My Birthday Gift to Marc

Dinner tonight was a belated birthday gift to Marc. I wanted to do something special for him, but I've been so tired lately! Today, I had extra time, so I spent it in the kitchen all day to make some of Marc's favorite foods!

I decided to make French onion soup, lamb loin chops with a mint pesto, roasted garlic red potatoes, and roasted asparagus. The French onion soup is a LONG recipe! I added it first!

The side dishes had to be made first! I preheated my oven to 425 degrees F. While I waited, I minced 5 cloves of garlic (we love garlic - you can use more or less) and quartered or cut into eighths about 2 pounds of washed baby red potatoes.

Washed baby red potatoes 

I added the potatoes to a pyrex casserole dish and liberally drizzled them with extra virgin olive oil. Yes, I know that you are not suppose to use EVOO in the oven when it's over 350 degrees F, but I do! I love the extra flavor that it gives. I added the garlic, coarse Kosher salt, and pepper.

Mixed potatoes, garlic, salt, and extra virgin olive oil.

I hand-mixed them so that they were all covered with the seasonings. I covered the casserole with aluminum foil and placed them in the oven for about an hour.

While the potatoes began to cook, I started working on my roasted asparagus. This is an adapted recipe from Ina Garten. After rinsing my asparagus, I broke off the woody ends. I laid them on an aluminum foil-lined cookie sheet and drizzled them with extra-virgin olive oil and salt! 

I made sure that they were entirely covered! I put them into the oven on a lower shelf. 

These need to cook about 25 minutes. Keep an eye on them so that they don't burn.

Asparagus with olive oil and salt.

If you time it right, you can pull both the asparagus and potatoes out at the same time! 

But beware, the potatoes aren't done quite yet!

Now it was time for the main course - a lamb chop with mint pesto. The original recipe comes from Guy Fieri on the Food Network. I changed a few things, mainly that I didn't grill the chops and I used pistachios instead of pine nuts in the pesto. I don't grill - that's Marc's territory and I'm not making him do his own lamb chops! And I do NOT like pine nuts. To me, they are bitter and that's it - no other flavor profile at all! I know that Alton Brown makes a pistachio pesto, so it isn't unheard of to use pistachios for a pesto!

As I waited on the sides, I dried my chops and made the rub to go on them. It was simple, mixing together 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. I rubbed the chops with olive oil and the rub mixture.



This is enough for 8 chops, but I only had 4 (2 per person) so I decided to save the rest for a later date! I let the chops sit in the rub at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until I was ready to use them!

I made the pesto quickly, throwing a few cloves of garlic and 1/4 cup pistachios in my food processor and pulsing. I added all of the herbs, about 3/4 c each of basil, mint, and parsley and chopped for 30 seconds! I added 1/3 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano and chopped for about another minute. I then drizzled in about 2/3 of a cup of extra virgin olive oil into the mixture while the processor is running. 

You may want to use more or less olive oil, based on the consistency you like your pesto! 

Pesto

The potatoes and asparagus were ready for me by this point! My next step was to broil the French onion soup, so I set the oven to low broil and added my crocks about 8" from the heat source! 

After the soup was out (and served), I dropped the temperature back to 450 degrees F and placed the potatoes, now uncovered, into the oven for an additional 15 minutes (while we ate the soup).

As I took the soup out of the oven, I added olive oil to my Calphalon Unison 12" sauté pan (with the sear technology) over medium-high heat. After eating the soup, I came back to work on my lamb chops while Marc digested! I added the chops to the HOT pan (test it with water before you put in your chops) and sautéed for 3 minutes on each side, then I covered and cooked in the oven at 425 degrees F until they were medium-rare (140 degrees F for gourmet cooking, 150 degrees F for USDA). 

Notice that many of the chops had two rib bones in them! They were very thick!

This oven step took about 5 additional minutes, but my chops were 1-1/2" thick. 

Your chops may not even need to go into the oven, depending on their thickness!

At about the same time that the chops were ready, the potatoes were ready! It was great! I'm not a lamb fan, but these were actually pretty good, especially with the pistachios in the pesto!

Julia Child's French Onion Soup - GF Version

Of course, Julia Child did not make a gluten-free version of this classic. Marc LOVES French onion soup and I wanted to make it for him! I figure, why not use this classic recipe but get rid of the gluten? It's tried and true, not to mention REALLY GOOD, apparently! It calls for flour and crusty French bread. I'll adapt!

