It’s January 2nd and all I have on my scratch sheet of paper is the words screwing up. No profound new years resolutions. No list of organized and achievable goals. Nothing. I’m in a funk.
What do you do when you screw up? Especially when you don’t mean to. When it is a genuine mistake. You’ve somehow hurt, upset or offended someone and an ‘I’m sorry’ just doesn’t seem like it will cut it.
A customer and friend of mine once said, “I have ‘Catholic guilt’.” I immediately knew what he meant (and also realized that I have suffered from that same guilt my entire life). It’s this crazy creepy guilt that runs through your veins all day over the most monotonous shit that you will go over in your head a million times while the rest of the world has moved on and is building other bridges. It turns small innocuous mistakes into balls in your gut. It makes me twitchy. At what point in my half and non-church going Catholic side embed this seed of everlasting guilt into my head? I bet it was those little crackers.
I can submerge myself in cooking and loud music to drown out the worry and know that at the end of the day everything will come up roses.
Drunken Pork Chops and Savory Green Rice with Fontina
from Rachael Ray Magazine
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 large cloves garlic, 2 thinly sliced and 1 finely chopped
- 3 sprigs rosemary, coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
- 4 bone-in pork 1inch thick chops
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
- 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 cup baby spinach or arugula
- 1 cup flat-leaf parsley
- A few grates fresh nutmeg
- 1/3 pound fontina cheese
Preparation:
In a shallow dish, whisk the wine, 1/4 cup EVOO, the sliced garlic, rosemary and anchovy paste. Season the chops with a little salt and lots of pepper and add to the marinade. Let sit, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes while you preheat a grill or griddle pan over medium-high heat. Grill the chops, turning once, for 8 to 10 minutes.
In a large saucepan, bring the rice, vegetable or chicken stock and 2/3 cup water to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 18 minutes.
Meanwhile, using a food processor, combine the lemon juice, finely chopped garlic and remaining 1/4 cup EVOO. Add the spinach and parsley and process. Fluff the rice with a fork, season with the nutmeg and add to a serving bowl. Stir in the tomato and the spinach dressing; mix in the cheese. Serve with the chops.
I’m not great at remember expressions and wrote ‘come up daises’ instead of roses before double checking myself on google. I think I will keep it daisies in my head though, I like them better.
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My name is Kita. I am a 20 something girl geek and website/graphic designer who can rock an apron like there is no tomorrow. 
Aw, Kita, I am sorry to hear that. I hope things look up soon. Cooking is a great salve, isn’t it?! That rice is calling my name. I am not sure if it’s because of the wonderful color or the CHEESE!
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I’m in a funk too. What’s the New Years equivalent to “bah humbug”?
This looks really tasty though. I don’t love rice so I’m always looking for ways to jazz it up.
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I hope things look up soon!
Love the green rice, I am going to have to try that soon. Always looking for new side dishes that are healthy and tasty.
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This rice looks great – I’m always trying to smuggle in veggies into my partner’s food – this is ingenious – and looks delicious too.
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It drives Hubby crazy that I’m a ‘glass is half full’ kind of person because I never stay in a funk very long. I always end up finding something to put a positive spin on things. Like the fact that this funk of your resulted in awesome looking pork chops. Ok, maybe not that. They do look fantastic though.
I hope the funk flies away soon. Really.
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This dish looks fantastic. I love the vibrant color of the rice. My hubby who was raised in a very Catholic household suffers deeply from catholic guilt…I understand exactly what you mean when you say it. Somehow my oldest son who is not Catholic but attends Catholic school suffers from the same guilt. He tells us everything even if it’s bad because it weighs to heavily on him if he doesn’t. Everything will eventually pan out in the wash….if you screw up anyone who knows you or loves you takes you for who you are and sees past all the little things and screw ups.
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These look amazing Kita, I LOVE pork chops. Great recipe!
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daisies makes even better sense their so joyful. Food and music saves me all the time as well. I hope your funk disappears just like this delicious food I’m sure did. Happy New Year Kita.
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I hope things smooth out for you soon…sometimes writing helps, much like cooking – and this was GOOD cooking! Thinking of you.
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Rice is such a blank palate (like pasta) and I do not experiment with rice often enough. Cheesy rice with healthy spinach on a cold night sounds like a perfect way to start off my experiments and spice up my meals. Sounds like some parm on top would be perfect too. Thanks!
The Dinner Belle for Kimberlybelle.com
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Hi! This recipe looks fantastic! Just a quick question. In the directions of the recipe, you say to stir in the tomato with the rice, but tomato is not listed in the ingredients list. Could I get a clarification? Thanks so much!
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Kita Reply:
January 13th, 2012 at 1:40 pm
Im sorry about that! I didn’t use tomatoes as the recipe called for, because they would just be discarded in my house. It should be 1 plum or vine tomato, seeded and chopped. Thank you.
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