My husband is a real chop man. I don't think he has ever met a chop, pork or otherwise, that he hasn't fallen in love with.
I am not a real red meat lover (except for steak) but I do confess that every now and again I do enjoy a pork chops as well, but if I am going to eat one, I want it to be bone in, old fashioned, thick and with a bit of tender rib meat attached.
I love, LOVE the rib meat!
If I am going to eat a pork chop, I want a nice sauce with it or some gravy. The man likes gravy also.
Today I had some mushrooms I wanted to use as well, and so I decided to make a mushroom gravy. Mushroom gravy, from scratch and not from a can. You can't beat it!
From scratch, with nothing artificial or cream of soup added . . . just pure ingredients. Fresh onions, garlic and mushrooms . . .
This really is a fabulous treat!
I also like to use wo mustards I favour a smooth Dijon and a grainy.
To that I add some thyme along with a touch of honey. Pork really loves honey doncha know, thyme too . . .
I browned the chops. Did you know that slashing the fatty edge at intervals helps to keep the chops from curling up?
Its true. That's a handy tip there, straight from this horse's mouth. I hate it when chops curl up and unless you slash the fatty edge. They will do just that!
I sauteed the onions, garlic and mushrooms until tender. I then added the honey and mustards, and herbs.
Finally I added the stock. The chops were simmered in this mixture until they were cooked through and tender . . .
Once they were tender, I took the chops out and placed them on a heated platter. You can lightly tent them with foil if you wish.
I whisked some heavy cream into the pan juices and the gravy was done. Rich and ready to be poured over those succulent and juicy chops.
*Pork Chops and Mushroom Gravy*
Serves 4
fine sea salt, black pepper
1 medium onion, peeled and choppedTrim the fat on the chops to about 1/4 inch, saving the trimmings. Slash the fat on the chops at 1/4 inch intervals. Place the trimmings into a pan and heat them over medium heat to release the fat and melt them a bit. Season the chops all over with salt and black pepper. Brown the chops well on both sides over medium heat. Remove to a plate and set aside. Add the onions and mushrooms to the pan. Cook and stir to brown lightly. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add both mustards, honey, thyme and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Return the chops to the pan, turning them to coat in the pan juices. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until tender and cooked through. Remove the chops to a serving platter. Add the cream to the pan juices and whisk to combine. Bring to the boil, then pour over the chops on the serving platter. Serve immediately.
The man really enjoys these with some mashed potatoes, but rice would work equally as well. I also like to serve a green vegetable on the side. Today it was a mix of green and wax beans. Delicious!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I just love scones and am always thinking of different ways I can make them. My husband doesn't mind as he gets to enjoy the fruits of my labors. Today it was Peach, Vanilla and Poppyseed scones and let me tell you they are every bit as delicious as the name implies!
Originally I created them to use fresh peaches, the ones which you get at the shops that are a bit too hard to each out of hand. They are perfect for things like this or for this Green Peach Salad. (which is beautiful, trust me on this!)
The nice thing about these is that you can also use tinned peaches if that is all you have. Just be sure to pat them really dry first with some paper kitchen toweling.
That is what I used today because that is all I had. They work beautifully. I add them in with the poppyseeds, tossing them in with a fork.
You get the buttery crisp scone, moreishly flaky . . . tender sweet pieces of peach . . . crunchy poppyseeds, infused with vanilla . . .
I like to brush them with some cream and sprinkle them with Demerara Sugar prior to baking for some added interest, texture and flavour.
Spread with some clotted cream and apricot jam, these always go down a real treat. Break out the tea-pots and cups! A nice hot herbal infusion goes very well. I like Earl Grey Rooibos. Together they are just lovely.
*Peach, Vanilla & Poppyseed Scones*
Makes 10
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Set aside.
Sift
the flour into a bowl along with the sugar and baking powder. Drop in
the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture
resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the chopped peaches and the poppyseeds.
