Recipes 9 and 10: Pork and Potatoes

Recipe 9: Baked Apple Pork Chops

Another recipe from the CrockPot cookbook that I modified.  Place your pork chops in the bottom of a pan.  Chop up a couple of apples and put them on top.  Sprinkle with a little cinnamon and a few tablespoons of brown sugar.  Cover, and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.  

They were quick and easy to make, but they were a bit bland.  We've got a smoked applewood spice blend that we'll put on the pork next time, along with the apples.  

Recipe 10: Cauliflower Scalloped Potatoes

This was something I made up, with inspiration from this post.  I put layers of potatoes, ham, broccoli, pureed cauliflower and grated cheese, sprinkled with garlic salt.  Bake, covered, at 400 degrees for at least an hour.  

I like scalloped potatoes, and have yet to perfect them.  This came closer: the flavors were good (Aaron didn't even mind the cauliflower sauce!), but I always have the problem of undercooked potatoes.  The stuff on top and around the edges was done, but the middle was still a little crunchy.  Must remember to use a bigger pan, so the layers aren't as thick, and to give myself enough time to let it bake - very minimum an hour, usually more.  

Recipe 6: Potato Soup

While I was babysitting the other day, I realized I had forgotten a book to read.  I searched the house to find something and came across just one cookbook.  Even though it was a Crock Pot book, I looked through it for inspiration.  I didn't find a lot that I liked, but I found a recipe for potato soup.

Put in the crock pot:
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed
3/4 cup carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
Cook until tender (6-7 hours on low).
Add 1 cup half & half, cook on high for 15 minutes.
Turn off heat and stir in two cups shredded cheese.
Uncover and let stand for five minutes before serving.

I followed the recipe, sort of, but I still count it toward my new recipes because I had never made potato soup before.  I added celery, broccoli and cauliflower.  And when adding the cream at the end I also added some cubed ham.  YUM.

I like soup.  Aside from the time it takes to chop the vegetables, it doesn't take a lot of effort.  A lot of this batch will be going into the freezer, so I've got meals for later in the winter too.  Sounds like a winner to me!

things to do with zucchini

I've always liked zucchini, but my mother-in-law had a garden this year so I got a LOT of it.  I've shredded some for the freezer, I've pureed some and added it to spaghetti sauce.  Here's a few other things I've done with zucchini this month.

Zucchini Boats - great to make with small zucchini.  Can be used for a whole meal or as a side.  Easy enough to change up the ingredients to suit your needs - add ground beef, mushrooms, etc.

Zucchini Chips - I've made these as chips (using small zucchini) and fries (with big to jumbo zucchini), dredging them in either milk or eggs.  Both work, both are tasty.

Zucchini Cobbler - I prepared the zucchini according to this recipe, but added my usual crisp blend for the top.  My husband loves apple crisp and gave a big thumbs up when he tried this.  And THEN I told him it was zucchini.  He was stunned.  This is now known as deceitful crisp at my house.  And this is awesome for large/jumbo zucchini because it uses so much up at once.

Zucchini Pizza - Yum Yum YUM!  Fabulous use for large zucchini (not too huge, or you get the soft spot in the middle with all the large seeds).  Tastes like regular pizza, but you don't feel so guilty eating a lot of it because there's no crust, just zucchini!  Definitely a favorite.

Zucchini Carrot Muffins - when given a lot of zucchini everyone's first thought is to make bread or muffins.  This was actually the last thing I tried (and they just came out of the oven).  I halved the sugar, and replaced the oil with more applesauce.  Very similar to the spiced carrot muffins I made last month, but with added pecans and raisins.  I'd make them again.  There are many other muffin recipes I'd like to try, so it's a good thing I've got a stash of shredded zucchini in the freezer.

June Cooking

After creating a dinner database (a big list of everything I like/would like to cook for dinner) planning meals has been less stressful.  And if I have a plan, dinner actually gets made.  The month of June has been quite successful.  Tried out some new recipes, some that will end up in the regular rotation.

Pizza Rolls - based off a cinnamon roll recipe, but instead of cinnamon and sugar in the middle, it's pizza sauce and meat, with cheese melted on top.  I had zero experience making cinnamon rolls, so they got a bit messy, but I'll get better when I make them again.

