Good chops

Another beautiful day in New England. I usually make pork chops during the cooler months, but this is one of my husbands favorite meals and the girls are always happy with pork chops.

I baked potatoes at 400 for about 40 minutes before starting the chops.

In a bowl, mix 1 C. panko with a few shakes of garlic salt, a couple grinds of pepper and about 1 teaspoon of flour.

Whisk an egg into a bowl with a splash of milk. Rinse the chops and quickly dip them in the egg mixture followed by a dredge in the panko crust.

Heat a heavy (I use Le Creuset) pan on medium high heat and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Add the chops and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, turn, then transfer the pan into the oven. Remove potatoes and let them rest covered in a dish towel.

Let the chops finish baking in the oven for another 8-10 minutes.

While the pork chops finished cooking, I steamed some corn and brought what's left of the huge bowl of cherries we bought yesterday to the table to eat with dinner.

I like to eat my pork chops with cranberry sauce (you know, the kind you have at Thanksgiving), but my husband and kids prefer apple sauce.

I have one more pound of ground turkey that I am going to make spaghetti & meat sauce with for tomorrow night.

Once again, where has the week gone?

turkey burgers

The girls are in their last few weeks of school, and the weather here has been amazing. After picking the girls up from school, play dates, etc... we took our neighbors dog for a walk and the girls wanted to catch butterflies in the backyard while I made dinner.

I had pulled a new recipe out from a magazine a few weeks back called: Turkey burgers with zucchini and carrots. I altered the recipe a little, but after eating the burger have added in the other changes I would have made. They were good, but needed a little more flavor. Below is my iteration of Turkey burgers with zucchini and carrots

1 package ground turkey meat
1 shredded zucchini
1 c. shredded carrot
1 egg
2 cubes frozen garlic
cracked pepper
kosher salt
1/4 C. shredded Parmesan cheese
shake or two of Lawry's season salt
1 tbs. olive oil

Preheat oven to 500, and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a bowl and mix until combined. Form burgers.

Add olive oil to a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the burgers and brown on each side for 4 minutes. When burgers have cooked on both sides, remove from pan and finish cooking on the cookie sheet for 5 more minutes.

I served the burgers with the frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's, a bowl of edamame that I had boiled while the burgers cooked, and a bowl with cherries and white nectarines. The girls scoffed initially, but wolfed them down with ketchup.

It was a good recipe (after the alterations) and I would definitely make them again.

Communal parenting

I took the girls to a friends house for a dip in the pool this afternoon. We ended up staying for dinner as each our spouses were away and thought feeding them with 2 adults would certainly be easier than going it alone. It's always interesting to get a peek into how other people eat dinner.

We ordered Chinese takeout and with 5 girls it was a busy dinner table. We did everything in an assembly line. It was rather comical that one girl would spill soup, then another milk, etc...

We all ate together, and I didn't worry about whether food was being eaten with utensils or fingers, just that food was being eaten. The girls really worked up an appetite after playing outside all day long.

I have 2 beautiful hangar steaks that I was planning on grilling tonight with some broccoli and baked potatoes, but that meal will have to wait until tomorrow night.

Breakfast for dinner.

The girls have been asking for chocolate chip pancakes for a while now. We decided to make them for dinner tonight. We had an early dinner of chocolate chip pancakes, turkey bacon and grapes.

It couldn't have been easier to make and the girls were thrilled. Thank goodness for Bisquick!

Nice skirt.

We had a fun afternoon with friends at the beach, then went to their house for a BBQ. They cooked chicken, edamame, corn and salad, and I threw two skirt steaks under their broiler. This is a great cut of meat and very flavorful. I seasoned the steaks with some garlic pepper, kosher salt and a drizzle of olive oil. I lined a pan with aluminum foil and cooked them for about 3 minutes per side. They were pink in the middle and browned on the outside. A simple dinner with friends.

We are eating at our local deli tomorrow night as I have a class at the house.

