Stuffed Pork Chops

If you're like me, pork has never been my favorite.  I remember growing up in the fifties and sixties (true confession time) during the "canned soup craze".  I'm sure every family had an assortment in their pantry ranging from cream of mushroom, beef with barley, tomato, and my personal favorite pepper pot.  The resulting finished dinner project was usually a piece of meat oozing with cream of whatever canned soup on top!  As sales declined these soup companies came up with new and innovative ways to have you buy their soups.  Enter the famous Thanksgiving green bean casserole layered with fried onion rings.  You know what I'm talking about.  I don't ever remember reading about the pilgrims gathering around the table eating green bean casserole!

So, while pork chops aren't served very often in my house,  I will admit these were pretty tasty.  The true flavors came through complemented by Fall flavors of apple, onions and mushrooms.  Try these; you may like them.

Stuffed Pork Chops

Serves 2

2 pork chops, with bone

1 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp butter

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 apple, peeled and diced

3 Tbsp yellow onion, diced

3 button mushrooms, diced

3 Tbsp seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup broth or apple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan, heat the oil and butter.  Add the garlic, apple, onion, and mushrooms and saute until onion and mushrooms are slightly soft.  Add the breadcrumbs and mix well.

Cut a pocket into the meaty side of each pork chop.  Get as close to the bone as you can.  Stuff the filling into each cavity, pressing in firmly with fingers.  Salt and pepper the chops.  In an oven proof heated skillet, gently add the chops and brown on one side.  Gently (with tongs) flip them over to brown on the other side.

Add half of the apple juice (1/4 cup) to the skillet and place into the oven, covered.  After 30 minutes uncover and add the remaining apple juice.  Cook for an additional 30 minutes until done.

You could actually cut them with a fork....tender and full of flavor!  Enjoy!

Chicken Waldorf Salad

Why do I love chicken?  Let me count the ways!  Here's another variation for the famous Waldorf salad created in New York way back in the 1890's.  If I'm remembering correctly either my mother or grandmother  (probably both) made this with cherries and walnuts or sometimes grapes.  This is my kind of lighter meal when the temperature climbs outside and you don't want to turn on the oven or stand over a hot barbecue.

Use this recipe as a guide because substitutions are allowed!   Maybe you want turkey instead of chicken.  Or try pecans instead of walnuts, dried cranberries instead of raisins!  You get the idea!

Chicken Waldorf Salad

Serves 2

1 1/2 cups precooked chicken, cubed

1 apple, peeled and chopped

1 celery rib, sliced

1 handful of raisins

1 handful of walnuts, chopped

2-3 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp plain yogurt

1 Tbsp lemon juice or lemon zest

Mix all ingredients well, refrigerate for about an hour.  Then serves on a bed of lettuce.  Enjoy!

Apple Crisp - Beginning of Fall

Today marks the beginning to one of my favorite Seasons.  Fall is when the hustle and bustle slows down, the leaves turn to gold and crimson, the weather cools down and I start to make soups and fruit crisp!  Last evening I felt the urge to make a big pot of lentil soup.  The body knows when it's Fall.

Even though, my vegetable growing was lack luster, the fruit trees in this part of the country are heaving with apples, peaches, pears and apricots.  Now, is when I wish I had planted fruit tress.  Normally, they don't thrive in this climate and/or altitude, but this year we were never subjected to the late Spring frost!   Who knows; Maybe next year!

One of my neighbors "donated" the apples for this crisp.  Whenever I have those "reject" apples..You know, the ones no one will eat because of a bruise or two, I make a batch of applesauce.  Just peel, core and slice or cut into chunks, depending on what you'll use them for.   Put into a 3 qt saucepan with a little bit of water, cinnamon and sugar (I use a packet of truvia.)  Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally, and reduce the heat to simmer until they're softened.  Then you can have fresh applesauce on oatmeal, with pork chops or make an apple crisp!  For this recipe I used about 2 1/2 cups of cooked apples.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter (or use coconut oil) an 8x8 inch square baking pan.  In a medium bowl put:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup oats (regular or quick cooking)

add:

1/2 (4 oz) butter (cut up)

Work the chunks of butter in until you have a coarse meal (slightly lumpy).  

add:

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

Mix well.  Pour the apples into the pan, leveling them out.  Add the flour/oat mix on top, spreading evenly and gently press down.  Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.  Cool slightly.  Can be served warm or cold.  It's just plain great, anyway!

