Star of the County Down

This is Jessie, my 2 1/2 month old Irish Terrier. Why is her name Jessie? Ask the French. Their naming system for pedigree dogs dictates the first letter of the name of the dog depending on the year. 2014 was “J” and I couldn’t think of an Irish name that I admired that started with J. I should have asked Conor. Too late. Anyway, the name suits her; as in Jessie James : – O In this picture she has just finished uprooting a container of flowers and chasing the cat. “Why must I be like that? Why must I chase the cat? Nothing but the dog in me.”

Seems like I made a good choice with this breed. Jessie is pretty, intelligent and affectionate. Too bad the cats don’t think so :D

Anyway, we’re on our way back to Germany at the end of the week. Of course the refrigerators and their freezers are bulging. I’ll just empty everything out into a cooler and cook constantly as we pack out.

I’m having a hard time concentrating on cooking with so many things going on. Our Jade got her report card and her lowest grade was a B. That’s a really good thing! The school in Massachusetts seems to have worked a miracle! Really, we poured over the card to make sure there was no mistake and that her name was on it. I hope they’re not beating her :D

My goal today was to cook with as little effort as possible. Accomplished! I only used one pan for the courgettes and the pork steaks with mustard gravy. Mwuahahahaha!!

Pork Steak with Mustard Gravy

2 pork steaks

Salt and pepper

3 tbsp butter

1 1/2 courgettes, chaotically cut into cubes

3 shallots, thinly sliced

1 tbsp flour

1 cup water or chicken broth

1 heaping tsp Dijon mustard

1 sprig fresh thyme

Season the pork with salt and pepper, then set aside.

Melt 1 tbsp of the butter into a skillet, add the courgettes and quickly brown. Remove the courgettes from the skillet and set aside keeping warm.

Add another tbsp of butter to the skillet and cook the pork steaks until just done. Remove and set aside.

Add the remaining tbsp of butter and cook the shallots until limp, then add the tbsp of flour and continue to cook until the flour and shallots are a golden brown. Slowly stir in the water or broth until smooth, then add the mustard, thyme sprig and pork steaks. Cover and simmer for 5-8 minutes. Serve with the courgettes.

Wine suggestion: Petit Chablis



  • Love
  • Save
    Add a blog to Bloglovin’
    Enter the full blog address (e.g. https://www.fashionsquad.com)
    We're working on your request. This will take just a minute...