I asked for oregano... and oregano I now have. Last year, I hadn't quite figured out what to use it for besides spaghetti sauce.
I had dried some in the fall last year, and was happy to have freshly dried oregano available with just a clip of the scissors--my natural laziness meant that I had hung the oregano to dry in the kitchen, and never took it down, instead of removing the leaves and putting them in a jar.
Right now, my patch of oregano is already overgrown so I've decided to try to use it more often... so I made some yogurt oregano marinade for some pork chops. I just eyeballed all this..
About 1.5 cups of Balkan-style YogurtI marinaded the pork chops in this overnight in the fridge. They were delicious, not moist tho but that's probably because Dave and I are still figuring out how to use our charcoal grill properly. Use the remaining marinade to baste the meat.
5-6 stalks of oregano, leaves removed and chopped. (I really love oregano and tend to over do it)
2 cloves of garlic, minced (*updated. oops! forgot an ingredient)
the juice of one lemon
a few grates of lemon rind
a pinch of pepper
a pinch of Fleur de Sel (or regular salt)
Mix it all together. Taste and see if anything needs adjusting.
I think I might try this again but with stewing pork, then skewered like kabobs.
My other oregano experiment was a pesto. I didn't have pine nuts so I used walnuts. The end result was quite bitter.
On a completely unrelated note, here is a picture of our very first lilacs!
It's a provincial holiday (Discovery Day) today and it's not fabulous outside so I'm thinking I might make some fancy bannock.
Congrats on the lilacs. To be treasured.
ReplyDeleteIf I knew how to bottle the smell of just-blossomed lilacs, I'd be a millionaire. The garden at Lorne Park was bathed in lilac scent on still spring evenings...mmmmmmm! Still the thing I miss most of all.
I deliberately arranged my daily walks this spring to hit the lilac spots around here.
Stop, bend the branch to your nose, inhale...and if someone's watching you, who cares?
Bannock has always been a fave, done in a frying pan over a fire. Never saw it done on a stick, though I'm told you can. Internet recipes abound, though once you can make a basic bannock,you can start experimenting with extra ingredients.
Thow some berries in the bannock, cook, smear with crunchy peanut butter...food for a week.
You may inspire me again, once I see your recipe.
I'm sure it will be more imaginative than my attempts.
My own approach to a charcoal grill is to bunch the coals toward the centre, sear the meat both sides, then push the coals evenly around to produce less intense heat for the rest of the cooking.
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