Tuesday, January 24, 2012

I may have underestimated Hub's seasoning skills.

I'm a huge plan of meal planning.  Every Sunday I sit down and page through tons of websites, looking through recipe after recipe, looking for the perfect week of meals. This week I chose a handful of new recipes and I'll throw in a couple of standbys for a little variety and, what turned out to be, a LOT of spice.

I'm going to be honest...I do most of the planning and shopping, but when it comes down to it, hubs does most of the ACTUAL cooking.  He loves coming up with a spice blend and then not telling anyone what was in it.  When I picked a recipe for pork chops, I knew he would jump at the chance to season them just right and cook them to perfection. This was no exception, especially since the recipe I found was for CAJUN pork chops, which was a win for both of us.

So, we had our protein-Cajun pork chops. Then, for starch, I found what I thought would be the perfect match-roasted Cajun potatoes!  Now, Cajun + Cajun in my book clearly = hush puppies! Oh, and green beans.  You know, for color.  So, hubs and I got to work, and sat down to our feast.

I started with a hush puppy, which we made pretty close to the recipe, but substituted beer for the milk and water it had called for.  The flavor on these little guys is AMAZING, but the texture leaves something to be desired.  I think I'll play around with ingredients next time I make them, since I will for sure be making them again.

Hush Puppies:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hush-puppies-i/detail.aspx



Next, I tried a bite of my pork chop, which was crispy on the outside and juicy inside the way nature intended it.  I was about to go for a bite of potato when my eyes started watering.  As it turns out, a little bit of Cajun is good in moderation, but two dishes with such strong spices in one meal..may be a little too much spice for me.  Don't get me wrong, the chops and spuds had great flavor, the spice was just slightly overpowering.

Cajun Spiced Pork Chops:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cajun-Spiced-Pork-Chops/Detail.aspx






  We decided the potatoes would be better if the spices were mixed with mayonnaise before roasting, to kind of mellow out the flavor, but they were definitely worth a try.  For the leftovers, I think we'll be mixing them with some plain potatoes and into some "leftover eggs."

Roasted Cajun Potatoes:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-cajun-potatoes/detail.aspx


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