Stuffed Pork Chops

This is a dish I have never had nor made before but I have seen made on the good ol' Food Network. I don't know why I never made it or even tried it because it sounds so appealing. So last week when we bought a 3 foot pork loin from Costco and I was cutting it up for meals and such I decided to cut a few extra thick for some stuffed chops. I decided that I would stuff them with a form of bread stuffing that I make for Thanksgiving but I would add nuts to it to give it some crunch. Let me tell you I was spot on with this one if I say so myself (which I'm pretty sure I just did). If you are a fan of pork and things that taste like the holidays then this is the dish for you. Questions? Feel free to email me.

Kitchen Notes
* I used pork chops but this will work with chicken as well.
* For bread think French bread or those awesome Labrea type breads they have at Costco.
* If you're not using a cast iron skillet, you can use a regular fry pan then transfer them to a sheet pan for the oven.
* Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
- 1/2 an onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled then roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 12 or so fresh sage leaves (10 left whole, the rest minced)
- 1 tablespoon chicken base
- 1 teaspoon bacon grease (trust me)
- 1/2 loaf of fresh bread, left out over night, then crust removed and cubed small
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup cream or half and half
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- salt and pepper
- 4, 1 inch thick pork chops cut so there's a small hole and a large pocket inside the meat
- garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 cups chicken stock

The Process
1. Combine the onion, celery, carrots, garlic and 10 of the sage leaves with a little bit of water in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. If it's not pulsing smoothly, add a little more water (don't worry we're going to cook it out).
2. In a saute pan, add the puree mixture with the chicken base and bacon grease and cool until the liquid has cooked off about 10 minutes.
3. Pour mixture in a bowl with the bread crumbs and mix well. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow to cool. Then stir in the egg, cream and pecans then season with salt and pepper.
4. Stuff each pork chop as full as they'll get. Then season with salt and pepper and the garlic powder. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
5. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. When the oil if hot, add the pork chops and cook for 8 minutes per side (or until they are well browned) rotating half way through. Then both sides are browned place skillet and chops in the oven for 6 minutes to finish cooking.
6. Remove pan and place chops on a plate then cover with foil. Return pan to medium high heat and add the butter. When the butter melts whisk in the flour to make a roux and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add the stock and the minced sage and bring to a boil stirring occasionally making sure the roux is mixed in. When simmering, turn heat to medium low and cook for 3 minutes. Season gravy with salt and pepper.
7. To serve, place a chop on the plate and cover that and whatever else you have on their with the gravy.
8. Enjoy!

Tacos El Pastor

Who doesn't love a good taco? Have you ever wanted to make something really authentic full of flavor and lots of depth? Well this is the dish for you. Not to mention it's pretty easy to make. You just marinade the meat, grill it off with some pineapple, chop it up then put it in a tortilla with some chili sauce (recipe included) and that's dinner. I based this recipe off of one found here from epicurious so I can't take all the credit. So let me know what you think and if you need any pointers you know what to do.

Kitchen Notes
* When you marinade the meat, make the salsa. It really is better when you let it sit for a few days.
* If you don't have Mexican oregano then regular will work just fine.
* Makes 4 - 5 good sized servings.

Ingredients
- 1 large onion, divided
- 1 pineapple, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds
- 2 oranges juiced
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 chipotles in adobe
- 2 pork tenderloins filleted into 2 pieces length wise
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Flour tortillas
- Chili Salsa (recipe below)

The Process
1. Combine half the onion, 2 rounds of the pineapple, vinegar, chili powder, garlic, salt, oregano, cumin and chipotles in a blender and puree until it's smooth. Then place in a plastic bag with the pork and let marinade for 48 hours. Now would be a good time to make the salsa.
2. When the pork is done marinating, pregeat your grill to high. When the grill is hot place the tenderloin pieces on the heat (don't worry about scraping off the marinade it will char nicely) as well as the remaining pineapple rounds. Grill the tenderloins until they are charred on both sides about 8 minutes per side. The same for the pineapple about 6 minutes per side. Remove from heat.
3. Chop the remaining onion half into small pieces and mix with the cilantro. Chop the pork and pineapple and mix together in a large bowl.
4. To serve, place a some meat/pineapple mixture on a tortilla then sprinkle some of the onions on to then a little bit of the salsa.
5. Enjoy!


