Easy Gourmet Pork Chops

This is definitely a family favorite! I am so into trying new recipes that sometimes I forget to make the tried and true recipes that everyone loves.

Ingredients

6 loin pork chops (1/2 inch thick)

2 or 3 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp. salt

dash of pepper 

2 Tbsp. olive oil or shortening

1 (10 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed or 3/4 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1 (3.5 oz.) can French fried onions

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (8oz.) package fresh mushrooms (optional)

Coat chops with a mixture of flour, salt and pepper. In skillet, brown on both sides in oil or shortening. Place in 9x13 baking dish. I like to saute mushrooms in olive oil and put over the pork chops, but that's optional. Combine soup, 3/4 cup water, ginger, and rosemary; pour over chops. Sprinkle with half the onions. Cover and bake at 350 for 50 minutes, or till meat is tender. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining onions and continue baking 10 minutes. Remove meat to platter. Blend sour cream into soup mixture; heat. Pass with meat.

Cooking With Garden Fresh Herbs

L to R Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Oregano

Love using garden fresh herbs in my cooking. The 5 herbs above are some of my favorites! The general rule of thumb for using fresh versus dried herbs is to use 3 parts fresh herbs to every one part dried herb. In dishes that call for Italian seasoning I combine in descending order: Oregano, Basil, Thyme, and a little bit of cracked Rosemary.
It's important to rinse your herbs thoroughly, but they can tend to retain too much water after being cleaned so I put them in my salad spinner to get rid of the excess water.

It is so economical to grow your own herbs versus purchasing fresh herbs from the market. I have had good luck the past few years purchasing my herbs from our local Home Depot, they have been healthy and reasonably priced. I plant my herbs right out side my door for easy access when cooking. I like to grow triple the amount of basil because I tend to use it in so many dishes, and I love to make basil pesto and freeze it for use over the winter months. 

My next few posts will include recipes that make use of these herbs. If you haven't already tried fresh herbs in your cooking, you'll be amazed at what a difference they make in the flavor of your favorite dishes!!!

Some of the uses for different types of fresh herbs:

Sage- excellent with poultry, (Place under the skin of chicken or Cornish hens, along with some in the cavity of the poultry.) used in stuffing and soups

Basil- wonderful used in pesto, excellent when paired with fresh tomatoes or sauteed fresh vegetables, a perfect herb for any homemade tomato sauces, topping for pizza, and great in soups

Rosemary- an awesome addition to lamb and steak,  great for seasoning oven roasted red potatoes, can be used to season butternut squash...

Thyme- I love to use thyme in homemade chicken soup, it works well with any poultry or red meats, when used along with garlic it makes an excellent seasoning for sauteed mushrooms, wonderful in sauces

Oregano- perfect for any Italian dishes, pizza, tomato sauces, used to spice up pork or beef 

Cilantro-  used in Mexican and Chinese dishes as a garnish, and in pico de gallo 

Parsley- used as a garnish and in many soups and sauces 

Guacamole/Pica de Gallo/Lemon Quinoa Cilantro Chickpea Salad

Appetizers for the grad. party. There is just nothing like some good guacamole! Combined with pica de gallo, it's a match made in heaven!

guacamole

Ingredients                               

2 ripe avocados

1 clove of garlic minced

Juice from 1/2 of lemon

About 1/3 to 1/2 cup salsa

About 1/4 cup chopped onion

A dab of sour cream

Salt to taste

Peel and mash avocados and add the rest of the ingredients. To store before serving place plastic wrap on bowl so that it is actually touching the dip to keep the air from turning the dip brown.

