Grape Chutney ♥ A 5-Ingredient Surprise

Update: Grapes were $.99 lb this week so I bought enough to can, 4 half-pints of this chutney. I will be using this with grilled meats all the summer long.

Yes, another recipe with grapes. Who woulda thunk that a few months ago I never would have thought of cooking with grapes and after I entered a grape contest and submitted a few recipes, I was happy to try the ones on this meal plan.

While one was a salad, this was a chutney, a simple chutney. A very tasty, simple chutney that I paired with pork tenderloin. This was another requested 'keeper'.

Only 110 calories in a 1/4 cup, this is the perfect sweet tart condiment when you are not excited about the meat. Come on, we have all had those nights where we open and close the door of the fridge like 10x, contemplate maybe calling for take-out, those nights when you should know better but there just isn't anything to get excited about. Those nights when you just don't want to chop and drop all those vegetables and aromatics. Throw a chicken in the oven and by the time it is on it's way to the table, this sauce can make the trip with that chicken.

When grapes go down to under $1.00 per pound, buy a ton of the red seedless ones. Make this chutney and freeze it, make it and can it, make it and eat it!!!

I did not change a thing, swear!
To view all the recipes on this meal plan, click here.

Grape Chutney
Makes: 1 1/4 cups

EatingWell: With just a few minutes of prep, you can make a chutney to serve with roast pork or chicken or to use as a sandwich spread. Purple grapes give it the richest color, but red grapes taste great too.

* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/2 cup minced shallots
* 2 cups halved seedless purple or red seedless grapes
* 1/2 cup dry sherry
* 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar or rice vinegar
* 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add grapes, sherry, vinegar, mustard seeds and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the grapes have broken down, 10-20 minutes.

Per 1/4 cup serving: 110 calories; 3g fat (0g sat, 2g mono); 0mg cholesterol; 16g carbohydrate; 0g added sugars; 1g protein; 1g fiber; 124mg sodium; 204mg potassium.

Pork Noisettes with Charcutiére Sauce

I found this recipe on saveur.com. What caught my eye was the cornichons and demi-glace in the sauce.
We are huge fans of pork tenderloins and while we grill most of them in the summer, I am always looking for winter-ized recipes.

While the overall dish was quite good, the use of boutique ingredients makes this not-so-approachable to the average cook. I think I would like to play around with the concept using basic pantry ingredients and if I did I would give you these recommendations...........if you can not find demi-glace (I do believe D'Artagnan sells it) or want to make it yourself (if you have a whole day, that is), reducing 2 cups of good quality low sodium beef stock (Rachael's won the ATK test) down to 6 tablespoons is a good enough sub as long as you refrain from adding salt to the finished sauce before you taste. If you can't find cornichons, add 1/4 cup of sweet pickle relish.

As usual the sauce tasted better the next day, so making this ahead a few days and searing off the pork last minute should work quite well.

A side of red cabbage, Brussels Sprouts or cauliflower is perfect with the pork.

Pork Noisettes with Charcutiére Sauce
Adapted from Saveur
serves 4
yield 3/4 cup sauce

* 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* (12) 1/2" slices pork tenderloin
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
* 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
* 1 cup white wine
* 6 tablespoon demi-glace
* 2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, diced
* 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
* 6 cornichons, julienned

1. Sear the pork: Heat 2 tablespoons oil; season with salt & pepper. Add half the pork to the skillet; cook, flipping once, until lightly browned and just cooked through, about 5 minutes total. Divide pork between 2 plates, overlapping  pieces on each plate. Repeat with remaining olive oil and pork. Cover plates loosely with foil; set aside in a warm place to let rest while you finish the sauce.

2. Make the sauce: Return skillet, with brown bits from pork still in it, to medium-high heat. Add onions; cook, stirring and scraping occasionally with a wooden spoon, until onions begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Add wine; simmer until reduced to about one-forth its original volume, about 5 minutes. Add demi-glace; whisk in butter until smooth. Remove skillet from heat; stir in mustard and cornichons. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons sauce over pork.

