An old favorite: pork with arugula and tomatoes

[lillibet]

I first made this several years ago, as part of my mission to convince J. that actually, he likes pork just fine, if it's prepared well (I've succeeded similarly with lamb and duck over the years, although I'm still working on veal). I work from this recipe, but I use thick-cut pork chops and grape tomatoes and sometimes swap in baby spinach for the arugula (which I did tonight). This time around I tried doing the pork first, which eliminates at least one round of moving stuff out of the pan and made the whole thing come together very quickly. At least doubling the garlic is recommended and I toss in a quarter cup of water with a couple of teaspoons of arrowroot mixed in, right at the end, to thicken up the sauce. It's particularly good tossed with egg noodles.

On the other hand, I've realized that I really want a slow cooker because I'd like to be able to separate the cooking and eating parts of my day. Going up to cook when I start to feel hungry means that by the time it's on the table, I'm absolutely starving.

I'm also very excited that J. is resolved to start cooking again--he's going to take a stab at once a week and get back in the habit, too. I realized that I feel a need to be able to say "sweetie, I really need for you to make dinner tonight" once the baby is here and, in the long run, I think "Dad cooks on Sundays" could be a very nice family tradition.

Comments

[starphire.livejournal.com]

ceelove definitely had the same problem with hunger & food later in her term, and had to force herself to start making small frequent meals before she actually felt hungry - otherwise, there was nothing quick enough to be useful when hunger came on, except energy bars. Which are handy when you're driving or something, but they get old pretty fast.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

mm, that sounds tasty!

The other nice thing about slow cookers is that the foods they cook best also tend to freeze nicely, so that when you've made a big vat of food you can save some of it for when nobody has energy for cooking.

[muffyjo]

I've often thought a slow cooker was a good idea. willalillan uses one all the time. As for J cooking...oh yeah! That's awesome!

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

No!! Not lamb and veal!!

I imagine that they might taste good (and what a pregant woman craves, she should have. No questions asked.)

But...lamb? Veal? Baby animals?

I guess not everyone gets upset by such. And that's ok. I don't think less of folks who do eat them. But I just can't bring myself to do it. FWIW, I also don't eat meat that has been factory-farmed, shellfish that had to boiled alive, etc. Not worth the guilt.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

Baby animals?

What, you'd rather prolong their tortured, meaningless lives as food animals? ;)

I'm very much a carnivore and eat pretty much any kind of meat--and don't have problems killing it myself if it comes to that, although these days raw oysters and lobsters for the pot are the only opportunities I have to test that theory. I love lamb, particularly, and veal's good and, yes, cute little baby rabbits when I have the chance.

If J. objected to any of them on ethical grounds, I wouldn't pressure him otherwise (tho' I don't know that I'd have married him). He just didn't think he liked them when we met and has been learning over time that they're very tasty, to the point that I think he might enjoy duck even more than I do at this point.

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

What, you'd rather prolong their tortured, meaningless lives as food animals? ;)

Heh. I have an avidly carnivorous friend who says he wants his meat to be glad it's dead. He couldn't eat something that actually had a life before slaughter.

That's of the reasons why I try to avoid meat in general. But when I do eat it, I still want to have an animal that hasn't been suffering. Suffering and fear puts bad hormones in the meat if nothing else. ;-)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I really like "Dad cooks on Sunday." :-)