Smothered Pork Chops

Today was supposed to be a lazy day. I was going to meet a friend at a restaurant near work and let the pros take care of my dinner while Dan fended for himself at home. But then a thunder/snow storm set in and my dinner plans were cancelled as both my friend and I scurried out of our offices a couple hours early to avoid getting marooned at work when the city inevitably shut down. DC is incapable of dealing with snow and/or inclement weather in general.

But, for once the Metro didn't screw me, and I managed to get home by 4:30. Dan, however, remained stuck in traffic until midnight, his 30 minute commute having turned into an eight and a half hour nightmare of bumper to bumper traffic caused by countless cars abandoned in the middle of the highway and iced-over roads. Virginians apparently also suck at dealing with snow.

So, when dinner time rolled around I was home alone with the cat, hungry and bored. What could I make that would keep me occupied for a period of time yet not be a pain in the ass to cook, and taste delicious? Gotta go with my standby: pork chops! But with mushroom cream sauce this time.

I've never made this particular dish before, but I've made pork chops so many different ways that it wasn't too difficult to come up with something workable. There was no time to brine the chops, so I made do with direct seasoning instead. Then, the chops were pan seared on each side before getting tucked into the oven for about 15 minutes. The cream sauce was similarly simple: mushrooms sauteed with garlic, combined with heavy cream in the pan, and thickened with a little Parmesan.

Maybe it was the hunger, but...improvisation tastes good! The chops were juicy and flavorful, and the cream sauce was so delicious I actually licked the saucepan clean to get every last savory drop. Served with Caprese salad and a baked potato, these smothered chops were an amazingly satisfying meal.

Smothered Pork Chops

Ingredients:

- 2 pork chops, tenderized

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 1 clove of garlic, minced

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

- 1 cup chopped mushrooms

- Salt and pepper for seasoning

Steps:
(1) Preheat oven to 425.
(2) Sprinkle both sides of the chops with salt and pepper, to taste.
(3) In a saucepan on medium heat, cook garlic in oil until fragrant.
(4) Add chops to the pan, cooking each side for about 1-2 minutes, until lightly brown.
(5) Remove chops to a lightly greased baking dish, and stick in the oven.
(6) Bake for 15 minutes.
(7) While waiting for the chops to finish up in the oven, start cooking mushrooms in the original saucepan. Add more oil, if necessary. (I just go with Pam)
(8) When mushrooms are brown and tender, add cream and Parmesan, whisking until the sauce thickens to the consistency you want. Season with salt to taste, then set aside.
(9) Pull chops out of the oven and onto heated plates. Smother with mushroom cream sauce. Sprinkle with chives or parsley.
(10) Enjoy!

Salsa Chicken

I woke up this morning and my brain immediately turned to dinner. For reasons I can't fathom, I really wanted to make a dish that involved baked chicken and salsa. Have I ever eaten this dish before? No. Have I ever seen it made? Nope. I guess I was just feeling kind of zesty.

A quick search on Google revealed that salsa + chicken is actually a real thing. Not to be confused with fiesta chicken, of course, which is far more complicated and involves more ingredients. Salsa chicken is literally just chicken smothered in salsa. Canned salsa. Oh yea, there's some fancy cooking going on in my kitchen.

When I told Dan what we were having for dinner he was very skeptical. "So...you just poured some salsa over the chicken and baked it?" "Well, yea. But the chicken breasts are seasoned!" Truth be told, I was pretty skeptical too. I don't even like salsa all that much! But, we were both very pleasantly surprised. The baked chicken breasts were unbelievably tender and juicy, and time in the oven took away some of the salsa's artificial zing and replaced it with a wonderfully smooth, tangy flavor that perfectly complemented the chicken. Delicious! I just wish I had some rice or corn to go with it.

Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com.

** I don't like taco seasoning, so I actually went with salt/pepper/garlic to flavor the chicken breasts. Personally, I think taco seasoning would have made the whole dish too zesty.

Pan Seared Tilapia with Avgolemono Sauce

I've been in kind of a cooking rut lately. I haven't been reading as many cooking blogs, and no recipes have been particularly eye-catching or inspiring. So, we've been eating a lot of delivery -- Chinese food, Domino's...the usual junky suspects. And lets not forget the long weekend in Colorado, where we gorged ourselves on birthday cake, lasagna, and tacos after braving the slopes. Yum.

But, my rapidly tightening waistband has awakened me to the sad fact that I need start eating less greasy crap and start cooking healthy and delicious meals at home. And maybe exercise occasionally. Maybe. But definitely the healthy cooking thing.

What could be healthier than fish? Nothing! And I just happened to have a freezer full of vacuum-sealed tilapia fillets begging to be eaten. But, I haven't dealt with tilapia very often, and didn't really know what to do with it. So, I turned to Kevin over at Closet Cooking for inspiration, and he didn't let me down.

