Sexy Succulent Pork Chops in the Oven!

These are pick 'em up and chew it off the bone GOOD!

Slave has worked on this recipe for several days now, just not satisfied with the results. Now, it believes the correct tastes have come together for a great dish.

Baking pork chops in the spring, this close to Easter? Well no matter what the calendar says, some frost might still pop up and you just never know when you will want to have a warm hearty meal.

Ingredients:

4 to 6 pork chops, ½ to ¾ inch thick

3 medium yellow onions sliced

1 can cream of golden mushroom soup

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbs lemon juice

2 Tbs mustard

¼ cup non fat Half & Half

½ Cup dried cranberries

vegetable oil

salt and pepper

Preparation:

Heat oil in skillet over medium low heat; sweat the onion slices until they start to turn color about 8 minutes. Sprinkle them with a dusting of paprika (now that you have some of the best!) Stir occasionally until they are a nice golden color! Remove with slotted spoon and sit aside on paper towels to drain.

Turn up the heat to medium high and add any oil needed. Season the chops with salt and pepper to taste. When up to temperature, brown the chops, about 4 minutes per side. They don't have to be fully cooked at this point.

 

While they brown, in a large bowl mix the condensed soup with Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, half & half, and mustard. Stir until well mixed.

Spray a baking pan (9x13) large enough to lay out the chops without too much overlapping. Pour just a few tablespoons of the soup mixture in bottom of pan and layer the chops.

Spread the onions and sliced mushrooms over the chops. Pour the rest of the soup mixture to cover.

 

Sprinkle dried cranberries over the top, cover and bake for between 45 to 60 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reads 155.

Use the reading to tell if the pork is done, do not rely on the time as that varies with ovens and of course the thickness of the chops. YOU DO NOT want to serve raw pork!

The time is just an estimate so the you can plan around it.

While they are baking: scrub the potatoes and cut into 1½ inch chunks. (If you like you do not have to peel them first.)

Snap the ends off of the green beans and wash well.

Line a baking sheet with foil.

In a large bowl combine the chunks of potato with the green beans. Pour 2 Tbs of oil over that and toss with your hands until all is covered. (the vegetables are what we're worried about, you can always re-wash your hands, LOL!).

Spread this mixture out in a single layer on the pan and sprinkle with kosher salt.

 

Slide this into the oven and let it roast while the chops are resting.

 

Now you have a complete dinner ready. You also have very little clean up to do!

So happy to be serving my Master Indy

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes by Dan White http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM via @amazon

Paprika Chicken

Batyama Csirkepaprikas with Uborkasalata

First a word in tribute: slave was very lucky to have met a person on line that has been a great inspiration. He has been there as a teacher, a leader, a Master, a co-conspirator, and friend! His words have comforted me when I cried, shared jokes with me when I felt silly and gently corrected me if I went overboard.

I wanted to do this dish to honor him. It is a simple Hungarian dish, often enjoyed every week all over the old country. So much so, written recipes are hard to come by and often conflicting. Nearly every Hungarian family has fixed this dish just as their mothers and grandmothers had going back for longer than they remember.

Slave can not hope to compete with the fantastic tastes that the memories from so long ago bring to mind. Instead, here is a dish that even the inexperienced cook can handle that pays homage to that great heritage.

NOW: a word about paprika. It is not just to dust the top of deviled eggs! It is the fourth most used spice in the world! The flavor features prominently in Hungarian cuisine. There, most cooks have a shelf full of different kinds!

Paprika consists of, ground up and blended, different types of peppers (varieties of Capsicum annuum). Yes that is the same stuff that gives the “heat” to arthritis rubs. It also contains up to seven times more vitamin C than Orange juice!

What we want to find and use here is referred to as “Sweet” Hungarian paprika or “edesnemes” (noble sweet). Yes, you will have to look but it is well worth it effort. Oh by the way, once you find it: keep in refrigerated! To hold the flavor.

When you think of Hungarian (Magyar) cooking, people tend to think: “Goulash” traditional "gulyásleves" (literally "goulash soup") and some might even remember the wonderful taste of beef with a lemon sauce.

Here is slave's version of chicken cooked slowly in a creamy paprika stew of onions and just a touch of green peppers. To balance this dish, it is usually served with a side of cucumber salad or “Uborkasalata”.

Many an argument can be found over which is correct: serve over rice, or a spatzle, or homemade egg noodles. Here we go with the simple wide egg noodles. Lets not get too carried away! Think Lisa Douglas trying to make chicken and dumplings!

FIRST the salad! “Uborkasalata”

Ingredients:

2 medium cucumbers peeled
¼ cup kosher salt
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup white vinegar Do Not use balsamic for this!
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs sugar

1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika to dust on top.

1 After peeling cucumbers, rake down the sides with the tines of a fork to give it a pretty edge. Slice cucumbers very thinly, preferably using a mandolin. BE sure to leave plenty of room at the end to hold them, go slowly there is NO rush here. See how much slave left!

