My life is busy, and I'm sure many readers can echo the same sentiment. The last thing I want to do at 2040 hours (8:40 pm for my non-military time readers) is cook dinner. I do *LOVE* cooking, but not at that hour! What to do? Well in my case I turned to a Smithfield recipe.
Showing posts with label Pork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pork. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Simply Swansons
Life has been BUSY lately! My day starts out at 0530...and I usually am not home until 2100. Given my busy schedule I'm appreciative of food that's fast..please note I did NOT say "fast food".
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Mazola Food Rave!
To those who may stop by from time to time I will start with a simple apology for neglecting my blog for SO long! December was crazy with cooking, parties, and presents; January was busy with multiple birthdays, and I also started a new semester of college! February was a flurry of work, college class, college assignments and FINALLY the brand ambassador program with Allrecipes.com re-launched!!!!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Mouth watering Pork Chops
A couple of days ago I posted about a McCormick product that I had tried. I had a little bit of leftover seasoning so I figured I would morph it into another meal.
I'm all about the "less is more" philosophy when it comes to cooking. I don't think something that tastes good should require a lot of ingredients.
Presenting: Apple Bourbon Pork Chops.
To make you'll need:
2 Tbsp Four Roses Bourbon
5 Tbsp Apple Juice
2 Tbsp McCormick Bourbon Spice seasoning mix
2 (4-5 ounce) pork chops
Pour the Bourbon, Apple Juice and seasoning into a ziploc bag. Knead to combine. Add the pork chops. Allow to marinate a minimum of 30 minutes up to 5 hours.
Bake at 375° F for about 35 minutes. Feel free to try this on a grill if you wish.
I'm all about the "less is more" philosophy when it comes to cooking. I don't think something that tastes good should require a lot of ingredients.
Presenting: Apple Bourbon Pork Chops.
To make you'll need:
2 Tbsp Four Roses Bourbon
5 Tbsp Apple Juice
2 Tbsp McCormick Bourbon Spice seasoning mix
2 (4-5 ounce) pork chops
Pour the Bourbon, Apple Juice and seasoning into a ziploc bag. Knead to combine. Add the pork chops. Allow to marinate a minimum of 30 minutes up to 5 hours.
Bake at 375° F for about 35 minutes. Feel free to try this on a grill if you wish.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Cooking with Campbell's
I'm going to do another blog buffet b/c November was such a SUPER busy month for me. For the month of November as a voluntary Allrecipes.com brand ambassador a lot of the assignments revolved around Thanksgiving, but also cooking with Campbell's and their subsidiary companies.
I started a part-time job which made my month even busier, so I was exceptionally pleased with MANY of the recipes that I tried from Campbell's.
I won't say too much about the recipes in detail but will simply say if I'm posting a picture that means the recipe was good! As always these recipes can be found on Allrecipes.com. Please keep in mind that due to the simplistic nature of many of these recipes that they are made as a base recipe meaning that you're going to want to play around w/ your seasonings adjusting it to your taste. Sound good (no pun intended)? Great let's check out the dishes!
This is the Baked Spaghetti, quick simple and fuss free!
This was a "fancy" dish from Campbell's - it was the Lemon Herb-Roasted Chicken w/ Pan Gravy something I WILL make again!
This is the Crispy Oven Fried Fish Fillet, and they were simply amazing!
This is the Campbell's weekday pot roast and vegetables - plan ahead it uses a slow cooker!
This is baked pork chops and gravy by Campbell's - please note that I chose to add in some baby port mushrooms for a finishing touch.
This is the Quick Chicken Parmesan - it was SO fast to prepare and just what I needed on a busy work night!
The rest of these recipes are basic Allrecipes.com recipes and they were bonus recipes to review.
Cookies -what's not to love, portable little bites of sweetness! These are called "Basic Chocolate Drop cookies" they are based off the concept of a premade cookie mix where you have a portion of a mix that you add other ingredients to. I made them as noted - and then w/ some chocolate chips thrown in for extra pizzaz and I'll say I enjoyed quite a few of these sweet treats :)
Drinks...
Okay this is an Oatmeal Cookie of a different variety - all I can say is YUM! Amazing how it's layered huh? Handy tip that I can give is simply KNOW your liquid weights - heavier liquids go in first, when you start layering the liquids, pour slowly and let it hit the sides of the glass and it will layer w/o any problems!
I started a part-time job which made my month even busier, so I was exceptionally pleased with MANY of the recipes that I tried from Campbell's.
