Monthly Archives: December 2013

Chip Chop

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Anyone wonder why when something is needed quickly, people say “chip chop”? Regardless, this pork chop recipe cooks in a jiffy! (Again don’t know where the word jiffy even came from?) Its a simple week night dinner that doesn’t require any prep work. I grabbed some pork chops on the way home from work and had dinner on the table in no time. No, you can’t sub for chicken or fish on this one. I hear the word on the street is that apple sauce only marries pork, so my apologies if you don’t eat the whitest red meat.

 

Also, let’s get interactive here, what are some good sides that go with pork chops? Give me suggestions on accompaniments for this dish! Email us: damndelish@gmail.com on what you would serve with this dinner. Pasta? Rice? Potatoes? No starch and just veggies? Would LOVE to hear from the readers. Jess and Sonia are lonely emailing just one another. Ok back to food, go make this one, its precious. (total prep & cook time is only 20 minutes!)
  • 2 1/2 cups of applesauce (The original calls for 4 cups and that is WAY excessive. Trust me even with 2 1/2 you will have plenty leftover, plus if you don’t want to take my word for it, know that 2 1/2 cups is pretty much an entire small jar anyway).
  • 2 onions (Original recipe calls for 1 onion so that should be fine, but I increased it since they cook down a lot).
  • 1 1/2 cups of white wine (I had some left over from the fancy pants chicken piccata recipe)
  • 4 (1-inch thick) pork chops
  • 3 tbsp. butter
Season pork chops with salt and pepper generously & place in a large skillet over medium-high heat. In the spaces between the chops, add the butter and onions. (you are going to need a pretty big pan by the way, I switched half way through because mine wasn’t big enough) Cook and stir the onions while the first side of the chops cook until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the chops and continue cooking until the no longer pink in the center, 5 to 7 minutes more. Pour white wine into the skillet; bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan (this is what Food Network calls de-glazing the pan. Go ahead, show off, use it in conversation some time to act like you are a culinary king). Stir applesauce through the onion and wine mixture. Simmer until the liquid thickens somewhat, about 5 minutes. Plate the pork chops and top with the apple and onion mixture to serve. Oh and sorry there is no picture, there may or may not have been excessive wine consumption stopping us from remembering to take a photo prior to inhaling our meal.
Editor’s note: I did enjoy how quick and easy this was, but I also felt as if something was missing. Try variations on this by adding a pinch of cayenne, cinnamon, & garlic powder to the apple sauce mixture. Remember not to season the chop itself much more since it will burn the outside when searing and leave the inside undercooked. Having said all that, not one person didn’t finish their plate. So maybe don’t mess with it-keep it a simple & clean dish. Just some food for thought. ha get it!?
Happy Eating, XO.

Soup from scratch

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Broccoli cheddar soup is my sister’s favorite. Panera is definitely better than the canned stuff, but why not save yourself the outing & make some at home? Plus, now that winter is knocking on our doors, its safe to say its soup season! Sick or not, this will make you feel all sorts of good on the inside. Oh and it doesn’t hurt that its super fast & super easy. (Read: No emersion blenders need). Toast up a baguette & enjoy.

  • 3 cups chicken stock (or vegetable if you are trying to keep this vegetarian)
  • 2 cups chopped broccoli florets (fresh or frozen doesn’t matter)
  • 1 small white onion, diced (about 1 cup)
  • 1 (15 oz.) can evaporated milk (much healthier than heavy cream)
  • 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (either do it yourself or get the Kraft kind. Either way sharp is the way to go- it has more flavor).

Create a roux (fancy French word alert!) beforehand by heating 1 tablespoon each of butter and flour together in the saucepan, and stirring them for a minute until the flour is cooked and slightly golden. Then whisk in the chicken stock, and then add broccoli, diced onion and the evaporated milk together in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until nearly boiling. Then reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is cooked an soft.

*Note that the soup is a little on the thin side and that’s why I added the roux at the beginning to thicken it. If you want yours more runny or don’t have the time, you can most certainly do without it.

Happy Eating, XO.

