Pork Chops and Orzo

Hooray, I'm finally blogging a recipe! This was Friday night's dinner.  I was too tired to blog the last two nights.  I didn't really cook Saturday night. We spent a long day at the beach I didn't want to cook when we got home, so I had a salad and Jon and the boys had bacon and scrambled eggs.  So I guess I kind of cooked, but not really.  Tonight we went out for dinner. But at least I cooked --one-- time this week! ;)

There are actually recipes I came up with.  I'm quite proud of them.

The supplies

Pork Chops
Prep time 1 min
Cook time 10 mins

1-2 Packages of thin cut pork chops
1 Cup Italian bread crumbs
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Milk
Olive oil

1. Warm the olive oil, I don't have an exact amount, in a large heavy pan over medium high heat.  The oil should come up the side of the pan about half an inch.  I use our cast iron pans for this, they are the best for frying.
2. While waiting for the oil to heat up, put the bread crumbs in a boil.  In a separate bowl combine the egg and milk and beat.
3.  Once the oil is warmed up, if you sprinkle water in the oil it should quickly evaporate, dip one of the pork chops in the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs.  Place the pork chop in the pan and continue until the pan is full, but not overfull. Our small cast iron fits 3 nicely, the large 4.
4.  Cook the pork chops for 3-4 minutes a side, until done.  I cook my pork to 160 degrees.
5.  Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all the pork chops are cooked.

I use thin cut pork chops, these kind

because they cook quickly.  I normally use two packages, or 2 pounds or so so we have leftovers.  Onto the pasta!

Yumminess in the making

Garlic Parmesan Orzo
Prep time 1 min
Cook time 15 min

1 Box of orzo
2-3 Tbsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 Parmesan cheese

1.  Cook the box of orzo per the package directions.
2.  Drain orzo and place back into the pan you cooked the pasta in.
3.  Add the butter, stir, add the garlic salt, stir, add the Parmesan cheese, stir.  Mix well and serve.

Dinner is served!

I served dinner with fresh corn on the cob.  It didn't really go with the meal, but it was at a local fruit stand  and sounded good.  Plus I wanted to make sure I used it before it went bad.  (Which was good seeing as I didn't cook the next two days!)

I didn't get to grocery shop this weekend, we were too busy having fun! So tomorrow's dinner is going to be something I have on hand, orange chicken, rice and spring rolls.  I've already blogged about that dinner but I am going to try to think of something else to blog about.  I've missed blogging and want to get back in the habit of blogging every night.  Hopefully I think of something fun and exciting! :)

Pizza!

Are you ready for my favorite cooking tip?

Make homemade pizza in a cast iron pan. Seriously. I know it sounds crazy, I was skeptic the first time I tried it, but its awesome.

We love making homemade pizza (or home pizza as Carter calls it) but we always had a hard time with the dough. The dough would either stick to the cooking surface (no matter how many different surfaces or anti-sticking tricks we tired) or the dough would be raw and the top of the pizza would be burnt. But not when cooked in a cast iron. Our pizzas, top to bottom, turn out great every time now.

This isn't the best trick if you're trying to make lots of pizzas, but for one or two it works great. We're lucky enough to have two cast iron pans so we can make a grown up (see recipe below) pizza and a kid (pineapple and bacon, Carter's favorite) pizza at the same time.

I learned this trick from this recipe. I love this pizza, it hits the spot every time I make it. Plus it is super easy to make. One tip, make sure you slice the mushrooms very thin, that way when they cook you don't end up with extra moisture from the mushrooms on top of the pizza. Oh and I double the amount of goat cheese. I have recently learned to like goat cheese, but now that I have, I'm slightly addicted to it's wonderful tanginess.

Leek, Mushroom & Pesto Pizza

adapted from Woman's Day

4 oz mushrooms, very thinly sliced
1 small leek (white and light green parts only), halved crosswise and lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
1 lb pizza dough
2 Tbsp pesto
4 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)

Recipe Preparation
1. Heat oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, toss the mushrooms, leek, oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.

2. Shape the pizza dough into a 12-in. round and place in the bottom and slightly up the sides of a large (10- to 12-in.) cast-iron skillet.

3. Spread the pesto over the dough, leaving a 1/4-in. border. Top with the vegetables and sprinkle with the goat cheese. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.


Before:

After:

Pure heaven.

Summer salad

As you already know, I love salads. I love entree salads, not as much as salad bars, so I guess I should say I like entree salads. After not cooking for two days I was really looking forward to making dinner tonight. I found a new recipe in a magazine last week (which is where I get a ton of my recipes, but more on that in a future post) and made sure to add it to our menu for this week. (I'll be blogging about my menu planning in the future as well.)

Here's a link to the original recipe. I did made a few changes, see my version below. I cooked the steak indoors, in our largest cast iron pan. (We don't a very functional BBQ right now, which makes me very sad, otherwise I would have thrown the meat on the grill.) I cooked the steak a few minutes longer per side as well. I'm not fond of rare meat. Medium well is where I like my steak. I also didn't precoat the salad with dressing. I never know when I'll actually get to sit down and eat and I've been burnt by a soggy salad one too many times. Lastly, we just had tortilla chips on the side.

Fajita Chop-Chop Salad
recipe adapted from Family Fun magazine
Hands-on Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes (includes marinating time)
Serves: 4

Ingredients
FOR THE STEAK
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (8-ounce) skirt steaks

FOR THE SALAD
1 large head Romaine lettuce, finely shredded
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 cup frozen corn, cooked and cooled
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack

FOR THE DRESSING
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1/4 cup sour cream

Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Add the steaks and toss well to coat. Marinate the steaks in the refrigerator for one hour. In another large bowl, toss all the ingredients for the salad except for the chips. Refrigerate this mixture until you're ready to use it.

Heat a large cast iron pan until very hot. Cook the meat about 4-5 minutes per side. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes, then slice it into 1/2-inch-thick strips.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients. To serve, fill each bowl with salad, then top it with several strips of steak and the salad dressing.

Here's a picture before I put the dressing on. The dressing would have ruined the beautifulness!

The salad was pretty good. Next time I will make some changes to the marinade. The first time I try a new recipe I typically follow the directions exactly. I've become more confident in my cooking and when making a dish a second time, I often adjust the recipe based on our taste. To this recipe I will use more chili powder, add a little cayenne pepper and lime juice to the marinade.

I have a three ring binder I keep most of my recipes in. (Once again, more on that in the future.) Below is a picture of how I'll file this recipe. The original, plus a little post it note with the changes I'll make next time. If those changes work, the post it will stay, if not it will be replaced with a new post it of notes until I fine tune the recipe.

One the menu for tomorrow, Hawaiian Meatballs!