caramel pork chops and veggie medley

I figured it was time to rotate back through something I had previously cooked.  I had really enjoyed the pork chops I had made.  Well, I enjoyed the ease with which I made them.  They were on the dry side, but otherwise enjoyable.  So I looked to make a sweeter version: Caramel Apple Pork Chops.  I swapped out vegetable oil with olive oil, but otherwise I followed the recipe.  They turned out really well.  The pork was kind of bland, but the apples and sauce were fantastic.

To go along with this, I need some veggie goodness, so I went back to my trusted Allrecipes.com and found a Veggie Medley.  It was pretty freakin’ delicious.  I mean, really, can you ever go wrong with bacon??  I did think the serving sizes for the medley were quite big.  I couldn’t eat all of it and ended up having to pitch it.

All in all, it was an enjoyable meal.

Love and Happiness

“Love and Happiness” by Al Green.  This has quickly become my theme song of 2010.  I heard this in the car on the way home one day and went on an Al Green download spree on Amazon.  It was a mere two days after that I cooked this half fantastic/half embarrassing meal.

Let’s start with the Chicken Parmesan, shall we?  As mentioned earlier, I had taken a cooking class and gotten some sweet recipes.  I particular liked the butternut squash and chicken parm.

Chicken Parmesan (serves 4)

Sauce
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Chicken
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard (the secret ingredient!)
1 Tbsp white-wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
2-3 tsp Italian seasoning blend
1 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
4 slices Mozzarella cheese or Asiago cheese
3 Tbsp olive oil

Prepare the sauce. In a large saucepan, heat the garlic and oil together over medium high heat until the garlic starts to sizzle. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, oregano, sugar, a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until sauce thickens a bit and flavors meld, about 10-12 minutes. Taste sauce, adjust seasoning if necessary, cover and keep warm.

Preheat the over to 450 deg F. Butterfly each chicken cutlet to flatten to an even thickness – between 1/4-1/2 inch.

Whisk together mustard, vinegar, salt, and 1/4 tsp of pepper in a large bowl, add the chicken pieces, tossing to coat well.

In another bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and grated cheese. Mix well and add in the olive oil. Transfer to a shallow plate. Dredge the chicken pieces 1 piece at a time in the crumb mixture, coating completely. Press the crumbs in gently to adhere and transfer to a greased baking sheet (I used foil for easy clean up). Bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Ladle sauce over the chicken and place a piece of mozzarella/asiago cheese on top and bake just until starting to melt.

I pretty much followed this recipe exactly.  I bought asiago cheese from this grocery Mecca and laid that on top.  I used Panko style bread crumbs.  It was exactly what I wanted, what I needed, what I’d been looking for my whole life.

My enthusiasm for this meal slowly disintegrated as I moved onto my side dish.  I found a recipe in Bittman for pureed white beans with garlic.  It was fairly simple: white beans, oil, garlic, blender, stovetop, water.  It was the last two steps that defeated me.  After blending, I added the cannellini beans to the stovetop and added water per the recipe.  However, I pour the water in and immediately realized I poured in too much.  There I was, in a panic.  The recipe said to cook on the stove for just a few min to warm up the puree.  In my state of disarray, I grabbed the first thing that came to mind: flour.  Yes, I thought back to my pancake batter days and whenever it was too watery, I just added flour.  Yeah, doesn’t quite work in this situation.  I managed to get the bean-flour mess to the right consistency, but I’d basically created a bean batter.  I tried to force my way through more than a couple of bites, but eventually just threw in the towel.  Into the trash that went.  Now I know better…cornstarch.  Oh well, this is why it’s a blog about learning to cook.

Oh, and I anticipated bad beans, so I had some salad greens to help offset the damage.

You Don’t Understand Me

This is the first of many posts (I hope) where the title is the name of the song that inspired me while I was cooking.  This particular cooking adventure was defined by “You Don’t Understand Me” by The Raconteurs.  Jack White’s haunting voice and piano skills actually made me set this one on repeat for awhile.

For most people who know me, they know I’m particularly fond of pork…especially of the bbq, pulled variety.  I’d been wanting to use my slow cooker during the week, but most recipes call for a max of 6-7 hours and from the time I leave for work till the time I get home, I’m usually gone for more than 10 hours.  So, I set aside the next possible Sunday to cook deliciousness.  With an old slow cooker I pilfered from my dad and a desire to create this fantastic concoction myself, I scoured over the recipes in Allrecipes.com for a simple and highly rated pulled pork recipe, eventually settling on Slow Cooker Pulled Pork.