Ingredients

Pica de Gallo

5 Roma tomatoes seeded and chopped                                      

2 cloves of minced garlic

Juice from 1/2 lemon or lime

Chopped cilantro to taste (about 1/4 cup)

About 1/2 cup chopped onion

Sprinkle on a little "Fiesta Party Dip Mix" by Tastefully Simple

Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together, chill and serve

Also served a quinoa "salad" that I got tons of compliments on, but used it as a chip dip.  Recipe revised from  thediva-dish.com

Lemon Quinoa Cilantro Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 C. dry quinoa

2 C. vegetable broth or chicken broth

1 can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)

1 c. cherry tomatoes cut in half

2 avocados diced

5 oz. pkg. of baby spinach

1 bunch cilantro

1/4 C. onion

2 small cloves garlic

For the dressing:

Juice of 2 lemons

zest of 1 lemon

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. to 1 1/2 tbsp. agave nectar

1/2 tsp. cumin

dash of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Make your quinoa first. Soak the quinoa in a pot in the veggie broth for about 15 minutes. After that, turn on the heat to medium high and let the quinoa come to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat to medium/low and let quinoa simmer. Stir every so often, and cook quinoa for about 20-25 minutes just until the liquid absorbs. You don’t want it completely dried out, so when there is just a TINY amount of liquid left in the pot, remove it from heat and put a lid on it. Set it aside, and make the rest of the salad.

 2. In a food processor, add your spinach and cilantro. Make sure to wash you greens.

 3. Process the greens until they are finely diced. You can do this by hand as well if you don’t have a food processor.

4. Add the greens to a bowl, and set aside. Next take your onion and garlic and finely dice those (I do this in the food processor to), and add to the greens mixture. Next add your chickpeas and stir until everything is combined and coated. If the quinoa is cooled, you can add it to the chickpea mixture next.

5. Make your dressing by whisking all the ingredients together. Pour over salad, and mix until combined. Add in tomatoes and avocado and mix. Set in fridge for about 10-15 minutes before serving so the flavors set.

The honored graduate, congratulations Chantelle!!!

Baked Vidalia Onion Dip

This is the first of a few appetizers I made for the party. The recipe called for it to be baked, but I didn't have access to an oven, so I put it in a crockpot.

2 tbls. butter

3 large vidalia onions, coarsely chopped                           

8 oz. shredded Swiss cheese (I used closer to 10 oz.)

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1 (8oz.) can sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped

1/4 cup dry white wine

5 cloves of  garlic, minced

1 tsp. hot sauce

salt to taste

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onion, and saute' 10 minutes or until tender.

2. Stir together shredded Swiss cheese and next 5 ingredients, stir in onion, blending well. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 2 quart baking dish.

3. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, and let stand 10 min. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers. Makes 18 to 20 appetizer servings.

Happy 4th of July!

SL (with many revisions)

Chicken Meatballs in White Wine Cheese Sauce

Excellent dish and easy to make for a large group. Serve it with the wine you used to make the dish.

This is the second dish I made to serve at my niece's grad. party. I LOVE this entree! It's the kind of dish that makes you want to lick the sauce off your plate...yes that's what I said!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground chicken breast ( you can grind your own in a food processor if you cut it into chunks first)

1 large clove of garlic

1 large egg

10 saltine crackers, finely crushed

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning ( I use 1 1/2 tsp. of chopped fresh oregano and 1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh basil)
1 (8 oz.) package of spaghetti or the pasta of your choice 
1 (8oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbls. olive oil
1 large clove of garlic minced
2 tbls. all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine ( I use Sauvignon Blanc or Vermouth)
3 cups chicken broth (use low-sodium fat-free broth for a healthy option)
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (I use 1/3-less-fat)
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
garnish with a sprig of parsley

1. Process chunks of chicken breasts with 1 clove of garlic if you are making your own ground chicken. Otherwise take your ground chicken breast and mix with minced garlic, egg, cracker crumbs, and herbs. Cover and chill 20 minutes.
2. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Arrange meatballs on cookie sheet and spray meatballs with cooking spray. ( I find it much more efficient to dip my fingers in olive oil occasionally as I form the meatballs. It makes it much easier to form the meatballs and coats the meatballs with the oil.)

I was making 6 batches (180 meatballs) so it might look like a bit much.

  
3. Bake at 375 for 13 minutes or until golden and thoroughly cooked.
4. Saute' mushrooms and nutmeg in hot oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat 8 to 10 min. or until mushrooms are tender.
5. Add minced garlic; saute' 1 minute. Sprinkle with flour; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add wine, stirring to loosen browned particles from bottom of pan. Whisk in broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Add cream cheese, whisking until smooth and sauce is thickened. 
6. Add meatballs, red pepper, and parsley to sauce; simmer 10 minutes. Serve sauce with meatballs over pasta. Garnish if desired. Makes 6 servings

This can easily serve as an appetizer, especially if you put a small chunk of mozzarella in the center of each meatball and prepare half the recommended sauce.

