Recipe #39: Cinnamon Apple Pork Chops

I have failed you, dearest blog readers. I was too impatient to begin eating this meal, so I didn't take any pictures. I also didn't think it would be blog-worthy until I dug in. I'm not the biggest fan of pork chops, but this is a definite WIN recipe- cheap, easy, very little mess, and definitely delicious. I used pink lady apples, but any tart apples would work fine.

So, here's a picture I found online of a similar recipe. I served mine with asparagus, of course, which I sauteed in margarine with pepper, garlic powder, and some crushed almonds for about 7 minutes.



For two people, here's the quick recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Core and cut up two apples into slices. I left the skins on, but you can remove them if you want. Put them in a 9x9 casserole dish and sprinkle generously with cinnamon and brown sugar.

In a small skillet, brown 2 pork chops in butter, one minute per side. Place the chops in the casserole dish with the apples, making sure some of the apples are on top of the chops. Place several small dabs of butter or margarine in the dish. Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake in the oven for about an hour, or until cooked through.

Recipe #38: Tilapia Scaloppine

This dinner was AWESOME. Full flavor and easy to make, I found this on allrecipes.com when I was trying to find a new way to make tilapia. The only thing I changed was using chicken broth instead of white wine since I didn't want to open a new bottle.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 pound tilapia fillets
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh button mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 lemon, juiced

Directions

1. Heat olive oil with butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic. Place fish fillets in the skillet; sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper, and cook for 90 seconds. Turn the fish; season with salt and pepper, and cook an additional 90 seconds.
2. Add the mushrooms, capers, and wine. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until the fish flakes easily with a fork and the wine is reduced by half, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove the cover, pour in lemon juice, and cook for one minute.

Recipe #37: Clam Chowder in Sourdough Bread Bowls

Well, this is definitely NOT a healthy recipe, but we decided we can be bad every once in awhile to reward ourselves for working out and eating better over the past couple months. This recipe is from my Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade cookbook, which is one of my favorites. It was fun to make and really hearty.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, minced
3 tablespoons dry vermouth
1 can (6.5oz) chopped clams in juice. (NOTE! I used 2 cans!! I recommend this!)
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
Sugar
1 can (10.75oz) cream of potato soup
Round sourdough bread loaves- center cut out to make a bowl
Croutons
Parsley

Nick's precision work cutting out the bread bowls:


DIRECTIONS:

In a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender. Stir in vermouth. Bring to a simmer and allow vermouth to reduce slightly.

Strain clams, reserving juice (only ONE of the cans if you're doubling the amount). Add clam juice to the pan. Bring to a simmer and allow juice to reduce slightly. Add cream; reduce by half. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and sugar. (NOTE: I plan on omitting the sugar next time. I'd rather have a saltier than a sweet flavor) Add potato soup; Bring to a simmer.

Add clams and cook until just heated through. Serve in sourdough bowls and top with croutons and parsley. (I used dried parsley because I didn't have any fresh)

Recipe #36: Scallops and Fish in Ginger and Lime

Another excuse to use my wok! This seafood stir fry turned out with great flavor, but I think the texture was wrong because I used cod. Yeah yeah, I was being cheap. Next time I'll use a heavier fish that will compliment the scallops better, or maybe even shrimp. Regardless, this recipe is worth making again.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb firm white fish fillets
12 oz scallops
2 tablespoons oil
2 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
3 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons chili jam (in the asian section)
2 teaspoons finely grated lime rind
3 tablespoons coriander leaves (I could not find these and therefore skipped this ingredient)

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces and remove any black veins from the scallops. Heat half the oil in a wok and stir-fry the ginger and onions for 30 seconds. Remove from the wok.

Reheat the wok and, when it is very hot, add the remaining oil. Add the fish and scallops in three batches and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the wok and set aside.

Add the lime juice, chili jam, lime rind and 2 tablespoons water to the wok and bring to a boil, stirring. Return the fish, scallops, and onion mixture to the wok, tossing gently with the sauce. Serve immediately sprinkled with coriander leaves.


I served this over regular white rice.

Recipe #35: Stir-Fried Chicken Pasta

Here's a wok recipe that isn't in an asian style. The creamy sauce and flavors come together to make a really hearty meal for four.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb sun-dried tomatoes, in oil (jar) or dried, thinly sliced
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
2 cloves (or more!) of garlic, minced
1/2 cup (or more to desired texture) heavy cream
2 tablespoons shredded basil (I also used dried basil)
13oz penne pasta (I used whole grain penne rigate), cooked
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (dry-fry in wok until lightly browned)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the wok until very hot, add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat the sides. Stir-fry the chicken strips, adding more oil when necessary.

Add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and cream. Simmer gently for 4-5 minutes.

Stir in the basil and pasta, and heat through. Season well. Serve topped with the toasted pine nuts.



Sadly, I didn't have enough fresh basil, but I put some dried basil in to make up for it.