Parmesan Crusted

Pork Chops

This recipe will make you a fan of pork chops!  I never really cared for pork chops because they can dry out easily and it is difficult to get great flavor out of them.  After trying a few experiments, I finally found a recipe that brought them to life.  This recipe does require a bit of prep time, but it is totally worth it.  

Ingredients:

• 6-8  one inch pork chops (bone-in or boneless)
•  3/4 cup flour
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp ground sage

I prefer to use boneless pork chops for this recipe, but it really doesn't matter.  When I took the pictures for this, I was cooking bone-in pork chops.  You will need 3 medium size prep bowls to bread the pork chops, and a decent amount of counter space.  :)  

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and pepper.  In another bowl, lightly beat the 4 eggs.  And in your third bowl, combine the Panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and ground sage.  Have a baking sheet ready to set your breaded pork chops on.  I like to line mine baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray them with non-stick cooking oil - this makes clean up so much easier later.  

Prep bowl 1

Prep bowl 2

Prep bowl 3

Aluminum lined baking sheet, sprayed with non-stick cooking oil. 

Use a fork to place a pork chop in the flour and cover both sides with the flour.  Then, lift the pork shop out of the bowl and shake off any excess flour.  Transfer the pork chop directly into the bowl with the lightly beaten eggs.  Make sure the egg covers both sides of the pork chop and then transfer it to the bowl with the bread crumb mixture.  Again, make sure both sides are covered and shake off any loose crumbs before setting the pork chop on the baking sheet. 

Repeat the process for all the pork chops.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  While the breading sets on the pork chops, heat a skillet to medium and add a few tablespoons of olive oil.  Once the oil is hot, place the pork chops in the skillet and brown on each side.  This takes about 3-4 minutes on each side.  When the pork chops are browned, place them back on the baking sheet.  

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear.  Let the pork chops rest for at least 10 minutes after they come out of the oven, and then serve.  

Happy Cooking!  :)

 

Orange Glazed Strawberry Scones

Strawberry Scones 

with an Orange Glaze

Okay, so it's not the best picture, but they're delicious I promise!  What I love about this recipe is that it's a blank canvas.  I made it with strawberries today; but you can use any kind of fruit, substitute yogurt for cream, add oats or nuts - the possibilities are endless. 

 Scone Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp lemon zest  
• 6 tbsp cold butter, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced and dried

Glaze Ingredients:

•  2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 2 tbsp orange zest

You can mix this by hand or use a mixer, but since I'm lazy I always use my Kitchen Aid whenever possible.  Start with washing and slicing your strawberries (or whatever kind of fruit you choose).  Then set them on a paper towel to absorb the excess moisture.  

Next, combine the cream and extracts in a small bowl and mixing them well.  Set them aside for later.  

Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg to a larger bowl or your mixer and mix well.  

Using a scorer, get 2 tablespoons of zest from a fresh lemon and add it to the flour mixture.  

 
 Mix in the lemon zest and then at the butter.  It's helpful if the butter is still cold and has been sliced or cubed.  

If you're doing this part by hand then you will need a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour.  Using a mixer on the lowest speed works great too - don't go too fast or you will have flour everywhere! 

Once the butter has been cut in well, the mixture should have small pea-sized clumps of flour.  

Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and then slowly add the cream mixture to it as you stir. DO NOT OVER MIX! Over-mixing will cause the dough to become tough and chewy.  Mix the ingredients together just until they've combined. 

 Turn the dough mixture out onto a floured board and carefully shape it into a flat round about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Do not knead the dough, it will be very sticky, so just use some flour  on your hands to shape it. 

Use a serrated knife to cut the dough into wedges.  This usually yields eight 3-inch wedges that will double in size once baked.  After you've cut the wedges carefully place them onto a baking sheet that has been covered in wax or parchment paper.  Be sure to separate each wedge by at least one inch on all sides so it can bake evenly.  

 Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 16-20 minutes.  They will be lightly browned on top when done.  

Don't forget the glaze!

While your scones are baking you can make a very easy glaze to put on top.  I usually use lemon, but you can do any kind of citrus really.  

Score one orange for zest.  Squeeze 2 tablespoons of juice from the orange into a bowl.  Add  2/3 cup of confectioners (powdered) sugar and mix well.  That's it!  

The glaze should be thick enough to coat your spoon and then you can drizzle it over the scones after they have cooled.  If its not thick enough, add more powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time.  

 

Simple White Bread

Simple White Bread

 

 

My family members are big time bread eaters.  Personally, I have never cared much for bread either way, but fresh homemade bread is another story.  There's something about baking bread from scratch, and having the scent permeate your house, that is impossible to resist.  

 

I found a simple recipe from allrecipes.com (click here for the original recipe) about a year ago, and since then I've made a few adjustments that have made it a must-have staple in my home.  

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of hot water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 cups flour

Combine the hot water, sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl or stand mixer.  Let stand for about 15 minutes until the mixture becomes frothy and has doubled in size.  

 

Add the olive oil and salt and mix well.  Then incorporate the flour slowly.  I add 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer at "Stir" speed.  Once all the flour has been added, need the dough for at least 3 minutes or until the dough is smooth.  

 

Spray a bowl non-stick cooking spray.   Form the dough into a ball and place it into the bowl.  Flip over the dough ball to make sure both sides are coated with the non-stick spray.  This will keep the dough from sticking to the cover you will put over the bowl. Set the bowl someplace warm; I set it on top of a heated oven when I'm already cooking something else.  Cover the bowl with saran wrap, foil, or one of those Ziploc fitted bowl covers (they look like shower caps).  Let the dough set for an hour until it doubles in size. 