I won't say too much about the recipes in detail but will simply say if I'm posting a picture that means the recipe was good! As always these recipes can be found on Allrecipes.com. Please keep in mind that due to the simplistic nature of many of these recipes that they are made as a base recipe meaning that you're going to want to play around w/ your seasonings adjusting it to your taste. Sound good (no pun intended)? Great let's check out the dishes!
This is baked pork chops and gravy by Campbell's - please note that I chose to add in some baby port mushrooms for a finishing touch.
This is the Quick Chicken Parmesan - it was SO fast to prepare and just what I needed on a busy work night!
The rest of these recipes are basic Allrecipes.com recipes and they were bonus recipes to review.
Cookies -what's not to love, portable little bites of sweetness! These are called "Basic Chocolate Drop cookies" they are based off the concept of a premade cookie mix where you have a portion of a mix that you add other ingredients to. I made them as noted - and then w/ some chocolate chips thrown in for extra pizzaz and I'll say I enjoyed quite a few of these sweet treats :)
Drinks...
Okay this is an Oatmeal Cookie of a different variety - all I can say is YUM! Amazing how it's layered huh? Handy tip that I can give is simply KNOW your liquid weights - heavier liquids go in first, when you start layering the liquids, pour slowly and let it hit the sides of the glass and it will layer w/o any problems!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
New recipes
Right now I'm playing catch up w/ my blog so I'm doing a buffet style on my blog again! I got back from Biloxi, MS on Monday 26 Sept 2011 thus dinner was the furthest thing from my mind after having driven for 7 straight hours!
Tuesday night I was back in the kitchen and all three of the items are new recipes that I tried - two were incredible while one was only so-so.
Most of those who know me, know I cook w/ wine, beer, alcohol, and liqueurs. Tonights meal was a pop of flavour for the palette. There's one reason why I chose this recipe, and it's b/c a charming lady I met at the Chefs of the coast said she didn't like rosemary...well this pork chop recipe is for you doll ;-) Trust me if you like Kahlua you'll love the pork chops (consider this a baby step recipe). Kahlua herbed pork chops, Ginger lime asparagus, and Pastetnik potatoes ... okay okay, so I changed the names of the first two b/c it just sounded better...it won't change the taste I promise!
Thoughts on the pork chops: Ignore the recipe instructions first off. Trim the fat from the pork chops! No way! As a famous TV chef says "Pork fat rules!" So we're going to leave the fat ON the pork chops! Next you're going to season the pork chops BEFORE cooking them - b/c you want the seasonings to infuse into the pork. After that, you're going to make the pork chops pretty w/ slices of lemon and orange, then pour the kahlua and water around the pork chops - you don't want to disturb the pork chops too much. To make things easier, once the pork chops have cooked, remove them to a plate, and THEN blend the remaining water & cornstarch together, and whisk into the pan. Watch this baby carefully, you don't want it to burn...that would be a waste of alcohol, and we don't do that!
Onto the asparagus. I love asparagus, but you've got to know how to cook it right. You don't want it soggy or limp, you want it cooked and to have a slight crispness to it. The sauce is what really makes the asparagus shine through. In many ways the sauce makes me think it could be morphed into a ginger lime pesto - if you add in some nuts like pistachios.
Problems w/ the potatoes. First of all they are not seasoned properly. Salt & Pepper may be used to accentuate some dishes but they shouldn't be relied on for flavour, b/c face it it's just not gonna happen.
All in all the pork chops were amazing, and the asparagus was very good.
Tonights dinner:
Gateway-to-the-West Stuffed Chicken Breast, wild rice, steamed veggies, and Parmesan pesto bread.
As is this recipe is pretty good. I don't know that I like the egg and shallot used in the shrimp filling. I say this for many reasons but namely b/c the egg is going to run out of the shrimp filling before the egg will cook. I chose to cook this in the oven by cranking my oven to 375° and cooking it for about 35 minutes. I chose to chop up the shrimp to make it easier to close the chicken up. I think I'll make this again, but will tweak it to suit my preferences.
Tuesday night I was back in the kitchen and all three of the items are new recipes that I tried - two were incredible while one was only so-so.
Thoughts on the pork chops: Ignore the recipe instructions first off. Trim the fat from the pork chops! No way! As a famous TV chef says "Pork fat rules!" So we're going to leave the fat ON the pork chops! Next you're going to season the pork chops BEFORE cooking them - b/c you want the seasonings to infuse into the pork. After that, you're going to make the pork chops pretty w/ slices of lemon and orange, then pour the kahlua and water around the pork chops - you don't want to disturb the pork chops too much. To make things easier, once the pork chops have cooked, remove them to a plate, and THEN blend the remaining water & cornstarch together, and whisk into the pan. Watch this baby carefully, you don't want it to burn...that would be a waste of alcohol, and we don't do that!
