I had two thick old fashioned pork chops in the freezer that had Todd's name on them. He so loves a nice pork chop every now and then. He gets tired of chicken, chicken, chicken. Me, I could eat chicken every day and never tire of it, but he does like some red meat once in a while.
When I buy chops I like to get the old fashioned ones, loin chops with the rib bone attached, almost like a spare rib . . . but with plenty of meat.
This is what they will look like with a rib bone, some fatty meat and a nice medallion of loin attached, with a bordering of lovely white fat at the outer edge. I always clip this edge at even intervals prior to cooking as it helps them to lay nice and flat without curling up as they cook.
I like a bit of fat on and in my chops. We have been taught that this is a bad thing, and whilst I would agree that too much fat is not good, a little bit of it is what helps to keep meat tender and flavourful. It's not safe to eat pork rare so in this case some fat is necessary or you end up with dry chops.
I have a cookbook called "How to feed your whole family a healthy, balanced diet with very little money and hardly any time, even if you have a tiny kitchen, only three saucepans (One with an ill-fitting lid) and no fancy gadgets, unless you count the garlic crusher," by Gill Holcombe. (Now that's quite the name for a cookery book don't you think!)
Its filled with lots of lovely little recipes and there was one in it for cooking pork fillet with apple and apricots. I thought this recipe would adapt itself very well to cooking pork chops and so that's what I did. With fabulous results I might add.
I also cut it down to serve two people as I only had two chops. I used an eating apple that I had in the refrigerator and instead of chopping the fruit fine, I left it in larger bits, slicing the apple and cutting the apricots in half.
You might be tempted to think that there are no apricots in this as they are rather brown looking, but that is because they are organic and sulphur free. Hungry Jack soft dried apricots. So they are more like what a naturally dried apricot would be without preservatives.
The red onion was one from the bounty of a friend's garden. There is such a remarkable difference from fresh veg and those you get in the shops. Its amazing really. Just goes to show you how long the food we buy has been sitting around. I will be sorry when I have used them all up!
The chops are seasoned and simply browned on top of the stove with the onion and then you throw on the dried fruits. I used a skillet which is comfortable in the oven.
A simple sauce is made using a bit of butter, some sage, flour golden syrup and vegetable stock. This gets poured over top of the browned chops.
After that I covered the whole thing tightly with a bit of aluminium foil as I don't have an oven proof lid. (I used my cast iron skillet, which did a beautiful job.)
Once in the oven (moderate) this gets roasted for about an hour until the chops are meltingly tender and the sauce forms a delicious fruity gravy to spoon over top!
Yield: 2
Sweet Apple & Apricot Pork Chops
prep time: 15 minscook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 hours and 15 mins
A delicious oven bake for two, with tender juicy chops and a fabulously fruit sauce. All you need on the side is perhaps some potato or rice and a tasty vegetable. You will need an oven-proof skillet.
ingredients:
2 thick bone in pork chops, fat trimmed and fatty edge
snipped at 1/2 inch intervals
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 small apple, peeled, cored and sliced
5 or 6 dried apricots, cut in half
salt, pepper, sage, garlic powder, onion powder to taste
1 TBS oil
For the sauce:
240ml hot vegetable stock (1 cup)
1 tsp butter, melted
1 tsp plain flour
1 tsp dried sage
2 tsp golden syrupinstructions:
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
Dust
the chops all over with salt, pepper, sage garlic powder and onion
powder to taste. (You can also add a bit of cayenne if you like) Heat
the oil in a heavy oven proof skillet, large enough to hold both chops,
over medium heat. Add the chops along with the onion, and brown the
chops on both sides. Toss in the apple and apricots. Remove from the
heat. Whisk together the melted butter and flour. Whisk in the dried
sage, golden syrup and hot vegetable stock. Pour over the chops in the
skillet. Cover tightly with foil, or an ovenproof lid.
the chops all over with salt, pepper, sage garlic powder and onion
powder to taste. (You can also add a bit of cayenne if you like) Heat
the oil in a heavy oven proof skillet, large enough to hold both chops,
over medium heat. Add the chops along with the onion, and brown the
chops on both sides. Toss in the apple and apricots. Remove from the
heat. Whisk together the melted butter and flour. Whisk in the dried
sage, golden syrup and hot vegetable stock. Pour over the chops in the
skillet. Cover tightly with foil, or an ovenproof lid.