SL

  

Savory Beef, Wine, and Herb Stew (Crockpot)

I'm making a double batch of this stew to serve as one of 2 entrees for my nieces graduation party. It is cooking as I am writing this and it smells sooooo good!

Ingredients:

2 chuck roasts about 2 lbs. each

1 packet onion soup mix

1 yellow onion sliced

1 large or 2 small shallot sliced 
16 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes (chopped) (important to use the    San Marzano tomatoes for their sweetness)

(about)1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary leaves or 2 rosemary stems with leaves removed and chopped

(about)1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

5 cloves of garlic minced

3 large red potatoes cut into bite sized pieces

1 16 oz. package of baby carrots

1 cup beef broth (I always use Better Than Broth)

1 cup dry red wine 
cornstarch for thickening

Seer all sides of roasts in olive oil over medium heat. Place both roasts in crockpot.  Add all but potatoes and carrots to the crockpot. Cook on low for about 2 hours, add carrots and potatoes and cook for another 6 to 8 hours. Salt and pepper to taste. (I add either kosher salt or sea salt and course grain pepper.) You may want to take out some of the broth and thicken with either cornstarch or flour and return it to the crockpot for the last hour of cooking.

Serve over egg noodles. Makes about 12 to 16 servings.

Rosemary, Thyme, & Garlic Lamb Chop Marinade

 Lamb Chops With Asparagus Spears and Oven Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

For all you lamb chop lovers, this is an easy and tasty dish to enjoy with family or guests!

Marinade for 4- 1" to 1 &1/2" thick lamb chops:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons virgin olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

(Be sure to remove herb leaves from their stems)
Salt to taste with kosher salt.

Place all marinade ingredients in a Ziploc bag along with your lamb chops. Marinade for 4 to 6 hours. Take the bag of lamb chops out of refrigerator an hour before grilling to get the chops to room temperature.

Ideally it works best to prepare the lamb chops on a grill. You can also broil them in your oven. For medium rare chops you should grill or broil for about 3 to 4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the chop. After removing from grill or oven, loosely tent and allow to rest for 5 mins. before serving.

I served the chops with oven roasted fingerling potatoes (red potatoes work well too) and steamed asparagus. I know...the potatoes kind of look like sausage...but they sure taste good.

 I poor about 1/4 cup olive oil into a bowl and add 2 cloves of minced garlic. I then coat each cut up piece of potato in the oil and place it on the pan. I chop up some fresh rosemary and sprinkle it on the potatoes along with some kosher salt. Bake them in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees, turning them once half way through cooking. You can leave them in longer for crispier potatoes.

Below is a link to my favorite sauce to go with lamb chops. I use the sauce in place of marinating..

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/lamb-chops-with-red-wine-and-rosemary-sauce-201328
 

Caprese Appetizer

Simple, Beautiful, and Delicious!

Caprese appetizers: Skewer grape tomatoes, basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella cheese onto mini skewers and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Such a delicious and refreshing appetizer for a summer party!  What could be simpler!!!

Basil Butter and Crockpot Veggies

I wanted vegetables to serve to a large group that would be simple but good. I used this delicious Basil Butter from allrecipes.com to top Crockpot Veggies, and to spread on warm bread, yummmm! I served this to our Women's Bible Study group along with the Chicken Breasts Lombardy tonight.



Basil Butter
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/basil-butter/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=basil%20butter&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

I LOVE garlic and stayed with the four cloves they suggested, but it might be too much for some people.

 Crockpot Veggies
http://www.livestrong.com/article/540878-how-to-cook-mixed-vegetables-of-carrots-green-beans-broccoli-with-a-crock-pot/

I added onion and an 8oz. package of mushrooms that I cut in halves to the veggies. I planned to have it ready in 3 hrs., so started it on low and checked it after about 2 hrs. turned it to high. I used more veggies than was included in the original recipe.

Some of the ladies enjoying their meal.