La Comida de Mi Vida (My Life in Food)

Tray Baked Sticky Pork Chops Recipe – Food.com – 206280.

DH makes the best grilled chops – perfectly seared, juicy and never, ever overcooked.  With the weather getting colder grilling outside isn’t really an option (because he won’t do it ).  I’m always afraid of overcooking pork chops when I pan fry them so I decided to look for a recipe that allowed baking them.

Since I generally don’t prefer sweet on my meat dishes I slightly modified the ingredients to suit our tastes and what I had in the fridge.  I omitted honey and chili peppers since this was a family meal and I didn’t want to burn my kids mouths.  Instead of soy sauce, ginger and garlic I used a teriyaki marinade that contained all these ingredients already.  There was no dry sherry left so I used rice wine vinegar instead.  So, I mixed the hoisin, rice wine vinegar and 4 tablespoons of the teriyaki marinade and set it aside.

As per the recipe instructions I pan fried the chops in a heavy pan in the olive oil for 2 minutes on each side.  Immediately after this I spooned the sauce mixture over each chop coating them evenly and transferred my oven save, heavy bottom pan to the 400F degree oven (oh yeah, 200C is 400F).  I set the timer for 20 minutes and went about making the rest of my dinner.  I made some basmati rice (cooks quicker than regular long grain white) and a side salad.  It would have been better paired with a veggie stir fry, but that wasn’t available.

After 20 minutes I removed the pan from the oven and couldn’t have been more pleased.  The chops weren’t tough or pink in the middle – they were just right.  I served them on a bed of basmati and spooned some extra sauce over each one.  Like I said vegetable stir fry would have been better as a side but I had to improvise.  Now I know I can make perfectly cooked pork chops in the oven while I wait for grilling season to return.  Thank you Terese!

Happy Cooking!

I have never cooked with rhubarb.  My mother being a foreigner andmy dad not liking sour things I was well into my teens before I even heard of rhubarb.  My in-laws grow it in their garden.  I have as of yet to be brave enough to try it.  They gave me a bunch earlier in the spring.  Unfortunately it was right before we were leaving on vacation so it went bad before I got to try these tips.  I’m archiving the ideas here so next time I have a bunch I’ll know what to do with it.  Also, I wanted to find a preparation that used the rhubarb as a vegetable instead of in a sweet preparation.  The savory chicken dish looks like a winner good for a comforting dinner.

source http://ginews.blogspot.com/2006/07/low-gi-food-of-month.html
“You can add bi carb soda 1 tspn to the water when cooking or you can soak it with a bit more. The bi carb nutralizes, some of the acid so only half the aomount of sugar is needed. It does change the colour of the rhubarb but hay who cares??? You can also use this method in things like tomato sauce anything thats acidic and needs sugar added.”

from rhubarbinfo.com/chicken

Chicken Smothered In Rhubarb
Ingredients:

3 1/2 pound chicken, cut into 10 serving pieces
Essence of Emeril seasoning
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium onions, julienned
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced garlic, approx. 2 large cloves
1 bay leaf
Fresh thyme sprigs
1 cup dry white wine (cooking sherry would work – reduce any added salt if using)
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Serving Suggestion: 2 cups cooked white rice, warm, garnish with 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken pieces with Essence and flour. In a large heavy pot, heat the olive oil almost to smoke point. When the oil is hot, brown the chicken for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, allow it to get a crust before attempting to move it so as not to destroy the chicken. Add the rhubarb and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Stirring constantly, caramelize onions, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any brown particles, for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, herbs and wine, cover and reduce the heat to medium low. Stir occasionally and cook for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Stir in the parsley. Arrange the chicken on a platter and garnish with Essence (essence of emeril) and parsley and serve with rice.

I’m always trying to find ways to make chicken interesting. My kids love chicken strips. I though have trouble getting the breading to stick to the chicken long enough to make it actually look like a fried chicken strip and not a half naked attempt at one. Well, last night I finally succeeded at making a tasty, tender completely coated chicken strip that my family loved. Everyone was hungry and I was in a big hurry. I found a quick fix with a box of Stove Top stuffing.

Stuffing Breaded Chicken Strips

Servings: 2 large (for us it was two small and two medium)

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts with the rib meat, defrosted

Half a package of your favorite stuffing mix, crushed or blended to crumbs

1 large egg
1 Tbsp. milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil, more or less as needed

Directions:

Pat the chicken breasts dry. Slice them on an angle across the grain so you end up with strips approximately 1/4″ thick and 1″ wide.

In a blender, food processor or a plastic bag and mallet – crush the stuffing mix of your choice until it is slightly more coarse than flour. Pour the crumbs on a large plate in an even layer.

In a separate bowl beat the egg and the milk together. Now set up your stations leading up to your frying pan with the oil on medium-high heat – chicken, egg wash, crumbs. Dip your chicken strips in the egg wash. Allow them to drip any excess wash back into the bowl then lay them on the crumbs pressing them in to get a good coating. Once well coated with crumbs transfer them to the hot pan of oil. Cook approximately 2 minutes on each side, until the breading is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. There you have quick, tender and tasty chicken strips the whole family will love.