 

Roasted Potatoes

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Barefoot Contessa, or as some of us know her as, Ina Garten is known for simple and casual entertaining. Recently watching her show, I realized she cooks a lot like me. Or shall I say I cook a lot like her (After all she is the famous one, not me). Anyway, she likes roasting. May it be asparagus, zucchini or potatoes, she is a fan and so am I! So here are her roasted potatoes with my own twist!

  • 2 pounds small red or white potatoes
  • 1/8 cup good olive oil (typical Barefoot Contessa, “good”).
  • 1  teaspoon salt (kosher if you are Ina, as for the rest of us whatever is in your shaker is fine. I used sea salt because I adore the stuff).
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (she says this because its coarser than normal black pepper, but either works)
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1  teaspoon onion powder (my addition & so yum!) My other suggestion is to shave some parm cheese over when serving, but I am trying to cut calories and since this is already a carby/starchy side, I restrained.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (this is important, I tried to cook with my dessert at 350 degrees and the potatoes didn’t cook as fast or get that crisped up edge so even if you have to take shifts with the oven make sure you do it at the 400 degrees, raw potatoes need a high temp). Cut the potatoes in half or quarters  (the smaller the pieces the quicker they cook) and place in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic; toss until the potatoes are well coated. Transfer the potatoes to a sheet pan and spread out into 1 layer. Roast in the oven for 45 min to 1 hour or until browned and crisp. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking in order to ensure even browning. (For a change I wasn’t lazy and actually did this, I like mine evenly cooked so I made sure to swing open the oven half way through & toss).

Remove the potatoes from the oven, toss with parsley & onion powder, and serve hot. This serves 4 people. The original recipe is actually for 8 people, but I cut it down to serve with the Fig, Mustard & Pear Champagne Glazed Chicken.

Happy Eating, XO.

Fig, Mustard & Pear Champagne Glazed Chicken

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An ode to my favorite grocery store under the Sun. Trader Joe’s. Cheap, fresh, organic, tasty, you name it…this place is THE best. Anyway, this blog is primarily easy recipes. Easy sometimes is mistakenly synonymous for quick. And while we appreciate the pace of most of the recipes, some of them such as the Sunday Simmer are best made “low and slow”. This is by far one of the easiest recipes because its mix, pour & roast however the total cooking time is 2 hrs. So if you need a quick week night dinner, keep scrolling. However, if you have some time to get laundry or other cleaning done…this recipe is clutch. Plus all ingredients are from TJ! So here you have it ladies & gents…Fig, Mustard & Pear Champagne Glazed Chicken.

  • 1 TJ’s Whole Organic Chicken (bone chicken = more scrumptious than non bone chicken, you better recognize! check out Mama Z’s whole chicken recipe too).
  • 1 jar TJ’s Fig Butter (I used the little that was remaining as a spread with goat cheese & crackers on wine night so obviously a multi faceted purchase here).
  • 1 jar TJ’s Whole Grain Dijon Mustard (this is used in dressing recipes, the crab cake recipe, etc…aren’t you happy to have to buy one less thing this time around, your welcome).
  • 1 bottle TJ’s Pear Champagne Vinaigrette (keep this around for an endive salad coming to the blog this December. We always want you to be able to use leftovers. Plus, we hope you like the dish enough that you wont have leftovers because you will re-make it at least once more!)

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the fig butter, 1/2 cup of the mustard and 1 cup of the vinaigrette. Rinse and thoroughly pat dry the chicken (moisture on the chicken will prevent the glaze from sticking to it). Place the chicken in a baking dish and spread 2/3 of the glaze mixture generously all over the chicken. (I did so, too generously. What I mean is that there was so much of the glaze that was on the pan surrounding the chicken that it started to burn & made my fire alarm go off. Crisis was averted by opening a window and switching to a clean pan, but it messed up the heating/cooking temp of the chicken & probably could’ve gotten an extra 20 min the oven to make up for the mid cooking swap). They say the rule of thumb is 20 min per lb. (I didn’t put much thought into that and just pulled it out when it looked done). Anyway half way through I basted the chicken with the remaining 1/3 of the glaze mixture, so moist & divine this chicken came out!

This serves 4 people and I served it with the roasted potatoes recipe under sidekicks.

photo

Happy Eating, XO.