Whisk together the vanilla, egg and milk. Add to the dry mixture to
make a soft dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead
gently. Pat out about 1 1/2 inch thick. Stamp out into rounds with a
very sharp 3 inch round cutter. Place onto the baking sheet. Push any
trimmings together and re-pat out to stamp out more rounds if necessary
and also place on the baking sheet. Brush tops lightly with cream and
sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve slightly warm with clotted cream and apricot jam. Fabulous!
I just adore spinach. If you had told me this would be so when I was a little girl, but I would never have believed you, but its true. I do love spinach. I think my hatred of it as a child largely had something to do with the fact that my mother tried to feed us tinned spinach, which was YUCK YUCK YUCK. There is just no comparison to the fresh spinach we have available for our use today and the tinned spinach from way back when . . . fresh is definilately better on ALL levels!
I love it in salads . . . crisp green baby spinach leaves . . . with its earthy mineral-like flavour. It is especially good with roasted chicken, toasted nuts, dried cranberries or fresh blueberries, some goats cheese and a fruity balsamic dressing.
I love it sauteed lightly with garlic, butter and salt and pepper. It does not take long to cook at all, and garlic goes very well with it.
It's great in omelets and frittatas, risottos, etc, but my favourite way to use it has to be this simple and easy Spinach and Guyere Tart. Its a recipe I got from my friend Audrey many moons ago. I fell in love with it and I can't tell you how many times I have baked this through the years.
It's quick and easy to make and so impressive when done. One thing which I really love about it is the free form crust . . . you just roll out a 12 inch circle and pile the filling onto that, folding the edges up around the outsides to encase the filling. So simple.
Another thing I love is the richness of the Gruyere cheese, which goes very well with that earthy flavour of the spinach . . . then there is the base of basil pesto which gets secreted beneath the filling before you pop that onto the crust. It's just enough to give you some flavour without overpowering the dish . . .
I also love that nutty crunch of the toasted pinenuts you sprinkle over the top of the tart before baking. Oh, I do love pinenuts . . . they are so moreish.
Actually, I think altogether you could say that I just really, really love this tart full stop!!!
*Spinach and Gruyere Tart*
Serves 4A delicious supper dish that can get even the most ardent of spinach haters to eat spinach! It's a free form tart and very pretty.
1 TBS olive oil
1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 pound of baby spinach leaves, washed
300g shortcrust pastry, thawed if frozen (enough pastry to make a 12 inch round)
2 TBS fresh pesto sauce
120g gruyere cheese, grated (1 cup)
1 large free range egg, beaten
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS toasted pinenuts
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.
Heat the oil in a small pan and add the onion. Cook, stirring for about 4 minutes, until softened. Add the spinach and cook just to wilt. Drain all in a colander and press out as much water as you can. Set aside.
Roll your pastry out to a 12 inch circle. Place onto a flat baking sheet. Spread the centre, leaving about 2 inches all the way around free, with pesto sauce. Reserve 1 TBS of the cheese and place the remainder into a bowl. Add the drained spinach, onion, beaten egg, salt and pepper. Mix together well. Place this mixture in the centre of the pastry circle on top of the pesto. Fold up the edges of the pastry over the spinach, pleating it decoratively. You will only want to fold it up about 2 inches all the way around, leaving the centre open. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and pine nuts.
Bake in the heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Cut into 4 wedges to serve.
All you need to serve with this is a salad on the side. Bon Appetit!
I am a big fan of smaller scaled meals, especially where there are only two of us in our home most of the time. I am also a fan of one pan suppers, coz, well, who wants to spend hours washing a ton of dishes if you can get the job done with only one!
That's why dishes like this Skillet Chicken Parmesan For Two are really popular in my house!
This tasty skillet chicken parmesan has all the flavors of the original, full sized recipe, with with far less mess and work. Its also ready in half the time. Did I mention that its DELICIOUS!
I have always loved Chicken Parmesan, but its been several years since I have been able to eat it.
I got really sick with food poisoning a number of years back and one of the things I had eaten prior to that was some Chicken Parmesan, and . . . well . . . 'nuff said!