Now some notes on this.  I had never heard of using root beer as the cooking juice, but it was fantastic.  It also allowed me to pursue a more acerbic bbq sauce: something spicy, even vinegary.  I settled on Bull’s Eye Original from Kraft.  I had originally wanted something unusual and rare, but I was a bit amiss when I went to the local Ralphs and didn’t really find anything besides A1.  Then I noticed the Bull’s Eye.  Being the only option without any high fructose corn syrup made my decision pretty easy.

I put a 2lb pork butt in the cooker with the root beer, set it to low, and came back 5 hours later.  At that point, I poured out the root beer, mixed in the Bull’s Eye, and switched it to high for the next 60-90 minutes.

To add a side, I used the Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe from Bittman.  I used shells instead of elbow pasta, sharp cheddar cheese, and Panko breadcrumbs.  All in all it turned out alright, but I think I might have preferred it if it weren’t baked.

I had created several full meals of bbq pulled pork sandwiches and mac ‘n’ cheese.  Regard the magnificence:

I had enough leftovers for the whole week.  I actually ended up having to throw some out because I couldn’t finish it all.  Delicious meal, need to work on the portion control.

P.S. You’ll notice the lack of veggies.  I didn’t realize it then but there were a series of meals that were meat and carb heavy, with little to no vegetable dishes.  I’ve since tried to rectify that.

Mexican Style Fish

Ok, to be honest, I’m picky when it comes to fish.  I usually only eat it with sushi and then I stick to salmon and tuna.  I’m not big on pushing my boundaries when it comes to the fruits of the sea.   But I recognize it’s good for me and I am willing to at least try some recipes out.  In the past, I’ve been the definition of unsuccessful when it comes to cooking fish.  I’ve tried cooking in a pan and also baking in the oven.  The desired end goal–flaky–did not happen….neither did dinner those nights.  I decided to try the old adage: if at first you don’t succeed, try try trrrrrrrry again.

First off, I chose cod because it’s a simple white fish that doesn’t have a strong fishy flavor.  Also, it’s what was called for in this recipe: Mexican style fish.

I started out with frozen cod fillets.  Two of the fillets had been sitting in my fridge for so many months I can’t even remember how long.  I had bought a pack of fresher frozen fillets the day before, so I tried to make a combo of old and new.  I defrosted the fish in a bowl of water and then squeezed out the water.  I followed the recipe and stuck it in the oven.  I actually cooked it for 20 minutes instead of 15 because some of the fillets were overlapping.  When I pulled it out, the very very old fillets were hard and disgusting…into the trash they went.  The rest were cooked decently well and servable.

For a side, I cooked a package of fresh & easy spanish style rice as a side dish.

All in all, it was a decent meal.  I just didn’t like it at all.  I ended up throwing out all the leftovers.  Oh well, I’ll have to wait on my fish success :-/

Oh, and no pic.

baked ziti

Finally…a post with some pictures.

I knew casserole type dishes were good for supplying several meals with low effort.  I’d made lasagnas before and been bored.  Others raved, but my tongue did not do somersaults of joy.  I decided instead to make a Baked Ziti.  I had always loved them growing up…why not experiment and see what would happen.

I went to one of my favorite websites to find the recipe: Allrecipes.com.  What I love about this website is that it seems like its everyday people putting up everyday recipes.  The recipes get rated and people write variations and comments in the reviews to give you even more ideas.

I found a highly rated baked ziti recipe and set off.  I followed some of the suggestions and changed the layering order such that I came up with the following:

1 lb ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef
2 jars pasta sauce
6 oz provolone, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 oz mozzarella, shredded
2 tbsp parmesan, grated

1. Boil water and cook pasta till al dente.  Drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and beef over medium heat.  Add pasta sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 deg F.  Butter a 9×13 pan.  Layer the following: 1/2 ziti, 1/2 meat sauce, provolone, sour cream, remaining ziti, remaining meat sauce, mozzarella, parmesan.
4. Bake covered for 30 minutes or until cheeses are melted.

Modifications: I used rigatoni instead of ziti since I couldn’t find any at the local Fresh & Easy.  I browned the meat with onions, shallots and garlic and added italian seasoning.  I also used an arrabiata sauce because I like a little kick.