Blue Cheese & Pear Sauce

Blue cheese and pears, everyone loves that combination. Why not make a sauce of those favorite foods and serve it over pasta? I could only think yum and I was right. The secret is not overloading the blue cheese and to use a juicy soft pear. The rest is sauce 101.

I think The Nudge was expecting a heavy blue cheese sauce, you know, the kind you dip wings into. Not the case here. It was perfectly balanced and I would make this again for when I am serving simply grilled, roasted or sauteed meat.

I used Anne Burrells recipe for spaetzle, minus the fresh herbs. Instead I added a pinch of dried rosemary to the sauce. Was the right choice.

If you do not have a spaetzle maker, you could do what I do and use your pasta drainer, one with large round holes. It must be able to handle heat since it will sit on a pot of boiling water and you will also need a spatula to force the dough mix down. A simple set-up but it works well for me, every time. If you have access to a large insert on your food mill, you can use that and the large disk for a potato ricer, although will produce small spaetzle, will also work. If you want to bypass the whole from scratch pasta thing, buy small gnocchi or even fresh cavatelli, but dried will not work as well.

The most important thing is to buy a wedge of real blue cheese, not crumbles we throw into salads and Buffalo dips, they are coated with something that stops them from sticking together. Any blue cheese will melt perfectly, so origin is not important.
Add splash of sweet Moscato and a touch of honey and you have the ultimate sauce, the kind I would serve with a fillet of beef as easily as with a bowl of gnocchi.

Blue Cheese & Pear Spaetzle
serves 4

* 1/2 small white onion, diced
* 1 medium clove of garlic, minced
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1/4 cup sweet white wine
* 1 teaspoon honey or Agave Nectar
* salt & pepper
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 2 ounces wedge bleu cheese (I love the new buttermilk style)
* 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, minced
* 1 pear, peeled, seeded and diced

* 1 batch spaetzle (recipe here but can also buy the box mix)

1. Chop the onion, garlic and saute in the butter along with the rosemary. When soft, add the pear, wine, honey and simmer until the wine is almost evaporated. Add the cream, salt & pepper and when the cream comes up to a boil, add the cheese, cover, turn off the heat and let the cheese melt.
2. Right before serving, heat the sauce with the spaetzle until is starts to simmer. Serve immediately.

Green Chiles and Onion Sauce

There are three foodie newsletters I subscribe too and Fine Cooking is one of them. Each day they send me a recipe. Sometimes I bookmark them, sometimes I don't.
This one showed up on December 4th.

How did they know I was looking for a tasty but different recipe for boneless loin chops I bought. Ideally I would find one that The Nudge could grill. I am teaching him how to cook and grilling is a great place to start. He's mastered steak, pork tenderloin and chops were next. Unfortunately the weather turned prohibitive for grilling, so pan sauteing it would have to be. He's not ready for that yet.

I had all the ingredients on hand and it just so happened, since I have had popovers on my mind and a new pan beckoning me to break it in, I stumbled on Smitten Kitchen's Corn, Buttermilk and Chive Popover recipe which will be perfect with these chops and I can get two posts from one meal. I hope. My first try at her popovers were not at all successful but I refuse to give up.
So, you will either see a post on popovers in a few days or a Merry Christmas greeting.

Cook's note: This was absolutely delicious, a true one pot wonder. The heat is perfectly balanced so even kids would like this and I used my cast iron pan from start to finish. I did not change a thing.

Pork Chops with Green Chiles and Onions
Adapted from finecooking.com

Serves 4
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon pure ancho chile powder or chili powder
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 4 center-cut boneless pork chops, preferably about 1 inch thick (about 1-1/2 lb. total)
* 3/4 cup lower-salt chicken broth; more as needed
* 1 4-oz. can chopped green chiles
* 3 Tbs. chopped jarred jalapeños (from about 12 slices)
* 1 Tbs. cider vinegar
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 Tbs. olive oil
* 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

In a small bowl, combine the cumin, chile powder, 1-1/4 tsp. salt and 3/4 tsp. pepper. Sprinkle on both sides of the pork and set aside. In a blender or food processor, purée the chicken broth, green chiles (with their liquid), jalapeños, and vinegar until smooth.

