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Back Home For Some Pork Chops and Applesauce

As fun as vacation was. it is always nice to be back home. It also means it’s back to the kitchen for some cooking, which I did for the first time in a week last night. Anyone who is my age remembers the Brady Bunch episode where Peter talked about pork chops and applesauce. They seem like a perfect pairing and since I had picked up some early season apples and some pork chops yesterday when shopping, it made for the perfect dinner last night.

Sautéed Pork Chops with Brandy-Apricot Sauce

4 bone-in rib pork chops

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 shallot, minced

1/2 cup bourbon

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped medium

1 cup chicken broth

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels then season them well with salt and pepper. Heat the 2 teaspoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown the pork chops on the first side, about 3 minutes.

Flip the chops over and reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook the chops until the center of the chops away from the bone registers 135 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Transfer the chops to a clean plate and tent with foil, allowing the pork chops to rest until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 to 150 degrees before serving, about 5 to 10 minutes.

While the pork chops rest, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and return the skillet to medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Add the shallot and cook until it is softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the bourbon and the apricots, scraping up any browned bits still in the pan. Add the chicken broth and the thyme and simmer until the mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Stir in any accumulated pork juices from the plate the pork has been resting on and the red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the sauce over the pork chops before serving.

The pork was cooked perfectly and this pan sauce was great. I really like the flavor you get from the apricots and bourbon and the vinegar gives it just that hint of bite and acid. it’s a very simple meal that you can make on a weekend or a weeknight with little effort at all.

Now for the applesauce. Everyone has their own version of the applesauce thhey make, often passed down through families. Applesauce itself is pretty basic to make and all I did was follow America’s Test Kitchen recipe for a very simple sauce.

Old-Fashioned Applesauce

4 pounds apples (about 8 to 12 apples), peeled, cored and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

1 cup water, plus extra if needed

1/4 cup sugar, plus extra if needed

Pinch salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine the apples, water, sugar and salt in a large Dutch oven. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the apples begin to break down, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Mash the cooked apples with a potato masher or against the side of the pot with the back of a wooden spoon. Season with extra sugar or add more water to adjust the consistency to your own liking. Add the cinnamon to the sauce and mix well. Serve warm or cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

You can make the applesauce as chunky or smooth as you like it or even run it through a food mill instead of mashing it if you have a food mill. We all like the cinnamon in the applesauce, but you could just as easily leave it out if you prefer just the great apple flavor on its own.I also made some plain white rice and xorn on the cob to round out the meal.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for more recipes. I do have some things planned for this week that I didn’t get to before I left on vacation, such as the lemon icebox pie, the ciabatta bread and a few other recipes. Keep checking back to see what is next. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 26, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Fruit, Pork, Sauce

Tags: americas test kitchen, applesauce recipe, bourbon-apricot sauce, old-fashioned applesauce, pork chops recipe, pork chops with bourbon-apricot sauce, sauteed pork chops

A Week of Quick Meals: Easy Chicken Teriyaki and No-Mayo Slaw

13 Aug

I am trying to get everything together this week so that we can go away on vacation on Saturday, and Michelle is working late most of the week, so that means trying to make, quick, easy meals with whatever we happen to have around the house. Last night, the quick meal was a fast chicken teriyaki recipe that I found in Cook’s Country. The original recipe serves it with pineapple rings, but since I didn’t have any pineapple around, they got left out of this one.

Grilled Chicken Teriyaki with Pineapple

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons mirin

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon cornstarch

3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed

1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rings

Whisk the soy sauce, sugar, mirin, ginger and cornstarch together in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until it is thickened, about 2 minutes.

Grill the chicken skin side up over a medium-hot fire, covered, until the underside is browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Flip the chicken and grill, covered, until the skin is well browned and the meat registers 175 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about another 6 to 8 minutes. Brush the chicken all over with half of the sauce and continue to grill, uncovered and flipping often, until the sauce begins to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil.

Brush the pineapple rings with half of the remaining sauce and grill, uncovered, until lightly charred on both sides, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. transfer to the same platter as the chicken. Pour the remaining sauce over the chicken and pineapple and serve.

I served this with a simple white rice and some broccoli. I also had made a quick recipe for a no-mayo coleslaw, which I like better this time of year for barbecues and parties because you don’t have to worry about it sitting out in the sun or anything. This one just uses a few ingredients and can be made in minutes if you choose to use a bag of coleslaw mix instead of shredding cabbage and carrots yourself. I always keep a bag of coleslaw mix around as it makes a great quick side dish that you can throw together fast.