** Chili Salsa **
Ingredients
- 8 dried ancho chilies, stems and seed removed
- 2 cups hot water
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 chipotle in adobo
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 teaspoons lime juice

The Process
1. In a bowl combine the chilies and the hot water and let the chilies steep for about an hour making sure to submerge them from time time.
2. Add the onion and garlic to a saute pan and cook for about 8 minutes with a little bit of oil.
3. Add the soaked chilies, 1 cup of the steeping liquid, the onion and garlic, chipotle, cilantro and lime juice to a blender and puree until smooth. Place in a resealable containter until ready for use.

I know it's been a while...

It's true I've been slacking off and I partially blame this on Assassin's Creed Brotherhood for my XBox and my really busy life. I've also been working on getting my photography deal kicked into high gear. I was asked by the photographers who did my wedding, Natasha Reed Photography to be a third photographer in a wedding in September. This means a lot to me because I really look up to these guys and the fact that they are willing to let me work with them means the world to me. It's flattering to say the least but overall it is an amazing opportunity for me to learn. I can't thank them enough for letting me be apart of their business and seasoned photographer's minds. I am definitely looking forward to that.

I have also decided a name for my business if that's what you want to call it and that's Christian Linenko Photography. I know creative right? I think it get's the point across. So I have been booking shoots like crazy so if you're interested please click the Recruit Me link above. I also have a facebook fan page now so "like" me if you haven't already. It can be found here. Thanks for checking in and I have 3 new recipes coming really soon. Hope you all are doing well!

Blondin Engagement Pics

So I work with a bunch of cool peeps if you didn't know. I was asked by one of them's future wifes to take their engagement pictures and of course I said yes. When someone asks me to take their pictures I get really excited. I hear all these stories of families and couples who get their pictures taken and they are really unhappy about the results. That's where I fit in. I do my darndest to make sure that they get something they like and when they see their results and I hear their feedback I get all smitten inside.



The location they picked was Pike Place and I was stoked because I haven't shot that location with people yet. The weather sucked but we were able to pull it off and the results were awesome if I say so myself. They were troopers and did a fantastic job. If you get the time take a look at the pics and let me know what you think.



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I got a motorcycle

I have always wanted to get a motorcycle even though I have never ridden before in my life. I mean I know there are significant risks involved but that doesn't really freak me out and in all actuality it kind of made me want to get one more. Now I know that if I was to get a bike it has to be a cruiser because if I were to get a sport bike I would want to go 150 mph all the time. A cruiser is cool because you just kind of lay out and chill and that sounds like a good fit for me. However before I bought a bike it was time to take the safety course.



I found this company called The Evergreen Safety Council and they offer motorcycle training courses. Being that I have never ridden before I decided to to take the Novice or Total Noob class. It consisted of 3 classes the first on a Thursday from 6 - 9 which was all class work. The second was on Saturday which was from 8 - 1 which was all riding then from 2 - 5 and this was all class work again and also included the written part of the test which was crazy easy. I missed 2 questions out of 50. The final day was from 8 - 12 and the last part was the driving test. I got a 99/100 which was awesome the highest score in the class.



For the record I HIGHLY recommend this class. They teach you all kinds of stuff and they do a great job of getting your mind in the right place. It's usually not the rider who creates accidents it's the other retards on the road who don't know how to drive.



So the next day I got my new license from the DOL with the motorcycle endorsement on the back. The wife had a great idea of going down and checking out bikes in Redmond and Bellevue and you know I was all over that. The first place we went to was closed on Mondays which sucks for them because I was ready to buy a bike. We then went to Eastside Harley in Bellevue and didn't leave until we had a bike.



I ended up getting a 2008 Harley Davison 1200 XL Custom Sportster. Now I know this is a smaller bike but the XL Custom fits me pretty good. Not to mention it isn't crazy fast which is good for my first bike. Not to mention it has all the modifications done to it already so I don't have to get that stuff. Honestly the only thing I would do to it would be to get a solo seat.



So I got it delivered to my house on Friday afternoon and spent 2 hours riding it around my neighborhood. Why was it delivered you ask? For the fact that my wife is smart and beautiful and made me realize that I have no idea how to ride a bike like that and it probably wasn't a good idea for me to ride it home 20 miles away on the freeway during rush hour. She was right.