Onto the asparagus. I love asparagus, but you've got to know how to cook it right. You don't want it soggy or limp, you want it cooked and to have a slight crispness to it. The sauce is what really makes the asparagus shine through. In many ways the sauce makes me think it could be morphed into a ginger lime pesto - if you add in some nuts like pistachios.
Problems w/ the potatoes. First of all they are not seasoned properly. Salt & Pepper may be used to accentuate some dishes but they shouldn't be relied on for flavour, b/c face it it's just not gonna happen.
All in all the pork chops were amazing, and the asparagus was very good.
Tonights dinner:
As is this recipe is pretty good. I don't know that I like the egg and shallot used in the shrimp filling. I say this for many reasons but namely b/c the egg is going to run out of the shrimp filling before the egg will cook. I chose to cook this in the oven by cranking my oven to 375° and cooking it for about 35 minutes. I chose to chop up the shrimp to make it easier to close the chicken up. I think I'll make this again, but will tweak it to suit my preferences.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Autumn goodness!
Often times I think of the fall, and automatically I think of leaves falling to the ground, watching football, the weather getting nippy, pulling on a sweater, but I also think of those hearty traditional meals whether it be something like Beef Stew, Chili and cornbread, or Chicken & Dumplings. While I am a traditionalist in many ways I also love to push the edge w/ my cooking where I can incorporate unusual items to make extraordinary meals. Tonights meal is a prime example.
Tonight I made Caramel-apple pork chops along w/ wild rice, and cognac roasted carrots (which happen to be a repeat offender)
Let me tell you that I did make some changes to the recipe. First off - the pork chops NEED seasoning and it will not happen from the caramel sauce. I used a chop house seasoning blend that is meant for steaks (oh sue me) and all I can say is that it imparted a subtle smokey flavour that was only enhanced by the caramel sauce. The caramel sauce is a whole different story. I usually am pretty spot on w/ cooking and seldom have trouble...but this caramel sauce tested my patience! After not one but TWO batches, I finally started a third batch before I achieved perfection. The secret? I cheated :-) There I said it *hanging head in shame* I used all the ingredients for the caramel sauce, MINUS the brown sugar...instead what I used in place of the brown sugar was...you guessed it, store bought caramel syrup *gasping* Egads! I also added about 1 Tbsp milk - result, perfectly creamy caramel sauce...a handful of toasted pecans and voila! Perfection :)
The cognac roasted carrots I've made before b/c they were SO good - so I won't review them again, and well the wild rice was a convenience food that rounded out my meal.
Tonight I made Caramel-apple pork chops along w/ wild rice, and cognac roasted carrots (which happen to be a repeat offender)
Let me tell you that I did make some changes to the recipe. First off - the pork chops NEED seasoning and it will not happen from the caramel sauce. I used a chop house seasoning blend that is meant for steaks (oh sue me) and all I can say is that it imparted a subtle smokey flavour that was only enhanced by the caramel sauce. The caramel sauce is a whole different story. I usually am pretty spot on w/ cooking and seldom have trouble...but this caramel sauce tested my patience! After not one but TWO batches, I finally started a third batch before I achieved perfection. The secret? I cheated :-) There I said it *hanging head in shame* I used all the ingredients for the caramel sauce, MINUS the brown sugar...instead what I used in place of the brown sugar was...you guessed it, store bought caramel syrup *gasping* Egads! I also added about 1 Tbsp milk - result, perfectly creamy caramel sauce...a handful of toasted pecans and voila! Perfection :)
The cognac roasted carrots I've made before b/c they were SO good - so I won't review them again, and well the wild rice was a convenience food that rounded out my meal.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Recipe Creation
This post is a touch behind, but better later than never right?
Last Thursday night I created a recipe - I guess I'll call it Peach Sage Sausage stuffed pork chops, and then I also made some Honey Curry roasted red potatoes, and some pearl barley w/ sugar snap peas and carrots (I'm needing to find recipes for my food ring molds).
Okay so how to make the Pork chops:
1 1/4" thick cut pork chops - cut a pocket into the pork chops
Stuffing:
3 oz cooked mild italian sausage
2 oz rice pilaf (Uncle Bens 90 second rice)
2 oz chopped peaches (fresh)
3 sage leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp Riesling wine
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Brown sausage breaking up pieces. Once browned, drain the grease. Add 2 ounces rice pilaf, cook until softened. Add the chopped peaches, the sage leaves, minced garlic and Riesling wine. Allow to cool slightly and stuff pork chops.
