Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, Chili Powder Pork Chops

Sorry, I don't have a picture of this one but it's really just pork chops.  Not overly pretty but oh so good.


I saw something on tv this week about using Chili powder and cinnamon together. I can't even remember what show it was... so here's what I came up with.
2 or 4 thick cut pork chops
1 cup Apple Cider vinegar
2 Tbls kosher salt
water
////////////////////
Cinnamon - 2 to 3 Tbls
Chili Powder - 2 to 3 Tbls
Brown Sugar - 1/4 to 1/2 cup
So, I've learned over the past couple of years, if I'm cooking pork or chicken I brine it first. Put your meat in a dish in a single layer.
Combine your apple cider vinegar and salt together and pour over meat. Add water to cover meat. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least an hour or up to a couple of hours.

Start Grill and get it up to about 500 degrees. Super Hot racks. (We have a 3 burner grill)

Remove meat from brine and discard brine.

Combine the dry mixture in a bowl.
Cover and rub dry mixture to both sides of the meat.


Turn grill down (we turn off 2 outside burners and turn the center burner down) to get to about 400. Cook the chops about 4 to 6 minutes per side depending on thickness with the grill closed. turned out yummy!

mmmmmm Zucchini.......

Awesome recipe from meech on The Pioneer Woman's website, The Tasty Kitchen.

I made it tonight to freeze and take to one of my co-workers tomorrow whose wife is having some major surgery on tuesday... Meech  calls it Zucchini Slice.


http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/main-courses/zucchini-slice/

here are some photos I took while preparing. Main ingredients.

.... Grate your zucchini and sweet potato

beat six eggs, add your seasonings to the egg mixture and mix in with the veggies really well.

One of our favorite things is Season All... I added a little to this recipe

(kinda hard to make flour look.... "pretty")

mix in your cheese

HELPFUL hint HERE:  Keep a package of bacon in the freezer.  Chop only what you need, it thaws out very fast.  Add your bacon to the mixture and blend.

Pour your mixture in your baking dish.... oh wait... what's that glass doing there...

OK, that's better... off to the oven.

All Done.

Now,  why didn't I double this so I could taste it!!!????  Looks good. Smells good... can't cut into it... hope it's good.

Yummy, Fresh, Unique

This is very unconventional and really really good.  Serve over a mixed green salad.

Ingredients

2 Tbls honey

2 Tbls olive oil

3/4 tsp black pepper

1/3 tsp salt

1/4 cup lime juice

2 cups sliced strawberries

2 medium avocados, diced

1/4 cup sliced green onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

whisk together first five ingredients. add the rest and gently toss. 

amazingly fresh.

Whole Wheat Rigatoni with Vegetable Bolognese

One of the members at our church is a young mom going through chemo and treatments for cancer. She is on an organic, all fresh, no red meat diet.  She travels to a Cancer Treatment Center(s) of America quite often and when she is home she is recuperating from treatment and taking care of her 2 boys ages 6 and 4, as well as her husband. We recently filled up a free standing  freezer FULL of meals for her.  This is what I made. It is adapted from a Giada Delarentes recipe.

Ingredients



• 1 1/2 cups hot water


• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped


• 1 onion, peeled and chopped


• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped


• 2 garlic cloves (more if you love it like me)


• 1/4 cup olive oil


• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves


• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano leaves


• 2 teaspoons salt


• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


• 5 ounces assorted mushrooms (like shiitake, cremini, and brown), stemmed and chopped


• 2 tablespoons tomato paste


• 1/2 cup red wine or chicken broth


• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese


• 1 pound rigatoni pasta


• 1/4 cup Parmesan



Place the carrots, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse the vegetables until finely chopped but still chunky. Place the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped vegetables, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper and cook until tender, about 6 minutes.  Add the  fresh mushrooms, and tomato paste and continue cooking, stirring to dissolve the tomato paste, until the mushrooms are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the porcini mushroom liquid and red wine (or chicken broth). Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and let the mixture simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and stir just until the cheese is incorporated.



Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and add to the vegetable mixture. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking liquid, if necessary, to moisten the sauce. Toss with Parmesan and serve.

Roasted Carrot, Sweet Potato Bisque with Cumin/Chili Cream

No picture of this one... we ate it too fast. I adjusted this from my last cooking class at Dallas Farmers Market.  The chef last week  was JW Foster from the Fairmont Hotel's Pyramid restaurant... it was all good. 