Put the flour in a pie plate and dredge the pork chops, shaking to remove any excess. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Pour in 2 Tbs. of the oil and heat until shimmering hot, about 1 minute. Add the pork chops and cook, without moving, until they’re brown around the edges and release easily from the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, flip, and cook the other side until browned, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to a large plate.

Over medium-high heat, add the remaining 1 Tbs. oil and the onion to the skillet. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted and golden, about 4 minutes. Add the green chile mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens slightly and the onions are completely tender, 2 to 3 minutes more; add a splash of chicken broth if the mixture seems dry. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Return the chops to the pan, nestling them into the onions. Cover and simmer gently until the pork is fairly firm to the touch with just a little give, 3 to 5 minutes. With a paring knife, make a nick in a thicker chop to make sure it’s only just a little pink.

Serve the pork chops topped with the sauce.

Nutrition information (per serving):
Calories (kcal): 360; Fat (g): 18; Fat Calories (kcal): 160; Saturated Fat (g): 4; Protein (g): 39; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 11; Carbohydrates (g): 10; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 2; Sodium (mg): 810; Cholesterol (mg): 115; Fiber (g): 2

 

Italian Balsamic Peppers, Onions, Potatoes and Asparagus

I have been wanting to make some sort of an Italian version of a sweet/tangy/savory mixture of peppers and onions that uses balsamic vinegar. I bought a bottle of really good aged Balsamico when I was in Florence and we all know vinegars are very healthy for digestion and glucose control.
I had 6 pee-wee potatoes left in cold storage and asparagus I will add right at the end.



The ingredient list for this dish is sparse and could almost qualify for a 5 ingredient fix. You could use chicken instead of the chops but if you do, buy the ones with the bones and roast everything in one pan.

Since this post is mostly about the topping, I need to warn you that bottled hot peppers are very hot and so is the brine that they are stored in. I only used 3 small pepperoncini and even though I seeded and de-veined them, I should have rinsed them. I am not a wimp when it comes to hot stuff but my mouth was on fire and I honestly could not finish this dish. Next time I make a version of this I will use pickled jalapenos.
Other than the heat, it was full of flavor and The Nudge enjoyed that last blast of vinegar at serving.

If your balsamic is inexpensive, you might want to boil down to half before using.

This was FULL of flavor. Every bite was an experience yet I used only simple ingredients.
Diabetic Friendly in every way, you really must make this.

Grilled Pork Chops with Peppers, Onions and Potatoes
makes enough to serve 4
* 4 pork chops with rib bone attached
* 1 large red onion, quartered with stem end intact (I used half sweet, half red)
* 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon EVOO
* dozen pee-wee potatoes, cut in half
* 6 whole garlic cloves, peeled
* 1 jar roasted red peppers
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 6 peppadew, banana peppers or pepperoncini, julienned
* Course sea salt
* Aged balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 375°.
1. Place potatoes and onion quarters on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper. Toss to coat.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Add peppers and 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar. Mix well.
2. Bake for 10 more minutes and remove from oven. Scrape everything into a bowl and add the red pepper flakes. DO AHEAD TO THIS POINT, COVER AND CHILL UP TO ONE DAY.
3. Brush chops with oil and season with salt & pepper.
4. Heat grill pan till very hot about 5 minutes.
5. Grill for about 5 minutes per side. Remove and tent with foil.
6. Add asparagus to grill pan and cook for 2 minutes on high heat. Add potato and pepper mixture to pan, stir to combine flavors and reheat.
7. Place one chop on each plate and spoon 1/4 of the vegetable mixture over top. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with additional sea salt.

No Cook Mustard BBQ Sauce

This wonderful no cook BBQ sauce is courtesy of Bobby Flay's Grill It! Food Network Show. This would work well on a hot dog, corn dog, chicken fingers and pulled pork sandwiches.

Mustard Barbecue Sauce
makes 4 servings

* 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
* 1/4 cup Sherry Vinegar
* 1/4 cup ketchup
* 1/4 cup molasses
* 1/4 cup honey
* 2 tablespoons maple syrup
* 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
* salt and pepper to taste
* hot sauce (optional)

Whisk together the ingredients and let it sit for at least 30 minutes at room temperature before serving.