2 Line a colander with paper towels: put in a single layer of cucumbers, then sprinkle with a small amount of the salt. Continue this method until all the salt and cucumbers are used up. This will draw out the water.

3 Cover the cucumbers with a plate inside the colander, and put a very heavy weight on top. Make sure the colander is in a large bowl, because the cucumbers will lose a lot of water. Let them sit for at least an hour.

4. Finely mince the garlic and again, using the mandolin, slice the onion, slowly using the handle!

5 After the hour pull out the paper towels and run cold water over the cucumber to wash off the salt. Then pick up handfuls of the slices and squeeze them before putting in a bowl.

6 Mix ½ cup of light sour cream with ¼ cup vinegar and the sugar, stir in the minced garlic. Taste and correct with any salt or pepper as needed. Mix in the cucumbers and put in refrigerator to blend flavors while you cook the chicken.

Csirkepaprikas

Ingredients

• 2 to 2 ½ lbs chicken, preferably boneless thighs
• salt
• 2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 yellow onions
• pepper to taste
• 2 ½ tablespoons sweet paprika
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 can diced roasted tomatoes, well drained
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• ½ cup sour cream

Directions

Cut the onions in half top to bottom then slice thinly pole to pole.

Heat a Dutch Oven or large pot over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Once hot, pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels, and place in the pot. Let the chicken cook 4-5 minutes until well browned, then turn over and cook 2-3 minutes on the other side. (If you are used to nonstick frying pans, watch carefully) a cast iron dutch oven will stick so keep the chicken pieces moving. They will burn if not careful.

Remove the chicken from the pan to a plate and set aside. Turn heat down!

 

Add the onion to the pot and cook on low, stirring occasionally and scraping up any bits from the chicken until lightly browned (about 7 minutes).

Add the paprika to the onions and stir to combine. Let cook for 1 minute. Add broth, tomato, green pepper, and bay leaves, stirring to mix. Nestle the chicken pieces into the pan on top of the onion mixture. Cover and cook on a low simmer for 20-25 minutes. Once the chicken pieces are cooked through, remove pan from heat.

 

Remove the chicken from the pan and let the pan cool for a minute. Fish out the bay leaves. Stir flour well into the sour cream. Stir this into the pan. If the sour cream cools to sauce too much, turn the heat back on and heat the sauce through, but do NOT boil! Add the chicken back to the pan and coat with the sauce. Serve the chicken with egg noodles.

Enjoy!

Slave knows that this might seem like a hard dish to try, but really it is not. It has been an honor to dedicate this dish to a great man!

Úr bakancs Mester!

Tanár

barátom

tréner

Thank You, Sir! (sorry that's the best google translate can do)

Serving my Master Indy

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes by Dan White http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM via @amazon

“Strata La Florentine”

Master asked: “What is that?” 

The best description slave could come up with was: Quiche Florentine meets a Sausage casserole!

Strata is a brunch dish made out of egg with layers of bread and vegetables and or cheese. A Quiche is an egg custard with vegetables, cheese, and/or meat. Here slave merges the best of both to offer a fantastically hearty dish that even the most masculine of your friends will love. 

 In place of bread cubes – hash browns, green peppers and onions!

slave's techie friends might remember the shirt worn by Arnold Rimmer of TV's “Red Dwarf” that said: "Give Quiche A Chance"

Give this dish a chance to win over your Master!

Ingredients
2½ cups shredded potatoes (the type for hash browns)
1 pound fresh bulk pork sausage (favorite flavor) Well cooked & crumbled
10 ounces finely grated sharp Cheddar. Low fat

1 pkg frozen spinach Thawed and well drained

1 Green Pepper diced

1 yellow onion
2 cups non fat half-and-half
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs, lightly beaten

5 drops of yellow food color

Directions

Spray a 9 by 13 casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a medium skillet, brown the sausage over medium high heat until fully cooked and no longer pink. This is important to fully cook the sausage. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon to a bowl lined with 2 -3 sheets of paper towels to drain the fat. Let the skillet cool but don't wash it yet.

Open the bag of frozen “Hash Brown” type potatoes and pour out 2½ cups worth. This will go over the bottom of the prepared pan.

Dice the green pepper into about a ½ inch dice.

Cut the top and bottom off on the onion, then make one cut right down the middle so that it opens up like a book, peel off the skin and carefully using a mandolin type slicer (With a handle) cut thin slices with the grain of the onion. You will get thin long strings and less tears that way!

Set your skillet on low to mid heat with the tiny bits of sausage left in the bottom. Stir in the onion and “sweat” for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally, or just until the onions start to turn a slight color.