 

Once the dough has doubled, take the cover off and knead the dough for 3 minuted to reactivate the yeast.  Separate the dough in half for two loaves, or shape into several small (2 inch) balls for dinner rolls.  Place the dough halves into bread pans that have been oiled and floured, or place the dough balls onto an oiled baking sheet.  

 Let the dough rise for another hour until it has doubled in size again.  

 

 

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees.  Bread loaves will bake for 30 minutes and dinner rolls will bake for 12-18 minutes.  They will be golden brown on top when they're done.  

This bread is grest right out of the oven with butter or honey.  And it also keeps well if it is stored in an airtight container.  It makes great sandwich bread and the french toast is AMAZING! 

 

 

Broccoli & Cheddar & Potatoes! Oh My!

Broccoli & Cheddar & Potatoes! 

Oh My!

I love love LOVE broccoli cheddar soup, so I finally decided to make it myself.  I heard it wasn't a difficult soup to make, so off to the store I went for fresh broccoli.  

Here is a list of ingredients I used:

•  3 crowns of broccoli, chopped into small chunks
• 6 cups of rice milk (you can use any kind of milk)
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded
• 4 cups mild cheddar, shredded
• salt & pepper
• ground nutmeg

First, I chopped and rinsed all the broccoli.  

Setting the broccoli aside, I melted the stick of butter in a large cast iron pot (dutch oven) on medium heat.  

Once the butter melted, I added the onions and garlic with a little salt and pepper and cooked them until the onions were translucent.   

 
Next comes the flour.  It's important to sprinkle the flour over the onions little by little so  you don't have clumps of flour.  Let the flour cook with the onions for about 3 minutes and then add the broccoli, potatoes, milk, and nutmeg.  

Bring the pot to a boil and then let it simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.  After that, the broccoli and potatoes are very tender.  Some people like to put there broccoli cheddar soup through the blender or use an emulsifier, but I've always liked chunky soups.  I used a potato masher to break down some of the broccoli and potatoes and then added the cheese.  

Once the cheese is all melted it's time to taste test.  Add salt and pepper to taste and then it's ready to serve.   This recipe ended up making about 6 quarts of soup which my family of five demolished for dinner. 

Yum! Enjoy. 

The Chair Project

The Chair Project

Ever re-upholstered a chair?  Neither have I - until today.  There have been so many times when I've seen a nice piece of furniture at a yard sale or a thrift store and thought to myself, "if I could just change the fabric, it would look great in my house." Alas, I never bought any of those pieces because I convinced myself it wouldn't be worth the time or effort to try and re-upholster anything myself.  

Then, about a month ago, I came across the chair in the image below at a local thrift store.  It is the perfect size and style for the third floor living space in my house - the one in desperate need of seating accommodations.  Once again I thought to myself, "if it had new fabric..."  

The six dollar chair

This time the price of the chair was too much to resist at $6.99.  So, I bought the chair and committed myself to re-upholstering it.  I like to pride myself on the fact that it only took me about a month to get into action and start this project  - usually it takes months, if not years for me to get these little home projects started.  (don't judge, I'm a busy woman...kinda)

The good news is the structure of the chair is sound, so no repairs were needed.   The only thing that need attention, other than the fabric, was the seat cushion.  While it didn't exactly cave in when it was sat in, it did not have much padding to speak of. 

So, to get started with my project, I took a trip to my local Joann's fabric store and bought 2 yards of some pretty upholstery fabric and a 3 inch thick seat cushion. 

new seat cushion

 Since I've never done anything like this before, I looked to Google for inspiration and instruction.  I looked at a few "how to" websites and blogs and they all seemed to have different ways of re-upholstering chairs with varying degrees of difficulty.  (I don't remember the names of the blogs, sorry!  I promise to be better about references in the future.)  I ended up using a combination of my own ideas and a few important tips I remembered from the Internet search.  

First, I took off the old teal fabric.  I did this using a flat-head screwdriver and a pair of pliers.  The screwdriver was used to pry the old upholstery staples up and I used the pliers to pull out some of the more stubborn staples.  Take care not to rip the fabric too much as you can use it as an outline to cut out the new fabric.  Underneath the old teal fabric I discovered the original fabric.  

original fabric

The original fabric wasn't in bad shape; it was just ugly.   I decided to do what the previous owner did and re-upholster right over it.  I dusted and vacuumed the chair, and then got to work adding my new cushion.  To add the cushion, I simply pulled back the springs underneath the chair and inserted the new cushion.  

 Next, I laid out my new upholstery fabric on a large flat surface and placed the old fabric on top of it.  Pinning all the ends of the old fabric to the new provides a great (and easy) pattern outline to cut the fabric.  

Pinning old fabric to new

My assistant PeeWee

 The most challenging part comes after cutting out the fabric.  Stretching and fitting the fabric over the chair requires both patience and skill.  Patience I have...skill, not as much.  There is probably a much better way of doing this, but I have yet to learn it so...

After cutting out the new fabric and removing the pins and old fabric, I placed the new fabric over the seat cushion and pulled the fabric as tight as I could to create smooth surfaces.  What I found worked easiest, was to start with one end, pull the fabric tight, and then use my staple gun to hold the fabric on place.  I always started with the back of the chair so that any mistakes I made were less visible.  The tricky part is the corners, you have to fold the fabric over to create very small pleats.  

The finished product came out pretty good for a first try, but it's not perfect.  My corners aren't all exactly the same because I was tried a few different methods of folding, but that is something that I will correct with the next project.  :)  

Overall, it looks nice, it's functional, and most importantly it's cat approved.  

Izzy approved