Weekend meals

It's Sunday night, I've just gotten the girls to sleep and am not looking forward to going downstairs to clean up after dinner. We had a nice weekend and although it rained for most of it, we grilled Saturday evening for dinner.

I marinated 1 1/2 lbs. of peeled, cleaned and deveined shrimp and a dozen fresh sea scallops in lemon juice, olive oil, Greek Seasoning, and salt and pepper. I made some rice pilaf (one of those Near East boxed ones) and made a delicious sauteed sugar snap peas.

I heated a little olive oil in a pan and added in 2 garlic cubes. When they started to sizzle, I added in the whole snap peas and stirred them around for a minute. I added about 1/4 C. of water and cooked them on high for another minute or 2, just until the peas turned bright green. I added a pinch of salt and a shake of dried chives. I turned the heat off and also added in a small pat of butter. There was very little liquid left in the pan and the peas stayed green and crisp.

I quickly turned the grill to high, added the shrimp and scallops letting them cook for about 45 seconds on one side, them turned them, shut the lid and ran inside to plate the rice and peas onto a large platter. Once that was done, I hustled back outside and removed the scallops and shrimp from the grill. They were tender and had beautiful grill marks. I served them over the rice and was planning to bring Tsatziki sauce to the table, but forgot. It didn't matter and the meal was delicious.

I grilled the girls 2 hamburgers and boiled some ravioli as they were eating earlier since we were having company, and I put them to bed shortly after our guests arrived.

We ate the leftovers tonight (Sunday) and I also boiled some corn and steamed a couple of artichokes as my younger daughter has proclaimed they are her new favorite food, go figure...

We are planning to meet some friends at the beach tomorrow for an early dinner and I have a class here Tuesday and Wednesday, so those will be eating out nights as well.

Cookin' with sticks

It was a lousy rainy day in New England and our older daughter was at a play date with her best friend. We spent a quiet afternoon with our younger daughter and I enlisted her to help with dinner.

I planned on making swordfish and grilled vegetable skewers. This was something I knew she would enjoy helping with. I had her soak the bamboo skewers in some water while I cut 1 zucchini, rinsed a bunch of whole button mushrooms, and sliced 1 purple onion.

I had her add about 1/4 C. of olive oil to a bowl, along with a few pinches of kosher salt, a big squeeze of Dijon mustard, the juice from a lemon and a heaping tablespoon of a red pepper jelly (which in hindsight I would have left out, as it made the food a little spicy for Abby, but we LOVED it.)

I cut a 1/2 pound swordfish steak into cubes and Abby dumped all of the veggies and fish into the bowl. She stirred everything around while we talked about how delicious swordfish was and how it tasted exactly like chicken, in fact, it's name should be called Chicken Fish...

Abby and I skewered the ingredients while Kirk heated up the grill to high. I've found that getting the grill nice and hot, then turning it down creates a good carmelization to the food.

Once everything was skewered, I put them on the grill and let them cook for about 3 minutes, then turned the skewers and let them cook another 5 minutes. I took them off the grill and squeezed the last of the lemon juice on them, and covered the plate with foil until we were ready to eat.

I had also baked some potatoes to go with our food on a stick.

Abby loved the mushrooms and fish, not the onions or zucchini. It was great to see her try the fish and she loved making things on skewers.

Tomorrow we are having our 91 year old tennis playing neighbor over for dinner. I'm going to grill some shrimp and scallops, saute some snap peas and see what else we can cook on a stick!

Date night.

I'm convinced that whoever invented weekly date night clearly NEVER had children. In concept it's a good one, in execution, we are a little lacking.

Needless to say, we did have a date night tonight. I made the girls one of their favorite 15 minute meals, panko crusted turkey scalloppini, steamed green beans, and sliced pears. They were happy, and so was I because I can practically make it with my eyes closed.

