What I Made: June 12, 2012

I'm getting ready to make tonight's dinner and I can't stop thinking about what I made for dinner yesterday.  I'm worried I'm going to be disappointed.  Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself here... we're talking about yesterday's meals, not about my fears for tonight's dinner.

Did that make any sense?  Yeah, it didn't on this end either.  I honestly don't know what day I'm supposed to be writing about.  I think I'm getting punchy.

Okay, let's talk about June 12th's yummies, starting with breakfast...

© You Want Me to Cook?
Chai Banana Bread

This is a Chai Banana Bread I got from Cooking Light's May 2012 issue.  It was moist, very "banana-y" and unlike the muffins I made the other day, had a great hint of chai.  I have half a loaf in the fridge and I'm really thinking about munching on a piece while I write this.

Side note: I got interrupted while writing this and when I came back, my last sentence read "...while I eat this."  I guess I really DO have that bread on my brain.

Modenese Pork Chops

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – June 16, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published by Allrecipes via e-mail on June 13, 2011.

Okay, this isn’t Thanksgiving related, but I have a lot of organizing to go through.  Here is a recipe I made well before the countdown to the holidays…

I always fear that I’m going to miss a recipe because it doesn’t tickle my fancy when I come across it.  For example, I occasionally will see a recipe with wine or rum in it and wrinkle my nose, but every time I make a marsala dish or a rum cake, I fall in love.  I stared at this recipe for a while before deciding to make it.  It was simple and contained savory ingredients (butter, garlic, pork), but I kept stumbling over the wine part.  I finally said, “Screw this!  I’m putting it on my list of things to make.”

I’m glad I did.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Modenese Pork Chops

I swear you can look at this picture and tell how good it smells.  I’m willing to concede that my pork chops don’t have the same level of browning that the original recipe writer had.  It’s mostly because I chose a boneless chop and boneless chops cook faster.  It is saved by the savory looking sauce though.

Chili-Rubbed Pork Chops with Black Bean Salad

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 14, 2011

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Recipe originally published in Every Day with Rachael Ray – May 2011.

It had been a while since I served pork chops.  My husband, out of the blue, announced that he had no issues with pork chops, even though he had once told me he didn’t eat them.  So I found a recipe that blended his love of Cajun spices with pork chops – and it was a hit!  So I’ll admit I went on pork-chop-overload.  We had a good run too until it was mentioned that we were eating a lot of pork chops.

I took that as a hint.

When I found this recipe tucked away neatly in an insert in my May issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray, I knew I’d have to make it.  Along with mushrooms and tomatoes – I’ve gotten addicted to black beans.  Soups, salsas, burgers, I just can’t get enough.  So when I found a chili-spiced (YUM) pork chop (YUM) with a black bean salad (MMMMMM) and grilled avocado (drool goes here)… well let’s just say that I didn’t care who had a problem with pork chops being over-served.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Chili-Rubbed Pork Chops with Black Bean Salad

Looking at this picture, I want to eat it again.  If I had pork chops in my house, I’d abandon writing this post and starting cooking.  The pork chops look perfect and the black bean salad is screaming “delicious!”  Maybe my avocado doesn’t look perfect, but it doesn’t matter since everything else looks fantastic.

Chili-Apricot Pork Chops with Truffled Mash

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? on February 20, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of the Chili-Apricot Pork Chops, please click here.

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of the Truffled Mash, please click here.

Chili-Apricot Pork Chops recipe originally published in Taste of Home, December/January 2011.

Truffled Mash recipe originally published in Food Network Magazine, January/February 2011.

I was going through my refrigerator, cleaning stuff out, and I found a jar of partially used sugar-free apricot preserves.  It reminded me of some delicious chicken wings I made for a party.  I can’t honestly say that I went searching for a recipe that used the preserves, but it certainly influenced my decision to select this one when I came across it.  Pork chops aren’t one of those things that you can eat alone or with a salad… at least in my mind.  Granted, my mind is kind of simple, but something about them cries out for potatoes – preferably mashed.

Now, every time I watch Iron Chef America, they’re using truffles, truffle oil, truffle salt – everything truffle – so when I found this recipe in Food Network’s magazine (coincidentally the next one I read after Taste of Home with the pork chops), I was excited to try it and see how they tasted.  Apparently they’re all magical or something.  According to Alton Brown on Iron Chef America, "Those white truffles are better than 97% of the sex you will have during your lifetime." (Thanks to Eater for this little nugget of delight!)

