Harvest Moon Chops from Martha Green

One of my favorite purchases from Costco is the thick boneless pork chops. They’re between 2 and 2 1/2 inches thick, and come in packages of about 12. Each one is enough for a meal for DH and me. Last week I sliced one into three slices and flattened them with a meat mallet until they were very thin. From those I made schnitzel. I’ve cut them up in small pieces for geschnetzeltes and stir fry dishes and used them sliced in two or three chops in various pork chop recipes. Tonight I made a new recipe for me, Harvest Moon Chops. This recipe is adapted from a recipe I heard on the radio this morning from Martha Green. Martha Green is sort of like Paula Deen - she sounds just like Paula Deen, and she even looks a bit like her, though she’s slimmer. She owns Dough’Lectible Bakery and The Eating Room in Redlands, the former making nothing but breads and sweets (so I can’t go there!), and the latter serving casual breakfasts and lunches. She does daily spots on the local NPR station, KVCR, and I’ve made it a point to try some of her recipes. This recipe was orginally for chicken, but I thought it would be just as good on boneless pork chops. I had to downsize it considerably, and judging from the taste of everything, I did it right. This recipe makes enough for two or three chops, and is probably great for a low-carb diet. I served this with steamed cauliflower and carrots, and a green salad.

Harvest Moon Pork Chops



1/4 c mayonnaise
1 T prepared horseradish
1 T spicy brown mustard
3/4 t Worcestershire sauce
dash cayenne pepper
2 boneless pork chops, about 3/4” thick
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c cooked, crumbled bacon (about 3 slices)
two dashes paprika

Preheat oven to 375˚. Combine the mayonnaise, horseradish, mustard, Worcestershire, and cayenne in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and chill. Spray a foil-lined small baking pan lightly. Place the chops in the pan and bake 25-30 minutes, until done. Place chops on a broiling pan or ovenproof platter. Top each with the mayonnaise mixture. Sprinkle with the cheese and then the bacon pieces. Broil for 1-1/2 minutes or until the cheese is blended with the sauce and llightly browned. Just before serving, sprinkle each chop with paprika.

Tuesdays are the days we’re supposed to post about antioxidant-rich foods, and today I had quite a few. In addition to the cauliflower and carrots we had with the chops, I made my favorite salad. My favorite salad is mixed greens (sometimes called spring mix), purple onion, tomato, toasted pine nuts and crumbled blue cheese, topped with a plain balsamic vinegar-olive oil mixture. A good quality balsamic vinegar, I’ve learned, needs nothing else added to it.



Make sure you visit Sweetnicks, and look at the roundup of ARF/5-a-Day posts. I haven't visited her site in a long time, and sure do like the new look!

More Martha Green recipes can be found here.

For those of you who have been interested in what’s going on with our contract negotiations, we’re three weeks away from the end of the school year and we haven’t settled. Even though the District is going to be getting LOTS more money than originally projected, including one-time funds to help them with their textbook adoptions, they’re still holding firm with their very poor and insulting offer. We’ve picketed numerous times at various school sites, done all kinds of activities to let parents and the community know that the District is being unfair, and most recently held a successful ice cream “rally” at the community park. We gathered 289 signatures of support, and were able to spread our message a little further. One good thing coming out of this is that our members are more vocal, more empowered, and more involved than ever before. Solidarity is a pretty good thing. We have aonther session with the state mediator scheduled for June 9, and we hope that our board will finally recognize that we’re not going to buckle. These times are so stressful and so tiring - and yet I rejoice in the support of my executive board and my members. I really do love my job! (I just wish this negotiations crap would go away!)

food & drink