No-Mayo Coleslaw

1/4 small red cabbage

1/2 small green cabbage

1/2 carrot, peeled and shredded

zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Remove any of the tough outer leaves from both of the heads of cabbage. Trim the core and any tough stems from the cabbage and thinly slice to shred it. Add the cabbage to a bowl with the shredded carrot, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, salt and black pepper. Toss well to combine.

Serve right away for more of a salad dish or store in the refrigerator overnight for a coleslaw that is more pickled.

As I said, I skipped the first couple of steps and used coleslaw mix and I think it turned out great. The coleslaw picture is actually one I took from lunch with a chicken salad sandwich. I loved the lemony flavor of the dish and the honey gives it just a hint of sweetness. it went really well with the chicken as well, and the glaze on the chicken was quick and easy to make and tasted great. This is a great recipe for a weeknight when you need something done fast and I think you could do it just as well in the oven any time of year by putting the chicken in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes or so before you start to glaze it.

That’s all I have for today. Check back again to see what else comes up this week. I am not quite sure what I will be making; it really depends on what I pull out of the freezer. I did take some ribs out for tonight and found a recipe for that, so you can check back tomorrow for that one. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 13, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Fruit, Grilling, Poultry, Sauce, Side Dishes

Tags: chicken salad sandwiches, chicken teriyaki recipe, Cook's Country, grilled chicken teriyaki, grilled chicken teriyaki with pineapple, grilled pineapple, no mayo coleslaw, quick easy meals

Sweet as Grilled Honey-Glazed Pork Chops and Peaches

06 Aug

I opened up the freezer on Sunday night looking for things I could use to make for dinner this week and I was able to come up with a few ideas for some meals, including this one I found Cook’s Country. I am always a little leery of doing pork chops on the grill because if you don’t watch them closely you end up with burnt shoe leather as your meal. This recipe lays everything out quite easily and is a fast meal, so you can grill this up any night of the week for dinner with just a few ingredients.

Grilled Honey-Glazed Pork Chops

4 (10-ounce) bone-in pork rib or center-cut chops, about 1-inch thick, trimmed

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 cup honey

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cut 2 slits about 2 inches apart through the fat and connective tissue around the outside of each pork chop. Combine the sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Pat the chops dry with paper towels and rub all over with the sugar mixture.

Whisk the vinegar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan until there are no lumps remaining. Stir in the honey, mustard, thyme and cayenne pepper and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the glaze is reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 5 to 7 minutes.

If you are using a charcoal grill, open the bottom vent completely. Light a chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes. When the top coals are partially covered with ash, pour two-thirds of the coals evenly over the grill, then pour the remaining coals over half the grill. Set the cooking grate in place, cover and open the lid vent completely. Heat the grill until it is hot, about 5 minutes.

If you are using a gas grill, turn on all the burners and set them to high, cover the grill and heat the grill until it is hot, about 15 minutes. Leave the primary burner on high and the other burner(s) to medium-low.

Clean and oil the cooking grate. Place the chops on the cool part of the grill and cook (covered if you are using a gas grill) until the meat registers 140 degrees, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Brush the tops of the pork chops with the glaze and grill, glazed side down, over the hot part of the grill until it is caramelized, about 1 minute. Repeat the process with the second side of the pork chops. Transfer the chops to a platter, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and rest for five to ten minutes.

While the pork chops are resting, there is no better way to make use of some of those peaches you have in season this time of year by grilling them up. Grilled peaches test phenomenal and take just a few minutes to cook, so this gives you the perfect opportunity to throw a couple on the grill.

Grilled Peaches

4 ripe medium peaches

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit. Drizzle each half with the maple syrup and sprinkle with the brown sugar. Grill skin side up for 3 minutes until the peaches have begun to caramelize and soften.

Of course, you don’t have to serve the peaches with your meal. You could make them for dessert and serve them with some ice cream or yogurt and you have a nice dessert. To me, they went quite nicely with the pork chops though. The chops were great and using the sugar mixture on them before putting any glaze on them really helped to keep the glaze in place and helped to brown the chops nicely. I served this dish with some green beans, wild rice, the peaches and I even toasted up a little garlic bread on the grill as well.

