Category: Food

  • Pork Schnitzel with Dijon Gravy

    One would think with my background that I’d have some ability to cook German food. Nope, I can almost grill a brat and my sauerkraut comes in a jar. About a month ago we went to a German restaurant and it was awful, which got me to thinking about making a pork schnitzel. Turns out it’s not that difficult. This recipe is wonderful but rates high on the difficulty level because it’s hard to do both at once. Make sure you have a meet tenderizer for flattening the pork and pre-flatten and season the pork. Then make sauce and then fry the pork. It’s tricky but definitely worth it.

    Crispy Pork Schnitzel in a Creamy Dijon Sauce

    Ingredients:

    • 4 pork loin chops, boneless
    • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
    • 2 eggs, beaten
    • 1 cup breadcrumbs
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
    • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
    • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
    • 2 Tablespoons butter

    For the Dijon Gravy:

    • 2 Tablespoons butter
    • 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
    • 1 cup chicken broth
    • 1/2 cup heavy cream
    • 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
    • Salt and pepper to taste
    • Large skillet
    • Saucepan

    Directions:

    • Place each pork chop between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound to 1/4-inch thickness
    • Season the pork chops with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika
    • Dredge each pork chop in flour, then dip in beaten eggs, and coat with breadcrumbs
    • Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat
    • Fry the pork chops for 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from skillet and keep warm

    • To make the Dijon gravy, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat
    • Stir in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes
    • Gradually whisk in chicken broth and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes
    • Stir in heavy cream and Dijon mustard
    • Season with salt and pepper to taste
    • Serve the pork schnitzel topped with the Dijon gravy
  • Teriyaki Chicken

    Ingredients

    1 1/4 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1-inch cubes

    1 Tbsp olive oil

    1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

    1/4 cup water*

    2 Tbsp honey

    1 1/2 Tbsp packed light brown sugar

    1 Tbsp rice vinegar

    1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil

    2 tsp peeled and minced fresh ginger

    2 tsp peeled and minced fresh garlic (2 cloves)

    2 tsp cornstarch

    Sesame seeds and chopped green onions, for serving (optional)

    Instructions

    • Heat olive oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
    • Add in chicken and let brown on bottom about 3 – 4 minutes then flip and continue to cook until center registers about 160 degrees, about 3 minutes longer.
    • While chicken is cooking, in a small mixing bowl (or liquid measuring cup) whisk together soy sauce, water, honey, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and cornstarch.
    • Stir the sauce in with the cooked chicken and continue to cook and toss until sauce has thickened, about 30 – 60 seconds longer. 
    • Serve warm garnished with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
  • Rice Crispy Treats

    I’ve had a hankering for some RCT’s over the past couple of weeks. But not just the standard, something more than standard RCT’s.

    After reviewing the back of the box and several online recipes, I kind of decided to wing it and used this and they came out spectacularly, this is something that I’ll definitely do again and it’s quick and perfect for something to bring for a get together.

    Without further ado, Cocoa Rice Krispies Peanut Butter Treats:

    • 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter
    • 1 cup peanut butter
    • 1 pound of mini marshmallows
    • 10 cups Cocoa Rice Krispies

    Butter up a 9 x 13 cake pan to make ready for the coated rice.

    In a pot big enough for 10 cups of Rice Krispies, melt the butter, then add the peanut butter and melt that, then add marshmallows and until all is incorporated, then add the rice 2 cups at a time until covered evenly and thoroughly.

    Add to the cake pan and smooth out, let cool completely, cut, serve, and enjoy.

  • Tuna Fish

    I figured I’d get this classic into the book because this is a go to for a relatively healthy lunch or snack.
    We start with three cans of 5oz tuna in spring water. Now that’s the full weight, drained is 4oz and since we drain it, let’s be honest and call it a quarter pounder of tuna.

