What's For Dinner Tonight?

I have a strange and varied process when it comes to deciding what's for dinner.  Sometimes it is based solely on what is available.  Other days it is based on what I think the kids WANT to eat.  Others, what I feel they NEED to eat.  Still others, what I feel like cooking/eating/smelling/looking at/cleaning up after.  Some days I take requests and some I make demands.  Then there are those days that I just want something different.  Such was today.  HEB had pork chops on sale so into the cart they went and home they came.  I was just going to pan fry them but then I remembered an unsuccessful pork chop brining attempt of mine and immediately knew I was going to try, try again.  To the interwebz to find a brine that appealed to me.  Low and behold:  http://sweetnicks.com/weblog/2008/09/the-best-pork-chop-recipe-e-v-e-r/

Recipe courtesy of Cuisine at Home magazine, June 2002

Pork Chop Brine:
Dissolve in one gallon resealable freezer bag:
2 cups hot water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
Add:
6 cups ice water
Dissolve salt and sugar in hot water. It helps to set the bag inside a large bowl in case of spills or leaks.  Add ice water to brine.  This will cool the brine quickly.  Add the pork and seal the bag and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.  Just before cooking, dry chops to remove excess brine.

I went through the pantry and wound up adding some crushed garlic cloves and some whole allspice berries and black peppercorns along with some crushed red pepper flakes and whole coriander seeds and some fennel seeds for good luck.  My intent was to get some deep and good flavors into the other white meat and I've decided that food knows when you are afraid of preparing it so I've vowed to approach cooking with a devil may care attitude.  Eh, you win some and you lose some but in the middle are those days that you feel like a total rock star in the kitchen.

Brine achieved and on hold for timing purposes (this brine only needs 2 hours and my chops are fairly thin).  Now onto the rest of the meal.  Sure, I could still just cook the chops simply but I was in the mood for something more and while blog trolling for brine recipes, I came across this recipe:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Stuffed-Pork-Chops-46695

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops (1 in. thick)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
• 3 cups stale bread, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup finely diced celery
• 1/4 cup finely diced onion
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup or condensed cream of celery soup
• 1/3 cup water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
   
   
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet and brown the pork chops.
   
   
3. Toss the bread cubes, onions, celery and seasoning together and drizzle the butter and broth over all, toss again to distribute evenly.
   
   
4. Mound the stuffing over the pork chops.
   
   
5. (you could also cut a slit in the side of each chop and stuff them, piling any extra stuffing on top of them) Whisk the soup and water together until smooth and pour it over the chops.
   
   
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
   
   
7. Uncover pan and bake 10-15 minutes more or until the juices run clear and meat thermometer reads 160-170 F.
   
   

*insert drool here*  Stuffed Pork Chops.  And it looks easy.  Yeah!  Only problem is I'm adverse to white bread stuffing.  So I made some cornbread and while I was making the cornbread I roasted some garlic up to add to some mashed potatoes (because clearly the one starch of the stuffing wasn't going to do the job.)  And then while the oven was still warm I baked off the remains of a log of peanut butter cookies that was rolling around in the fridge. And even though the oven has been turned off for a few hours it is still nice and warm and I have diced up my cornbread into cubes and have them drying out in said oven so as not to have mushy stuffing.  And I think we shall invite Mr. Steamed and Buttered Broccoli to the dinner party.

I'll let you know how it turns out but honestly, I don't care.  My weird process always makes me happy in the end when all the pieces fall in place.  If it is extra yummy - that's just icing on the cake.  Oooh.  Cake.  Pardon me.