I've never had French onion soup. Ever. I don't know what it is suppose to taste like. Hopefully, Marc will love this new version of a classic!

First, I thinly sliced five medium to large yellow onions. It's important to make the first cut from root to stem. I make my slices in that same direction. Julia Child actually goes the other direction. Either is fine.

Onions cut in half through the stem and root.

Sliced onion.

Four of the six and a half cups of sliced yellow onion!

Next, I melted two tablespoons of butter with one tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot 

(I used my Dutch oven) over medium heat.

Oil and Butter

I added all of the onions and stirred to coat. I turned the heat down to medium-low 

so that they could sweat, and added the top.

Dutch oven covered with onions sweating.

After 20 minutes, I removed the top from the Dutch oven. 

Onions sweated and ready for caramelization.

The onions reduced by half, losing a lot of their moisture. I added a half of a teaspoon of sugar to aid in the caramelization of the onions and a teaspoon of salt. I increased the temperature to medium-high and stirred the onions every two to three minutes, being careful not to burn the onions. 

We want them brown and caramelized with lots of flavor - not burnt! Be careful not to leave these!

After about 15 minutes of caramelizing.

After about a half hour of caramelizing.

After about 45 minutes of caramelizing.

Once they are caramelized, I reduced the heat to medium-low. I added three tablespoons of multi-purpose flour (I used King Arthur's) and about two more tablespoons of butter. 

I stirred the flour mixture two to three minutes, making a paste.

Flour mixed with the onions. You can tell how much the onions reduced!
They filled over half the pot to begin with and now they are only about a third of the bottom!

This is where I truly depart from Julia's original recipe. She adds warmed beef stock first. I have never been able to deglaze a pan with stock of any kind. So I switch the wine and stock steps! 

I added one cup of red wine (I used Childress's Cabernet Sauvignon) to deglaze the pot bottom. 

Next, I scraped all of the blackened bits from the bottom! 

I actually whisked the mixture to make sure that the flour was combined well!

After the red wine was whisked into the onions!

You can see that the red wine is thickened quickly with the flour in the onions.

After deglazing the pot, I combined the beef stock (I used a combination of Pacific Beef Broth and Kitchen Basics Beef Stock, but using homemade stock would be best) with the red wine-onion mixture.

Stock whisked into mixture.

I made a bouquet garni of fresh parsley, fresh thyme, and fresh bay leaf. This is a difference from the original recipe also. I don't like sage, which is called for in her recipe, along with bay leaf. Alton Brown's recipe calls for parsley, thyme and bay leaf, so I chose to use that flavor profile. 

I added the bouquet garni to the stock.

Fresh parsley, thyme, and bay leaf!

After bringing the mixture to a boil, I reduced it to a simmer. I simmered it, uncovered, for half an hour. I tasted it and added a pinch of salt. Julia's recipe calls for adding some of the Swiss cheese to the pot. Instead, I added the rind of the Gruyere (a Swiss cheese with a little more bite than our normal Swiss with holes) and a rind I had from some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Because I wasn't ready to do the rest of the meal, I covered the pot and left it over low heat for about an hour. I didn't really follow the rest of Julia's recipe at this point. I can't have cognac, which the original recipe calls for, and 

I wanted to do everything in individual crocks and freeze any of the remainder of the soup.

The original recipe calls for a crusty French bread. I didn't have a lot of options because of the limited breads that you can use on a gluten-free diet! Against the Grain Gourmet makes amazing gluten-free artisan breads. They make a baguette that can be purchased at EarthFare in the frozen foods section. It's actually  pretty crusty, the key to making a good crouton according to Julia Child!

Against the Grain Baguettes

I preheated my oven to 325 degrees F and sliced the baguette at an angle. I lined my cookie sheet with aluminum foil and placed my cut baguette slices (about 3/4" to an inch thick) on it. I drizzled the tops of the baguette slices with extra virgin olive oil, then flipped them to do the same thing to the other side. Unlike her recipe, I did add a pinch of salt to each. I baked them on each side for 15 minutes, totaling 30 minutes in the oven. They were nicely browned and crunchy, like any good crouton should be!

Toasting the baguettes with extra virgin olive oil.

Toasted to a golden brown on both sides!

