough energy afterwards to mix us up some cocktails and boyfriend  loved it which is always a score in  my book!!