Place
into the preheated oven and roast for about 1 hour, until the chops are
meltingly tender. Serve with your favourite vegetables and rice or
potatoes. Delicious!
into the preheated oven and roast for about 1 hour, until the chops are
meltingly tender. Serve with your favourite vegetables and rice or
potatoes. Delicious!
All in all this was fabulously delicious. I serve it with some potatoes and green beans and Todd thought he had died and gone to heaven! Bon Appetit!
I've been racking my brains to come up with something tasty for the upcoming holidays of Halloween and yes, Thanksgiving (American). It hasn't been really easy having had a ticky tummy for the past couple of days. I haven't really felt like much in the way of food, eating or recipes!
I've been eating applesauce, bananas and dry toast. I am feeling a bit better today, thankfully. I am not sure if your kids were like mine, but getting them to eat anything prior to Trick-Or-Treating was nigh onto impossible. They were very eager to get out there with the other kids in the neighbourhood.
Jon carving his pumpkin . . .
I had made Apple Pie Tacos for our RS activity last week. It was a presentation on flat breads. I had a bag of lightly salted tortilla crisps leftover and I thought to myself, lets try to do something with those.
Jakey carving his pumpkin ...
Because of my illness I had lots of applesauce in the house as well, so the wheels started turning and I thought Cinnamon Apple Nachos. But they had to be quick and easy, and something children would like to eat.
Josh working hard on his pumpkin . . . I am betting his tongue is out. Its a family trait. We all stick out tongues out when we are concentrating.
I shook the bag of tortilla crisps together with some melted butter and cinnamon sugar, spread them on a baking tray and baked them in a moderate oven until they were crispy toasty and nice and cinnamony . . .
While they were baking I stirred together some applesauce and a bit of cinnamon to give me some cinnamon applesauce. You could leave the cinnamon out if you wanted to.
You can use chunky applesauce or smooth applesauce. I used the smooth as that is what I had, and you want to use unsweetened. There is enough sugar in the crisps.
I put that into a bowl for dipping and topped it with some sour cream, which I then drizzled with some salted caramel sauce. (Optional, but very nice.)
Popped the bowl onto a plate and surrounded it with the cinnamon sugar tortilla crisps. Presto chango, a really delicious snack that the kids will love that won't take a lot of time. Guaranteed to please!
Yield: Serves 4 - 6
Quick Cinnamon Apple Nachos
prep time: 8 minscook time: 12 minstotal time: 20 mins
These are delicious, quick and easy. Its a sweet and salty thing. What more could you want?
ingredients:
180g bag of lightly salted tortilla crisps (6.5 ounces)
4 TBS melted butter
4 TBS sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
For the dip:
1 (280g jar) of smooth or chunky unsweetened apple sauce (about 10 ounces, or 1 1/4 cups)
pinch cinnamon
4 TBS sour cream
salted caramel to drizzle (optional)instructions:
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a baking tray
with some aluminium foil and spritz lightly with low fat cooking spray.
with some aluminium foil and spritz lightly with low fat cooking spray.
Open the bag of tortilla crisps and
drizzle with the melted butter, give them a good shake to mix the butter
well in. Mix together the sugar and ground cinnamon. Pour into the
bag and give them another good shake to coat all. Pour them out onto
the baking tray in a single layer. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until
golden and smelling nice and cinnamony. Take out of the oven and let
cool while you set up the dip.
drizzle with the melted butter, give them a good shake to mix the butter
well in. Mix together the sugar and ground cinnamon. Pour into the
bag and give them another good shake to coat all. Pour them out onto
the baking tray in a single layer. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until
golden and smelling nice and cinnamony. Take out of the oven and let
cool while you set up the dip.
applesauce into a bowl and stir in a bit of cinnamon to taste. Top with
dollops of the sour cream and drizzle with the salted caramel. Place
in the middle of a platter and surround with the cinnamon sugar tortilla
crisps for dipping.