Funny how that goes, or maybe not so funny! I had also eaten pizza, but I was okay with eating that all along.
I recently started to feel like I could just about stomach chicken parmesan again. That made me happy as it had always been something which I loved.
This version differs from the regular Chicken Parmesan in that there is no fuss and muss of breading chicken and frying it. Yes, it is a skillet chicken parmesan without breading.
You crisp up some bread crumbs in butter until golden brown and then reserve them until the very end.
You then saute two well seasoned, boneless, skinless chicken breasts until they are nicely colored.
They, too, get set aside.
After that you create a nicely flavored honeyed tomato marinara sauce.
You make it just a bit thinner than normal because you are going to add some dry pasta to it . . . I love pasta that cooks right in the sauce. It really absorbs all of the lovely flavors of the dish.
You nestle the partially cooked chicken breasts into that, cover it and then cook for about 18 to 20 minutes, just until the pasta is tender and the chicken is cooked through.
At the end you scatter some cheese over top and cover it again to melt the cheese, and then the crisp crumbs get scattered over top along with a bit of chopped Basil.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CHICKEN PARMESAN
Just like magic, you have a delicious dinner for two, with only one pan to wash up. All you need on the side is perhaps some garlic bread and a salad. Dinner is served! It looks like a lengthy list, but don't worry, there is nothing out of the ordinary here.
For the crumb topping:
1 TBS butter
20g Panko style bread crumbs (1/4 cup)1 TBS butter
For the chicken:
1 TBS butter
2 boneless, skinless chicken breastsFor the sauce:
1 small onion, peeled and minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp each dried oregano, dried thyme
1 tsp honey
salt and black pepper to taste
1 (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes in juice (1 14 oz tin)
HOW TO MAKE SKILLET CHICKEN PARMESAN
If you have all of your ingredients assembled and ready to go, this goes together very quickly.
Melt the butter for the crumb topping in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the crumbs. Cook, stirring, until golden brown. Tip out into a bowl and set aside.
Wipe the pan clean. Rub the chicken breasts all over with the Italian seasoning, pepper flakes and salt.
Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 3 1/2 minutes on one side, until golden brown, then flip them over and cook for another 3 1/2 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Add the onion for the sauce to the pan drippings. Cook over medium heat until softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Ad the tomatoes, undrained, water, herbs, honey and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir in the pasta, stirring to coat well. The mixture should be fairly loose at this stage, if it isn't add a few TBS of water.
Nestle the partially cooked chicken into the sauce. Cover tightly and cook over low heat for 18 to 20 minutes until the pasta is tender and the chicken is cooked through. The juices should run clear.
Remove from the heat. Sprinkle the cheeses over the chicken. Cover and let stand for several minutes to melt the cheese. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and basil. Serve.
Yield: 2
Skillet Chicken Parmesan
Cook time: 45 MinTotal time: 45 Min
An all in one Italian favorite! The pasta cooks right in the sauce.
Ingredients
For the Crumb Topping:
- 1 TBS butter
- 20g Panko style bread crumbs (1/4 cup)
For the chicken:
- 1 TBS butter
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the sauce:
- 1 small onion, peeled and minced
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 tsp each dried oregano, dried thyme
- 1 tsp honey
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes in juice (1 14 oz tin)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) water
You will also need:
- 115g of uncooked penne pasta (1 cup)
- 60g grated Mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup)
- 45g Parmesan cheese (1/4 cup)
- finely chopped basil
Instructions
- Melt the butter for the crumb topping in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the crumbs. Cook, stirring, until golden brown. Tip out into a bowl and set aside.
- Wipe the pan clean. Rub the chicken breasts all over with the Italian seasoning, pepper flakes and salt.
- Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 3 1/2 minutes on one side, until golden brown, then flip them over and cook for another 3 1/2 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onion for the sauce to the pan drippings. Cook over medium heat until softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Ad the tomatoes, undrained, water, herbs, honey and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the pasta, stirring to coat well. The mixture should be fairly loose at this stage, if it isn't add a few TBS of water.