NOTE:  While I can take credit for the apple crisp picture, the changing colors of the leaves picture was taken during a New England Fall vacation several years ago.  You need to see the hills with flaming crimson, gold and yellow at least once.  Put it on your "bucket list".  Gorgeous!

Quinoa Cup Cake

No, this is not a recipe for a sweet cupcake with quinoa as the main ingredient, although I will be making some muffins with quinoa in the future.  Hubby put in a recent request for some "meatless" dinners!  All I can say is, "be careful what you wish for"!    As he arrived home last night I was throwing stuff in a bowl, scary!  He knows after almost 40 years of being together to "trust me"!    And he did, and he was pleasantly surprised or at least, he should win the best actor award!

This post is not about that dinner (in the future) but the following day for my brunch.  I use that word loosely...  Instead of a savory quinoa I wanted to try a sweet concoction.  Here it goes...

Ingredients

1/2 cup pre-cooked quinoa

1 tsp agave sweetener

1/4 cup pre-cooked applesauce  (I make a batch once in a while to go with yogurt or oatmeal.  1-2 apples, peeled and sliced, a little water, cinnamon and stevia packet.  Boil and simmer for a while...done.)

2 tsp vanilla Greek yogurt

a sprinkle of cinnamon

 a drizzle of agave for garnish

Mix the quinoa and agave together so it's sticky.  Place in a mold or 1/2 cup container, press down and flip over carefully on a serving plate to remove.  Presentation is everything!  Garnish with apples, yogurt, cinnamon and a drizzle of agave.  What satisfying, tasty treat, seriously!  This is one serving but can easily be doubled.

Name That Dish! It's Giveaway Time!

What do you do with your leftovers?  Do you toss them or attempt to make something edible for a future meal?  Once in a while I have leftover Italian or chicken sausages.  You can get pretty creative with leftovers..anything goes, well, almost anything.  I do have limits.  I don't serve leftovers to guests.

For this meal, I went to the refrigerator to clean it out  (just kidding) find what I could create from 3 lonely sausages, a fennel bulb, one apple and a partial onion.  This is the result.  I'm not sure what to call this, so, if you can come up with a catchy name, you'll win the giveaway!  That easy.  Just comment with your idea..  Thanks for reading.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

1 fennel bulb, cleaned, and sliced

1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

1/4 -1/2 onion, sliced

1/4 tsp salt

a sprinkle of Herb de Provence

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Tbsp maple syrup

2-3 precooked (leftover) sausage of your choice

1 Tbsp parsley

sprinkle of pepper

In a large skillet melt the butter with olive oil.  Add the fennel, onion,  apple and salt.   Sweat these until slightly soft but still crunchy.  Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 10 minutes on medium/low heat.  You can easily omit the meat and substitute the chicken broth for a vegetarian fare.  Enjoy..it's sweet, spicy and crunchy! 

Don't forget to comment, now, for your chance to win.  I'm limiting this giveaway to the United States, this time!

Tips for Fooling Your Tastebuds

As most of you know I've embarked on another "diet plan".  This has been the story of my life, unfortunately, because of the choices I've made and probably because of the "pudgy gene" I've acquired!  I take one look at my lineage (grandmother) and I see the pounds lining the areas where I constantly try to carve them away.

Over the years and with alot of knowledge in this area, I've come to realize that you need to fool your taste buds.  This will make the road to weight loss an easier and more flavorful path. 

Here are my tips:

Instead of peach pie cut up a  peach, sprinkle with cinnamon and truvia. mix it well and enjoy!

Roast, roast, roast your veggies with a sprinkle of olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  The roasting brings out the goodness and sweetness.  My favorites are roasted red peppers, eggplant, bok choy and believe it or not, cabbage!

