Anyway, I LOVED school supply shopping as a kid.  What girl didn’t – it was the best part of going back to school, right?  How fun to unpack and label (in best cursive, of course) the unblemished notebooks and shiny folders, my box of 24 perfectly sharpened Crayola Crayons, and a spotlessly pristine pencil case.  Everyone loves a fresh start, right?

And speaking of fresh, before the Pickle requires me to find her more menial labor, I’ll tell you about this fabulous pork chop recipe!

I’ve been doing a little bit of research about the three main types of Asian cuisine:  North East (China, Japan, and Korea), South West (India and Pakistan, for instance), and South East (Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore).  Today’s recipe, as you can tell, has a definite South East Asian flare, and it is deeeeee-licious!

You can recognize a South East Asian – inspired dish by these key ingredients:  citrus juice (usually lime); fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, and mint); salty, pungent fish sauce (as opposed to soy sauce used in NE Asia); and the all-important fiery chili pepper.  A normal SE Asian meal has no ‘courses’; all of the foods are served and eaten together, which is why I shot the whole she-bang for you today.

The pork chops (on sale, did you really have to wonder?) are pounded thin before they take a swim in an incredibly flavorful marinade of honey, garlic, onion, and fish sauce. Sweet, salty, and sour all at the same time – trust me, this stuff is AMAZING!    I can’t wait to try this on pork tenderloin, or chicken thighs and wings.

After a quick turn on a very hot grill, the chops are served alongside steaming hot Jasmine rice, and topped with a cold carrot slaw.  I thought my kids would turn their noses up at this dinner, but would you believe – there aren’t ANY LEFTOVERS?  My youngest ate every last bite and pronounced it to be “really good chicken”.  Go figure.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did – let me know what you think!

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PORK CHOPS

Serves:  5

Source:  Adapted from foodandwine.com

• 2 T. vegetable oil
• ¼ c. honey
• ¼ c. Asian fish sauce (find this on the top shelf in the Asian aisle)
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
• ¼ c. minced yellow onion (the original recipe called for shallots, but I forgot them!)
• 2 t. ground black pepper
• 6 boneless pork chops (on sale), pounded to about ¼ to ½” thick
• Jasmine Rice and Carrot Relish

In a large glass measuring cup, combine the oil, honey, fish sauce, garlic, onion, and pepper.  Place the pounded pork chops in a large ziplock bag and pour the marinade into the bag.  Press out the air and refrigerate overnight (I only had 7 hours and they still turned out great).

Fire up your grill.  Brush the grill with oil and cook the pork chops over high heat until nicely charred and just cooked through, about three minutes on the first side and two on the second.  Serve immediately with the rice and the carrot slaw.

JASMINE RICE AND CARROT SLAW

• 1 1/3 c. jasmine rice
• 2 1/3 c. water
• 2 T. lime juice (please use fresh lime juice and pass on the green bottle, blech)
• 1 T. vegetable oil
• 1 ½ t. honey
• 1 T. chopped fresh mint, plus additional for garnish if desired
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and shredded

In a saucepan, combine the rice and water and bring to a boil.  Cover and cook over low heat for 12 minutes.  Quickly remove the lid and wipe off any water that clings to it.  Immediately recover the rice and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes.  Fluff the rice with a fork and cover.

In a bowl, combine the lime juice with the vegetable oil, fish sauce, mint, garlic, and chili.  Add the carrots and toss to coat with the sauce.  Serve the carrot slaw over the rice.

I tend to over think things a little bit – that is,  stress out and fret over everything from deciding the perfect menu, to having the proper candles and placemats, to selecting the right music, and even whether the guests will know each other well enough to make friendly conversation….ugh, it’s the entertaining minutia that bogs me down, I guess.  In fact, I’m getting a knot in my stomach just listing off all of these hostessing duties, and I’m not even planning a dinner party right now!  Gah!  I’m a head case, what can I tell you.

Anyway, I love to be invited to Ashley’s house because she puts all of her guests at ease.  She greets each one with a big hug and an even bigger glass of wine, and welcomes everyone in to her kitchen where she resumes prepping, or chopping, or sautéing something that smells delicious.  In the summertime we dine on her pretty patio, and in the winter, there’s always a fire roaring in her cozy familyroom.  The meal is always wonderful, the conversation flows easily (as do the cocktails), and inevitably, the evening ends too soon.

When I call to thank her the next day, I nearly always hit her up to share at least one of the recipes from the night before.  Most recently (just last week in fact), she served this delicious pasta dish that all of us just adored, and she was kind enough to share it with me.

Just a thought – she doesn’t know that I’m blogging about her right now – I hope she doesn’t mind!  After all, I’d sure hate to be kicked off the guest list for her next soiree… so just to be safe, let’s not tell her she’s being mentioned here today.

Some notes on the recipe:  you might notice that my photo doesn’t look a thing like angel hair; that’s because it’s not.  I had a little mishap; not my proudest moment in the kitchen, but I will share my mistake with you.  Please don’t go and sacrifice good pasta like I did!

I neglected to give my pasta a quick little rinse after I drained it.  Therefore, it stuck together in a giant glutenous glob, and there was no way to fix it.  I had to start over with the pasta step, and so it’s a good thing I had picked up the Creamette Pasta, five boxes for $5.00!  Having the extra pasta on hand saved me another trip to the Store, only I had to use spaghetti instead of angel hair.  Worked just fine, by the way, but the moral of the story is to remember to give your pasta a nice little rinse.  Then please drain off all the water you can, or your delicious dressing will not stick, and that would be too bad, because the dressing is fabulous!

I’m looking forward to changing the recipe up a little bit next time I make it. For instance, I think it would be great with baby bok choy (or even purple cabbage) instead of the radicchio; or a little bit of fish sauce and mint to make it slightly more “Thai” flavored.  The tweaks are endless!  Enjoy!

Ashley’s Awesome Asian Angel Hair

Serves:  6-8

• 1 lb.  angel hair pasta (I used the Creamette that’s on sale!)
• ¼ c. peanut oil
• ¼ c. soy sauce
• 1/3 c. rice wine vinegar
• 2 t. toasted sesame oil
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 t. red pepper flakes
• 2 t. minced fresh ginger
• 1 t. minced fresh garlic
• 2 t. salt
• 1 ½ c. coarsely chopped radicchio
• ½ c. chopped scallions (on sale this week)
• 1/3 c. minced cilantro

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.  Drain and rinse lightly so your pasta doesn’t stick together in a big glob!  Place in a large bowl.

Place all dressing ingredients into a blender or food processor and process for 30 seconds or so.  (I used a plain old jar with a lid and this worked out just fine).

Toss the pasta with the dressing and coat each noodle thoroughly.  If you’re making this ahead of time, cover the pasta and chill it in the fridge.

When you’re ready to serve, add in the radicchio, scallions, and cilantro, mixing to blend.  Serve at room temperature.