Zucchini Lasagna - Aaron doesn't like zucchini or lasagna, so I made this recipe while he was out of town.  A bit more time consuming than I'd usually like to spend on dinner, but it was delicious.  I didn't miss the lasagna noodles at all!  Next time I'd love to add spinach to the sauce.

Smashed Potatoes - Nice change from our usual potato wedges.  Good as a side.

Orange Muffins - Yummy! Yummy!  Made them one week and loved them so much that I made a double batch the next.  They freeze well.  Not at all healthy, since there is a full cup of melted butter in there, but light and fluffy and delicious.  I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and one cup of (freshly squeezed) orange juice instead of a half, so I cut the milk down to half cup.  And lots of zest.

Banana Peanut Butter Muffins - had to use the rest of the Greek yogurt before we leave town, so tried these.  Much heavier and rich than the orange ones, but still pretty good.  Not something I'd make super often, but they also freeze well.

Baked Broccoli - someone posted it on Facebook.  I'm not usually a fan of cooked broccoli, but I've made this multiple times throughout the month.  *Do not rinse the broccoli immediately before preparing.  Chop your broccoli and toss with minced garlic, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper.  Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees.  Easy and delicious!

And right now my husband is making a cherry cola BBQ sauce to go on some ribs for dinner tomorrow.  Should be interesting!

lemon summer pasta

My sister remembered us making this recipe a couple of years ago and last night asked me for it again. We both did some digging and it was originally found here.

8 oz cooked pasta
2 c. asparagus
2 c. summer squash and/or zucchini
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbs butter
1/2 c. whipping cream
zest of lemon
salt to taste

Sautee veggies and garlic in butter til they reach your preferred tenderness. Remove veggies with slotted spoon, leaving any juices and garlic. Pour in cream and lemon zest. Cook down cream til 1/3 c. (just when it looks thicker). Then combine all ingredients including pasta and enjoy.

When I made this before, I didn't get the proportions of vegetables to cream sauce correct - I wanted more sauce. So pay attention to that when putting it together. Thanks for bringing this up again, Mindy! I really liked it so maybe we'll have it this week too!

green bean salad

Not a Utah green bean salad with French onions or corn flakes, or however it's made out there! This is from a Lebanese cookbook that we got at the library called "The Lebanese Kitchen" by Monique Bassila Zaarour.

Steam green beans until tender, and then toss with this dressing:

2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp salt
4 tbl lemon juice
5 tbl olive oil

For some reason, I'm thinking Adam used lime instead of lemon one time when he made this last week. (We've had it twice.) So there's a possible variation for you.

Also, we think they taste much better the second day - they taste fine when they're freshly made, but the taste mellows quite a bit when they've sat for 24 hours and you have the leftovers for a second dinner the next day.

traditional Greek Easter dinner

Adam decided we were going to be a bit more adventurous for Easter dinner this year, and found this article the other day on NPR with a number of recipes in it. Adam followed the recipes exactly, since these were all new cooking concepts.

chicken and rice soup - we had this with homemade sour-dough bread. It was the perfect complement to it! The lemon flavor was quite prominent in the soup, but it wasn't overpowering. If you try this, be careful with the eggs so they don't cook up wrong. This was our "first course" which we had for lunch between General Conference sessions, and we had the rest of the dinner after Conference ended.

roasted leg of lamb - this was expensive! 30 bucks for a not-very-large piece of meat! We wondered at first if we'd like it - if not, that was a pretty big waste ... but hey, at least then we'd know to not spend that kind of money again. But it was good! Lots of rosemary and garlic and other herbs in it. Adam is sold - we'll have this maybe once a year just because of the cost.

asparagus with dill and garlic - asparagus was something I never had as a kid, but have liked quite a bit as an adult. It also had melted parmesan cheese over it.

There is also a recipe for an Easter bread (the red eggs on it look kinda yucky, if you ask me). Adam planned to make it but we ran out of time and didn't really need it anyway because we had the sour-dough to go with the soup.

roasted new potatoes with feta cheese - this was not included in the article but Adam found it to be a side to the lamb.

thyme grilled vegetables

Adam found this recipe for grilled vegetables with thyme, and yum! It's red potatoes, bell peppers (red, yellow, and green) and pearl onions with thyme, a little bit of salt, chicken broth, and olive oil. That's it!