The Quickest 5 Ingredient Marinade and Glaze Ever

I am not a fan of marinating salmon. I find they can be harsh and too sweet as well as make the meat mealy. Acids will break down the flesh but with good wild salmon, you don't need to tenderize.
We all know never marinate fish longer then 30 minutes?

I developed this glaze for two reasons, to give the fish a little more flavor and to hopefully get The Nudge to like salmon.

His one major complaint was that it tastes fishy. Now, if you buy bad food it will taste bad, he just never had good salmon. So afraid the fish I cook would taste the way he's had it year's ago.

Year's ago you could not get really fresh salmon, only frozen and everyone cooked the crap out of it (sorry to offend, but it's the truth).

Well, it worked and I have been grilling these at least 2x every summer at his request.

The other day I had one lone boneless chicken cutlet and dinner to make on the fly.
Why not try this glaze on chicken. I butterflied one boneless breast, brushed the glaze on both sides and let it sit while the coals got hot.

The chicken had lots of flavor and the perfect grilled glaze without being too much.
Takes 5 ingredients everyone should have in their pantry, 5 minutes to put together and 5 minutes on each side to grill. No need to salt the meat but I did grind some pepper on it. The ginger does give it a slight amount of heat so not too much black pepper.

The key to getting the glaze to glaze correctly is to make sure your grill or grill pan is screaming hot and lubed.

Can be multiplied to how many pieces you are cooking. This amount will work on 4-6 chicken pieces, 4 salmon steaks and a dozen large shrimp.

Salmon Marinade and Glaze
* 1 tbls Colemans Dry Mustard
* 2 tbls dark brown sugar
* 1 tbls water
* 1 tbls Tamari (or soy)
* 1 tsp ground ginger

Grill for 4-5 minutes on each side, turning only once. The longer it sits on the grill without moving the darker those caramelized grill marks will be and the better the flavor.
Do not play with your food, please.

Yes, Hummus Can Be A Sauce

Cooking in a family of one Diabetic can sometimes be challenging. There are things I should eat lots of that won't fly in this house.

I imagine this happens often in similar situations. I mean, a diabetic diet can be heavy on the vegetables and when you have carb lovers in your house you have to make foods that appeals to all.
If I baked a loaf of bread every day, it would disappear in the guise of one, if not two, PB&J sandwich snacks every bedtime.

This recipe for Red Pepper Hummus is excellent. Not only does the red pepper add a two kapow punch of nutrition, it adds a sweetness that will tame, what can sometimes be, a bitter basic hummus (usually the tahini is to blame).

When I roast red peppers (which is always), I clean and store them covered in olive oil. Made perfect sense to use that olive oil as the one called for in the recipe. More flavor, I am all for it.

Adding the hummus to yogurt makes this a wonderful sauce to spoon over a flavorful ground lamb dish.

I halved the recipe because I just will never use up 12 servings. I know everyone is Lady GaGa over hummus, but in this house it's just OK. The Nudge is not a dip person and I have thrown away more opened containers then I want to think about.

This is the reason I wanted to try this recipe. Maybe I can get him to put a dollop on a lamb burger, or nestled aside a perfectly grilled lamb chop.

Maybe the next time I ask him if he would like a spicy dip with pita chips, he will say sure and if that does happen, I could even overlook that bedtime snack if, on that bread, was this hummus.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Makes 12 servings
Ingredients

* 2 large sweet red pepper
* 2 cans (15 ounces each) garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
* 1/3 cup lemon juice
* 3 tablespoons tahini
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 garlic cloves, peeled
* 1-1/4 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon curry powder
* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper
* Pita bread, warmed and cut into wedges, and reduced-fat wheat snack crackers

Directions
1. Broil red peppers 4 in. from the heat until skins blister, about 5 minutes. With tongs, rotate peppers a quarter turn. Broil and rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened. Immediately place peppers in a bowl; cover and let stand for 15-20 minutes.
2. Peel off and discard charred skin. Remove stems and seeds. Place the peppers in a food processor. Add the beans, lemon juice, tahini, oil, garlic and seasonings; cover and process until blended.
3. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with pita bread and crackers. Garnish with additional beans if desired. Yield: 3 cups.

