Cooking with Baby Bro: Hummus, Lemongrass Pork Chops, Green Bean’s and Broccoli Rabe

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My brother and I on Christmas.

    In between Christmas and New Year’s I went up to Pittsburgh to visit with family and friends.  When I asked my brother if he wanted to go out to dinner with our parents he instead suggested that we cook dinner for them at his house.  Always game for food and new recipes I agreed.

    When I got to Jason’s house he decided we needed to go down to the Strip District and go shopping.  If you’ve been to Pittsburgh but never the Strip District you’ve been missing out.  The Strip is a road that has all sorts of specialty and cultural markets, restaurants and bars, and trinket shops.  It’s a cool place to go and you can find things for cheap.  My brother wanted to go to the Asian market so that’s where we ended up buying our vegetables and herbs.  We then headed over to Wholey’s Fish Market for our pork chops.

    Back at my brother’s house we got started on the meal  There were no real recipes and we just added things as we went along.  His kitchen is vastly different from my own as everything is a hodgepodge of dishes, pots, and pans.  He does have a lovely kitchen though, complete with granite counter tops and a double oven.  We had a fun time working together in the kitchen and produced a good, if not really good, meal.

   We started out with my brothers “signature” bacon cheddar hummus.  It’s a smooth and creamy version of hummus that is delicious and different.   For our main course we made lemongrass pork chops which were full of lemongrass and garlic flavor.  We did purchase lobster mac and cheese from Wholey’s (because who can go there and not buy any seafood?) as a side dish and finished with sauteed green beans and broccoli rabe with bacon.  The beans and broccoli rabe were really flavorful.  My parents, my brother, his girlfriend, and I ended up eating just about every bite.  Afterwards we went to a small local bar and played trivia.  It was a great bonding time with my family and I got a few new recipes out of it too.

Bacon and Cheddar Hummus (Jason’s own creation)
1 can (16 oz) chickpeas
2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. olive oil
3 T. cheddar cheese
2 green onions, chopped
1 t. tahini

1.  Combine all ingredients in a food processor.  Pulse until mostly smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

2.  Serve with pita chips or vegetables.

Lemongrass Pork Chops (a Heather and Jason original recipe)
8 boneless pork chops
1 stalk lemongrass
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 c. Golden Mountain sauce, divided
1/4 c. water
3 T. olive oil
1 t. black pepper
chili powder


1.  Cut the bottom inch off of the stalk of lemongrass as well as the top couple inches of lemongrass, leaving a 3-4 inch portion.  Cut the lemongrass into 1 inch pieces and place in the food processor with the minced garlic, 1/2 cup of Golden Mountain sauce, water, and olive oil.  Process until almost smooth.

2.  Put the pork chops in a ziplock freezer bag and pour the marinade over top.  Refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.

3.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

4.  Remove the pork chops from the marinade and place in a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Discard the remaining marinade.

5.  Pour the remaining 1/4 cup of Golden Mountain sauce on top of the pork chops and sprinkle with black pepper.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pork chops are up to temperature.  Serve hot and sprinkle with chili powder if desired.

Green Beans and Broccoli Rabe with Bacon (a Heather and Jason original recipe)
1 pound green beans
2 large stalks of broccoli rabe, stems trimmed
4 slices of bacon
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t. black pepper
1 lemon wedge

1.  Cut the tips of the green beans off and blanch the green beans.  Immediately put them in a cold water bath, drain,  and set aside. 

2.  In a large skillet cook the bacon until it is crispy and brown.  Drain the bacon on paper towels and then crumble.  Remove all but 2 teaspoons of the bacon grease from the skillet.

3.  In the skillet with the bacon drippings add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add in the green beans and broccoli rabe and saute for 3-5 minutes, turning to coat with the bacon drippings.  Sprinkle on the black pepper.

4.  Remove from heat and add in crumbled bacon and juice from 1 lemon wedge.  Toss and serve hot.

Jason showing off our meal 🙂

This post linked to:
Full Plate Thursday, Frugal Food Thursdays, It’s A Keeper Thursday
Party Mindie Style, Not Baaad Sundays

One Comment

  1. Good Morning Heather,
    What a great memory and a great meal. I love it all, but will be trying that Hummus for the upcoming football parties. Thank you so much for sharing with our 1st Anniversary Party at Full Plate Thursday. Have a great week end and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

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