That’s all I have for today. Check back again later in the week for some more recipes. I’ll be posting a lighter version of a beer battered fish with roasted sweet potato fries, I plan to try my hand at some ciabatta bread if I get the time, and I also have the recipe for a wonderful looking lemon icebox pie to try out. Check back and see what comes up next. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 6, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Fruit, Grilling, Pork

Tags: Cook's Country, grilled honey-glazed pork chops, grilled peaches, honey glazed pork chops

Your Personal Blueberry-Lemon Cakes

03 Jul

Blueberries are in season right now and you can get them at a really great price. Not only are they great in things like fruit salads or your morning oatmeal, but you can do many different desserts with them. While I do love to make blueberry pie, I was looking for something a little bit different recently to make with some of the fresh blueberries I got. I came across this recipe from Williams-Sonoma and it sounded pretty good so I thought I would give it a try and see how they came out.

Individual Blueberry-Lemon Cakes

2 cups blueberries

1/4 cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon cornstarch

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/4 cup buttermilk

5 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the inside of 6 small ramekins with butter. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries and the 1/4 cup of sugar and cook, stirring until the sugar is mostly dissolved, about 3 to 4 minutes. in a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch and it into the saucepan. Bring it to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and 6 tablespoons of sugar. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, butter, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the flour mixture, whisking until the batter is just combined.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of the blueberry mixture into the bottom of each ramekin. Top each with 1/4 cup of the batter and then 1 tablespoon of the blueberry mixture. Place the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the tops of the cakes are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let the cakes cool completely in the ramekins before serving.

These cakes came out great. The blend of the blueberries with the lemony flavor of the cake is wonderful. You could easily double this recipe to make more if you want to make some for a larger crowd or even place them in larger ramekins if you want bigger portions. You can dust the tops with some confectioner’s sugar and serve them with some fresh whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream. in any case, it makes for a quick and easy dessert that you can make in no time at all.

That’s all I have for today. Check back again next time for some more recipes, including another blueberry recipe I just tried from Bon Appetit for blueberry hand pies. It’s very easy to make and they taste great too.I also have some other recipes I have tried recently for a new roasted chicken, braised short ribs, some roasted green beans, watermelon agua fresca and more, so keep checking in to see what’s next. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on July 3, 2013 in Cakes, Cooking, Dessert, Fruit

Tags: blueberries, blueberry-lemon cakes, individual blueberry-lemon cakes, williams-sonoma

Light Summer Desserts Recipes : Cooking Channel

25 Jun

Light Summer Desserts Recipes : Cooking Channel.

While I am not a big dessert eater myself, I do like to have something every now and then and few of us actually want to do any baking during the warm summer months. The Cooking Channel has provided 30 great light summer dessert recipes using fruit, which is always a favorite of mine any time of year. They all seem easy to make and are a great alternative to sugary snacks and heavy desserts. Check it out!

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Posted by MikeG on June 25, 2013 in Cooking Websites, Dessert, Fruit

Tags: Cooking Channel, easy fruit desserts for summer, fruit desserts, light summer desserts

It’s Cherry Season – Braised Pork Chops with Cherries

20 Jun

Cherry season really only comes around for a couple of months and I do try to advantage when they are around and get some in. They make a great snack or an addition to a fruit salad, and of course you can make great things like a cherry pie or cherry turnovers, which are both awesome. You can also try incorporating them into your entrée to give some amazing flavor to your weeknight meals. I came across this recipe from Williams-Sonoma a couple of weeks back and knew I just had to give it a try to jazz up the usual pork chop dinner.

Braised Pork Chops with Cherries

4 bone-in, center-cut pork loin chops, each about 1 inch thick

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons butter

2 leeks, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup Port wine

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 cup fresh pitted cherries, halved or 1/2 cup dried cherries

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the rosemary., patting the seasonings firmly so they adhere to the meat well. In a large saute pan with a lid, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and cook, turning once, until the chops are golden brown on both sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer the chops to a plate.

In the same pan, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the leeks sand saute until they are softened and beginning to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the broth, stir to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the Port wine, vinegar and cherries.

Return the pork chops to the pan along with any accumulated juices and spoon the liquid over the chops. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the pork is tender and barely pink in the center, about 15 minutes. Divide the chops among the plates, spoon the cherry mixture over the tops of the chops and serve.

I love the flavor the cherries give to the entire dish. They make the braising liquid taste great and they add some extra flavor to the pork chops themselves. Not everyone has Port wine around the house and it may seem expensive to go out and buy if you only need 1/4 of a cup and don’t drink port. It does add a lot of flavor to the mixture and goes well with the balsamic vinegar, so if you have some you should use it or just buy a very small bottle to use. If not, I think you can simply omit it from the recipe altogether. I served the dish with some corn on the cob, wild rice and some nice, crusty bread.