 

While that cooks: Drain the spinach well. If you have what is called a potato ricer, that works well for this. Put in the spinach and bring the handles together. BE SURE it is IN the sink when you try this or else you will squirt spinach juice everywhere! If not, squeeze it by the handful. When you take it out and put on the cutting board it will remind you of what you cleaned out of the lawn mower! However it will taste so much better! Chop this up as best as you can, not perfect.

In a large bowl stir up the eggs and half & half with salt, dry mustard and any white pepper you prefer. I add about 5 drops of yellow food coloring, because you have green peppers and spinach and you don't want green eggs and ham!

  

Now assemble: Sprinkle the green pepper pieces over the potatoes.

Next with your fingers or two forks, shred apart the onions to cover, if you leave blobs, try to make them tiny and spread out! 

Now do the same with the spinach.

Next the sausage --

And the cheese.

 

Carefully pour the egg mixture over everything, cover with foil and put in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or better just overnight.

In the morning, take the dish out to get to room temperature or at least ½ hour, THEN turn on the oven to preheat to 350 degrees F. Wait until the oven is ready and bake the covered casserole until set and slightly golden, about 50 - 55 minutes.

NOTE: the covered pan is placed on a sheet lined with foil before placing in oven. This is just in case there are any spills, they will be caught and disposed of easily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Remove from the oven and allow the casserole to set for 15 minutes before serving. This step is also important so that the eggs are completely set.

Besides the wonderful aroma will draw the guys into the kitchen from anywhere in the house!

It is a joy in this ones life to be serving my Master Indy

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes by Dan White http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM via @amazon

Back to Work Bounty Breakfast Muffins

Slave is so happy hearing more and more of the people it knows are getting jobs finally. The purpose here is not politics, only to point out the great relief that people have to be re-employed! It truly is a blessing to be celebrated!

 

So here is a little something that you can make up on the weekend and have ready for a full week of getting up to leave the house with a goal and a tummy ready for the days work! These muffins freeze well, then can be microwaved while the coffee brews.

You might have noticed that slave always tries to show a picture of the ingredients lined up on the counter before starting to cook. Nothing is more frustrating than to be in the middle of cooking and find you don't have something that is important!

Getting everything out on the counter helps. The French even have a term for this, surprised?

They call it: “mise en place” (ME'S on plaaz) Everything in place!

Ingredients:

¾ lbs low-fat low sodium sausage crumbled and well cooked.

2 Gala apples, peeled and chopped (use a sweet apple for this)

1 cup shredded low-fat Cheddar cheese (4 oz)

½ cup finely chopped yellow onion

¼ to ½ Cup of raisins or dried cranberries. (had a mix handy & used it)

½ teaspoon rubbed sage

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup of a “quick biscuit” or pancake mix

½ cup milk

3 eggs 

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 12 regular-size muffin cup pan with cooking spray.

Cook up the sausage on a medium heat. Add sage to the meat as it cooks. Then drain it on several layers of paper towels.

As that drains, peel and chop the apple (put a damp paper towel over the apple bits – that will help to keep it from turning brown). Chop up the onion. Always chop the full onion, then freeze what you don't use, it will come in handy!

 

In large bowl, stir together cooked sausage, apple, cheese, onion, and salt. Let me tell you this will have the most wonderful aroma and it tastes so good, the temptation was to eat it from the bowl!

In medium bowl, stir together biscuit flour mix, milk and eggs with fork until well blended. 

 

Spoon 1 tablespoonful of that mixture into bottom of each muffin cup. This provides a foot or base to the muffins. 

Next using a large serving spoon add a spoonful of the meat-apple mixture in each cup then use up any remaining equally. Evenly spoon the remaining biscuit mixture on top of each, If it starts to look like you are going to run out, quickly whip up another egg to mix into the bowl. Take a damp piece of paper towel to wipe up the areas between the cups. This not only makes it look better, it keeps the small amounts from burning on the edge of the pan!

NOTE: If you place this on a lined sheet pan, you wont ever have spills to clean out of the oven!

Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and edges are golden. 

 

Cool 10 minutes in pan; transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Once cold — wrap them up tightly in freezer bags: 2 per bag and freeze.

 

Now you have a home-cooked breakfast that you can heat in microwave while coffee is brewing! Quick, healthy, good morning meals for six days of the week. Who knows, maybe someone will buy you brunch Sunday! ;-)

Hope you try these great little ready to eat meals.

Proudly serving my Master Indy

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes by Dan White http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM via @amazon

It was on this day in 1996, fast-food giant Taco Bell took out a full-page ad in the papers, claiming to have purchased the Liberty Bell, and would be renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. 

This, of course, prompted many, overly sensitive readers to explode in pure outrage! It got so bad that Taco Bell had to admit it was all a joke by noon, though not before the White House press secretary, in a rare moment of humor, remarked that the Lincoln Memorial had just been bought out by Ford and would be renamed the Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

Sent in by reader: Ms. Lirpa Sloof