Baked Pork Chops

Ingredients:

4 Pork Chops

3/4 tsp Garlic Powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbls flour

1 1/3 cups seasoned bread crumbs

2 tbls EVOO

1 can cream of mush soup

3 tbls white whine

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350

2. Rinse Pork Chops. Pat Dry and season with garlic powder and salt. Dredge Pork Chops in Flour, Dip in Egg, and coat with Bread Crumbs

3. Heat Oil in Skillet over medium heat. Fry Pork Chops for 5 mins on each side. Transfer to baking dish, cover with foil.

4. Bake for 1 hr. While baking, combine cream of mush soup, milk and white wine in medium bowl. After they pork has baked for one hour, top with soup mixture. Replace foil and cook for additional 30 mins.

Magret de Canard (Duck Breast) with Caramelized Turnips

When the sweet old lady at the supermarket explained to us the difference between supermarket heavy cream and farm heavy cream, we dropped the cream and bought this beautiful duck breast from her counter. I had no idea how wonderfully this lovely piece of red poultry would pair with turnips. The secret is to caramelize them in the fat that the duck leaves behind. This is not icky, it is the good, flavorful type of fat (that you don't eat everyday anyway). Here you can actually buy jars of duck or goose fat for cooking. Isn't that crazy? If this sweet old lady hadn't explained to me how to cook it, I would have been missing out big time on some flavaaaaaa.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 Duck breast with skin
1 Tbsp dried thyme
salt/fresh pepper
1 lb (about 8) turnips, peeled and quartered
2 Tbsp basalmic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
Directions:
1. Steam the turnips until just tender. How? I used my steamer basket in my pressure cooker and cooked under pressure for 5 minutes. If you do not have a steamer or pressure cooker, the real directions are to boil for 20 minutes or so. I prefer to steam when I can because it preserves the nutrients in the item being cooked. Set aside.
2. Make criss-cross cuts on the skin of the duck breast. Rub some thyme, salt, and fresh ground pepper on both sides.
3. Place the duck breast skin side down in a frying pan and cook on high heat for 7 minutes.
Turn over and cook for 4 minutes. (This will have it nice and pink in the center. If you prefer more cooking, go ahead.)
Remove the breast and set aside, but keep warm.
4. The frying pan should have some lovely bubbling duck fat in it. Place the quartered turnips in this goodness and cook until golden with the sugar. Deglaze with the basalmic vinegar.
Cut the cooked duck breast in half and serve and be happy that the husband didn't notice they weren't potatoes!

This was just lovely. Next time I see Magret on sale, I will definately buy it. It is way worth a meal on saturday night at a restaurant.

Veggie Minestrone.. Remix!

Can't get enough of this soup. I don't know how I managed to make it exactly for 2. That never happens.
I made it all veggie (except for the broth) and added these fun noodles, Ditali Rigati. They are perfect for soups.
Here's my ingredient list this time around:
3 Tbsp EVOO
1 Onion, chopped
1 Zucchini, cubed
1 Yellow Bell, cubed
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 cube frozen spinach
1 Tbsp spaghetti sauce
1 Tbsp basalmic vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 bouillon cube of beef broth (or veggie if you're going all out)
1 good handful of Ditali Rigati pasta (or whatever you're into)
5 cups water
toppings:
shredded swiss
grated parmesan
fresh chopped basil
fresh ground pepper
red pepper flakes

I think I'm going to be using basalmic vinegar more in my cooking. It gives everything a little kick.

Double Blueberry Muffins

Here is the original recipe. Just wanted to share some pics of our recent muffin sesh. =)

Chicken Athena

Easy Weekday Meal Alert!

1 lb chix, cut into cubes

1 tbls olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 jar marinated artichokes in olive oil

1/4 tsp rosemary

1/3 cup feta cheese

In large skillet, brown chx in oil over medium heat; add onion and cook two minutes. Stir in tomatoes, marinade from artichoke and rosemary; cook over medium for 15 - 20 minutes - until sauce thickens, stir frequently. Stir in Artichokes; heat through. Top with Feta. Garnish with parsley. Boom.

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Ingredients: (to make 18)

Grated Parmesan Cheese - 1/4 lb

Cream Cheese - Room Temp - 2tbls

Dates - Pitted - 18

Bacon - Cut Crosswise into 3 pieces - 6 slices

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 400*. Combine Parm Cheese and Cream Cheese. Mix until Smooth.

Slice each date to make pocket and spread 1 tsp of cheese filling into each date. 

Wrap a piece of bacon around each date. Secure with toothpick.

Cook for 15 minutes.

Watermelon Summer Salad

This salad was inspired by something that was served at Amber's baby shower.

Mix:
Lettuce of Choice: Spinach, Romaine, etc
Watermelon (chopped)
Cucumber (chopped)
Grape Tomatoes (halved)

Add Croutons:
Chop bread into small squares, drizzle with EVOO, Season with Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasonings. Bake at 400 for about 15 mins.  

Mix Dressing:
EVOO
A splash of Lemon Juice
A bit of Honey

Toss all together. Enjoy.

Fruity Serrano Ham

This isn't so much a recipe, but it is pretty to look at.
Cut a sweet melon into slices and wrap in Serrano or Prosciutto ham. Decorate with grapes and starfruit and eat on a hot day.
Refreshing and delicious!

Caprese Kabobs

Steph! You have been blogging away! Sorry, I have been so busy. So many things to post!

This is a fun appetizer or side dish to a Carnivorous plate. And, as always, easy!

Ingredients:

Tooth Pick or Short Skewers

Fresh Small Mozzarella Balls -bocconcini- (halved)

Cherry Tomatoes (halved)

Fresh Basil

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Assemble the skewers: Mozz Ball, Tomato, Basil Leaf

2. Arrange on Platter: Drizzle EVOO, Season with S&P. Cover, Refrigerate. Serve. =)

Fried Red (Breaded) Tomatoes

This was supposed to be a side to the Basil Chicken (recipe which didn't originally call for garlic or canned whole tomatoes, but chopped olives) instead of the pasta, but as you know, I am unable to strictly follow a recipe. This was a fun side dish for a steak or pork chops or whatever. Since it's breaded, I'm sure kids might eat it, too (but what do I know?)
Ingredients:
2 tomatoes sliced into 4-5 slices each
salt/fresh ground pepper
8-10 leaves fresh basil
1 egg, beaten
some EVOO
some flour for sprinkling
bread crumbs for breading (sorry about the preciseness of the quantities)
Directions:
1. Remove the "goo" from the tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper, then lay 1 basil leaf on each slice.
2. Sprinkle some flour on each side of each slice.
3. Dip each slice in egg, then in bread crumbs.
4. Fry the slices approximately 2 minutes on each side in some EVOO

There. That's it. Pretty tasty!