My First Dish 09/10/11 Pork Chops In Green Salsa and Spanish Rice

For my first dish I decided to go for the authentic Mexican dish. I love Pork Chops. You can't keep me away from them. So I gave the following recipe a shot.

Tomatillo Salsa Verde Recipe

To cook the tomatillos, you can either roast them in the oven, or boil them. Roasting will deliver more flavor; boiling may be faster and use less energy. Either way works, though boiling is a more common way to cook the tomatillos.
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 lb tomatillos
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
• Salt to taste

Method

1 Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.

2a Roasting method Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin.

2b Boiling method Place tomatillos in a saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tomatillos with a slotted spoon.

2 Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers, sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.
Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.

Makes 3 Cups

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I went for the boiling method. I used exact measurements except I only used 1 Jalapeno and I added a half of an avocado.
It was good when I added it to the Pork Chops. It was not spicy at all with just one Jalapeno so next time maybe I'll try it with 2 or 3. It would also be good with a quarter of the avocado as opposed to the half. The salt was about a teaspoon or 2 only.
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Spanish Rice Recipe

Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice
• 3 cups* chicken stock (or vegetable stock if vegetarian)
• 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained
• Pinch of oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt

*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.

Method

1 In a large skillet brown rice in olive oil, medium/high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook onion rice mixture, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes, or until onions are softened.

2 In a separate sauce pan bring stock to a simmer. Add tomato sauce, oregano, and salt. Add rice to broth. Bring to a simmer. Cover. Lower heat and cook 15-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6.

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I made the rice to exact measurements except the onion was a yellow onion. I also used one Roma Tomato and one and a half big spoonfuls of tomato sauce. I pressed the garlic and used no oregano. I used no Olive Oil but used the 1/4 cup measurement of Vegetable oil. It needed a lot more salt so I added salt to taste once the 25 min cooking time frame was over. Maybe some Sazon would be good to add next time.

Links to above recipes:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tomatillo_salsa_verde/
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spanish_rice/