    Here’s the recipe:

    • 3 x 4oz drained tuna
    • 3 x hard boiled eggs diced
    • ~ 4oz bread & butter pickles diced
    • 8 tbs mayonnaise

    I personally drain the tuna in a strainer. Notice the 3 to 1 ratio of tuna to pickles. Fold all the ingredients together trying not to mash anything. Chill well and serve on bread, crackers, forks or whatever floats your boat.

  • Cold Oats

    I’m not a breakfast person. I’ve nothing against it and under the right circumstances it can be nice. I love the Rise & Shine platter at the Brookside Cafe just up the road. But mostly I completely skip the most important meal of the day.

    In my quest for better eating, that’s not the best way to start the day. It has to be quick, easy and not filling enough to put me back to bed. The answer is… you got it, cold oats.

    While I can tolerate hot oatmeal, the texture is just bad to me, something about it feels reconstituted and not in a good way if one exists.

    Cold oats still feel whole enough that they don’t remind me of something mama bird feeds the chicks. The brown sugar is the right sweet and you can’t go wrong with blueberry’s.

    Cold Oats a la Aron

    • 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup of whole milk
    • 20g frozen blueberry’s
    • 1/2 cup oats

    Add milk and sugar to a jar, shake vigorously to dissolve sugar in milk. Add in blueberry’s and oats and shake and let sit overnight to 4 days or up until the milk is out of date I would think.

  • Rib Rub Recipe

    This is the rib rub recipe that I deviate greatly from when I’m getting ready to cook up some ribs.

    8 tablespoons light brown sugar
    3 tablespoons kosher salt
    1 tablespoon chili powder
    1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    1/2 teaspoon jalapeno seasoning
    1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
    1/2 teaspoon rubbed thyme
    1/2 teaspoon onion powder

  • Frozen Blueberry’s

    In my on-going quest for better nutrition, I’m trying to get more fruits and vegetables but fresh isn’t always an option. Take the humble blueberry. Tasty, good for you but seasonal. But I can get a big bag of great value frozen blueberry’s and for the most part they’re not bad. Ideally thaw them in the fridge but in a pinch you can thaw in water and drain.

    This makes the packet blueberry muffin’s into something fairly special and quite yummy. They also make pancakes tolerable with the fruitiness.

    I’m going to check out some of the of the other offerings also, they include:
    Frozen Strawberries
    Frozen Blueberries
    Frozen Pineapple
    Frozen Bananas
    Frozen Mango
    Frozen Raspberries
    Frozen Cherries
    Frozen Blackberries

    This could be a boon for the homemade yogurt idea and that’s on the good list too.

  • Restored the Blackstone

    I had used the Blackstone once when Johnny was here, long story short we broke Johnny that day and I didn’t get a chance to clean the cast iron properly and it was a rusted mess. I (once again) wish I had been smart enough to do a before but at least here is the after.

    We did burgers on it and they were amazing and I remembered to clean it properly so hopefully it’ll be good to go next time it’s called on to make tasty eats.

  • Successful Bread!!!

    If you’ve been following the adventures in bread baking, you’ll know it’s been a pretty abject failure all around, even the bread maker has only raised my bread baking game to sub-standard. I’m happy to announce we’ve had success.

    This was in furtherance of making sub rolls and using the bread machine recipe for dough. The written recipe calls for 470g of AP flour but it’s close enough. As for the baking, it was at 375 for 16 to 24 minutes but we did right at 20 and it came out great. Hopefully we can adjust the baking process to make the rolls properly but this is great progress.

  • Sweet Condensed Milk > Caramel

    This is one of those things I ran across on Facebook but never thought much about it until I thought about it when I was at the store in the baking aisle looking at the sweetened condensed milk and remember it.

    We used this recipe from this site and it’s spot on. Super easy to do and it comes out amazing. I did brand name and store brand. The one thing that I really want to figure out how to do is salt it.

    I did try to add salt and butter but it doesn’t really heat up well, not in the microwave anyways.