Cutting the chicken breasts across the grain ensures that you will have tender easy to cut apart strips when you are done. I used a box of turkey flavored dressing mix and it was delicious. You could taste the onion and celery and even the turkey flavor came through. My DH is always frustrated by tough, overcooked chicken and he actually congratulated me last night for how tender and juicy the chicken turned out. Like I said, I didn’t want to make anything else fried or too unhealthy so I served these strips atop salads with salad greens, campari tomatoes, olives, pepperoncini and Italian dressing for DH and I and next to a little salad for the kiddies.

Eat your heart out KFC – there’s nothing quite like semi homemade*.

*This term is from a Food Network show called Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee.

My little girl just informed me the other day that her favorite meal is spaghetti and meatballs. We don’t have that very often so it surprised me a bit. The other night I decided to do something special for her and make her “favorite” meal with homemade meatballs.

Spicy Italian Meatballs

Preheat oven to 425°F

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 20-25 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 lb 80% lean ground beef chuck
1 lb spicy sausage (i.e. Bob Evans Hot sausage roll or similar)
2 large eggs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 a small onion, diced
1/4 cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped fine (a tbsp of dry will work if you don’t have fresh)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (about 2 slices of bread)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp dry or semi-dry red wine – Merlot or Malbec works quite nice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl put in meat and all your ingredients on top of it – yes, just dump it in. Use your hands* to gently incorporate everything until just mixed. Over mixing will lead to tough meatballs. Roll the mix into scant 1/4 cup size balls and place them on a jelly roll pan at least a 1/2 inch apart. Bake in the oven at 425° F for at 20 – 25 minutes until cooked through. I like the caramelized brown to be on as much of my meatballs as possible so halfway through the cooking process I use a spatula to dislodge them from the pan and turn them over.

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Through the cooking you’ll be able to smell the spices from the sausage and the nuttiness of the Parmesan wafting through the house. It is a mouthwatering experience. Serve with your favorite spaghetti sauce and pasta of your choice and side salad for a delicious and complete meal.

*If you are like me and do not enjoy the feeling of ground meat on your hands and under your fingernails please use a pair of disposable plastic gloves so you can do your mixing icky feeling free .

This hearty stew brings together many flavors and textures for a very interesting meal.  Serve the stew over white Mexican rice with sour cream and a few slices of avocado and cilantro for a garnish for an eye and tummy pleasing meal.

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh tomatillos, rinsed and sliced 1/4″ thick

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. boneless top round beef, sliced thinly across the grain

1 tsp. cumin seeds, whole

1 lb. fingerling potatoes or other thin skinned variety, thinly sliced

1 lb. zuccini, trimmed and sliced 1/4″ thick

2 – 10 oz. cans red chili sauce

1 large ripe Haas avocado, pitte, peeled and sliced

4 cups hot cooked rice

Garnish:

Sour cream

Chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Add oil to a 12 or 14 inch skillet over med-high heat. Place beef and cumin seeds in the pan stirring until the meat is no longer pink (approx 5 min.). Add tomatillos, potatoes, zucchini and chili sauce.  Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium, cover the pot and simmer until potatoes are soft (about 30 min.)

To serve spoon the stew over hot rice and top with avocado, sour cream and cilantro.  Serves 6.

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 35 min.

This evening after a long exhausting day we went to visit our new little niece.  We hadn’t had anything to eat and the girls were restless. DD1 requested Applebees and it sounded good so we went. 

DH right away knew he wanted the Bacon Cheddar Burger.  DD1 wanted fish which was unusual.  We settled on getting the fish and chips for the girls so they could split it. I doubted there would be enough for all three of us so I got the Chicken Fajita Rollup.

When the food arrived the girls had three good size fillets of fish, a mountain of fries and some Cole slaw to share. DH’s burger looked good though he had significantly fewer fries.  My rollup looked more like a lettuce burrito with a little pico de gallo and cheese and a few scant pieces of chicken.  I thought, “looks can be deceiving, maybe the chicken fell to the ends.” No such luck. 

For almost $8 there should have been twice as much meat.  I seriously doubt I had half of one chicken breast in the tortilla.  As mutantly huge commercial meat chickens are these days you could have fed four people with the way the meat was doled out.

I was sorely disappointed.  Next time I’ll be more careful when the star of the dish can be buried in lettuce and hidden in a tortilla or crepe.  It’s too easy to get jipped.  What I should have done was not get anything for myself and eat the girl’s leftovers.  Instead I had a flour tortilla filled with lettuce and a few mini pieces of chicken and we brought home most of the fries and one and a half fillets of fish.

I know the economy is hitting everyone hard, but practices like this alienate people.  You want consumers who are pinching their pennies to keep coming back you can’t skimp.  It’s different when a box of cereal or a container of juice changes size and the price stays the same.  The consumer can see a quantifiable change and calculate whether it’s worth the buy.  You can’t do that with restaurant fare.  All it takes is one poor experience to turn one off completely.