You can do them on the grill as the instructions say. Or you can do it in the oven in a baking dish at 350 for the same timing as on the grill.

Broccoli Salad

This is another from Recipezaar. It's #24862. Dressing can be made ahead of time and makes plenty. It's very thick at first and then thins out as the sugar dissolves. I ended up having to add more broccoli to even out the flavor and texture. I used regular raisins and peanuts instead of sunflower seeds.

Ingredients

• 3 broccoli, heads (cut into bite-size pieces)
• 5-10 pieces crisp bacon, crumbled (Baco's do not work)
• 2 tablespoons red onions, chopped
• 1 cup golden raisin
• 3/4 cup sunflower seed (I use unsalted)

Dressing (best to add just prior to serving)

• 1 cup mayonnaise (low-cal will not be the same)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (optional) or 1/2 cup prepared mustard (optional)

Directions

1. Put all of the salad ingredients in a bowl and pour on the dressing.
2. Mix well.
3. Chill.
4. Keeps well in the refrigerator, but is best served within an hour or two while ingredients are still crunchy.

slumgullion

Well, I didn't make it to 50 recipes in 2009 - I got to 42. Oh well. It was a good effort.

I have no idea what the name of this is, but it's a pasta dish with a rather random combination of vegetables. It tastes good, is quick and simple to make, and is great for a cold winter day! It's from the "Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook."

8 ounces elbow macaroni (I used mini penne - just something small)
1 tbl. oil to saute
1 cup diced onion
1/2 pound hamburger
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup diced celery
3/4 cup diced green pepper
Worcestershire sauce
salt
cayenne pepper
sharp or Parmesan cheese - OPTIONAL

1. Make the pasta as normal.
2. Saute the onion and then add the hamburger and cook until browned and crumbly.
3. Add tomatoes, celery, green pepper, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and cayenne. Cook for a few minutes until everything is heated through.
4. Mix with pasta to serve.
5. Put grated cheese over the top if you want.

The Worcestershire sauce, salt, and cayenne all have measurements of 1 tsp or less, but I didn't measure any of them.

If you like it a bit more saucy, you'll want to add more tomatoes. It's pretty loose with not really any SAUCE to it.

The original recipe also called for the vegetables to all be minced. I did a fairly large dice on it all so they were more the same size as the pasta, and I like the combination of the tastes. We've actually made this before (I think Adam did before, and I did it today) - it's quick, easy, and good!

pasta with chicken and sun-dried tomato

This is #36 - I have no idea where it came from. I just had this list of ingredients stashed in a note on my other blog.

bowtie pasta cooked like usual

chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces and cooked in a skillet, then set aside while the vegetables are being cooked

2 tbl. olive oil to cook the following:
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato
1 zucchini, diced
1 summer squash, diced (not sliced)
1-2 garlic cloves minced or crushed
1-2 tsp rosemary
1-2 tsp basil

Toss all together with pasta and chicken. Add a little more olive oil if it's too dry for you until it's how you like it. There's not a sauce with this.

pasta with sausage and fennel

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm REALLY behind on this blog ... I'm going to blame my lack of posting on pregnancy exhaustion. I'm finally coming out of it - hooray! I have 5 recipes to post for my 50-challenge, including a couple I did all the way back in July, bringing me up to 40. So I have 10 more to do in the next 6 weeks to get all the way to 50 within the calendar year.

Anyway, so here's #35 - pasta with sausage and fennel. It's from a book we have called "The Working Stiff Cookbook" by Bob Sloan.

1 tbl. olive oil
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
1/2 pound hamburger
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium bulb fennel, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine or beef broth (our substitute for red wine is apple juice - we've never had a problem with it)
1 28-0z. can of crushed tomatoes
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp basil
salt and pepper

Heat the oil first, and cook the sausage and hamburger in it. Break up the meat as it cooks so it's in small pieces. When it's done, use a slotted spoon to remove it from the pan, then pour out the excess grease from the pan.

Put skillet on medium heat and cook onion, fennel, and garlic until softened.

Add meat to pan with vegetables, pour in wine/broth, and cook for about a minute until the liquid reduces.

Add tomatoes and herbs, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until sauce is the thickness you like.

