August 18, 2004

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  I don't know about you. but I am always looking for new recipes to feed myself and my family. I LOVE to cook, and having been raised by a mother who has worked in restaurants until 3 years ago, I was exposed to chefs, cordon bleu culinary skills and great ingredients. That all rubbed off through osmosis. *G* I also was blessed to have friends from various countries and learned to love the foods of their cultures: Trinidad, Singapore, Korea, Jamaica, to name a few. I love Indian and Chinese food, Greek and Middle Eastern, and of course Italian! With such a variety of cooking styles out there and recipes to try, there is no reason for food to ever be boring!     I am not big on packaged and prepared foods. They just don't taste "good" to me...or real. I would much rather make something simple and fresh using fresh ingredients, over a choice of boxed foods full of preservatives and such. My pantry is full of all sorts of bits and odds for cooking "ethnic" . Keeping a well stocked pantry makes it easy to make Indian curries and chapatti bread, stir fries with rice, stuffed peppers with a tomato sauce, soups and stews, quesadillas filled with cheese, grilled vegetables,  etc. If I have all the basics, I am never at a loss to cool a good meal that makes everyone enjoy sitting down to a meal together.   I am trying to make a habit of using my crockpot when I am going to have a busy day and dinner might get lost in the mix. Last night I made a great pork chop meal, grilled zucchini and drunk candied yams. Mike and I were able to sit down and have a "just us" meal as Brenna was spending the night at my mom's. This is a great main course for those watching their carbs. Drop the yams and add some steamed cauliflower or salad or another favorite veggie and you are in low-carb heaven! And what is better, its a meal that cooks with nothing from you but your initial prep for the pot.  Here are the basics for this meal :

  Crockpot Pork Chops -->6 pork chops...this works with any pork chop cut, bone-in, boneless, whatever you prefer or have on hand -->one can *approximately 2 cups* low salt chicken or vegetable broth *don't use bouillon cubes, it will be TOO salty. You can mix your vegetable and chicken broth too. I use my frozen or a good canned stock. --> 2 medium onions, halved and sliced -->3 cloves garlic, minced -->1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp salt (I always use sea salt and fresh ground pepper) -->1-16 oz. container of sour cream, or yogurt with the juice of one lemon added    This recipe is easily adapted to whatever you need to feed your family. 6 pork   chops of a medium size will feed our family of 3 with maybe some leftovers, but you can easily add more ingredients and increase your portions. This is not an exacting recipe . Just remember that  liquids don't evaporate in crockpots like in stovetop or oven cooking, so don't increase your liquids too much or the end result will be too soupy.    Put a layer of onions in the crockpot, then chops, then onions, then chops, continuting until you end with onions over your chops. Carefully pour in your broth and all additional ingredients except the sour cream or yogurt. Reserve that for when the meal is finished. Put your crockpot on low if you are going to let this go all day, or high if you start this about noon and plan to eat 5 or 6 o'clock.   Then meat will just about be falling off the bone when this is done. If you are using boneless pork loin, the pork will be fork tender when it is ready. Take about 2 cups of the "pot liquor" as we say in the south, and mix the sour cream in. Serve your chops with the onion and this sauce served over it.    Mm, MM, MM , MM, mmmm.

  Grilled Zucchini    For a simple and delicious summer dish when zucchini is in abundance, you can grill it inside or out.    When I cook mine inside, I "grill" mine on the stove on a cast iron griddle. This works on any pan you can heat high that will nicely brown your zucchini.    Simply slice your zucchini into rounds for inside, or lengthwise for outside. If put the zuch slices in a bowl and lightly oil them with olive oil, and add a crushed garlic clove or 3. You can also just oil them and then, after they are cooked, season them with garlic salt or Adobo seasoning. That is a particular favorite round here.   Cook each piece until nicely browned and tender, and when you put them in a bowl toss with a bit more extra virgin olive oil in addition to the seasonings of choice. Keep them nice and hot and don't make more than you will use. These are best fresh.   Drunk Yams or Sweet Potatoes  Peel and slice 4 medium sized sweet potatoes or yams.  Boil them until they are fork tender.  While the potatoes are boiling, melt 1 stick butter *butter is best for this!*, 1/4 cup bourbon, 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/4 tsp orange extract. Bring it to a boil for about 8 minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn't stick or burn. Keep your heat set at medium or thereabouts or the butter and sugar may burn. Keep it *just* hot enough to be barely boiling. Think candy making here. You want it to thicken so that it will cling to the potatoes like a thin caramel sauce.   Prepare a casserole pan...about 10" square in size but not too shallow. Put a layer of potatoes, spoon a generous amount of the bourbon sugar topping over. Repeat the potato layers and topping, finishing with topping. Put this in a 375 oven for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbly again and the potatoes are browned from the glaze.   This glaze, by the way, is GREAT on the pork chops. I can only imagine it would be booty kickin' on some ham. I will be buying myself a large bottle of bourbon to try it!   This glaze is also good on vanilla ice cream, BUT be sure to use unsalted butter. Making the sauce with salted butter makes it too salty for use on ice cream. Ask me how I know. p~~

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