Honey Orange Pork Chops

Now, I’m not a fan of pork chops. I love other forms of pork, but chops have never been one of those things that I would choose to eat. But, the Man likes them so I cook them. This is another recipe I found while skimming through a cookbook that sounded tasty and was fairly simple to do. Bonus is that I had most of the ingredients already in the house.

Ingredients:

  • 4 pork loin chops
  • 1/4 tsp finely shredded orange peel
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/4 pineapple juice
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch

Combine together orange peel, orange juice, pineapple juice, soy sauce, honey, pepper, and garlic. Mix well and use this as a marinade for your chops. I recommend marinating for a day, but 6 hours will be enough. Place chops on a rack in a broiler pan – save the marinade. Broil for roughly 15 minutes, turning the chops once.

Put the saved marinade in a sauce pan over low heat and add cornstarch. This thickens it to a nice sauce that goes very nicely on not only the chops, but the fries I made with it. *grin* Tasty and may do this marinade again for chicken.

 

Horseradish Rubbed Roast

I have a pretty standard recipe for doing roasts that I’ve used for years. It tastes great and involves a lot of garlic. *smile* But this past month, I was writing up our meals for the month so I could get the grocery list together. I decided to pull down a cookbook (which I have a ton of) and flip through it for some ideas to try. I found this one and it sounded pretty good.

I’m not a huge fan of straight horseradish, but I like it better when it’s tempered with other things. The sauce you get at the end is *really* good and worth doing on its own for other dishes.

Ingredients:

  • 4-6 lb. roast
  • 1/3 cup horseradish
  • 1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 tbsp parsley

Preheat oven to 325. Cut inch wide pockets into the roast, about 3 inches apart. Combine horseradish, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Save 2 tbsp of this mixture. Stir the butter into the rest of the mixture. Rub onto the roast and into the pockets. Cook, fat side up, for roughly 90-120 minutes – for medium rare. See temp chart below to determine doneness. Let the roast rest for 15 minutes before cutting into it!

Take reserved mixture and add in the sour cream and parsley. Pass this around with the meat. Enjoy!

Temperature Chart

You can use a meat thermometer to determine doneness. Keep the thermometer away from bone and fat. When reading the thermometer, put it in the thickest portion and check temp. Then push it in a little bit farther – if the temp drops, continue cooking. If it stays the same, remove it from the oven.
Rare……………. 120 to 125 degrees
Medium Rare… 130 to 135 degrees
Medium……….. 140 to 145 degrees
Medium Well… 150 to 155 degrees
Well Done…….. 160 degrees and above

Zucchini Tots

Another addition to getting the Man to eat more veggies. I saw this recipe on Pinterest and it looked pretty good. It could also be used as a side for breakfast as well. And if you didn’t know, you can find me on Pinterest here – I have two recipe boards (one for pinned recipes I want to try and one for those I *have* tried) and one for cooking tips/advice/etc.

This recipe I ended up doubling – what was posted on the site was utter BS as far as number of servings. When doubled, it will do roughly 10-12 tots; depending on how full you make them. Honestly, the taste was a little ‘off’ for me. The Man liked it, but to be honest, the Man will eat anything. I feel it’s missing something, so I will make these again but with some alterations.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup zucchini, grated
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 medium onion, diced
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400°.  Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel.  Wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Fill each muffin section to the top, pushing down on the filling with your spoon so it’s nice and compacted so they don’t fall apart when you take them out of the tin. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden.

Lemon & Dill Chicken

I love new recipes for chicken, even though I still would rather have my mothers. *grin* This is another recipe courtesy of Pinterest that I thought I’d try out.

If you don’t have fresh dill, you can used the dried dill – just use 1 teaspoon. The dried herbs are much more potent than fresh. I’ve made this mistake before and regretted it. Also, if your chicken breasts were like one of mine (fat as hell), you need more time browning it. Duh, I know.

Ingredients:

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (1-1 1/4 pounds)
  • Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, or canola oil, divided
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, divided
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sear until well browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a plate and tent with foil.

Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to the pan. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk broth, flour, 1 tablespoon dill and lemon juice in a measuring cup and add to pan. Cook, whisking, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan; reduce heat to low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a warmed platter. Season sauce with salt and pepper and spoon over the chicken. Garnish with the remaining 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill.

 

 

Almond Joy Cookies

These are very tasty and can become addictive. My friend Paul, also an awesome chef in the kitchen, made these a couple of weeks ago and I couldn’t stop eating them.  🙂

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups shredded coconut
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups lightly salted, dry roasted almonds, finely chopped


Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Fold in the coconut, chocolate chips and almonds and stir until just incorporated.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons on prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until set.