My finished product:

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Chili-Apricot Pork Chops with Truffled Mash

Chili-Apricot Pork Chops Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

Truffled Mash Picture published with recipe: © Food Network Magazine

Smoky Pan-Grilled Pork Chops with Caramelized Onion & Horseradish Smashed Potatoes

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – January 27, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Click here for the commentary free & printer friendly version of Smoky Pan-Grilled Pork Chops only.

Click here for the commentary free & printer friendly version of Caramelized Onion & Horseradish Smashed Potatoes only.

Smoky Pan-Grilled Pork Chops recipe originally published in Cooking Light, January/February 2011.

Caramelized Onion & Horseradish Smashed Potatoes recipe originally published by allRecipes on Saturday, October 25, 2008.

Simple sauces and spice rubs are an easy way to dress up chicken, beef or pork.  Very similar to yesterday’s post, chicken cutlets in a creamy Dijon sauce, the pork in today’s post is dressed up with a spice rub and then grilled on the stovetop. 

My Pork Chops: © You Want Me to Cook?

Pork Chops by Cooking Light: © Cooking Light

Not bad, right?  So I’m sure you noticed that Cooking Light had some side-suggestions for their pork chops.  I decided I needed to find something similar to make a complete meal.  But what dish to make?

When I read my magazines, I type all the recipes I want to try into a spreadsheet.  Then I verify I can find them all on-line at a later date.  That way, I don’t have piles of magazines lying around my house – which I do anyway because I can never keep up, but that’s a story for another blog. 

Anyway…

If I see a recipe that is something similar to what I already have (and not a slimmed down version or something special) I’ll pass it up.  I’m not sure why I didn’t write down what this side was, but I’m going to guess it was probably that reason.  I have close to a hundred potato recipes.

Now, I enjoy Cooking Light, but one of my pet peeves is that when they pair dishes together, they don’t link them on their website.  You have to search through recipes for that issue, which could be over a hundred, not including the articles.  So I decided to go through my pile of potato recipes instead of trying to find which potatoes they made.  It was then I stumbled upon allRecipes version of Caramelized Onion & Horseradish Smashed Potatoes.

My Potatoes: © You Want Me to Cook?

Potatoes by allRecipes: © allRecipes.com

 

Little did I know, Cooking Light had selected a similar recipe to pair with their pork chop as well.  Of course, I only knew this because I was going through the comments looking for tips on keeping my pork chops juicy.  NOT because they made it easy to find that information.  I guess great minds think alike.

And by the way, my picture has been uploaded to allRecipes as well.  Yay me!  When all the cooking was finished, this is what I ended up with…

My finished product: ©You Want Me to Cook?

Picture published with recipe: © Cooking Light

Pretty nice, right?  I decided to make the purchase of a grill pan since I wanted it to look pretty as well as taste good.  Of course, the pan affects the cook time too, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  My husband doesn’t like broccoli, so I decided to pass on this side dish, but we did enjoy a salad with it.

Mushroom Pork Chops

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – August 27, 2010

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published in AllRecipes daily e-zine “The Daily Dish”.

If you saw my post on February 14, 2011, you know that out of the blue, my husband announced that he would gladly eat pork chops after refusing for about, oh, 9 years.  In my scramble to make as much pork as possible, I found this delightful low-calorie recipe that incorporates two of my favorite foods, mushrooms and onions, into a great casserole-type dish.

My finished product:

Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

I’m sure I’m biased, but mine looks so much better than the published picture.  It just looks juicier.  They didn’t specify the type of pork chop to use in the recipe (don’t worry, I do in my version) but it looks like I probably picked the right one.

Creole Pork Chops

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – October 14, 2010

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published in Taste of Home’s weekly e-zine “Menu$aver Newsletter”.

Up until last year, my husband wouldn’t eat pork chops, then suddenly one day – WHAM – he said, “I don’t know why you thought I wouldn’t eat pork chops.”  Sometimes it is just better not to argue or try to understand… you just go about your business and look for pork chop recipes.  “The Other White Meat” can be a little bland, so when I found a Creole spiced recipe, I was all over it.

My finished product:

Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

Mine didn’t turn out as “tomato-ey” and it looks like there is a lot more spice on their pork chop.  It was still very good and perfect with a side of potatoes (as shown) and a small salad.