Regard my masterpiece…

Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

Well, after my pork chop success, I felt more meat was in order.  Why not do an American staple?  BURGERS!  Again I turned to my trusted Bittman for his basic burger recipe.  I mixed the meat with some chopped onions, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce.  A little salt and pepper and I was ready for some stovetop cooking.  I followed the recipe, including covering the pan with salt–coarse sea salt to be exact–after each patty.  Needless to say, my burgers were a little heavy on the sodium.  But with cheese and condiments, almost covering the salt flavor is somewhat possible.  Who am I kidding?  They were salty as all hell.  Hey, I’m an American girl…I’d eat burgers even if they were charcoal briquettes.

I did have more success with the sweet potato fries/chips.  Remember that little story about my slicing open my fingers.  Well, it was serious.  Unvegan serious (yes that’s my hand).  I was a little traumatized after that to say the least.  I had used my mandoline again once or twice after, but was not comfortable with it at all.  I mean, this was a lethal weapon.  It sliced my hand open the day I took it out of the box.  Not very ergonomic.  But, I really really wanted sweet potatoes and I didn’t want to do all the slicing manually.  So, just shy of a year after the incident, I resolved to meet my fears head on.  After a little advice from good ol’ Tony and his book, I felt a little less awkward in using my vicious tool.  I thin-sliced two yams, spread them over a cookie sheet, doused in oil and salt and baked away at 375 deg goodness.  When they were all curled and tender, I knew I was ready to eat away!  Successful treat with no injuries!

Although a bit salty and overcooked, I was pretty much ok with my first week into this journey.  I wasn’t as afraid of giving myself salmonella or screwing up meat.  And the veggies both turned out well.  Maybe I have a knack for cooking after all.

Pork Chops and Butternut Squash

I returned home to LA with a new resolve in tow.  My first challenge was steep, but I knew I could do it.  I decided to make pork chops and butternut squash.  I had the squash recipe from my cooking class last October and it was amazing.  I went to good ol’ Bittman for some pork chop inspiration.  There I found his basic Sauteed Pork Chop with garlic and lots of butter.  I followed the recipe and the pork turned out alright.  A little overcooked but the butter (delicious, wonderful, life-fulfilling butter) made it all ok.  I cooked 4 chops and had some leftovers.

The butternut squash is a favorite recipe of mine.  It also uses a lot of butter so my cholesterol took a hit this meal, but I didn’t care.  It turned out superb and made up for whatever was lacking with the chops.  My life was a little more complete after that squash…

Butternut Squash with Rosemary (Serves 4)

2 Tbsp butter
2 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4″ cubes
Salt and pepper
3 sprigs fresh rosemary

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Place squash on baking sheet. Rip rosemary off sprig and mix with butter. Pour over squash. Bake at 375 deg.  Bake and cook until fork tender, 8-10 minutes.  Toss occasionally.

NOTE: This was before I got smart and started taking pictures.

Hello world!

So.  Christmas 2008 was a special year.  That was the year I received Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything“.  And it doesn’t quite have everything, but it’s pretty good at giving you some jazzed up basics.  Between that and my brother-in-law’s amazing cooking, I was inspired to cook and be good at it.

Well, life has a funny way of changing your plans.  Exactly 32 days later, I sliced my fingers open on a mandoline while trying to slice sweet potatoes.  Three hours and eight stitches later, I can say I was less than enthused to get back to cooking.  I was derailed, simple as that.

A year passed and I was back home for the holidays where I watched my bro-in-law tackle something more ambitious: a stuffed beef tenderloin.  He did it and it was amazing.  Again…inspiration!  To top this off, I took a cooking class the previous October and learned some basics to chopping, cooking and got some delicious recipes to boost my confidence.  I also fell in love with Anthony Bourdain that month.  I had watched No Reservations off and on, but I read Kitchen Confidential this December and truly felt ready to take it on.  Cmon, if a rowdy junkie could do it, so could I, right?  RIGHT?

So, January 2010.  New Year…new plan.  I need to learn more to cook than eggs and stirfry, and like it.  Now that’s a tall order since historically, I’ve followed recipes and detested what I’ve eaten.  I’ve had moderate success so far, and after seeing Julie & Julia, I am convinced that anyone can do a blog.

Which brings me to today.  I’ve been toying with the idea of a blog about experiments in cooking…and cooking for one.  This is probably why I’ve already taken pictures of some of my culinary successes.  But this blog won’t be just about success…because to be truly successful, you must fail.  No matter how embarrassing (and there are some doozies so far), I’ll share it.

I can’t guarantee high production value; I’m not that web-savvy.  But it will be honest retelling of my cooking adventures.  So…TALLY HO!