I had a Pork Chops with Mango Sauce recipe I was going to try the other day, until I realized that the limes I was going to use were completely moldy. Eww! I need to clean out the fridge more often (maybe before I go out of town). The mango sauce wouldn’t work so well without the lime juice and lime zest. (The only other ingredients in the sauce were chopped mint leaves, a cubbed mango, and half a red onion.)
I was feeling very uncreative in terms of what to do with the pork chops. We just wanted something quick to eat: that’s why I was going to fall back on the mango sauce. It looked so easy. I didn’t want to agonize over what to cook, but I find pork chops incredibly boring when they are just sauteed–they really need something on them. What could I do?
A quick internet search provided an easy recipe. I thought I’d share.
We had some blackberry jam in the fridge so I mixed two tablespoons of that with two tablespoons of Dijon mustard. After I browned both sides of the pork, I put a dollop of the mixture on the top of each piece of pork, covered the pan, and sauteed them until they were cooked through.
While the pork cooked, I heated some frozen vegetables and my husband made some potatoes. The whole meal was easy and super-tasty. I’ll add more mustard next time because it was incredibly subtle. But it was good as it was–you can barely taste it so if you don’t like mustard, it won’t overwhelm you.
- Ingredients: 3 (pork, jam, mustard–plus butter for sauteeing and salt and pepper, but those don’t count)
- Preparation: 1-2 minutes
- Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
I cooked four of the seven chops that way. Yesterday, we cooked the other three chops. I bought limes and mixed together the mango sauce. (We omitted the red onion because apparently we didn’t have that.) My husband grilled the pork chops. Then we spooned the mango sauce over the pork.
Again, it was very tasty!
- Ingredients: 4 (pork chops, mango, lime juice and zest, mint–plus vegetable oil for grilling and salt and pepper, but those don’t count)
- Preparation: 10 minutes (it takes me a while to cut a mango; I’m sure my husband would have cut it faster)
- Grilling time: 10 minutes, plus grill preparation
I love easy, tasty food!
Who are you, and what have you done with my daughter?
What is so surprising? That I cook for my family? That I was looking for an easy recipe? That I found an easy recipe? That I want to share it with you because it is easy? I don’t understand why you are still so surprised that I’m posting about cooking: I told you I’ve been enjoying cooking. I thought I’d share these two easy 5/15 recipes. Why is that odd? I don’t understand.
It’s odd because when I think of fast and easy cooking, I think of throwing frozen chops on the George Foreman and making Stove Top, and if we’re lucky, I’ll make instant gravy to go with it. It’s surprising because when we were younger, you couldn’t successfully make Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, and you subsisted on breakfast cereal for several years of college. It’s not that we’re appalled that you are cooking nourishing things for your family, but that you actually have on hand things like fresh limes (or moldy, sorry), dijon mustard, and fresh mint. That is very uncharacteristic from the Becky I knew several years ago, and by our surprise we’re not implying that this is a bad development-you have obviously raised your standards. Can’t you see that this is a difference to us? Chill out and take a compliment!
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