The recipe:
1 package thinly sliced turkey (turkey for scalloppini)
1 C. panko
1/2 C. flour
1 teaspoon of Lawry's seasoning salt
ground pepper to taste
1/2 C. canola oil

Heat oil in a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. While the oil heats, combine panko, flour, salt and pepper. Rinse turkey and dredge in mixture being sure to coat both sides. Add turkey to pan and cook 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and serve.

Pretty much a no brainer.

As for our dinner... a large popcorn, a bag of starburst and a diet coke all enjoyed in a dark room in front of a big big screen. A perfect date night!

Do you chimichurri?

I am taping a television show tomorrow morning and was inspired by the recent successful inclusion of plantains into our home. I've included the recipe below for tomorrow's show.

It will air on Connecticut Cablevision Channel 12 this weekend under the What's Cooking segment.

I pregrilled the chicken today and prepped a lot of the veggies, as we only have 12 minutes (which, by the way is an eternity in TV time!!)


Springtime salad with grilled chicken, plantains and Argentinean Chimichurri dressing

www.timetoeat.info

For the chimichurri dressing

▫ 4 cubes frozen parsley
▫ 4 cubes frozen cilantro
▫ 4 cubes frozen garlic
▫ ¾ C. olive oil
▫ ¼ C. red wine vinegar
▫ kosher salt and pepper to taste
▫ red pepper flaked (optional)


Salad
▫ mixed field greens or arugula
▫ ¼ thinly sliced purple onion
▫ ½ thinly sliced red pepper
▫ ½ C. cherry tomatoes
▫ ½ C. blanched green beans
▫ ½ diced avocado
▫ 2-3 boneless skinless grilled chicken thighs (Perdue chicken strips could also be used)

Plantains
▫ 1 C. canola oil
▫ 2 plantains
▫ 1 tbs. kosher salt
▫ 1 tbs. sugar
▫ 1 lime


To make plantains:
Heat oil in a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. While oil heats, slice plantains on the diagonal 1” thick. When oil is shimmering, add plantains so they don’t touch. Cook for 5 minutes per side or until golden. Drain on paper towels and squeeze a generous amount of lime juice over plantains. Sprinkle with a pinch of both sugar and salt. Eat immediately.

To make the Chimichurri dressing:
Crush all frozen herbs in a bowl with the back of a fork. Add olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and a red pepper flakes to taste.

To assemble the salad:
Place lettuce in a bowl; add onion, pepper, tomatoes and green beans. Slice the chicken into strips and add avocado before serving. Place the plantains around the edges of the salad and add dressing before serving.

Family chicken

My mother has been visiting and we've all been enjoying her stay. The garden has been planted (finally!) with the vegetables for this year. We've been eating out quite a bit, but I got my mom to make the chicken I grew up eating. There are no hard and fast measurements for this dish, but here is the general recipe:

• 1 whole cut up chicken
• 2-3 cloves of garlic ( I got her to use the frozen cubes last night)
• 1/2 C. ketchup
• 1/2 C. yellow mustard
• paprika
• juice from 1 lemon
• salt
• pepper
• 3 tbs. olive oil

Rinse and pat dry chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large pan. When hot, add chicken, skin side down. Let chicken caramelize for 5-6 minutes until skin has browned. Turn and add ketchup, mustard, paprika, lemon juice, and garlic. Stir around until chicken pieces are coated.

Cover the pan and turn down to medium low heat. Cook for 25 minutes or until cooked through. I like to add a handful of carrots to the pan, when I add the chicken. They cook in a delicious flavorful broth.

The best way to eat this chicken is with a few hot peppers and some cooked rice. We usually make 2 chicken in 2 pans, because it is so good leftover the next day.

Filling in.

My mom has been here visiting for the past few days, hence the lack of blogging.

I will briefly recap our dinners for the last 3 days.

Last night- the last bits of the Ecuadorian pork, steamed broccoli, corn on the cob, H-U-G-E steamed artichokes which my younger daughter ate almost 2 of!