Created using The Recipes Generator
I'm an adult and not feeling too good and I thought these were really tasty. Its times like this what I wish I had family closer around to enjoy these things I come up with. I love my grandchildren, and it would be so nice to be able to spoil them year round!
Jakey in the hay bales. He really looks like his mum here. I know I am a bit biased but I just think I have the bestest, smartest, most handsomest grandchildren ever! Bon Appetit!
A while back I had bought a Lemon Panettone at Costco. I adore Panettone and I absolutely adore lemon . . . it had to be good! How could I resist!
Fluffy and sweet, riddled with lemon cream and studded with bits of candied peel, it had to be good right? Wrong. Well, I wasn't exactly fond of it anyways, which says a lot as I am a true blue lover of all things lemon. It was fluffy and sweet, and there was lemon cream throughout it . . . but the lemon peel. I did not like the lemon peel. The texture and taste jarred with my taste buds.
I knew Todd wouldn't go for it either. He is not fond of lemon anything at all, and if I didn't like it he was highly unlikely to either. He does, however, adore a good bread and butter pudding. Of all the desserts I think it is one of his favourites.
I have made bread and butter puddings with the leftover Panettone at Christmas, many times . . . so it was not much of a stretch to make one with this panettone. I just followed the same recipe as I always use.
With fresh butter, free range eggs and whole milk and rich cream . . .
I added vanilla and orange extracts . . . and a tiny bit of sugar.
Slices of the panettone were buttered and cut up and layered in a dish . . . .
I poured the custard over and then I baked the pudding in the oven in a bain marie, which is a fancy way of saying that you put the dish into a roasting pan and add hot water to come partway up the sides of your pudding dish . . . ie. a hot water bath. Make sure your roasting tin is easy to put into and take out of the oven. I have made that mistake before, and transferring it can be a tiny bit awkward. I now use a roasting tin with handles whenever I use this method.
This is the best method for cooking delicate dishes such as this, without breaking or curdling them. Its a simple thing, but very effective. Your pudding will be done when it is golden brown, and mostly set with just a slight wobble in the centre.
Once it was baked, I let it cool a bit and then dusted it with icing sugar to serve. It was sooooo pretty all done up in this winter-like coat . . .
Its like putting on a bit of lippy . . . it just lifts the appearance and the mood.
Served warm and wobbly, spooned into bowls with dollops of softly whipped double cream on top . . .
This was absolutely flippingly delicious!
So delicious that now I am going to have to go and buy another Lemon Panettone before Christmas so that we can have this again.
And that's the truth. The leftovers are awfully tasty served cold with a spoon right out of the refrigerator. Just saying . . .
Yield: 4
Lemon Panettone Pudding
prep time: 15 minscook time: 35 minstotal time: 50 mins
We were not exactly fond of the Lemon Panettone as a Panettone, but it sure made a wonderful bread pudding! Rich and delicious.
ingredients:
50g butter softened (3 1/2 TBS)
5 thick slices of Lemon Panettone
2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
142ml double cream (5 fluid ounces, whipping cream)
225ml whole milk (scant cup)
1/2 tsp orange extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBS fine granulated sugar
icing sugar to dust
Lightly whipped cream to serve (optional)
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F/gas mark 2. Butter a shallow baking dish and set aside. (Should hold 1 1/2 pints or 3 cups)
Butter your slices of Panettone on one side, and then cut into chunks. Place into the buttered baking dish, butter side up.
Whisk together the cream, eggs, milk, extracts and sugar. Pour over the bread in the baking dish.
Have
ready a large shallow roasting tin. Place the dish of Panettone into
it and fill the roast tin to half way up the sides of the pudding dish.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pudding is
golden brown and just set. It should still be yellow inside and a tiny
bit jiggly.
ready a large shallow roasting tin. Place the dish of Panettone into
it and fill the roast tin to half way up the sides of the pudding dish.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pudding is
golden brown and just set. It should still be yellow inside and a tiny
bit jiggly.
Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with dollops of lightly whipped cream if desired.
Created using The Recipes Generator
You can also very easily cut this recipe in half. I did with great results. I do that with most everything I cook these days. With there only being two of us in the house, it only makes sense. Bon Appetit!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons