Burgundy Pork Chops

Boneless pork chops baked in a savory mushroom and red wine sauce. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon this recipe, but I tried it tonight and it is delicious. Of course, I changed a few things. Here’s my version.

Burgundy Pork Chops

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large shallot, chopped

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup burgundy wine

Directions:

Cook chops in olive oil in skillet just until browned on both sides. Remove from skillet and place in a baking dish. Saute shallots and mushrooms in skillet drippings. Sprinkle with flour, salt and pepper. Blend in wine; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Pour over chops; cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes or until tender.

Makes 4 servings.

The original called for onions instead of the shallots, but for some reason I think mushrooms and shallots go really well together. And I happened to have a shallot on hand that needed to be used up anyway, so I used that. But onion would be fine if that was all that was available. I also used olive oil instead of the original recipe’s butter. I increased the mushrooms from 1 1/2 cups to 2 just because I love mushrooms and can’t get enough. I had Baby Bellas on hand today–yummy!

I was a little short on time, so I didn’t bake them for the full amount of time listed. I checked them after 30 minutes and the temperature indicated that they were fully cooked, so I took them out of the oven then. They were a bit on the dry side, as all boneless pork is prone to be. I think maybe next time I will allow more time and will bake them for longer. Maybe they get more tender as they bake. Also, I increased the amount of wine when I rewrote the recipe, because I think that if I bake it longer, I will need a bit more liquid in the pan. So I increased it from 3/4 cup to 1 cup.

I will definitely be making this again. It was a winner here tonight. Lena loved it.

Here are a few pics of the process.

Sauteeing the mushrooms and shallots. Mmmmmm! Always makes the house smell so good.

Thickening the wine sauce. The steam makes the sauce look pink, but it is actually deep red. Pretty.

In the pan just before going into the oven. So many mushrooms you can barely see the pork peeking out from under there!

Zucchini Risotto

A creamy, flavorful rice dish I made for dinner tonight with fresh zucchini from our garden. I found the original recipe on Allrecipes. I made a few minor changes.

Zucchini Risotto

Ingredients:

9 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups Arborio rice

2 medium zucchini, chopped

1 tsp dried thyme

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Bring stock to a boil in a medium stock pot, then reduce heat to a low simmer.

Heat oil in a large, stock pot over medium heat. Stir in onions and cook for 4 minutes, or until softened. Add the rice and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly toasted.

Ladle in simmering stock, one ladleful at a time, stirring continuously. When liquid is almost completely absorbed by the rice, put in another ladeful and continue stirring. Risotto will become “creamy” and slightly sticky, yet still firm in the center, or al dente.

When almost finished, stir in the zucchini and thyme, adding stock as needed and stirring continuously. Season with pepper to taste.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Information

Servings Per Recipe: 6

Calories: 375

Total Fat: 4g

Cholesterol: 9mg

Sodium: 720mg

Total Carbs: 70g

Dietary Fiber: 5g

Protein: 10g

This was so good. If you’ve never made risotto before, you should try it. It has a bad reputation of being a complicated dish to make, but it really isn’t. It does take a bit more attention than traditional rice, but it’s really not that bad and the end result is so worth it. Risotto is super creamy, but doesn’t have any cream or milk in it. Instead of putting the rice and the water (or stock) together in a pan and letting it cook undisturbed for 15 minutes or so, you toast the rice in some oil and add warm stock a little bit at a time, stirring throughout. Stirring the rice makes the starch come out and that is what gives it the “creamy” texture without the cream. So delicious.

I made a few changes to the original recipe I found on Allrecipes. I increased the amount of zucchini called for quite a bit. The original called for only a half of a zucchini. I halved the recipe and used a whole one. Half of a zucchini for 6 servings is definitely not enough. Also, the original called for sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil. I thought it would be better without the tomatoes, and I didn’t have fresh basil on hand. I had dried, but you can’t add basil to a recipe while it’s still cooking because it will turn black. If you add basil to it, add it after you remove it from the heat. It also called for 6 tbsp of parmesan to be mixed in at the end. I was going to do that, but forgot, and I loved it the way it was, so I omitted that from my amended recipe.

Here’s a close-up picture of it. Check out the creamy goodness!

Tonight I served it with Herbed Cheese Stuffed Salmon, but it would go well with just about anything.

My 100th Recipe!!

I am pleased to announce that I have just posted my 100th recipe on this blog! It was my Guacamole Rice. Wow, I can’t believe I have blogged about 100 recipes! It’s amazing to see how the recipes have changed since I started. And the pictures have changed a lot too, for the better, in just the last couple of months. (Thanks to some advice I received from a fellow food blogger.)

Blogger tells you each time you sign in how many posts you have. The Guacamole Rice recipe was my 120th, and according to my records, I have 20 non-recipe posts (restaurant reviews, equipment, etc.).

Thanks so much to all of you who actually read this blog. I have really enjoyed doing it the last 2 years and four months or so. Thanks to all of you who made comments. I love getting comments and hearing that other people have tried these recipes.

I’m looking forward to sharing another 100 recipes with you!

Guacamole Rice

I love Mexican food and have several main dish recipes that I make quite often. I always struggle to come up with decent Mexican side dishes. I’ve made Mexican rice in the past (basically salsa, black beans, and corn stirred into white rice), but we didn’t really like it that much. I make a Sweet Corn Tomalito, like they make at Chevy’s. I haven’t blogged about that yet. It’s really good, but quite a pain in the butt to make so I don’t make it that often. So, I’m always on the lookout for good Mexican side dish recipes.

The other day I was watching Claire Robinson on 5 Ingredient Fix. She made something she called Green Goddess Rice. It doesn’t have anything to do with the dressing; I think she named it that just because it was green. Anyway, it was a combination of avocado, lemon juice, and basil made into a sauce that was then tossed with the hot rice. I was intrigued. While watching the show, I immediately thought that I wanted to try it with different flavors. Instead of avocado, lemon juice, and basil, I wanted to try it with avocado, lime juice, and cilantro. You know, like guacamole. I had planned a Mexican main dish for last night and was going to make guacamole to go with it, but then I thought, why not turn the guacamole from just a condiment into an actual side dish?

And viola! Guacamole Rice was born.

Guacamole Rice

Ingredients:

1½ cups white rice, uncooked

3 cups water

Salt

1 small avocado, peeled, pitted, and coarsely chopped

1 cup packed fresh cilantro

½ lime, juiced

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

¾ to 1 cup water

Salsa (optional)

Directions:

Bring the rice, 3 cups water, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, stir, cover, and cook until water is completely absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the avocado, cilantro, lime juice, oil, and ¼ cup water in the jar of a blender and puree; season generously with salt and pepper. Add more water and puree until the mixture is the consistency of sour cream. Add salsa to the avocado mixture if you like.

Fluff the rice with a fork and gently fold the green dressing into the warm rice. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Basically, it is just rice tossed with guacamole that is runnier than what you would use as a dip. So throw into the blender container anything you would usually put into your guacamole. I know most people put jalepeno in it, but since Jim and I don’t really like them, I usually throw a couple of tablespoons of salsa in instead.

It was good. I read the reviews of the original recipe and they weren’t exactly glowing. Some people liked it, but there were a lot of people who thought that avocado, lemon juice, and basil didn’t go together at all. I’m glad I stuck with the classic combo.

It makes a really nice side dish for Mexican food. Last night I served it with my Baked Chicken Chimichangas. And it would go well with the enchiladas that I make too.

Lena absolutely loved this rice! I wasn’t sure if she would like it or not. She eats almost anything you give her, but she had never had avocado before so I wasn’t sure. She gobbled it down like nobody’s business. I couldn’t shove it in fast enough!

So Jim got his plate ready and showed me how pretty it was. He was so proud of himself. I told him to take it to the foodio so I could take a picture of it. He got all excited that something that he arranged was pretty enough for the foodio. 🙂 It’s the little things in life, really!

The green sauce on the chimichanga is my Creamy Cilantro Sauce.

Boy, I’m starting to get quite a collection of green rice recipes. This one turned out much better than the Coconut Cilantro Rice.

Special Note: This recipe was the 100th recipe posted on this blog! What an exciting milestone!

Baked Chicken Chimichangas

This is something that I have been making for years now. I first made them when we lived in Texas. The inspiration was Rachael Ray’s Smoked Turkey Baked Chimichangas. I made them her way once and have been making them my way ever since. Here’s my recipe.

Baked Chicken Chimichangas

Ingredients:

6 oz. cooked chicken breast, shredded

2 tbsp taco seasoning

1 cup shredded slaw cabbage

1 cup tomato sauce

4 (12”) flour tortillas

½ cup shredded monterey jack cheese, 2%

Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Place chicken in a bowl and season with taco seasoning. Add shredded cabbage, tomato sauce, and cheese. Toss filling to combine.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Place a cooling rack on top and spray with cooking spray.

Place tortillas in a kitchen towel and set in microwave. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. To build, pile ¼ of your filling in the tortilla. Tuck sides up and roll tortilla tightly. Repeat to make 4 large stuffed tortilla wraps. Place on the baking sheet.

Spray the wraps with cooking spray and bake until deep golden all over, 15 to 17 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Information (compiled myself)

Serving size: 1 chimi

Calories: 335

Fat/Sat. Fat: 10g/3.5g

Cholesterol: 40mg

Sodium: 1275mg

Fiber: 6g

Protein: 23g

A note about the nutrition info: the above info is for regular flour tortillas. Each tortilla contributes 210 calories, 6 grams of fat (1.5 of it saturated), and 600mg of sodium. Wow! I had no idea until I calculated it that they were so bad. I tried it once with a healthier tortilla, but the results weren’t very good. They didn’t crisp up in the oven and were just kind of chewy. And healthier tortillas are so much more expensive. If anyone tries this with a healthier tortilla and gets good results, please comment and let me know what brand of tortillas you used.

Here are a few pics of the process:

Place the filling off to one side for easy rolling.

Ready to go into the oven.

Golden brown and delicious! Pretty good for not having been deep-fried.

The reason I switched to chicken from the deli turkey was that I found the turkey to be a bit too salty when combined with the saltiness of the tomato sauce. The shredded cabbage is so good. I never would have thought to use it, but it makes a nice crunch, even after baking.

Here’s one smothered with sour cream and Cilantro Cream Sauce and served with Guacamole Rice.

Cilantro Cream Sauce

This is a recipe I made up myself. I was inspired by one on Allrecipes that was a spicy cilantro sauce. I love cilantro and thought it would be fun to make a sauce out of it. But that one called for 2 jalepeno peppers and was really spicy. I thought it would be nicer to have a cool, creamy cilantro sauce to balance the spicy flavors already present in the foods I would use the sauce on. So this is what I came up with.

Cilantro Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1 handful fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

½ cup sour cream

½ cup mayonnaise

Salt

Directions:

Combine cilantro, lime juice, sour cream, and mayonnaise in a blender or food processor. Process until well-blended and smooth. Taste and add salt if desired.

If you like cilantro, you’ll love this. It’s basically a cilantro-flavored sour cream. Yummy! The first thing I put it on was Mexican Deep Dish Pan Pizza. So good. The cool creaminess of the sauce works so well with the spiciness of the beef and the salsa. It would also be great on tacos, burritos, taco salads, and pretty much anything you would normally put sour cream on.

I put it in a squeeze bottle for easy application.

The squeeze bottle makes it easy to drizzle on your favorite Mexican foods.

Kitchen Disaster: Slow Cooker in Flames

I decided that I need a new category for my posts: Kitchen Disasters. If this isn’t a disaster, I don’t know what is! As you can clearly see, I melted a portion of my slow cooker. Yeah, it takes real talent to catch a slow cooker on fire.

Okay, here’s what happened. I have a severe outlet shortage in my kitchen. I only have outlets on one side, and they are clustered near the stove. The counter space is already taken up by my toaster oven and my microwave, so when I use my slow cooker, I set it on the stove top. This isn’t usually a problem because usually when I use the slow cooker, I don’t use the stove top.

Sunday night I was making Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin, and I decided to use the stove top to thicken up the cooking liquid into a sauce. So I poured out the liquid into a small saucepan, added cornstarch, and put it on to boil. I had moved the slow cooker back to the back burner thinking it was far enough away from the flame. I turned my attention to the mashed sweet potatoes for a second, and when I looked back I saw the front of the slow cooker engulfed in flames. Apparently it wasn’t far enough away from the front burner!

After shouting out a few exclamations that I cannot share here, I was able to blow out the flames. Thankfully, nothing else caught fire and nobody was hurt. But the damage to the slow cooker had been done. As you can see, the flames melted the plastic casing that covers the heating element and it singed a bunch of the insulation. The display became warped as well. Afterwards, I did plug it in and it does still work, but since the element is exposed and the insulation burnt, I didn’t think it was safe to keep using it. I saved the crock, lid, and thermometer, and trashed the main part.

I was so mad at myself for letting that happen. I received that slow cooker as a gift. I bought it with gift cards that we recieved as housewarming and Christmas gifts right after we bought our house. I wouldn’t have gotten one that nice if I had been spending my own money. And then I went and ruined it.

I am replacing it. I can’t go very long without my slow cooker. I use it at least once a week. And since I still have the parts for it, I decided to get the same model. I found one on Amazon that is the same model except the lid clamps on and it comes with a spoon that attaches to it. And it actually costs less than the original model and has a better performance rating.

I will be much more careful using my slow cooker on the stove top from now on!

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin

This recipe came from Allrecipes.

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

1 (2 lb.) pork tenderloin

1 env. onion soup mix (I like Lipton’s Onion Mushroom flavor)

1 cup water

¾ cup red wine

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch (optional)

Directions:

Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker with the contents of the soup packet. Pour water, wine, and soy sauce over the top, turning the pork to coat. Carefully spread garlic over the pork, leaving as much on top of the roast during cooking as possible. Cover, and cook on low setting for 4 hours. You can remove the cooking liquid, add cornstarch, and bring to a boil to make a gravy out of it. Or you can serve it on the side as au jus.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Information

Servings Per Recipe: 6

Calories: 180

Total Fat: 4g

Cholesterol: 66mg

Sodium: 918mg

Total Carbs: 6g

Dietary Fiber: 1g

Protein: 25g

Contrary to the original recipe’s title, I thought this was just okay. Mine came out kind of dry. I think it might be due to two factors: 1. My slow cooker is 6 quarts, so the cooking liquid didn’t cover as much of the pork as it would have had it been in a smaller cooker. Not much I can do about that except add more liquid. 2. Since we had just gotten back home from out of town the night before, my pork wasn’t completely thawed when I put in the cooker. To make up for this fact, I cooked it on high instead of low. That very well could have dried out the pork more. So next time I make it I will make sure the pork is completely thawed and I will cook it on low instead of high. Because most of the reviewers say this comes out pull-apart tender and mine wasn’t anywhere close to that.

I had decided to thicken the cooking liquid to make a sauce out of it. I took it out of the slow cooker and put it in a small saucepan. I first put in ½ tsp cornstarch and let it come up to a boil. It didn’t seem to be thickening at all. So added another ½ tsp and brought it up to a boil again. It thickened up a little, but not as much as I was expecting. So I served it the way it was. It was still runny enough that it ran all over the plate. When Jim went to eat the leftovers the next day, he said the sauce was really thick. I don’t know why I have problems getting cornstarch to thicken sauces. I guess I have to make a day in advance! Either way, the “sauce” was really tasty. It almost had a deep, beefy flavor to it. Probably from the red wine. It was really good.

I served this with Mashed Sweet Potatoes.

So, the only bad thing about this dish was that it was the one I was making when I ruined my slow cooker. 😦 Yes, I actually caught my slow cooker on fire. I doubt too many of you are that talented! Here’s what happened: I set my slow cooker on the stove top when I use it because outlets are scarce in my kitchen and there isn’t enough counter space near the outlet. When I took the liquid out to make the sauce, I scooted the slow cooker back to the back burner and put my small saucepan on the front burner. I thought it was far enough away. I start mashing my sweet potatoes on the other front burner and I happen to look over and I see the front of my slow cooker in flames. Apparently it wasn’t far enough away. I blew it out and the fire didn’t spread, but my slow cooker was ruined because the plastic covering the element and the insulation had melted away and the display melted also.

So, be careful and don’t make the same stupid mistake I did!

Looking forward to trying this recipe again with better results.

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken

I got this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. I’ve made it twice now and have changed it up a bit. Here’s my amended recipe.

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (½ cup)

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1” chunks

½ cup pitted dried plums (prunes)

12 oz. butternut squash, peeled and cubed

2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

4 thin chicken breasts (2 large), cut into large chunks

2½ tsp curry powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup couscous

1 cup water or reduced-sodium chicken broth

Directions:

In a 4 to 5 quart slow cooker combine onion, carrots, plums, squash, broth, chicken, and seasonings. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.

When ready to serve, bring water or broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Add couscous, remove from heat, and cover with lid. After five minutes, remove lid and fluff couscous with a fork.

Remove chicken, fruit, and vegetables from slow cooker with a slotted spoon. Serve over couscous. Spoon some of the cooking juices on each serving.

Makes 4 servings.

It came with nutritional info, but I have changed it so much that it wouldn’t be even close to accurate.

The original recipe called for 8 bone-in chicken thighs instead of the breasts. I don’t usually have thighs on hand and Jim prefers breast anyway, so I thought I would try it with the breasts. Works just fine. The way I make it, it’s more of a stew. I think the original is supposed to be a large piece of chicken with some vegetables on the side. But I like it better this way. It’s easier to serve.

Also, the addition of butternut squash is mine. Butternut squash is traditional in Moroccan stews (see my Lamb Tagine recipe). Meijer sells butternut squash, already peeled and cubed, in handy little 12 oz. bags. It’s in the produce section next to pre-washed spinach and broccoli florets and stuff like that. So handy! I like butternut squash, but I am such a wimp that I physically cannot peel or cut the darn things because they are so hard. They are the biggest pain in the butt to prepare. So I am willing to pay a little bit extra and take the help from the store on this one. The squash is really good in this dish. It doesn’t get all mushy like it did in the tagine that I made. It stays in chunks.

The other thing I changed was that I doubled the spices from the original recipe. It was suggested by a reviewer on the BHG site and we really like Moroccan spices so I tried it that way. Perfect. I think it would be pretty bland left at the original amounts.

The original recipe didn’t say to serve it over couscous, but it was kind of a no-brainer for me. Couscous is also very traditional in Moroccan cooking and it makes the perfect bed for the flavorful stew.

If you are home while making this, keep an eye on it. Since I use breasts instead of thighs, it probably doesn’t need as much time as stated. I keep forgetting to write down how much time I leave mine in. A lot of it depends on how firm you like the carrots. I like mine with a little bite left to them.

Going into the slow cooker. So colorful and pretty!

Peanut Butter Banana Sticks

This is another Rachael Ray recipe that I tried recently. She made it as part of a breakfast meal, but I think it makes a great afternoon snack. Kids would love it.

Peanut Butter Banana Sticks

Ingredients:

½ cup peanut butter

2 tbsp honey

1 cup granola

2 large bananas

4 popsicle sticks or chop sticks

Directions:

Place the peanut butter in a shallow dish and microwave on high for 20 seconds to loosen it, then stir honey into it. Crush granola either by using a food processor or by placing in a Ziploc bag and smashing with the back of a large spoon. Peel and cut each banana in half across the middle. Insert a popsicle or chop stick into the cut end of each half-banana. Roll each banana half in the peanut butter sauce, then in the granola. Serve immediately. Eat the bananas right off the sticks, but serve on a plate to catch the crumbs.

Makes 4 servings.

This is so simple and super yummy. The only thing I changed was the method of coating the bananas. Rachael had you spreading the peanut butter/honey mixture on with a spatula, then sprinkling with the granola. I think rolling it works much better and you get better coverage. Hers were only covered on one side.