Once I was almost ready to serve the soup, I turned the broiler on "lo." I moved my oven grate so that it was about eight inches from the heat source. I added the soup to two medium crocks (I think they are Corningware), grated a small amount of Gruyere into the soup, placed a crouton (or two, depending on how big your croutons are and how big the crocks you are serving it in are) on top, and grated a lot of Gruyere and some Parmagiano-Reggiano cheeses over the top of the croutons, making sure that the edges of the toast are completely covered.

Guyere added to the top of the crouton - it could have used more! 

I broiled each of the crocks for about one minute. This can vary depending on your broiler. You just want the cheese to be bubbly and browning. It may take 45 seconds or 90 seconds, so keep your eye on it!

Crocks under the broiler.

Most of the cheese fell into the soup! I will definitely use more cheese next time!

After serving, I was interested to see Marc's reaction. I thought it was very good,  but I'd never had French onion soup! I wanted to know if it was as good as he remembered it! He liked it. He said it was very rich, richer than a lot of restaurants make it, but it was really good! 

My First Dinner on the New Stove!

Yes, it isn't fancy! It's actually a stand-by biweekly recipe that is easiest when it's been a long day, which today has been!

Today's dinner consisted of pork loin chops smothered with Thai Kitchen's Spicy Mango Sauce, Jasmine rice made with coconut milk, and freshly steamed green beans. It was delicious! The recipes follow, are very easy to do, and take less than 20 minutes from start to finish! Like I said, great for a quick gluten-free weeknight meal! And, yes, I do use some pre-mixed stuff for this! If I knew how to make Thai spicy mango sauce, I would do it!

You can find this in the Asian aisle of your local market.  

First, I started making the Jasmine rice heating two cups water and one and a half cups Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk in a medium sauce pan over high heat. 

Also found in the Asian aisle, this makes the rice so creamy!

As the coconut milk mixture was coming to a boil, I removed the pork loin chops from the refrigerator, dried with a paper towel, and seasoned. I sprinkled each with salt, pepper, and ground ginger (Spice Island) on one side and just salt on the second side. I preheated the 12" non-stick (Calphalon Unison with sear technology) sauté pan over medium-high heat and added about a tablespoon of olive oil. 

While the pan was heating, I added one cup of water (about 1/2") in a 12" aluminum sauté pan, covered, and heated over medium heat to produce steam. By this time, the coconut milk mixture was boiling, so I added two tablespoons of butter and two cups of Jasmine rice (well-rinsed in a mesh strainer). I brought that to a boil, covered, and reduced to a simmer. It stayed covered for 15 minutes!

I added the pork loin chops to the sauté pan with oil. I sautéed the meat for 5 minutes on the first side. 

Pork loin chops, after flipping the first time! I should have had the heat up a little higher,
but it was my first time using the new stove, so I didn't know. I'd like a bit more sear on these!

As it sautéed, I added the fresh green beans (I cut the tips off of the stem end and rinsed under running water) to the steamed pan and recovered. 

Steaming the green beans.

I flipped the pork loin chops and cooked an additional 4 minutes. I removed the Jasmine rice from the heat, but left covered. Once the temperature reached 155 degrees F at the middle of the chop, I added about one tablespoon of Spicy Mango Sauce to the top of each. I continued to cook one more minute!

Spicy Mango Sauce covering the chops. You can tell that some spilled off and was browning in the bottom of the pan!

I turned off the burner with the green beans and removed the lid. I also removed the lid from the rice. 

Coconut Milk Jasmine Rice - so creamy and very yummy!

I plated simply, adding the rice first, then the pork loin chop on top of the rice. I put the green beans to the side. I chopped fresh snow peas to top the chop! This makes it really good, adding crunch and sweetness!

Snow peas to add crunch and sweetness to the chops!

Doesn't it look nice, and tasty too?

Marc's plate! You can barely see the rice!

It's so easy to make! I hope that you try it soon! Really, it takes 20 minutes from start to finish! I started at six and we were sitting down to eat by six thirty, after making drinks and feeding the two pups!

YUM!!!

My New Stove

MY NEW STOVE

This was a combination gift from Marc's parents! Isn't it wonderful?

It covers Marc's birthday, our anniversary, my birthday, and probably Christmas this year! But that's ok!

It is so exciting!

We got an LG Self-Cleaning Gas Range with a 5.4 cubic foot oven! Yay! More space!

