Recipe Test Tuesday

When we finally got dinner on our plates at 6:50, it looked so good, and I was so hungry, that I completely forgot to take a picture before plowing my fork into the potatoes. Then I remembered and stopped sharply, but my plate clearly betrayed my forgetfulness. So just picture it ... a small, brown, square plate with a pile of mashed, buttery yukon golds next to several small chunks of pork, with dark green sauteed kale piled liberally over both, all drizzled with a dark brown balsamic sauce that was so strong it tickled my nose. Ok, so I'm not a food writer.

It was delicious, and I realized a belief I have about cooking that I've never really thought about before. I believe that one quality of a good meal is that one can combine any of the mains or sides on a fork and it all still tastes amazing. I didn't have meals like this growing up. My parents fed us well, but there were about half a dozen sides that they felt went equally well with any dish (ice berg lettuce salad, bran muffins, corn, fruit salad ... I'm sure there are a couple more). I, however, think sides should actually GO with a dish, like they were meant to be together. Coconut chicken soup with green apple and red pepper salad (fish sauce, lemon juice, and paprika dressing). White chicken chili and sweet squash corn muffins. Homemade pizza and beer (beer's a side, right?). Pork and kale with balsamic reduction sauce. They're just good together.

All the combinations of pork, kale, and potatoes tasted lovely. Even Ryan agreed, and he's not a cooked greens guy (neither was I until about a month ago, well, a cooked greens girl at least).

So forgive me for the lack of a picture. I'll have to make it again sometime and post a picture at that time. Until then, this'll have to do.

Pork with Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Kale, and Balsamic Reduction Sauce (inspired by this recipe)

Sauce:
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 t rosemary
sprinkle of pepper
Simmer sauce ingredients in a pan over moderate heat until just syrupy and reduced to about 1/4 cup. This took me about 6 minutes.. Pour the sauce through a sieve into a small bowl. Dump the rosemary.

Kale:
large handful of kale (I used chard before and that works well too. I'm guessing beet greens may work too.)
1/4 c red onion
1 t garlic
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil or butter to saute
Saute the onion and garlic 4-5 minutes. Add the kale, salt, and pepper and cook 7-8 minutes or until they're done like you like them. You can add a little water to make them softer if you'd like.

Pork:
Cook pork (I had kabob meat, chops would also work nicely) while the other parts of the meal cook
The original recipe is for broiled lamb chops sprinkled with garlic, salt, rosemary, and pepper. I figured that if I was going to drizzle the pork with the reduction sauce and eat it with potatoes and kale that I probably didn't need to season the pork. I just sprinkled a little salt on it and called it good.

Mashed potatoes:
2 yukon golds (steams and smashed)
a good amount of butter
1/4 c. sour cream or plain yogurt
1/4 c. cream cheese
salt & pepper to taste