Midweek Food Musings: Pork Chops with Mango, Blood Orange, Onion, and Grainy Mustard Sauce

Many of you know that in my "other" life, I'm an ESL nerd (English as a Second Language!), and that I do workshops/presentations--and even write books on the topic! Well, one of my ESL specialties is writing which, my students have heard me say a bazillion times, is not unlike cooking.

Stay with me here!

So, when I talk to teachers, and try to help them to help their students conquer this oh-so-difficult task of generating ideas, organizing them, and then putting them forth in a piece of writing, I often talk about  the "scaffolding" of steps.

Still with me? If so, you can probably see where I'm going: the scaffolding of ideas/steps in writing could be compared with those in creating a dish. And so, my friends, the sauce for the dish I am sharing here was born.

Dinner of Roasted Pork Chops topped with a Mango-Blood-Orange-Mustard Sauce, Baby Spinach and Tomato Salad, Gallo Pinto, and Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Many of you also know that blood orange has been on my mind! I used it in creating the Caribbean Cosmopolitan I shared on Latin Twist, and on Telemundo before that! Well, my love affair continues...After being enhanced by tasting blood orange marmalade (check out the  marmalades here!), my playing with this fruit continues! 

Here I'm not sharing a recipe, but rather some ingredients that you can combine for a sauce, according to your liking, and to what you'll serve it with! So here they are:

Red onions 

White wine

Mango nectar

Blood orange juice

Whole grain mustard

Salt and pepper

Cilantro (or, if you're not a cilantro fan, flat leaf parsley)

The only thing I would tell you is that you should scaffold: sauté the onions in olive oil and then, once, they start to soften, add the white wine. After that's absorbed, add the mango and orange juices (and let thicken), and then add the mustard....and then salt and pepper. And finally, finish with the cilantro. Serve on top of grilled or roasted meats, fish, chops, or roasted turnips/potatoes....the list goes on!