Creamy mustard pork chops with roasted carrots and mushrooms

[stellar_dust]

A couple of months ago I acquired my mom's old cast iron skillet (which she was happy to let go of because she never used it). I've been slowly following thekitchn's list of the first things to make in your cast iron skillet, and the other day I made their Easy Creamy Mustard Pork Chops served over egg noodles & garnished with parsley, with some Roasted Carrots and Mushrooms on the side. (I've tagged this post "vegetarian" for the carrots & shrooms recipe.)

Substitutions for the pork:
Fresh (well, frozen fresh) rosemary instead of thyme, plus a dash of dried thyme
I only had whole-grain mustard so I used the same mustard at both steps. It was fine.

Substitutions for the veggies:
Same substitution of rosemary & dried thyme
Margarine instead of butter, and just a little bit of olive oil (I had fewer veggies than the recipe called for)
Added some honey when I added the mushrooms, not sure it made much difference



Both recipes turned out yummy and I really, really love the cast iron pan. I'll use this for the "It was a success! (would make again)" bingo square -- I don't cook pork much, but this is certainly a good way to do it, and I would definitely make the carrots & mushrooms again.

Buffalo Cauliflower `Wings' with Blue Cheese and Celery

[purplecat]

From The Roasting Tin around the World by Rukmini Iyer, USA and the Caribbean Section.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Mistakes, Changes and Substitutions
None! Though I did make double the amount of dip reasoning (correctly) that if it was just there on the side next to some celery sticks quite a lot of it would be eaten before the cauliflower came out of the oven.

Verdict
Nothing wrong with this and it would make a good side dish (which, to be fair, is how it is described in the book) but I wasn't super-excited by it. I might make it again if I was feeling like making a bit of an effort with vegetables for a roast or some such - possibly adding broccoli into the mix, but I can't see myself making it often.

Tortilla Española

[topaz119]

I had too many potatoes and this seemed like a decent use of them. There's some discussion in the accompanying article about the validity of onions in the mix, but I went ahead and used them, too.

Tortilla Española, Serious Eats.

Notes: I used russet potatoes b/c that's what I had, and I used a Vidalia (sweet) onion, b/c ditto. And I definitely used the Costco olive oil rather than the small batch California Olive Ranch oil, b/c holy crap, 2 CUPS is a lot.

The verdict: I maybe cooked the first, pre-flip skillet on too high of a heat. It didn't burn, but it was very dark. It was still delicious and I have enough left over for lunch this week. And if it's ever safe to have brunch again, this will be my go-to contribution to friends/family potlucks--it really does taste excellent at room temperature, so it'd be easy enough to make ahead.

(Now, I need to try the variation where you use potato chips instead of sliced actual potatoes. It seems sacrilegious, but they say it works.)