Pan Seared Tilapia with Avgolemono Sauce. What is avgolemono, you ask? I've never heard of it, but Wikipedia tells me that it's a Greek soup made with egg and lemon mixed with broth. It's also creamy and delicious, airy, with a delicate lemony-eggy flavor. I would have never thought to eat it on fish, but the two just make sense on the plate and in the mouth. That Kevin is a genius!

For the recipe, check out Kevin's blog.

Strawberry Shortcake

Mmmm, strawberry shortcake. I've been dying to make this since I saw the recipe posted on The Art of Being Perfect. Of course, things being what they are in my kitchen, I had issues with one of the key ingredients -- the strawberries. I'm pretty sure strawberries aren't in season anymore, and there was no way the sad, wrinkled specimens on display in my local grocery store were going into my shortcake. Fortunately, I had a big bag of frozen strawberries in the freezer. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that that particular bag of frozen strawberries had thawed then re-frozen into one big red mess a few months ago.

So, instead of adorning my cake with fat, juicy strawberries, I found myself hacking at the big red ice block for pieces of fruit to cook down into preserves. Strawberry shortcake is still strawberry shortcake if the strawberries are syrupy, right?

(The cream is melting because I spooned the strawberries on while hot.)

Technically correct or not, this was the most delicious dessert I've eaten in a long time. The cake was light and fluffy, with a pleasant vanilla flavor accentuated by the sweet, fresh whipped cream. And the strawberry preserves? Perfect! The cooking really brought out the natural flavor of the fruit, and produced an intensely strawberry-flavored syrup that saturated the light cake with deliciousness. YUM. Definitely a must-try.

Recipe can be found here, courtesy of The Art of Being Perfect.

** Just a quick note about the recipe -- I couldn't find self-rising flour at the store, so I had to look up a substitute. 1 cup of self-rising flour = 1 cup all purpose + 1-1/4 tsp baking powder + 1/8 tsp salt.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Growing up, I was never a fan of mac n' cheese. My only experiences with it were (1) at school, the goopy orange stuff congealing (uneaten) on my lunch tray, (2) on TV, in commercials with that orange dinosaur swimming in rivers of cheese sauce, and (3) at Dan's fraternity, watching his brothers suck down endless bowls of the stuff after a night of drinking. Gross. 

It wasn't until this past year that I discovered the joys of grown-up, home-made, baked mac n' cheese. I think it was the combination of endless Food Network shows extolling the virtues of the stuff, and delicious sounding gourmet mac n' cheese offerings (mmm, lobster mac...) on numerous restaurant menus that finally crumbled my resistance. Thank god. I'm discovering more and more that there is really no place for random food grudges in good eating/cooking.

I've made this baked mac n' cheese dish a few times now -- when I make glazed pork chops, actually -- and it is amazing! The noodles are soft and chewy, drenched in delicious cheese sauce, and the crunchy, buttery bread crumbs on top are a delightful textural surprise. This is a million times better than Kraft mac n' cheese, I promise.

Recipe can be found here, courtesy of Alton Brown.

Glazed Pork Chops

My first kitchen adventures of the new year ended in complete disaster. Dan and I had just gotten back from a day of skiing, and I really wanted warm bread rolls and a steaming bowl of beef bourguignon for dinner. But, I was too tired and hungry to make a Julia Child-esque meal, so I decided to cut some corners and use one of the "fast and easy" bourguignon recipes I found online. Worst idea ever! It is impossible to make good beef bourguignon in less than an hour. Cannot be done. Should not be done. Trust me.

Naturally, I felt the need to make something delicious to erase the stink of failure hanging in the kitchen, ASAP. These pork chops were just the thing to do it. 

Everyone has a standby in the kitchen, the one thing they make well every single time. These glazed pork chops are mine. They are the only meal that I regularly cook for me and Dan, and my favorite go-to for when I want to impress dinner guests. I'm not sure how these chops have managed to escape my blog for this long, but I think it has something to do with the fact that they're so delicious that they're half-eaten before I even think to reach for my camera. I made these recently for my friends Rick and Jamie, but forgot to take pictures. Luckily, my friend Grace is visiting this week, so...yeah. Pork chops again.

I regret nothing. There's a reason I make this meal so much, and the reason is that these chops are delicious. Juicy, with a delicious, pleasantly sweet glaze that caramelizes on the grill. So good, especially if eaten with mashed potatoes and baked mac n' cheese (which will get a post soon).

Glazed Pork Chops

Ingredients:

- 4 pork chops, brined (some people like to brine over night...for those of us who are less organized in the kitchen, 1.5 hours before dinner is good too.)
- 2/3 cups brown sugar

- 2 tbsp salt

- 1 tsp cloves

- 1 tsp ground pepper

- 1 tbsp minced garlic (or, garlic powder if you're out of the real stuff)

Steps:

(1) Turn oven to "low broil."

