I remember my mother had a tiny, 2 oz jar of chopped pimentos in the fridge that she would dole out carefully as a garnish for deviled eggs or potato salad. She usually kept it so long she had to throw the last few out.
She also had a 1 oz bottle of Pompeian olive oil in the cabinet that she used to polish Easter eggs with…. And I think she used it, warmed, to treat my older brother’s earaches…. But that’s a hazy memory from when I was 3 or 4 years old. She cooked with butter. The olive oil was in the cabinet for years. In her defense, at the time and where we lived it was not common and very expensive.I buy it in 5 litre cans.
I digress…..
I get whole pimientos in 15 oz jars, usually from Spain. Pimientos are a heart-shaped pepper, smaller than the bell peppers that are commonly sold fresh. Usually, they are red, but sometimes I can get a jar that has half red peppers and half yellow.
I used the red pimientos in the Mushroom Strudel and put the yellow ones in this dish. Substitute 1 roasted yellow bell pepper – or use a chopped fresh pepper of any color.
Slow-Cooker Pork Chops with Yellow Pimientos
Total time: 6 hours
Ingredients:
- 2 – 4 pork chops, depending on size, 12oz total, 360gr, (more if bone-in)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 rib celery, sliced
- 2 roasted yellow peppers, chopped
- 1 cup (8oz, 240gr) chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 bay (laurel) leaves
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) beef stock
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) red wine
- 1 tbs cornstarch (maizena) dissolved in 2 tbs water
Instructions:
- Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat.
- Add pork chops and brown well on both sides, about 8 minutes, total.
- Put onion, garlic, and celery in the slow cooker, stir to combine.
- Add pork chops.
- Top with chopped pimiento, bay leaves and tomatoes, with juices
- Combine wine, stock, herbs and spices.Pour over the top, cover and cook, low, for 6 hours.
- For a thicker sauce: 15 minutes before serving turn cooker to high
- Stir in cornstarch mixture and cook, uncovered, 10 – 15 minutes..
- Remove bay leaves and serve.
Spring is here…..
Are you going to have a vegetable garden this year?
I’ve had vegetable and herb gardens for most of my life. Even as a child I had a little patch where I grew radishes and lettuce.
My first gardens had everything in neat rows, spaced properly apart.
There is an old saying – You can work hard or you can work smart.(Bad grammar in those ‘old sayings’….)
I’ve gotten smarter.
Here are some tips on getting the most out of your garden with the least amount of space and work.
Biggest tip – plant compactly. It saves work in the preparation, in the on-going maintenance and in the watering.
I put big, leafy things like summer and winter squashes with the beans and corn. They don’t mind a bit of dappled shade and they keep the weeds down and the ground moist for their taller neighbors. I put the tall skinny dill in with the cucumbers for the same reason. This system give the tall plants the air space they need and the low plants the ground space they need. You just have to learn to walk carefully by the end of summer, but it’s worth it.
I plant the lettuces and radishes anywhere they fit as they will be long gone before they have a chance to get in the way.
This method of gardening gets a lot of vegetables in a much smaller space than a typical garden, which means less to maintain. I’ll give some planting examples in the next post.
I’ve done pork roasts in the crock pot, but not chops. I’ll try this one though. It looks yummy.
I used to do square foot gardening.
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
I didn’t use the raised beds, I didn’t need them, but I did follow the pattern and placement and it worked really well. I don’t have time to do much of anything anymore though with the amount of time I spend in the car driving to and from work and how many hours I’m there. I’m seriously considering leaving this summer. I’m tired of working and not the principal breadwinner so…
But I’d have way more time to garden! 🙂
The slow cooker or slow crock has become one of the most useful equipment in the kitchen for every family. really good instructions.
I don’t recall any olive oil in my childhood at all but I do remember a lot of earaches !!
Olive oil and olives appeared in our home after a family holiday to Moçambique or Portuguese East Africa as it was then.
We arrive too late in the season to establish a vegetable garden this summer but we will be getting it ready for the following one. Gardening in the Northern Hemisphere is going to be a new learning experience!
Nightsmusic, I did square-foot gardening in MN – when I was still working and, yes, it was great. Mine is bigger now because I freeze a lot – and I’m not working. I’m also a much smarter gardened so it’s not so much work 😉
Thanks, Trina.
Kate, I have no idea why it was good for earaches lol.
Gill, you can plant a fall garden – spinach and salad greens…. just to get in the mood! I’ll be glad to help – as will every farmer in your area….