Hidden away in a post about some long-finished contest I found this great recipe for pork chops. I’ve never had much luck with pork chops – they always seem to come out to tough when I cook them – but this recipe worked out really well for me. I think the trick is that the chops are browned in the pan and finish nestled in a nice creamy sauce. The authors included a video as well, so helpful!

Smothered Pork Chops

4-6 pork chops (3/4 to 1 inch thick)
1/2 cup almond flour
2 tbs. coconut flour
1 tbs. garlic powder
1 tbs. onion powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. chipotle powder or cayenne pepper
1/2 cup coconut or olive oil
1-2 large sweet onions- sliced
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup coconut milk

Rinse pork chops and pat dry.

Mix flours, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, salt, paprika and chipotle well and spread the mixture on a plate.

Heat oil in large skillet.

Dredge chops in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Reserve remaining flour.

When oil is barely smoking, add pork chops and cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown.

Remove chops from pan and set aside.

Without cleaning the pan, add the onions in and stir to loosen up any browned bits (called deglazing). Cook until onions are well-browned and translucent.

Sprinkle in remaning flour mixture on to onions, add the chicken stock and whisk to combine. Let sauce thicken a bit (simmer for about 5 minutes).

Stir in coconut milk.

Add the pork chops back into pan, spooning the onion sauce over them. Allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes or until pork is cooked through.

This is a great dollar-stretching, lots-of-leftovers meal and it tastes great too.

Cabbage Rolls
(adapted from this recipe)

1 head green cabbage

2 lbs ground beef (could use other ground meats)
1 egg
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp dry basil
1 tsp dry oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 of a head of cauliflower

1 large jar of tomato sauce (3-4 cups)

Grab a large pot and a metal steamer basket (like this dealy). Add water to the pot to reach the bottom of the steamer and bring the water to a boil. Cut the core out of the bottom of the cabbage and set it bottom-down in the steamer. Put a lid on it for 15 minutes. Remove the cabbage and set aside to cool.

In a frying pan, add the garlic, onions and herbs, sauté on med for 2-3 mins, remove from heat. Break the cauliflower into smaller pieces and whiz in a food processor until chopped fine like rice.

In a mixing bowl combine the meat, egg, onion mixture and cauliflower.

If the cabbage isn’t cool enough to handle run some cool water over it. Carefully separate twelve of the cabbage leaves, trying not to tear them. I find that I often have to cut out of a bit of the thick centre of the cabbage leaves to get them to roll nicely.

Spray a 9×13 inch pan with a bit of oil and spread a few big spoonfuls of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan to keep the rolls from burning.

One at a time, roll about a half a cup of the meat mixture in each of the cabbage leaves, tucking in the sides to form a cute little bundle. Arrange the bundles in the pan seam-side down.

When all your bundles are in the pan, pour the remaining tomato sauce over the whole works. Cover the pan loosely with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour.

It was almost a year ago that I signed up for Netflix when it launched in Canada. Overall I’ve been very happy with the service. I’ve certainly found it worth the eight bucks or so it costs every month to use. Has it completely replaced TV and movie watching in my house? Well yes and no.

I cancelled my cable TV subscription a month or two in advance of the launch of Netflix. At the time the decision was a combination of needing to trim all fat from my budget, and an urge to finally “cut the cord” and redirect my TV time to other things. I wouldn’t have even considered myself a big TV watcher, but no one ever does. We all say that we only follow a few shows, but honestly I think we’ve all found ourselves leaving the TV on at the end of one of those ‘few shows’, aimlessly flicking between channels before we settle on that re-run of CSI that we’ve already seen twice. You know you’ve been there.

So really, I didn’t want Netflix to replace my TV and movie watching. I was trying to evolve away from my screen dependancies (as little as I perceived them). Again, overall I think it’s been a success. Every once in a while I’ll find a show I really like and I’ll watch an episode every night until I’ve exhausted all the available seasons, but half an hour every night of commercial-free tube time compared to two hours or more of mindless surfing is definitely an improvement.

My parents have also recently made the decision to cut the cord and have signed up for Netflix as an alternative with much the same hopes that I did a year ago. That said, the transition is harder for them. You see, the Netflix system isn’t pefect, especially for generations other than my own. The first barrier to entry is accessibility.

Just to get Netflix to work you need one of the following:

• A computer or laptop, running Windows and the required (free) software, connected to the internet at acceptable speeds, and with enough horsepower to play the video stream.
• A modern game console (Wii, XBox360, or PS3), connected to the internet, with the required addons/apps/plugins. Note that if you want to watch Netflix through the XBox360 you also have to have an XBox live account – at an extra monthly cost which in my opinion is a totally unneccessary money grab.
• A boxee box or similar “media server” product, connected to the internet.