(2) In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, cloves, garlic and pepper. Mix well.
(3) Pat pork chops dry, then rub thoroughly on all sides with dry mixture. Place in baking dish, and let rest for a few minutes.

(4) If using an indoor grill, turn it on to high. Cook chops on each side for about 2 minutes, until just slightly brown, and glaze has caramelized.
(5) Remove chops from grill and put back in the baking dish. Stick it in the oven to broil for about 10 minutes.
(6) Serve drizzled with own juices.

Best of 2010

It feels a little pretentious to be doing a "best of" post, seeing as how I've had this blog for just under a year...and there was a pretty big gap in the middle there with zero cooking/blogging. Also, who the hell do I think I am? A famous food blogger? As if, right? Still, everyone seems to be doing it, and I'm nothing if not a lemming. Plus, I'm the only one at work right now, and I really feel like it's time to "take a break" from what has obviously been a super productive day.

So here goes! A collection of what I think have been my most successful and delicious creations in the kitchen, and things that will continue to have a presence in my eating life:

Monkey Bread (Feb 2010)

Maybe I'm a little biased about this one, since it was my first, and arguably most successful, attempt at handling yeast. Still, no one can deny that this monkey bread was sinfully delicious. Just look at it! Gooey, tongue-tickling cream cheese icing; sweet, cinnamon-y puffs of warm bread drenched in caramelized brown sugar...Not to toot my own horn, but...drool.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes (March 2010)

Even if Smriti hadn't requested these for her birthday, I probably would have made them for myself at some point. Carrot cake is my favorite flavor of cake (yes, even more than chocolate), and this recipe really knocks it out of the park. The cakes are slightly crusty/crunchy on top, but super dense and chewy inside. Also, the fact that there are vegetables in it really helps justify the consumption of many many cupcakes in one sitting. Fiber is important, guys.

Caramel Cookie Sandwiches With Chocolate Ganache Filling (April 2010)

OK, so maybe I should have studied a little harder for my last set of law school finals. But if I hadn't decided to procrastinate, I would have never made these cookies sandwiches, and then where would we be? Caramel and chocolate have been a delicious combo since...forever...and these cookies were no exception. Chewy, slightly caramel-y cookies + rich ganache = awesome.

Strawberry and Nutella Crepes (June 2010)

Oh, the memories associated with crepes...Well, now that I'm no longer an awkward 15 year old, I can finally enjoy these delicious treats. And when I say delicious, I mean delicious. If you think about it, the fruit and thin pancakes are really just vehicles for transporting Nutella into your mouth. And everyone can agree that Nutella is the best thing ever. 

Chinese-Style Birthday Cake (November 2010)

This cake is not only on my "best of" list for 2010, but is probably the best cake I have ever made. Ever. Because: (1) I suck at making cakes with more than one layer; (2) I really struggle with frosting a cake, so I avoid doing it whenever possible -- ergo, not many cakes being made in Tina's Kitchen; and (3) this cake is just unbelievably delicious! Light and fluffy, and not cloyingly sweet like a lot of other birthday cakes. And the fresh fruit layered throughout really add something to the cake that no sugar roses ever could.

Braised Pork Ribs (November 2011)

Again, not to pat myself on the back too much, but...my mom really got a pretty kick ass meal on her birthday. Just saying. Homemade dumplings, Chinese birthday cake, and these juicy, fall-off-the-bone braised pork ribs? I'm a great daughter, right? Right??? ;)

Apple Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts (November 2010)

November was apparently a great month for cooking here at Casa del Tina, and these doughnuts were definitely a high note. Chewy and pillowy without the hassle (and calories) of frying, these were a very welcome addition to my brunch menu. Absolutely scrumptious dipped in freshly whipped, sweetened cream.

Crab Cakes (November 2010)

These were so good. How good? So good! In fact, I sneaked probably about two crab cakes' worth of batter while shaping/frying the cakes. Which, of course, inspired me to turn this into a dip, but there will be a post on that later. But just to confirm the awesomeness of these crab cakes, my friend Matt made them for himself a week or so ago, and pronounced them to be delicious.

Almost No-Bake Cheesecake (December 2010)

No baking and it's creamy and delicious? Yes, please. I really have to thank Kevin over at Closet Cooking for this one. There's not much else to say about this dessert other than...try it. Immediately.

Salt and Pepper Chicken (December 2010)

And, to round off a delicious year, we have Salt and Pepper Chicken. It was probably one of the fastest and easiest dishes I made all year, it was nostalgic, and it was scrumptious. Dan actually asked for leftovers the next day...and was very sad to learn that I had beaten him to the punch and eaten it all myself!

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So concludes a year of good eats. Thanks to everyone on facebook (and beyond) who have been following my blog. It makes me feel good to know that I'm not just sending these posts out into a cyber void. Happy New Year!