Serve with cooked pasta - regular thickness spaghetti or linguini are best. It's a pretty hearty sauce, so you don't want to use a delicate pasta.

summer harvest bake

Number 33 of 50. This is from the Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook, and with a story about Native Americans. It's apparently an variation of a Navajo dish.

2 Tbl. vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin

2 large zucchini or yellow summer squash (or combination), chopped into small (but not too small) cubes
1 green bell pepper, cut in thin strips
1 cup corn

2 large tomatoes, sliced
grated Longhorn cheese

1. Saute the onion in the oil with the herbs.
2. Combine the squash, bell pepper, and corn in a shallow baking dish. Top with the onion mixture and bake for 1 hour or until the squash is starting to soften.
3. Put the sliced tomatoes and cheese over the top of everything, and bake for another 20 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Watch your proportions. I had WAY too much squash compared to everything else. But it was still good!

Butternut Mac and cheese

This is a Rachael Ray recipe and it was so yummy that I had to share it. We made it last night and the kids ate it up!

• 1 butternut squash, halved and seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 box of pasta - I used Whole Wheat Shells
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk - I used Rice Milk, could also use Chicken Stock to make it even healthier
• A pinch of nutmeg
• A pinch of cinnamon
• 5 to 6 sage leaves, thinly sliced
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• I also sprinkled a bit of Parmesan Cheese on top

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Place squash halves on a baking sheet and drizzle them with 1 tablespoon EVOO, salt and pepper. Place them cut side down and transfer to the oven. Roast until tender, about an hour. Remove from oven and cool.

Once cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out of the squash and transfer it to a food processor. Process until smooth.

Place a pot of water over high heat for the pasta. Once at a boil, add some salt and the pasta, and cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain the cooked pasta and return it to the pot it was cooked in.

While the pasta water is heating up, place a small skillet over medium-high heat with the butter. Once melted, add the flour and cook about a minute. Whisk in the milk and cook until the liquids come up to a bubble and the sauce thickens, 2-3 minutes. Add the squash puree, nutmeg, cinnamon and sage, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the sauce to the pot with the reserved cooked pasta and toss to coat. Turn everything out into a baking dish and sprinkle the top with cheeses. Transfer to the oven and bake until the cheese is brown and bubbly, 10-15 minutes.

Greek quesadillas

Number 28! We had this for dinner with homemade Greek vinaigrette dressing (which is number 29 and will be posted in a sec), and YUM! I'm not a huge fan of cucumbers, and Greek recipes tend to have a lot of cucumber. I'm okay with them if they're chopped small ... but wow, they just fit right in with all of this! The original recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens. I just did a Google search for a Greek dressing, since this called for a store-bought dressing. I didn't think we'd eat enough to justify having a whole bottle of it around.

flour tortillas (or you could use pita bread for this salad mix as well

• grilled chicken - I did 2 chicken breasts on our little Foreman grill, and then shredded it
• feta cheese
• red onion - thin slices
• cucumber - chopped fairly small
• tomato - either cherry tomatoes cut in half or small dice of a larger tomato
• Greek olives - the recipe called for kalamata olives which were pretty expensive at the store, so I just got black Greek olives. I had to pit them, but it was fine.
• parsley and oregano - I used regular dried stuff, and just sprinkled it on.
• Greek vinaigrette dressing

Spray one side of a tortilla with cooking spray, and then flip it so it's spray-side down. Put all the ingredients on one half of the tortilla, then fold it over. Cook it in a skillet until it's a little browned and the edges turn crispy. Then cut it into 3 pieces and eat.

Yum yum yum! This is definitely on the repeat list!

beef cabbage hash

This is number 27, which I got off AllRecipes and varied it a bit. It's more of a winter dish than summer, but I needed to use both potatoes and cabbage, and this took care of both.

• 1 pound hamburger
• 1 onion, chopped - I used about half an onion
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• potatoes - chopped into bite sized pieces, and I microwaved them first to soften them.
• shredded cabbage - the original called for an entire head. I think I used about a third of the head. It does cook down quite a bit, but it was still plenty in the balance of the whole thing.
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 beef bullion cube - or you could use vegetable
• Worcestershire sauce - to taste
• salt and pepper

Brown the hamburger with the onion and garlic in a large skillet. Drain any excess grease out of the pan. Add the rest of the ingredients, and keep mixing it around to cook it through. Then eat!