UPGRADE #1

It has FIVE burners, and came with a griddle for the middle oval burner!

The front two burners are power burners; the front right burner is a SUPER BURNER and heats large amounts of water RAPIDLY!

UPGRADE #2

Fewer individual grates and a flat underside allow for easily cleaning of the stove top!

\

UPGRADE #3

It has a pad instead of dials!

UPGRADE #4

You can use the convection bake and roast features!

UPGRADE #5

It has a delayed start time AND a favorites setting!

UPGRADE #6

It's stainless steel!

UPGRADE #7

Cobalt blue interior to reflect the true color of the food! No opening and closing the doors!

And it's pretty too!

ISN'T IT PRETTY?!

I CAN'T WAIT TO START USING IT!

THANK YOU, MOM AND DAD H!

Marc's Birthday!

I did, indeed, make Marc breakfast in bed! It was simple, not fancy: 3 eggs scrambled with a little bit of milk, salt, and pepper (btw, they were the best scrambled eggs I'd ever made), 1 thick slice of pork roll, and 2 pieces of cinnamon French toast (with Udi's Wholegrain GF Bread). He had to wake up 15 minutes early, but I don't think that he minded, especially since I woke up half an hour before him (5:00 AM) to make him the breakfast!

My day just went downhill from there. I had to sub at a local school, so I didn't get to go back to sleep. Not only did I have to make breakfast for myself, I needed to figure out something to take for lunch that I didn't have to reheat. I'd made a bolognese the night before to go over Tinkyada Vegetable Spirals. I used the spirals to make a pasta salad. It was simple. I chopped a bell pepper, 5 large radishes, and carrots. I added them to the left over pasta and a couple of handfuls of grape tomatoes. To dress it, I put in extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper! But it took energy! By the time I got to school, I was tired. By the end of the day, I remembered why I taught middle and high school! Third graders are just too hyper! Not to mention, you have to be with them ALL DAY!

By the time I got home, I didn't have the energy to make anything fancy for Marc's dinner. I felt really badly, but I couldn't help it. I had planned on lobster, but the store didn't get a fresh shipment, so that was out of the question. I asked Marc what he wanted and he said that steak would be fine! I bought nice NY Strips and some asparagus. There are no step-by-step pictures this time! I was way too tired to detail it that much! But, I did manage to take a picture of the plate before Marc dug into it! I hope you enjoy the recipes!

STEAK with MUSHROOM RED WINE REDUCTION
This is really Alton Brown's recipe on how to cook a steak! It is so easy and quick! First, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F and insert the pan you plan on using on the stove top! Cast iron is great, but I use my Calphalon Unison, which is labeled to be used in a 500 degree oven! Make sure to use a pot holder to take it out, or you'll get burned! I cook my steaks medium-rare, so that is what the times reflect. 
I liberally coated two 1-1/2 inch NY Strip steaks with canola oil, salt, and pepper. I place the HOT pan over high heat and seared the steaks for 30 seconds on each side. I inserted the pan with steaks into the oven. After two minutes, I flipped the steaks. After two additional minutes, I removed the steaks, used a meat thermometer to check the temperature (I wanted 135 degrees F), and placed them on an inverted plate over a slightly larger plate (this allowed the juices to run off and not make the crust soggy). I tented them with aluminum foil (not tightly sealed, just laid over to keep the heat in). This will allow the meat rest and to continue cooking a little, so be careful that it doesn't get too done! 
I left the hot pan over high heat and sautéed mushrooms in the drippings from the meat! I didn't add anything else! After sautéing for five minutes, I added about two cups of red wine (I used Childress Vineyards Classic Red Table because it was all I had on hand) and reduced it by about half. This took about five more minutes. I added 3 tablespoons of butter, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of freshly ground pepper. 
I served the reduction over top of the steak! It was delicious!


ASPARAGUS and BAKED POTATOES
Yes, I took the easy way out! I steamed the asparagus for five minutes in 1/2 inch of water over medium-low heat! That was it! Of course it was covered! I put the water on to begin bubbling and trapping steam when I began the steaks. I added the asparagus when mushrooms were finished sautéing. 
The baked potatoes were even easier. I cheated and used the microwave, one kitchen appliance that I never use except to reheat! I pierced the potatoes with a fork several times wrapped each one with a damp paper towel. I just used to potato function on the microwave when I began my mushrooms and they were ready when the reduction was finished! I loaded them with butter, sour cream, and cheddar cheese! After all, this was a special occasion!