Wednesday- Sushi

Tonight, my elder daughter's art work is appearing in a town wide art show and we thought it would be fun to go out to dinner before the "gala opening". She, of course, has chosen Japanese food, good thing we all like sushi.

Saturday, my mom requested steamed lobsters and Sunday we are going out for Brunch so dinner is completely up in the air.

It feels strange to eat out so much as I am used to cooking. We are going to go on a Mother's Day hike Sunday morning and I was planning on baking banana bread for the trail. Recipe to follow.

That's the extent of my cooking these past few days.

The big pay-off

The preparation from yesterday paid off. The roasted Ecuadorian pork was delicious tonight. I warmed 1/2 of it up with a few tablespoons of the juices and served it with warm tortillas, shredded cheese, guacamole, and salsa.

I also made more of the plantains from the other day. When they were cooked, I added a generous squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkling of salt and sugar.

It was a delicious combination and I'm looking forward to enjoying the pork for one more night.

Equadorian roasted pork

Today felt like a Monday. I did a big shopping (hopefully for the week, or at least most of it) and mentally prepared some menu ideas for the next few days.

Tonight I grilled 2 T-Bone steaks. I drizzled a little olive oil, some ground pepper and a few shakes of garlic salt. They went on a hot grill to sear the outsides, then I turned the heat down and flipped them to finish them off. When they're finished cooking, I bring them inside, and tent them with aluminum foil to keep them warm and juicy.

I also threw a few sea scallops on the grill. They were drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and a shake or two of Greek Seasoning. They literally take 2 minutes on the grill and were tender and sweet.

In addition to those, I grilled 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I prepared the same way as the scallops. I am going to use those for salads in the next few days.

Also... I bought an old Madhur Jaffrey cookbook that I found at a tag sale and found a great recipe for an Ecuadorian roasted pork. I didn't have a couple of the ingredients, so I substituted.

The recipe went something like this:

1/2 C. orange juice
1/2 C. lemon juice ( I didn't have lemons, so I used lemonade)
1 tsp. sugar
2 tbs. red wine vinegar ( didn't have that either, so I used balsamic vinegar)
the recipe called for sage, but I used 1 tsp. Greek Seasoning
5 cubes of frozen garlic
1 onion ( I didn't have it, so it got omitted)

Preheat an oven to 400. In a casserole pan ( I used a Le Creuset pot), make a bunch of little knife marks throughout the pork. Pour the seasoning over the pork and cook covered for 45 minutes. I added a cup of water at this point as it was looking a little dry, and continued cooking for another hour.

The pork is for tomorrow and I'm going to make plantains and/or roasted sweet potatoes with this.

Tonight we ate the steak and scallops as well as peas, strawberries and a little rice, which the girls weren't too interested in.

The kitchen is stocked with dinner for a few days. This is something I rarely do and hope that it all gets eaten.

Sunday in the City

I took the girls to New York today and spent as always, a fun and FULL day there. I picked up bagels at H & H and restrained myself from dragging my uncle through Eli's. It also helped that we took the train and I didn't want to lug food and children through Grand Central.

I timed the arrival of our train with the arrival of the Chinese food delivery man. I have my shopping list for Monday morning and hope to get a little inspiration for a few new recipes.

Fire up the grill.

I brought my younger daughter with me this morning to do a cooking segment with me on WTNH. We had a great time and she was really comfortable helping. You can view the segment by visiting WTNH.com http://www.wtnh.com and clicking on the Good Morning Weekend Connecticut section.

We spent a great day with friends at the beach and decided (as we often times do) to share dinner duties. I brought up some frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs which I bought from Trader Joe's. I've used them a few times and they've turned out delicious each time. I also brought up a bag of frozen shrimp and a bag of edamame. My friend had the grill fired up and ready to go, I drizzled a little olive oil, salt, pepper, honey and rice wine vinegar on the chicken then popped them onto the grill. I covered them with the lid and let them cook for about 4 minutes before turning them. I let them cook for another 3 minutes, then took them off the grill and covered them in foil and finished them off in a 400 degree oven.