Nutritional Facts 1/4 cup (calculated without pita bread, crackers or additional beans:
113 calories
5g fat (1 g saturated fat)
0 cholesterol
339mg sodium
14g carbohydrate
4g fiber
4g protein

Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 fat.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

Keeping with the vinegar theme (and with the healthy theme), I introduce you to a very flavorful Vietnamese Dipping Sauce. This 5 minute sauce is delightfully refreshing and the perfect accompaniment to grilled foods, whether it be vegetables, seafood or pork.

In this instance, it was paired with a marinaded grilled pork tenderloin. I could see this as a marinade for vegetables that would be a great garnish for a cold meat sandwich.

Delicious indeed.

If you want to switch the sugar out for agave or Truvia (my new favorite sugar sub) make sure to start with less, as the subs are all VERY sweet.

I cut in some mint for color as well as flavor but basil would be an excellent substitution.

You can find the pork recipe on my sister site, here.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
makes 4 servings

* 1/3 cup grated carrot
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 cup rice vinegar
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 Thai or serrano chile, thinly sliced and divided
* 1 teaspoon shopped mint or basil

Place all ingredients in a bowl and let it sit so the flavors can meld.
Serve room temp.

Vinegars - What you don't know could hurt you

We all know how effective white distilled vinegar is to the cleaning of and in the disinfection to every household surface as well as in the washing machine, but are you also aware of its medicinal properties?

Vinegar increases insulin sensitivity, perhaps acting similarly to Metformin.
Now studies have found that vinegar at bedtime reduces fasting blood glucose in the morning, indicating that vinegar might promote insulin production.

Type 2 Diabetes is mostly found in people who are insulin resistant, thus making our bodies work harder to produce more insulin to break down the carbohydrates before they are converted to sugar.

Pretty amazing that a simple chemical like vinegar (acetic acid) could have the benefits of three different classes of diabetes drugs, and all for two cents a dose! It’s likely good for both Type 2 and Type 1, especially for lowering postprandial glucose. And postprandial glucose levels account for 30% to 70% of A1C values. Vinegar has got to be the most cost-effective medicine in history, but most people with diabetes still aren’t taking it.

How can vinegar be so powerful? I think it has to do with our ancestral diet. We used to eat carbohydrate in highly complex forms that took a long time to break down in the intestines. Vinegar may be a signal to our bodies to produce insulin and not resist it. Today’s highly refined carbohydrates are absorbed long before they start breaking down. Our bodies don’t get the ancestral signals that carbohydrates are coming, so they’re not ready for them. Drinking a bit of vinegar might trigger the hormones and transmitters that are now missing the boat.

This theory might be nonsense, but the benefits of vinegar are proven reality.

No, you don't have to drink vinegar before eating a high carbohydrate meal, but you can include vinegar for consumption at that meal.

I love vinegar, I always have. I am one of those people that adore tart and sour characteristics in food and have been known to ambush my family when it was my turn to make the salad dressing.

Back to the food.......

Ways to incorporate vinegars into your diet.

#1 - Salads
A no-brainer there

#2 - Dipping sauces
Asian choices are many

#3 - Vegetables
Just like lemon, it wakes up boring vegetables and works wonders on canned

#4 - Cold Sauces and Salsas
Think pickled vegetables (Salsa Verde, Salsa Cruda, etc) and mignonette

#5 - Bread Spreads
Think pickled vegetables (yes, again), mustard, mayonnaise and ketchup

#6 - Glazes
Think Chicken Milanese, Caprese Salad, Strawberries

#7 - Moisture Filler
Patties, Meatloaf, Fritters...surprised? It works.

#8 - Tenderizer
Marinades and mops

#9 - Flavor Boosters
Butters, Braises & Chutneys

#10 - Desserts
Did you know that strawberries with balsamic vinegar is the most underrated dessert of all time?

When you reduce vinegars, especially balsamic ones, they become naturally sweet. They actually turn into a sweet and sour sauce all by themselves but by adding spices and herbs to these reductions, you can create what no one expects, a sauce that is packed with flavor and is a powerhouse of good things for your body.

I would love to hear how you use vinegar in your everyday cooking.