Meat 'n' Potatoes

The thing about Passover is that you can't eat a heck of a lot of stuff you normally eat loads of -- but the two big things that are not restricted are meat and potatoes!!! Most families subsist on this every night practically, usually with some green specimen sharing the plate, but I have come to that point in my life where meat just doesn't excite me anymore... I see so much more variety in pulses and rice and other grains and vegetables, so I think that this is the hardest part of Passover for me - not to mention EVERYONE seemed to be buying whole pies of pizza in my neighborhood today!

So meat and potatoes it is! The entire Grills chapter is full of meat and fish grilling techniques, and various recipes for accompanying sauces follow.

20. Gallega Sauce - *Grills*
21. Grilled Pork Chops - *Grills*
22. Oven Chips - *Junk Food*

Gallega Sauce is native to Galicia, northwest region of Spain, and is best known for the octupus dish it accompanies in tapa form. Tom notes though that it is great with pork -- and pork chops happen to be Rafa's favorite type of meat! I got started with the sauce first, so I wouldn't have to worry about last-minute fiddling with the recipe. It is a very easy emulsion of smoked paprika (pimentón dulce), olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Tom suggests marinading a sliced onion in the mixture would make it extra special, so that is what I did! I was quite keen to finally use a lot of the pimentón I got in a market in Valencia. It was there that I got the 'dulce' and the 'picante'... Let me tell you, the picante is HOT!

A big portion of pimentón for only .60 Euros!

The final mixture before adding onions

Once the sauce was pretty much done, I got started on the french fries, or chips for the Brits like Tom! A couple of tablespoons of butter were melted in a hot oven in a roasting tin, and then cut up potatoes were added and roasted.

The pork chops were equally simple. The fat of the pork chops were seared first on a grill pan, and then each side of the chop was seared for two minutes. Then, the chops were put in a roasting tin and baked. This is part of Tom's 'Hot-Pan, Hot-Oven' method. The pork chops baked in the hot oven at the same time as the oven chips.

Once everything seemed to be cooked fully - I planned it so it would be done at roughly the same time - I just put everything on the plate and we went to town!

The sauce was fierce! -- but definitely in a good way! The smoked paprika really did its job, and the onions were so beautifully marinaded even after such a short time. The Oven Chips were the highlight though for me!!! I've never roasted fries with butter, and it made it so soft and moist, I think I will use this method from now on! I was going to make mayonnaise as a condiment for the fries, but the Gallega Sauce was perfect on top of the potatoes as well. Fantastic!

After dinner all that awaited us was a beautiful piece of flourless chocolate cake! Not a bad way to end a lovely day off!