Tag: quick mealsfoodies

Fall into Pork Chops & Apples!

Every now and then my husband pops off to the market alone.  He often loves to find and bring home bone-in pork chops that are thick-cut and gigantic! The last time he came home with them, I was remembering the episode of “The Brady Bunch”, where Peter and the whole gang kept repeating the phrase, “Pork chopppppssssss and applesauuuuuuce! That’s right, pork choppppssssss and applesauuuuuuuce!” I had never actually tried to make pork chops with any type of apple; so here you have what happened next!

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Every now and then my husband pops off to the market alone.  He often loves to find and bring home bone-in pork chops that are thick-cut and gigantic! The last time he came home with them, I was remembering the episode of “The Brady Bunch”, where Peter and the whole gang kept repeating the phrase, “Pork chopppppssssss and applesauuuuuuce! That’s right, pork choppppssssss and applesauuuuuuuce!” I had never actually tried to make pork chops with any type of apple; so here you have what happened next!

I have often heard that Granny Smith apples are the best for cooking, so I popped out to the market and picked up a few, then I cored them, sliced them and held them in a water bath (to prevent browning).

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Salt and pepper both sides of the chops.

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Sear in butter and olive oil until golden brown.

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See? This is starting to look yummy!

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Pay no attention to that last photo with the apples on top. The apples go on the BOTTOM of the pan. I just forgot to save the correct photo! LOL!

Ingredients:

  • 4 bone-in pork chops
  • 3 Granny Smith Apples
  • 6 tablespoons REAL butter (Down with substitutes!)
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Peel, core & slice the apples. Place in a bowl and cover with water until ready to use.
  3. Salt & pepper the chops, then sear them in 2 Tbsp butter using a medium high cast iron skillet.
  4. Grease a 9 X 12 baking dish.
  5. Line the bottom with the apple slices.
  6. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle over the apples. Break up the 2 Tbsp. butter into pea sized little bits and sprinkle them over the apples and sugar mixture.
  7. Place the chops on top of the apples and sprinkle the remaining butter (broken into bits) over the chops.
  8. Cover with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

 

Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Vegetables. One One Pan Wonder!

Beautiful, delicious food doesn’t have to take a million steps to prepare. Check out this one pan wonder…

Dinner doesn’t always have to have dramatic preparation to be both beautiful and delicious. Last night when I got home late, my husband already had the chicken marinating in a balsamic concoction. All I did was figure out what vegetables to throw on a pan and dinner was underway!

I opted for beautiful tri-colored baby carrots, purple potatoes and spiralized beets. (I am on a spiralizing kick lately!) I sprinkled on some olive oil and salt and pepper, then popped them into the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. At 15 minutes, take them out and make a little room on the pan, then add your chicken and pop it all back in the oven for twenty minutes. Last night I got involved with writing for another site and I forgot this step which is why you see no chicken on this pan. No worries. I baked the chicken in the pan it was marinated in.

And here is the finished product. Aren’t they beautiful? Here, I usually sprinkle on a little more pepper and call it a day.

Here is my plated dinner. Okay, I lied. At the last minute we had a taste for some steamed broccoli so we made it. We could have just as easily roasted it on the same pan as the other veggies, but we didn’t decide on it until the other stuff was already in the oven. Beautiful and delicious and no one has to know how simple and easy it was to prepare.

Unless you write a blog about it to tell the world!

Balsamic Marinade Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 Tbsp honey(optional)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1-4 pounds boneless skinless chicken (There are just two of us so we usually opt for chicken tenderloins as they cook very fast.)

Directions

(Are you ready for this?)

  • Whisk together all ingredients.
  • Pour over chicken.
  • (Wipe the sweat from your brow. That was hard!)

How long you wish to leave the chicken marinating is entirely up to you. I like to let mine sit from 1-4 hours. Just cover it and put it in the fridge. Take it out and let it sit at room temp for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. If you are in a rush, just let it sit half an hour, it will still be great.

Bake at 400 degrees approximately 20-25 minutes.

For the one pan dinner:

  • Preheat oven to 400.
  • Decide on what veggies you like, roll them around in 1-2 Tbsp olive oil and salt & pepper.
  • Pour them on a sheet tray.
  • Bake 15 minutes, add chicken to the pan, bake 20-25 minutes more.

Use your common sense here. If you are roasting soft veggies that will cook fast like zucchini, yellow squash, onions, tomatoes, etc. Put everything, including the chicken, on one pan and cook them together.

When you are roasting dense veggies like potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips, acorn squash, etc, start them in the oven at least 15 minutes before adding the chicken.

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