Roasted cabbage with lemony mahi mahi

When you have a sweet tooth, make a fresh fruit smoothie.  Just ice, about a cup of fresh fruit, a dash of truvia and vanilla and water. blend and you have it!  My lifesaver has been an orange smoothie.

If you like applesauce, make your own.  Don't buy a big jar filled with chemicals!  Peel and chop apples, add a little water and cinnamon and cook on low.  If you don't want chunky applesauce. place in the blender for a swirl.

And finally, start an herb garden with perennials like oregano, thyme, lavender, chives, and some mint.  Come summertime add cilantro, parsley, basil and rosemary.   With these you can embellish your meats, fish, salads, desserts and dressings or marinades.  My latest creations have been numerous variations of marinades like chili lime, ginger lemon thyme, or rosemary lavender dressings.

Dried lavender from the garden.



Dried oregano ready for the sauce!



Dried Lemon verbena - great in anything!

If you're limited to lettuce, dress it up with handfuls of herbs.  It will wake up the taste buds and fool them into thinking you're eating something special.  But, actually you are!  You grew and nutured those herbs for that healthy meal...

Apple Cranberry Crumble

As an ode to Winter (for the 20th time), and just because you need sweets once in a while, I made this crumble.  I've tried crisps and cobblers but never a crumble, at least not intentionally or by following a recipe.  This was adapted from Global Gourmet, but changed drastically.

When I say drastically I mean I didn't have anything that resembled the ingredients in the recipe.   Let the substitutions begin!  I used whole fresh cranberries that I had in my freezer.  As part of a cleansing program I boiled these down to capture the juice and wondered what to do with the actual tart fruit.  Cranberries worked nicely in this, however, they aren't in the store this time of year, so you can substitute more apples or maybe some berries.

Ingredients:

Filling:

3 cups of precooked  apples (with 1 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp cinnamon and sliced, peeled apples cooked for 20 minutes)

1 cup cranberries (you can try canned whole ones)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 cup oat bran or flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

1/2 cup oat bran or flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

Note:  I used oat bran because that's what I had  in my pantry.  It was one of those unlabeled bulk finds.  It had a number on it for grocery checkout, but the number meant nothing and I bravely decided to use it anyway instead of oat flour.  One of those true experiments!   You can use flour if you wish.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the filling,  place the apples and cranberries in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl place the brown sugar, oat bran and cinnamon, mixing well.  Pour this into the fruit bowl and combine.  Place the filling into a buttered 8 x 8 inch baking pan.

For the topping, Put the oat bran or flour and sugar in a bowl.  Cut the butter into cubes using a fork or food processor, blend until mixed.  There will be chunks still.  Add the oats, almonds, cinnamon and salt and mix.  Cover the pan of fruit with this topping, pop in the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes.  Serve warm or cold.  Serves 8.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Baked Apples

As I'm  writing this blog we are receiving some much needed moisture in the form of snow.  Last count, another 1 1/2 ft.  It's falling at the rate of 1 inch  every 15 minutes!  I can't think of a better dessert for the circumstances.  Bakes apples are so comforting, almost up there with bread pudding.  Yum!

This recipe was adapted and revised from "Eat more, weigh less" book.  That's a fact, if you follow it.  So, it can't be all that bad, right?

Ingredients:

2 apples (I used Granny Smith, a bit tart, but good.)
1/4 cup raisins
2 T brown sugar
1 T candied ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp honey
1/8 c amaretto
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Core and peel 1 inch from the top of the apple.  Place in a baking dish. (9 x 9)  Combine the raisins, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, honey and amaretto.  Spoon mixture into center of apples.  Pour about a cup of water in the baking dish and place in the oven.  As it bakes, baste with the water.  It will become syrupy towards the end.  If it evaporates, add more water and keep basting.  Cook for 40-60 minutes.  Serve warm or cold with ice cream.  I used frozen vanilla yogurt.  I'm always looking for ways to squeeze the fat out of recipes but keep the flavor!