That’s all I have for today. Check back again for some other recipes in the coming days, including a high-roasted chicken recipe, a stir fry 101 primer, and a pork tenderloin recipe, among others I am looking to try. The local farmer’s market has started up again for the summer so I plan on going tomorrow to see what I can get as far as some fresh fruit and vegetables. That should affect what I make for dinner next week so check back and see what I come up with. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on June 20, 2013 in Cooking Tips, Dinner, Fruit, Pork, Sauce

Tags: braised pork chops, braised pork chops with cherries, cherries, pork loin chops, williams-sonoma

Dessert Special – Mango Pineapple Fruit Salad and Tapioca Pudding

06 May

Very often, I do not make desserts. We don’t usually have dessert during the week, and when I’m cooking dinner I usually don’t have a lot of energy left over to make something. On the weekends, very often Michelle will make something for dessert. Yesterday we split the duty, she made one dessert while I made another. Both were very easy to make, although the tapioca pudding did seem to take a little while as far as the procedure. The recipe I made, however, for a mango pineapple fruit salad was very easy and only took a few minutes.

Mango Pineapple Fruit Salad

1 fresh pineapple
1 pint strawberries, sliced
2 bananas, sliced
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 mango, sliced
1/2 cup red seedless grapes, halved
1/3 cup honey
2 limes, juiced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut flakes (optional)
1 bunch fresh mint

Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise. Carve out the insides from the pineapple halves. Save the halves to serve the fruit salad in. Dice the pineapple, discarding the core from the center. Mix the pineapple, strawberries, bananas, kiwi, mango and grapes together. In a small bowl, combine the honey, lime juice and cinnamon. Pour the mixture over the fruit and toss well. Place the fruit in the pineapple shell, sprinkle with coconut flakes (if using) and garnish with the fresh mint leaves.

Michelle it also made some homemade whipped cream which we served on the side to put on the fruit if you want to date me. I did not have a kiwi on hand so I did not use them. I also omitted the coconut flakes as none of us are really crazy about coconut here. The great thing about fruit salad is they you can really add whatever you want to and it will always taste great, so if you have any fruit on hand that you wanted to use this is the perfect opportunity for you.

We had bought the small pearl instant tapioca a few weeks ago since I use it when I am making fruit pies. We had also picked up a bag of the large pearl tapioca by accident and needed something to do with it, so naturally we simply decided to make some tapioca pudding.

Tapioca Pudding

1/2 cup large pearl tapioca
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a bowl, soak the tapioca in 2 cups of room temperature water overnight. Drain the water. In a double boiler, heat the milk just until no longer cold. Add the salt and the tapioca. Continue heating until small bubbles appear at the sides of the pan. Cover, turn the heat to very low and cook for one hour. Make sure that the milk mixture does not simmer or boil.

Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light yellow in color. Add a little of the hot mixture to the egg yolks and blend thoroughly. Add the egg yolk mixture to the hot milk mixture, stirring constantly. Place the double boiler over medium heat and cook until the tapioca mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes.

Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and. Slowly fold the egg whites into the hot tapioca mixture. Stir in the vanilla. Serve the pudding warm or chilled.

Personally, I am not a big fan of putting of any flavor really. There’s a long story behind it, and it has to do with when I was in the hospital doing my recovery and was forced to eat pudding two and three times a day. Ever since then I’ve kind of gotten away from it, but Michelle and Sean both enjoy it and they really liked the large pearl tapioca.

There was the only recipes I have for today. I do have several other recipes of items I made last week and things I have planned for this week, so you can expect to see some new postings later on this week. I think the recipes are things everyone will enjoy. Until the next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on May 6, 2013 in Cooking, Dessert, Fruit

Tags: desserts, fruit salad, mango pineapple fruit salad, pudding, tapioca pudding

Storing Your Fresh Fruit « Chef Marcus Samuelsson

14 Apr

Storing Your Fresh Fruit « Chef Marcus Samuelsson.

Since it is getting to the time of year where more of us invest time and money into fresh fruit and vegetables, this posting from Marcus Samuelsson seems to be a good one to pass on today. It gives you some great tips on the best way for you to treat and store your fresh fruit that you bring home this time of year so it lasts longer, stays fresher and tastes better. Check it out.