Before the Mushroom Red Wine Reduction

After the Mushroom Red Wine Reduction

I hope that you all try at least the steak! 

It is so easy and great for those times that you can't use the grill!

***Of course, it wouldn't have been a birthday for Marc without an ice cream cake. I don't like them, so I just bought a Carvel cake at the store! Thirty-two candles barely fit on the tiny thing! :) But he liked it!

Marc's Birthday is TOMORROW!

Tomorrow is my dear husband's birthday! I'm having something framed for him, but he already knows about it, so I really wanted to do something else that he wouldn't normally expect. I thought about dinner. What could I make? He loves lobster, lamb, and French onion soup. Since I can't do them all together, I had planned on making lobster, garlic roasted red potatoes, and asparagus! I've never made lobster, but I have wanted to for awhile now. I wonder if they'll have the lobsters. I will try to make this for Marc tomorrow night, but I may not be able to if I'm too tired!

I will make him lamb chops, but not for his birthday! I plan on making the French onion soup and lamb chops. There is a great Guy Fieri recipe - Lamb Loin Chops with a Mint Pesto. It sounds great! But I know this takes a lot of energy and time to make, which I won't have after running around with third graders all day! So this will have to wait for another day!

But I will be doing something special for him that I KNOW I can do! Well, tomorrow morning, before he awakes, I plan on making French toast, eggs, and pork roll! I'll serve him breakfast in bed with some OJ before he starts his day! I hope I can manage to get up! :)

Eastern NC Pulled Pork

Yes... I am now wanting this even more than I was before, after the pulled pork yesterday. To me, the spicy pop pulled pork was bland. It needed more tang! Not spice, per se, just tang. I think it's because I'm used to vinegar-based pulled pork. There was nothing wrong with the pulled pork last night, but I was missing my Eastern NC BBQ!

TAKE 2 LUNCH:
I decided to have leftovers for lunch. I'm glad that I did! I added a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon of Tabasco, and a touch of pepper vinegar to about half of a cup of pulled pork! I reheated it in a pot for about 10 minutes, making sure that it didn't dry out!
I topped it with the cole slaw on an Udi's multigrain hamburger bun, and...

YUM!!!

Marc and I are heading to the movies tonight. I might just make this for him and see how he likes it compared to yesterday's dinner! So easy! And delicious! Hope he likes Eastern NC BBQ and not that other yucky stuff they serve around the country! :)

Ree Drummond's Spicy Pop Pulled Pork and Cilantro Slaw

So, I've been craving pulled pork bbq for awhile now. There are many places that serve true NC-style pulled pork, including Smithfield's Chicken & BBQ, but many of them contain gluten (oddly enough, they usually have soy sauce in them) or are cc'd easily. In fact, in 2009 Smithfield's released that it's BBQ is the only thing on it's menu that is gluten-free, but when probed further, it is easily cc'd! They also have no allergen information readily available. They were looking into it in 2009, but as of 2012 it isn't in any of their stores!

I don't want to try to make traditional NC bbq, for fear of messing it up and being really disappointed. I saw this on Ree Drummond's website a few months back and thought it looked delicious! Then, a couple of Saturdays ago, she had it on her show, The Pioneer Woman, on FoodNetwork! I was very excited! It was definitely something that I could do! Here's the recipe she made on the show! I made it on a smaller scale (it's just Marc and I, after all), with a few changes based on the comments that I read. I'll make it tonight and we'll see if it is as good as it looks! I'm also making her Cilantro Slaw recipe, to top off our pulled pork sandwiches, and baked seasoned French fries!

For the pulled pork, all you need is a 3-1/2 pound pork butt (shoulder), 2 tbsp of light brown sugar (Domino's is gluten-free), 16 ounces of Dr. Pepper, 2 onions (quartered), and chipotle in adobo sauce (La Costena is gluten-free).

Very few ingredients needed for this one!

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees F (or, if your stove is like mine, 330 degrees F - yes, I know I need a new oven; thanks to my in-laws, it will be delivered Friday). After thawing the pork butt (I did mine overnight in cold water), salt and pepper it liberally on all sides. Add the quartered onions into the bottom of a dutch oven and place the pork butt, fat side up, on top of them. Add the Dr. Pepper and brown sugar. Mix to incorporate. The last step has to do with the chipotle in adobo sauce... BE CAREFUL!