On the outside of the pork chops rub each side w/ granulated garlic and italian seasoning. I used
1/2 tsp granulated garlic and 3/4 tsp italian seasoning to coat BOTH sides of two pork chops. I cooked them at 375° for about 30 minutes.
For the Honey Curry roasted potatoes, I used about 2 Tbsp of grapeseed oil, 1/2 tsp curry powder, and 1 Tbsp of honey. Chopped up one medium red potato and baked at 375° for 30 minutes.
~~~
Washing it down...
I chanced making a spin off of a lemonade using a recipe for Mediterranean lemonade spritzers and doubt I'll make it again. It had way TOO much honey in it, and minus the menthol flavour, I thought I was drinking a liquid honey cough drop - blech! I dunno, I guess if it's your thing go for it.
~~~
Dinner tonight:
I'm gonna retitle a couple recipes b/c of some subtle tweaks - so don't mind the name, just follow my changes if you want it to be quality food. Cajun panko crusted chicken, Asparagus w/ Mandarin Cream Sauce, wild rice, and parmesan pesto foccacia bread
First up - don't use the flour the cajun chicken calls for. Use Panko breading. Second, add an egg to the milk wash - these two changes make all the difference.
Asparagus - follow the recipe, except swap the orange for a little cup of mandarin oranges. Perfection :)
Okay so how to make the Pork chops:
1 1/4" thick cut pork chops - cut a pocket into the pork chops
Stuffing:
3 oz cooked mild italian sausage
2 oz rice pilaf (Uncle Bens 90 second rice)
2 oz chopped peaches (fresh)
3 sage leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp Riesling wine
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Brown sausage breaking up pieces. Once browned, drain the grease. Add 2 ounces rice pilaf, cook until softened. Add the chopped peaches, the sage leaves, minced garlic and Riesling wine. Allow to cool slightly and stuff pork chops.
On the outside of the pork chops rub each side w/ granulated garlic and italian seasoning. I used
1/2 tsp granulated garlic and 3/4 tsp italian seasoning to coat BOTH sides of two pork chops. I cooked them at 375° for about 30 minutes.
For the Honey Curry roasted potatoes, I used about 2 Tbsp of grapeseed oil, 1/2 tsp curry powder, and 1 Tbsp of honey. Chopped up one medium red potato and baked at 375° for 30 minutes.
~~~
Washing it down...
I chanced making a spin off of a lemonade using a recipe for Mediterranean lemonade spritzers and doubt I'll make it again. It had way TOO much honey in it, and minus the menthol flavour, I thought I was drinking a liquid honey cough drop - blech! I dunno, I guess if it's your thing go for it.
~~~
Dinner tonight:
I'm gonna retitle a couple recipes b/c of some subtle tweaks - so don't mind the name, just follow my changes if you want it to be quality food. Cajun panko crusted chicken, Asparagus w/ Mandarin Cream Sauce, wild rice, and parmesan pesto foccacia bread
First up - don't use the flour the cajun chicken calls for. Use Panko breading. Second, add an egg to the milk wash - these two changes make all the difference.
Asparagus - follow the recipe, except swap the orange for a little cup of mandarin oranges. Perfection :)
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
A bit fruity...
Tonight all of my recipes were an experiment. I had never made any of the recipes before.
First up. Main dish Apple-Maple Stuffed Pork Chops First of all this is an extremely QUICK main entree to put together. Granted the crusting desperately needs flavour and that's where I tweaked it. I added
3/4 tsp rubbed sage
1 tsp EACH minced garlic, thyme leaves
1/2 tsp EACH ground allspice, paprika
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspon granulated garlic
freshly ground black pepper & salt to taste
First up. Main dish Apple-Maple Stuffed Pork Chops First of all this is an extremely QUICK main entree to put together. Granted the crusting desperately needs flavour and that's where I tweaked it. I added
to the cornflake crusting. Had I not added in the seasonings it would have been horribly BLAND. The pork chops smelled AMAZING as they cooked!
Sides: Carrots w/ Cognac and Mango lime rice I will certainly say that the carrots w/o my additions were probably tasty, but I think my additions of
to the carrots made the flavour pop that much more!
Now the rice...hmmm that's another story! I understand some people are on modified/restricticted diets, but that shouldn't be an excuse for not playing w/ flavour! I made the rice as instructed and it was edible but needed some "oomph" I'm thinking that it's a recipe I may try again, but not sure just yet how I would tweak it to my liking.
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DisclaimerI am a voluntary Allrecipes Allstar Brand Ambassador and I do not receive compensation for my work with Allrecipes.com. Any product received is only used for experience-based reviews on The Daily Gourmet. The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are the sole opinions of Sarah.
