Pork and Portabella Grilled Skewers & Maple Stout Bread

Fall in Florida isn't exactly jeans and sweater weather (I think it was 85 today) but following a trip to Conners farm this morning with Fre and Scarlett to run through the corn maze, ride the tractor and pet the farm animals, I felt like trying something "fall like" for dinner. After checking what I had in the fridge and the pantry, I came up with an idea for some grilled pork skewers with mushrooms and a basil/garlic sauce.  I marinated some boneless pork chops in white wine, olive oil, fresh thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper and garlic for about 2 hours.  While that was working in the fridge, I decided to try making a celery root puree as a side dish. On a complete whim this morning I bought some celery root for the first time at the grocery store so I wanted to try it out.  I boiled two celery roots (after peeling and chopping into about 1 inch cubes) with two russet potatoes....and instead of boiling them in salted water, I boiled them in milk, knowing it would tame a bit of the bite of the celery root.  After about 15 minutes I drained it all, threw it in the food processor and added garlic, about a 1/2 cup of buttermilk and salt and pepper.  

Finally, I stuck the pork on the skewers with some portabellas, hit the mushrooms with a little olive oil so they wouldn't stick to the grill, and threw them on there for about 5-6 minutes.  While Fre was watching the grill, I missed up aboutg 1/2 cup of finally chopped scallions, 1/2 cup of basil, some olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper as a little "sauce" to top the skewers.

To finish it all off, earlier in the day I came across a recipe for a Maple Stout quick bread in the new Cooking Light issue.  The combo of maple syrup and a Guinness sounded interested so I gave it a try.  This is an amazingly easy and delicious quick bread. I mixed it up, headed out for a run, and by the time I got back it was just about ready to take out of the oven.  Top it off with a drizzle of a maple syrup glaze (i just mixed maple syrup and some powdered sugar) and you're set.  Eat a slice with a cold Guinness.....perfect.