Pork Chops, Vegetable Tian and Strawberry Tart

Throughout this past year, I have been religiously subscribing to and reading the Martha Stewart's Food Magazine on my iPad. I love the layout of that magazine on the iPad. I think the folks at MS did a great job. Each monthly subscription comes with a handful of recipes, carefully catered to the season. And with it, how-to videos of some harder to follow recipes. If you've been contemplating on whether to get that application, think no further. It is well worth the price in my opinion (not that you give a crap but I can have my own opinion).  And no, I am not endorsed by MS. But, if they would like to send some free stuff my way, I promise I will be extremely grateful.

I was browsing through my older editions of the MS magazine and stumbled upon a vinegar braised pork chop recipe. It is extremely easy to make and everything cooks in a pot, in the oven. It reminded me of a Chinese dish that also revolves primarily around pork (pork feet specifically) and sweet vinegar that my grandma makes so well. There is some similarities in flavor though the Chinese version was sweeter and the sauce, thicker. And that we put a whole bunch of other stuff in there too (ginger, eggs, etc.)

Vinegar braised pork chops

(Adapted from Martha Stewart Food Magazine)

4 1 inch thick bone in pork chops

8 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

2 tbsp sugar

Vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C.
2. Season the meat with salt and pepper on both sides. Sear both sides of the pork chops, about 3 minutes. Perform this in batches if all the meat does not fit into pot at one time. 
3. Mix together vinegar, water and sugar. Add the mixture to the pork chops and throw in the garlic cloves. 
4. Braise the pork chops, covered in the oven for about 1 hour. 
5. Add chopped parsley and serve warm. This dish can be prepared in advance and reheated before serving. 

Alongside the pork chops (which was very tender, by the way), I served vegetable tian. I think we can use some vegetables with all that pork! Vegetable tian is great if some of your guests happened to be vegetarian and you are looking to make something hearty and satisfying. The dish also cooks in the oven, so you can prepare both your pork and vegetables at the same time.

Pretty much all that you need- zucchini, tomatoes, thyme, onion and yellow squash.

Vegetable Tian
(Adapted from Ina Garten)
1 medium onion
2 Sprigs of thyme
2 medium zucchini
2 medium yellow squash
4 roma tomatoes (you may not need all of them, I ended up only using 2)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (you can add more if you like)
Salt and pepper
Olive Oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C.
2. In a saute pan, heat olive oil and cook sliced onions with thyme until soft and translucent.
3. While onions are cooking, slice the zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes. You want to slice them in equal thickness so they cook evenly.
4. Add the cooked onions to a baking dish and evenly place the sliced vegetables on top.
5. Cover the arranged dish with foil and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Be sure to also season your vegetables with salt and pepper throughout.
6. Remove from oven and add grated parmesan cheese. Return the dish to the oven, uncovered for another 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the vegetables are cooked. 
7. Side note - if you have a larger party, just increase the amount of vegetables and cheese proportionately. It may take a couple more minutes to cook. 

Before

After

Some people will call me a cheater bug because I don't make my own pastry shell of any kind. It's a lot of work and honestly, by the time I am done with it (prepping, making and cleaning up), it would have been much more economical to buy a pre-made shell/dough from the store. And they taste great and is always consistent (if you make them consistently...). So, give yourself a break and get the pre-made ones. No one will know better.

Strawberry-Pistachio Tart

1 store bought puff pastry, thawed

1 basket fresh ripe strawberry

1 cup pastry cream

2 tsp ground pistachios 

1 tsp sugar
2 tsp strawberry jam + 1 tsp water
2 tbsp pistachio, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F or 205 degrees C.
2. Roll the thawed puff pastry into an 10X12 rectangle (I just eye-ball it). I cut 4 strips around the corner of the rectangle and pressed them on top of the sides of the flat pastry. See picture below for an idea of what I'm referring to. 
3. Bake the puff pastry for about 25 minutes or until slightly golden.
4. Meanwhile, combine the ground pistachios and sugar. You can ground whole pistachios in a coffee grinder or a food processor. Remove puff pastry from oven and sprinkle mixture onto the pastry. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Be sure to check on it, so that the nuts do not get burned. 
5. Once the puff pastry cools, brush the mixed strawberry jam and water on the crust. Then, generously spread pastry cream onto tart shell. The strawberry jam layer will help keep the crust crisp after you add the pastry cream. Click on the pastry cream link for recipe.
6. Arrange the sliced strawberries and sprinkle some chopped pistachios on top. 

Finished strawberry and pistachio tart.

Enjoy.