bento box

Nutmeg pork chops

Pork chops don't usually elicit groans of pleasure. Usually, there are just groans. Neither flavourful like bacon or steak nor a blank tableau like chicken, pork chops have porkiness to them that make them hard to cook.

My parents almost always cooked them plain then topped with store-bought apple sauce. I remember slowly chomping on the tough pieces, with the canned apple sauce providing just enough liquid to coat my throat and help it all go down.

This recipe is nothing like that. It surprises with the unusual choice of nutmeg, but it won't disappoint. It'll leave you gnawing at the bone. And you will actually look forward to the next chance you get to make pork chops.

It's one of those super simple recipes I hope you'll thank me for.

Start with pork chops with the bone in (it just tastes better). On a plate, sprinkle both sides with nutmeg, salt and ground pepper. Heat a slice of butter in a pan until it's bubbling. Add the pork chops. Cook on both sides until done to your liking.

Over time, you'll discover how much of each spice you like. The nutmeg flavour can be overwhelming. Douse a corner with the spice and you'll immediately know.

My aunt in the Netherlands taught me this recipe. She would always add an extra slab of butter into the pan, heat it up after the pork chops were done, then pour it into a container. We would then drizzle the browned butter in all its nutmeg-y glory onto our boiled mashed potatoes.

An all-green salad such as Boston lettuce and cucumbers drizzled with an oil and vinegar dressing finishes off the meal.

Cranberry beans

These lovely cranberry beans seduced me with their freckles. I bought several handfuls of the beans still in their shells. Unfortunately, about 20 minutes of boiling and they aren't so pretty.

 

But they're still quite tasty if you top them with a squeeze of lemon juice, a smidge of olive oil, a sprinkle of parsley and some salt and pepper. Eat them cold or warm.

salmon to swoon over

Four ingredients. Two minutes prep. Endless compliments.

This is the most date-worthy recipe in my repertoire. It takes mere minutes to make, is almost impossible to screw up and makes a hell of an impression.

It's been described as the most perfect use of prosciutto by one friend. I won't argue.

It was in fact a university roommate who recited the recipe to me one day when I was desperate for a birthday dinner idea. She had just seen an episode of Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef and jotted the recipe down. Not that there is much to it.

At the time I had no idea what prosciutto was and remember timidly asking the butcher at Loblaws for it, completely mangling the pronunciation and unsure of what I would get.

The key, as I've learned over the years, is to make sure you're not getting the butt end of the prosciutto with its puny serving spoon-sized slices but instead longer ones that you can envelop your salmon in.

Since that first somewhat awkward introduction to prosciutto, I've made the recipe a thousand times ... and not just to impress. It's a recipe I make at least once or twice a month for myself because it's just so damn easy and tasty.

In fact, my garden always has a sprig or two of lemon thyme growing in it just for this meal. That's how good it is.

Salmon wrapped in prosciutto

Ingredients:

• I fillet of salmon.
• A handful of lemon thyme (regular works too).
• Olive oil
• 2-3 thin slices of prosciutto.

1. Drizzle a little oil on a baking sheet or on some tin foil. Put the slices of prosciutto down, then place the salmon fillet on top.

2. Pull the leaves off the thyme if the stalks are woody. If they are tender, just chop them all up. Sprinkle on top of the salmon. Fold the prosciutto over so that the fish is completely wrapped. Drizzle oil on top.

3. Bake in oven at 400 F for 10-20 minutes, depending on thickness of the fillet. You can always just cut in the middle to check whether it's done and flaky. The prosciutto should be nice and crispy.

I like to serve this with a lemon linguine or risotto and broiled asparagus topped with a few sprinkles of salt and a slice of lemon on the side for fresh squeezing at the table.


 

tomato sauce

Sometimes cooking for one feels like a chore, not worth the effort. After all, it's just for you so why bother?

But I think it's worth the bother. And it really doesn't have to take much time.

I've accumulated a rotating repertoire of recipes for those times when I come home and can't even fathom summoning enough energy to cook. Each one is fairly simple and sometimes they even come across as impressive.

The one recipe I make the most would have to be fresh tomato pasta sauce. It sounds like it would take all the effort in the world, but is actually ready in the time it takes to boil a big pot of water and cook the pasta.

The key to making the sauce feel like a treat is using high-quality ingredients, mainly the tomatoes.

Most of the time, good fresh tomatoes aren't available. And that's when I recommend using canned San Marzano tomatoes, which are so sweet you'll never go back.

(See pic below with San Marzano tomatoes dwarfing a can of the inferior kind.)

At its most basic, tomato sauce should include:

• A tomato or two, diced, OR a can of whole tomatoes.
• Several cloves of garlic, minced, OR a shallot, minced.
• A few tablespoons of oil, olive or vegetable.
• Salt and pepper.

1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic or shallots. Stir and cook until sweating.

2. Add tomatoes. If using whole canned tomatoes, instead of dicing them, I usually grab them from the can and crush them with my hand before placing in the pan.

3. Stir regularly. Cook at medium-high heat for about 10 minutes or until consistency seems sauce-like.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The best part about this recipe is it has infinite variations. At the end, you can top it with freshly grated Parmesan or mix in Ricotta. Fresh parsley or basil also taste great.

The oil can be substituted with butter, with an extra dab added at the end. (Like the sauce in the pictures.)

Or you can add red pepper flakes when cooking the shallot or garlic to add some kick.

There are more possibilities, but I'll save them for another time.