Seven For Dinner, Three Pork Chops

This is what can happen when about 3 in the afternoon you find out that there have been guests invited for dinner. I'm still pretty wiped out from the four day stand at the convention. Still, folks are coming. Thing is there were only three pork chops. Seven people, three pork chops, that's some ugly arithmetic right there.

Luckily I raided the fridge and found eggs, green onions, frozen peas and carrots, I knew that there was rice in the pantry. I figured things were handled.

First things first though. My new niece was over for the afternoon while my sister and other niece did some shopping and got the senior pictures taken.

The little one said "Can you show me how you make that Peppermint Stick Ice Cream. Since I'm an old softie who cannot refuse a wonderful little girl anything I said my usual, "Whatever pleases you tickles me plumb to death darling." (if I had learned the power of phrases like that earlier on I might have been able to stay married longer)

Since clicking on Peppermint Stick, and Ice Cream will get the you recipes and the particulars I'll get straight to the pictures. . .

The peppermint candy canes being busted up.

Standing watch over the mixing. We are all truly blessed by this wonderful new addition to our family.

You can read about my new niece, Rez Drums, where she gets her Apache name, Tsa-Kalim does his Hoop Dance, Eagle Dance.

With the ice cream base chilling in the fridge it's time to get down to business. I'm making fried rice. It's a great way to stretch meat. The main trick with most Asian cuisines is prep work. Get stuff done ahead so that when you're ready to cook you get right to it.


That's the pork chops, quick pan fried, seasoned with Minstrel's Magic Stuff, then cooled and diced. Leftover corn on the cob, decobbed of course, and some cold, cooked, Cal-Rose rice.

Along with that we have some green onions, sliced fairly small, some Puerto Nuevo shrimp, peeled and deveined and quick boiled, then iced bathed, and some egg, scrambled in the wok and chopped to a little smaller than bitesize.



Big Time Cooking Tip! Always heat your wok to your cooking temperature before you add the oil. A great Chinatown chef explained it to me like this:
Wok hot. Oil cold. Food no stick. He was telling the truth.


The diced pork goes in first. You want the pork to get nice crispy edges before you

add in the green onions and the corn, then,

The rice. I guess that I should mention that while this is all going on, seasonings like chili oil, five spice mix, and soy sauce (or, if you prefer, like I do some Nouc Mam), anything you like can be added to taste. This is leftovers, not rocket science or any kind of huate cuisine.


Last, the egg and the shrimp are added, the whole thing stir fried until hot all the way through.



Looks like dinner to me. Gotta go, this boy's hungry.

BBB