If you don't precook the potatoes to soften them, it will take FOREVER to cook and the cabbage will be completely obliterated. I added the cabbage at handful at a time - there just wasn't room in the skillet for everything all at once, and it did wilt down fairly quickly while waiting for the potatoes to get done. We were surprised at how much we liked it, and the cabbage had a sweet taste to it that we weren't expecting. I'm putting this on file to make again when the weather cools off.

garden pasta salad

For recipe #21, I made Stewie's peanut butter granola bars - my variation is in the comments on that post. Sadly for Adam, he didn't really like them because he doesn't like baked oatmeal or peanut butter in things. But that's good for me! I liked them and I'll make them again!

For #22, I made this garden pasta salad that I found on AllRecipes. The original recipe gives measurements for everything, which I did not follow. I just chopped up the veggies and threw them in - these are the approximate amounts that I used.

• 1 box tri-color spiral pasta, cooked like usual
• baby carrots, julienned
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• half of a cucumber, chopped in cubes (that seemed to be better than slices)
• 2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• a couple of full slices off an onion, chopped small
• Parmesan cheese
• motzarella cheese, cubed
• Italian dressing - I used Kraft Tuscan house Italian dressing. We'd never had it before, and I liked it.

You don't cook the vegetables - just chop them and toss everything together with the cooled pasta. Yum! Especially when it's really hot outside.

I may hit #25 by the end of this week - definitely by the end of next week. Halfway to another 50! Go me!

rice and peas

Number 10 of 50, and I actually made this in January. So in one month, I was already 20% done. Yay!

1 tbl olive oil
4 tbl butter
4 strips of bacon or pancetta, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
6 cups hot chicken broth - I used chicken bullion to make the broth
1 3/4 cups rice - the original recipe calls for risotto, I used regular medium grain
3 tbl parsley
2 cups frozen or canned peas
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
pepper

1. Heat the oil and half the butter in a (very) large pan on low heat. Cook the bacon and onion until the onion is translucent.

2. Add the broth to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice and season to taste with pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer, stir occasionally, until rice is starting to get soft. Takes 20-30 min.

3. Add parsley and peas, continue cooking until peas are hot and liquid is mostly gone from the pan.

4. To finish, stir in 2nd half of butter and the Parm.

ratatouille

Adam and I get a kick out of the movie "Ratatouille" (Lauren, give it back!) so when I came across a recipe for it, I of course had to try it out. I made this last winter. I'd make some alterations to the quantities because this made A LOT. It took us almost a week to eat it all, and we were totally sick of it by the end. So either invite someone to dinner when you have this, or cut the quantities.

The thing that takes the longest is the chopping. Once everything was cooking, it went pretty fast.

Chop up the following ingredients:
1 medium onion (small dice)
1 garlic clove
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 medium eggplant
2 zucchini (thin slices)

6 to 8 potatoes in bite-size pieces - boil separately from all other ingredients until soft, drain, set aside.

Start cooking the onion, garlic, and bell peppers in a (very) large skillet or saucepan.

Add to saucepan:
2 14-oz cans of chopped tomatoes - do not drain,
1 can tomato paste
salt and pepper
parsley, thyme, oregano, savory - no measurements on the herbs, do according to taste (or smell).

Cook this COVERED for 5 minutes, stir, cook covered for another 5 minutes.

Add the eggplant and zucchini and cook for another 10 minutes, this time UNcovered, until the vegetables are soft the way you like them. Shorten the time a little if you like them more firm.

Once everything is cooked, put the mixed vegetables in a big flat baking dish. Put the potatoes in a layer on top, then put cheese over the top.

Put under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

If you want, you can add chives over the very top after it comes out of the broiler.

I know things get added in a random sequence, so let me know if any of this was not clear. Like I said, use very large dishes with this. The thing that takes the most time is the chopping. Once it's all cooking, it goes very fast.

Portabello Help

I bought a package of portabello mushroom caps at the grocery store because they were on sale. Now I'm not sure what to do with them. I was thinking maybe something along the lines of beef tips and rice, some kind of gravy dish or something? I have found a chicken casserole recipe online, but does anyone have any favorites? Thanks!