While those finished up, I grilled the shrimp which I had simply drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. They literally took 30 seconds on the first side and a minute on the second side. While they cooled, I made a dipping sauce for them with about 1/2 C. soy sauce, a teaspoon of Mirin, 1/4 C. of rice wine vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar. They were delicious and so easy!

I boiled the edamame and we all enjoyed a simple meal from the freezer to the table.

Friday already?

Where did this week go?! Yesterday's dinner was left to Kirk who took the girls down to our deli and bought them tuna and crackers. They also had watermelon. I had dinner with friends. Today was (surprise, surprise) another full day. School, play date, horseback riding, birthday party, and Bertucci's for dinner, even 15 minutes of cooking was too much for me!

This is where we go when we want fast food that is still remotely healthy. The healthy part we got, the fast was lost somewhere amongst the other bedraggled parents who adorned the booths around us. Needless to say, we made it through without spilling any drinks. This has become my touch point for a successful meal.

Am so looking forward to getting the girls to bed so I can prep for the TV show tomorrow morning and put my feet up!

Dinner tomorrow night... grilled chicken thighs, steamed edamame and couscous or rice.

New veg night

I made taco's tonight with the girls and it was probably the most fun we've all had in the kitchen together. Emma is really into grating cheese so that was her job, Abby washed and sliced strawberries, and I made the ground beef and warmed the tortillas. I sliced a few tomatoes and opened a bag of the Trader Joe's Guacamole which, if you've never had it, is quite good.

While the beef cooked, I made plantains, which I found peeled at Trader Joe's today. Shopping there is a bit like rummaging around a tag sale, sometimes you come across some really good stuff. They were easy to make, I heated up about 1/2 C. of canola oil. I sliced the plantains on the diagonal and fried them in the oil until they were golden, about 4 minutes. I drained them on paper towels and sprinkled them with salt and the juice from 1/2 a lime. Abby loved them, Emma ate one and didn't complain, but didn't ask for more. Kirk wasn't over the moon about them, so Abby and I enjoyed them.

I try to on a regular (weekly) basis introduce a new vegetable or fruit to the girls. Even if they hate it, it's good for them to at least get used to trying new things.

We had fun all working together in the kitchen and I am bringing Abby with me on Saturday morning to do a TV segment with me. I 'm calling it Abby's 8 fruit tropical smoothie. Recipe:

This is a delicious, healthy non-dairy treat that can be drunk, eaten with a spoon or enjoyed frozen as ice pops. It's a great way to get your kids into the kitchen and a yummy way to get your kids to eat their fruit!

1/4 C. Goya passion fruit juice
1/4 C. Goya Guava juice
1/4 C. Goya coconut milk
1 kiwi -diced
1/2 C. mixed frozen berries- Strawberry, blueberry, blackberry
1 Dole fresh pineapple cup with juice
1 C. crushed ice
optional -(shredded coconut for garnish)

Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

By the way, it was supposed to be Kirk's night for cooking, but he worked outside all day and was wiped out. He'll have to figure something out tomorrow night!

Frozen Peas Please..

Tonight's dinner was straight out of the tired moms cookbook. I preach keeping certain staples in the freezer, and tonight was Cheese ravioli with sauce or butter and peas. For some reason my children will not eat peas if they are cooked, but if they are frozen, well that is a different story all together! I cooked peas for the grownups with a little pinch of salt and dot of butter, and the girls merrily popped the frozen morsels into their mouths as if they were chocolate chips.

We have officially eaten the last of our leftovers, have milked every possible way to turn something into something else, and thankfully, tomorrow is Kirk and the girls night to cook. I think they're making tacos from the ground beef I bought last week and had to freeze and thaw.

Am off to Trader Joe's to buy their guacamole and some lime, chili chicken burgers that looked interesting as well as some edamame shu mai that sounded good too. Will let you know how they are.