I'm not sure how your taste buds are, but chipotle peppers are just smoked jalapeños. They are spicy! The original recipe calls for an 11 oz can. A 7 oz can has 6 peppers and about 6 tablespoons of adobo sauce! I can only imagine how many are in an 11 oz can. If you like spicy foods, use the whole can! I love spicy food and even this amount is too much. My suggestion: when you get home with your peppers, open the can! Remove the seeds from the peppers. Separate the peppers into groups of 2. Cut each pair into strips. Add them to an ice tray. Add 2 tablespoons of adobo sauce (with or without the seeds) over each pair of peppers. Freeze. After 3 hours, remove and store individual cubes in freezer bags until you need them! For this recipe, defrost the chipotle cubes in cold water for about 10 minutes, then add them onto the top of the pork butt!

That's it! Now it's just a matter of time! Place the dutch oven, covered, into the oven at 300 degrees F... and wait!

Dutch oven with the pork butt and other ingredients before it goes in the oven!

After an hour or two, flip the pork. After another hour, flip the pork again - this should keep the fat on top. Once the fat is back on top, cook at least one more hour. The pork (at 3 and a half pounds) should cook for 4-5 hours. Insert a thermometer into the deepest part of the pork (not by a bone if you are using bone-in) and check for doneness. It should read about 160 degrees F if it is ready! An easier way to determine the doneness: does it fall apart? This is pulled pork after all!

Pork butt in the juice!

That's the shoulder blade! This really is "fall off the bone!"

Once the pork is removed from the oven, allow it to rest for half an hour! When you can touch it, take two forks and pull the pork apart. Place all of the pork back into the juices and cover. About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, reheat the pork! That simple!

Pulled pork - back in the juices!

My house smells wonderful as this pork is cooking right now! Hopefully, it is really good! Right after I put the pork in the oven, I made Ree's Cilantro Slaw. The recipe on FoodNetwork is incorrect. However, her recipe on her blog is closer to the one I used. Here's what I did!

I sliced half of a head of green cabbage and a half of a head of red cabbage and placed them in a mixing bowl. 

Sliced cabbage... Next time I will slice thinner pieces.
I had never made cole slaw so I didn't know!

Red and Green cabbage mixed.

The sauce was easy! I mixed one cup of whole milk, one cup of mayonnaise (many brands say gluten-free on their labels), 4 tablespoons of sugar (Domino's is gluten-free), 3 tablespoons of white vinegar (Heinz is gluten-free), 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Her recipe also calls for jalapeños. I skipped that part, but I might add it next time, sans seeds! I added the mixture over the cabbage! Be sure to refrigerate this for at least two hours before adding the 2 cups of cilantro and serving!

Lastly, I made oven-baked French fries. While I was pulling my pork and as my slaw was cooling, I increased the temperature on the oven to 450 degrees F (well, I did 475 because of my oven). I sliced white potatoes into thin strips (I left the skins on). You can use Yukon Golds or any other potato that you like. 

Sliced potatoes.

In a bowl, I tossed them with olive oil. 

Potatoes in the olive oil.

I laid them on a cooling rack placed inside a half cookie sheet. I sprinkled liberally with coarse Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can add seasoning salt, or a Cajun spice, if you'd like. I actually added a bit of cayenne pepper (since that seemed to be a theme in the food). 

Potatoes ready for the oven - I only put cayenne on half of the slices!

I baked them for half an hour and checked to see if they were crispy. Then I flipped them to the other side. Mine took an additional 15 minutes to get crispy on the other side, although not all of them did.

Before I flipped them! Make sure that they are in a single layer!

Overall, dinner was good. I wish that the pork had more flavor. I added a bit of peppered vinegar. It definitely gave it more tang. Next time, I may add more chipotle (although not many) or just increase the adobo sauce. I think I might add some vinegar and red pepper flake, as well, to give it more bite! Even Marc agreed it needed more tang! 

Served on an Udi's Wholegrain Hamburger Bun! Yum!!!

My cole slaw was also a bit bland, but I realized that I forgot to add the cilantro before I served it! It could have used a bit of a bite, as well! The fries were great, served with mayonnaise!  Yum!

Our meal...

I hope that you try this dish! Enjoy!