The first thing all of these options have is that they COST MONEY – like hundreds of dollars. The other key factor is the complexity of setting up the device and service. This is money and effort that most people my age have already expended – they already own a computer or a game console and have a decent high-speed internet connection. People like me find the adoption of Netflix very easy. Many people outside of my limited demographic, however, do not have the equipment or the know-how to set up a system that works for them.

Let’s look back at my parents as an example. I feel they reflect the average baby-boomer couple pretty accurately. Mom and dad have a pretty decent laptop, purchased in the last few years. They also have high-speed internet. Thus they have the equipment needed to watch TV and movies on Netflix. But they’re still not entirely satisfied. Why? Well duh, what couple wants to snuggle up to a laptop monitor to watch a show?!?! So the situation is this: for my parents, Netflix is now more uncomfortable to use than conventional TV or DVDs, exactly opposite the experience Netflix is trying to achieve.

I’m currently looking for ways to help my parents set up a system or method for watching Netflix on the TV that is as affordable and easy-to-use as possible. Not every Netflix user faced with a similar dissatifaction will have the resources to improve their experience.

Hell even I have my gripes with Netflix. At some point this summer our family PC (running Windows) and our TV and game consoles were all packed up to allow for renovations. For a month or two my daughter and I were left with just our netbooks and internet access for entertainment (spare me the comments about first-world problems). The problem is that our netbooks run Linux instead of Windows, and Netflix doesn’t work with a non-Windows operating sytem. I’m sure it’s a problem only .0001% of Netflix users will ever face, but that doesn’t make it any less of a hindrance to wider adoption.

And Netflix wants wider adoption. If you take a look at this article from the Globe and Mail you can see that despite having almost a million subscribers in Canada, Netflix has still lost about $10-million in the year it’s been offering service in Canada.

I think overall if Netflix wants to continue to grow their subscriber base in Canada it’s going to have to offer a service that isn’t just cheaper than a cable TV subscription, but also just as easy to use. And that’s just looking at the situation from a wide perspective. There are a lot of little improvements and tweaks that the geek in me can imagine for the Netflix service that would start making it a service that offered much more than cable TV could ever dream of.

In part two of this topic I’m going to talk about a few things I’m doing to make my personal Netflix experience better, and talk about some of the ideas that could really make Netflix the ultra-rich media provider it needs to be to get in the black here in Canada.

Time for a Friday Five on Tuesday, except today I’m answering the top five baby-related questions I get asked. You see avid followers, I am knocked up. Preggo. Baking a bun. So here are the details:

1. How far along are you? As of today I am at twenty one weeks. Ah, the blissful second trimester. I feel like a moon-worshipping sensual earth goddess. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can, because before long I will start feeling like a cross between Jabba the hut and Shamu the whale.

2. When are you due? The estimated due date is November 15th, but I’m really hoping for 11/11/11.

3. Is it a boy or a girl? Probably. Jon and I decided not to know the gender. We’ll know when he or she shows up.

4. Do you have a name picked out? We have a few ideas. Personally I like Lucy for a girl and James for a boy. Those were the first names of my paternal grandmother (Nana) and my maternal grandfather, both of whom I cared for very much. Lucien is another boy name being considered. At some point I’ll make up a list of all the names Jon and I like and after baby arrives we’ll pick the one that suits them best. I guess a lot of people have names decided on way before baby shows up, but that doesn’t make sense to me.

5. Is it yours? Alright no one has actually asked me this one yet, but it was funny right? I couldn’t really think of a fifth question I get asked a lot. If y’all can think of a question about my current condition or future plans go ahead and ask it in the comments.

This is an absolute staple for me personally, though the other eaters in my family are lukewarm about this dish. They tend not to like the taste or texture of the cherry tomatoes. The recipe should be easy to cut back in quantity if you wish. I like to make a large batch at once and use it in my packed lunches for work.

3 heads broccoli
1 pkg (appx 2 cups) cherry tomatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon, grate 1-2 tsp of rind then juice
2 tsp oregano

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the broccoli into bite-size florets and place in a very large bowl. Toss with the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, and minced garlic. Spread onto one or more large baking sheets and arrange broccoli and tomatoes so that they form one layer and do not overlap too much. Bake/roast in the oven for 12 minutes. Transfer from the baking sheets right back into the large bowl and toss with the lemon juice and oregano. Serve immediately.