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 large carrots, peeled sliced
• 3 medium sweet potatos, peeled and diced (small)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 cups chicken broth
• pinch of brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss carrots, sweet potato in 2 tbls olive oil to coat. Salt liberally with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until tender and slightly browned. While roasting, heat 2 tbls olive oil in heavy LARGE saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and heat till soft.  Don't burn the garlic. When veggies are tender add to saucepan. Add ginger, & cumin. Reduce heat and stir to incorporate flavors. (about 3-4 minutes). Add chicken broth and cinnamon and brown sugar. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and using puree either in blender or hand puree.  (if using blender, ONLY fill 1/2 full with mixture. It WILL expand. Be sure and cover to puree)  Puree until extremely smooth. Pass through medium sieve to strain any large bits. Return to same sauce pan.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  This to desired consistance with broth.

For the Cream.
Ingredients

• 4 oz chilled whipping cream
• 1/2 to 1 tsp ground cumin
• dash of chili powder

Whisk cream in medium bowl. (if you set the bowl inside another bowl of ice it will thicken faster) you just want it thick, not fully whipped. Add cumin and chili powder. Mix that in.   Place a tablespoon on top of soup before serving. 

Ribbon Winning Pinto Beans

Ribbon Winning Beans

 3 cups dried pinto beans


1 medium white onion, chopped


4-5 garlic cloves, chopped


¼ cup olive oil


16 oz chicken broth


16 oz water


1/3 cup dark regular molasses


2 tbl black pepper


1 tbl SeasonAll


2 tbl Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce


½ lb sliced hickory smoked bacon (cut back slices in half)


Salt to taste






Wash and soak beans at least one hour or overnight






(don’t vary the order here, it’s very important) In large heavy metal pot, heat oil at medium heat. Add garlic and onions and cook till translucent and soft. Add beans. Stir to coat beans in oil, about 3-4 minutes. Add 8 ounces chicken broth and black pepper stirring constantly. Bring this to a boil and let boil for 2-3 minutes. Add enough water to cover beans and bring back to a boil.


*At this point you can transfer this to a crock pot and slow cook for 6-7 hours. Or, continue to cook on the stove top.* see below to finish beans.






After you have this brought to a boil on the stove top, reduce heat to low and cover. Stir occasionally and add water to cover if it becomes low. After about 30 minutes add the molasses and Tabasco. Cook another 30 minutes or until beans are soft. ONLY when they are soft do you add the SeasonAll, bacon and salt to taste. Cook until bacon is done.


*If cooking in the crock pot, about 30 minutes before serving, turn pot on high and add molasses, bacon, SeasonAll, Tabasco and salt.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada My Way

Ingredients

10 pieces Small Flour Or Corn Tortillas

2 cups Shredded, Cooked Chicken

2 ounces, weight 4 Oz Cans, Diced Green Chilis

2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 pound Velveeta, Cubed

1 ounce, fluid 16 Oz Container Sour Cream, Divided

1 teaspoon Cumin

1 teaspoon Black Pepper

1 teaspoon Salt

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with cooking spray

dice chicken fairly fine

combine chicken, 1 cup of your cheddar cheese

1/2 the sour cream and one can of the chili’s. (don’t drain)

Fill your tortillas and roll, placing side by side in your dish. (two of mine had to go longways down the side)

On the stovetop, combine the velveeta, remaining cheese, can of chilis and remaining sour cream over low low heat to melt the velveeta. Pour this over your prepared enchiladas.

(I add a little cumin here as well…. up to you….)

cook 30-35 minutes until bubbly.

Pound Cake

Those of you who really really know me, know I love to cook.  Baking on the other hand requires too much precision.  In baking you HAVE to follow the recipe.  I don't like that.  I like to create as I go.  Baking has a formula, cooking is not exact.  When I bake I usually have disastrous results.  I have attempted just to make Banana Bread.  If thrown at someone it would have killed them.  Baking homemade bread, forget about it.

So,  Surprise Surprise! Today I baked a pound cake from scratch!!! yep.  ME.  And it's Good.
I found a recipe on one of my favorite sites, ThePioneerwoman.com and decided to try it.  I don't have a standing mixer so I had to use a hand mixer which I'm sure made it harder but, hey, I did it!!!!

My picture is a little blurry because my battery in my camera was low but here it is: 

and here is the website link.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/perfect-pound-cake/

How have I lived.....

....without this wonder of the modern world!!!!
???????


CROCK POT LINERS



Oh My Goodness. The Eight Wonder of the World.

The easiest French Dip Roast Recipe ever.

French Dip Roast Sandwich

Chuck Roast
1 can beef broth
1 12oz beer
1 packet onion soup mix

Dump all into a crock pot on low. Cook all day. Serve on toasted rolls with sliced mozzarella cheese. Eat and enjoy.