I'm really looking forward to riding it a ton and getting super comfortable on it. I just need to ride and ride and I should be good to go. I honestly made a million new friends in like an hour because I'm a Harley owner now. It's nuts and fun at the same time. Hope to see you all out there.



See you on the road!!!

Oregon Trip

So here's the skinny. A couple of months ago the wife and I decided we should go down to visit my dad who lives just outside of Portland. We do this a couple of times a year and we always have a good time. Portland is an awesome town with tons stuff to keep you busy especially for people like the wife and I who love to drink and eat and have a good time. I had a few days of extra vaca stored up so we decided to make it a 4 day weekend.



Me being me, I decided I should do something really special for the wife it being the weekend after valentines day and all. So I hopped on the internets and found out that the hotel we stayed at when we got married in Canon Beach was doing a 2fer (that's 2 for 1) on their rates if you stay between Sunday and Thursday. So I booked 2 nights in that hotel but I didn't tell Kishelle I really wanted it to be a surprise. I was going to tell her while we were in Portland sometime. She was basically under the impression that we were going to be in Portland for 4 days and that was that. The plan was working.



It was the week before we were planning on heading down and we found out there is a brewery tour that Saturday in Portland. It was called Zwicklemania and it was going to feature like 30 breweries and there was going to have shuttles and all kinds of cool stuff. Not to mention that a couple of our friends were going to be there as well. This is perfect because my Dad had to work all day and we really didn't have anything to do anyways.



Let me tell you it was AWESOME! Everyone was handing out free beer and tours. I got to go to some of my favorites like Rock Bottom, Deschutes, Rogue, Bridgeport, McMinimins and any others I am forgetting. The beer was good, the company was good, it really was a fun time. I have never had unfiltered beer before. I mean they were literally pouring beer from one of the fermenting tanks. It was so sweet. We were seriously tanked by 5 pm.



We were standing outside waiting for my Dad after parting ways with our friends and right about that time the wife was getting a little pushy about wanting to do things that night with our friends and brother who was close to town as well. I kept telling her not to plan everything because I had stuff lined up but she had some liquid courage in her and was not letting up. So I dropped the bomb. "Babe we're going to the beach." "What beach?" "Canon Beach for 2 night and we're leaving in the morning." This was taken very well and I was then smothered in praise and kisses.



The pops picked us up and we went to this killer restaurant called Pok Pok. This place was on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives and offers a unique kind of Thai food. This is kind of a big deal for my Dad who doesn't really eat out of his comfort zone too much. We shared something like 5 dishes between us all and they were absolutely amazing. The stand out were the wings though. They were candied and tasty and one of a kind.



The next morning we set out for Canon Beach which is about 1.5 hours from Portland. We made it there with no problems even though there was some snow on the ground going over the 2,000 foot pass. For those who don't know we were married on this beach. Our stay was full of food, beach time, drinking, bubble baths and relaxing. It was exactly what we needed as a couple. That place hold a special place in our hearts and will always.



We stayed 2 wonderful night then made our way back to Portland to see my Dad again and pick up a new BBQ (it's a Weber Genesis in case you were wondering). Heading over the pass it started snowing like crazy. We barely made it. Not to mention they detoured us about an hour out of the way. The 1.5 hour trip turned into 3 hours really fast. We made it though and saw my Dad and the trip home was a cinch too. It was one of my favorites trips to date.



Wow I've been rambling. Check out my pics and let me know what you think. Hope you all are doing well.

Portland Pics
Canon Beach Pics

Jeremy and Tiffanie's Pics

My friends ask me to take pictures of them all the time but these guys are really great people so I was exceptionally stoked to do it for them. So when the day approached we ironed out the clothing choices and the location which happened to be right next to this camp I used to spend time at when I was a kid. We went to the locale on Saturday and there was still snow on the ground not to mention it was probably 34 degrees with 20 mph wind gusts. IT WAS COLD! They pulled through though. They kept their chins up and put on big smiles and we pulled it off. By the time we were done all our hands and faces were frozen but I had about 300 pictures to work with. Not bad for 30 minutes of work. Then we went to the bar and warmed up with our friend Miller High Life and Buffalo Wings. When I was editing them I tried to bring out the coolness of the shirts and the snow into each picture keeping them light and bright. So check out the pics and let me know what you think.

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