Me and ginger have never really gotten along. My first experience with sushi was when an ex-boyfriend told me to open my mouth wide and he shoved a huge hunk of raw ginger in my mouth. I wanted to throw up. It turned me off to sushi and ginger for years. It wasn’t until I met Michael and gave sushi another chance that I got over it. But ginger? Still not a huge fan. When I eat sushi, I rarely eat it with ginger or wasabi.
Well, I wanted to give it another try. I like gingersnap or gingerbread cookies. I’m way older now, right? Maybe my palate has changed. That’s the reason why I chose this recipe.
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I made the most common mistake I usually make with recipes: I skim the ingredients and don’t read the instructions until I’m ready to start. We tried to make this recipe a few days ago but I realized this marinade had to sit for 30 minutes to 3 hours! It was too late to start a marinade so I held onto the recipe for a few days letter and tried it again.
The preparation for this recipe was quick and easy. I halved the recipe since it was just the two of us. I substituted the Splenda/Sugar Blend instead of straight sugar, too. I had a jar of minced ginger that I used for the recipe, too.
For the broth, I used a homemade chicken and vegetable broth that was given to use by friends (thanks Alazar and Bob!). They made the stock from scratch–something I’ve never tried but want to! It was thicker than I was used to but smelled wonderful. I added just a splash of water to it to thin it out and then mixed in the rest of the ingredients.
The pork chop was a really nice cut. I used a small, shallow glass bowl with a lid and poured the marinade over it. The marinade smelled wonderful! I was really excited about the recipe, and hopeful. I let the marinade do it’s stuff for about 2.5 hours.
For the side dishes, we made steamed broccoli and also baked one acorn squash to split. I just cut the squash in half and baked it in the oven in a dish of water and seasoned the cooked squash with butter, salt and pepper.
While the squash cooked, Michael started the pork chop. He cooked it in the skillet and then removed it and wrapped it in foil while he reduced the fluid.
I scraped out the squash from the skin and then steamed some broccoli to go with dinner. The pork chop we were splitting was a tad on the small size, but the veggies and squash would be filling enough.
We poured the glaze over the pork. It was thick and shiny and smelled absolutely wonderful!
I loved the flavor of the glaze. Michael could really taste the ginger, but I didn’t taste very much. I tasted mostly the soy sauce–which I love. So shying away from recipes that call for ginger were unnecessary. Apparently my palate doesn’t mind the ginger.
I liked the dinner a lot and I would definitely make it again. I think this recipe is a good one for dinner guests. It seems like it might be difficult to make, but it was really easy. Easy to impress! This recipe is a keeper.
For dessert I made us vanilla pudding and added freshly sliced strawberries to my pudding. It was a really good dessert for half the calories of an ice cream dessert and I love strawberries. I liked the pudding as a sweet treat but I think I’d gotten sugar free by mistake or something because it tasted a little “chemically” to me. Oh well. It was a nice treat.
QUESTION: What is a food that you despised for a long time but gave it a second chance? Did your palate change?
Deb
Fish. For the longest time I would not eat fish of any kind, unless it came from one particular place (York Shore House), or it was salmon. Now I’m finding I really love fish. I still have a lot of lines to try crossing there, but I’m working on it.