- Nestle the partially cooked chicken into the sauce. Cover tightly and cook over low heat for 18 to 20 minutes until the pasta is tender and the chicken is cooked through. The juices should run clear.
- Remove from the heat. Sprinkle the cheeses over the chicken. Cover and let stand for several minutes to melt the cheese. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and basil. Serve.
There is no doubt about it, Chicken is a really delicious and fairly affordable protein. I eat a lot of it. If you are a fan of chicken, you might also enjoy the following recipes:
BUNDT PAN ROAST CHICKEN - In this fabulous recipe a Bundt pan is used as a type of trivet for the chicken, which enables you to roast your chicken upright in the oven. All of those delicious chicken juices run down over the chicken basting it and creating a succulent finish, as well as flavouring the bed of vegetables in the bottom of the pan. Perfectly cooked chicken. Beautifully flavored vegetables. What's not to love!
CAST IRON ROASTED CHICKEN & POTATOES - A whole chicken is butterflied and rubbed with some succulent flavors and then roasted on top of some halved baby new potatoes in an iron skillet. Because it has been butterflied it cooks much quicker than it would otherwise and the potatoes gain a lot by having roasted in the chicken juices. Altogether this is an incredibly delicious and satisfying dish that will have the whole family licking their lips in anticipation!
I think you could easily double this recipe by using a larger skillet and doubling the ingredients in order to feed four people. This feeds two people quite generously.
I would call this one a winner/winner chicken dinner for sure! Quick, easy delicious. No fuss, no muss. All in one pa! Make sure you bring your appetites!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
Thank you so much for visiting! Do come again!
On Saturday morning for breakfast I cooked us a lovely pot of oatmeal . . . the ultimate in comfort food. When I was a child you could not get me to eat oatmeal for love nor money. As an adult I love the stuff, and by that I don't mean the pre-packaged instant type of oats. I mean the good old fashioned rustic rolled oats! There is nothing like it. Sometimes I toast the oats before cooking them for an even tastier treat!
They are so delicious, especially when served with a bit of heavy cream, just lightly napped over top and a light drizzle of date syrup. Manna from heaven!
I always make sure I cook extra oatmeal when I cook it, just so that I can then make these delicious muffins the next morning. They are quite simply fabulous!
Rustic and wholesome, filled with lots of sticky raisins, toasted nuts, the sweetness of brown sugar (I use light muscovado if I have it in) and flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon and the merest hint of nutmeg!
They also freeze very well. I like to keep some in the freezer to just grab when you want something special, real fast!
I hate waste, don't you? These delicious, hearty muffins make sure that what is something most people might just throw away is not wasted at all. I really like that.
Actually, when my children were growing up, I often chilled leftover cooked oats in a cling film lined small loaf tin, overnight. The next morning I would slice it into slabs, dust it with flour and fry it in butter. They loved it with maple syrup. It was very tasty done that way. And, the bonus was, they never felt like I was just feeding them leftovers!
*Breakfast Oatmeal Muffins*
Makes 12
Makes 12
These muffins are a great way of using up leftover cooked oatmeal. I often cook extra oatmeal for breakfast so that I can treat us to a batch of these the day after!
140g of plain flour (1 cup)
200g of soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
120ml of vegetable oil (1/2 cup)
2 large free range eggs beaten
180g of leftover cooked oatmeal cereal (about 1 cup)
150g of raisins (1 cup)
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Grease a 12 cup medium muffin tin very well. Set aside.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk together the leftover oatmeal, eggs, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients only to moisten. Fold in the raisins and nuts (if using). Spoon into the greased muffin cups, dividing the batter evenly amongst them.
Bake for 18 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let sit in the pan for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool somewhat before eating.
I really hope you will give these a go! Why not cook a bit of extra oats the next time you are making it for breakfast, just so you can bake these! If you are not fond of raisins, chopped dates or even dried cranberries also work very well! Bon Appetit!
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