Pork Chops Baked with Apple and Baked Potatoes

Had a friend over for dinner. This was originally planned as a cook-out. But with thunderstorms in the forecast, we moved it inside. For an inside meal, I thought pork chops were a better choice than brats. 

I started with the baked potatoes. I took Russet Potatoes. Washed them well, using a brush. Poked about eight homes in each with a fork. Rubbed olive oil on the outside and sprinkled sea salt over them. The oven was set at 350 degrees. I put a cooking sheet on the bottom rack in the oven, and the potatoes on the too rack just over the cooking sheet. These baked for an hour. 

For the pork chops, I seasoned with salt and pepper. I had 3 pork chops for this recipe. In a measuring cup, I mixed 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 cups apple juice and a tablespoon of brown mustard. I sliced half an onion into small pieces, minced three gloves of garlic, minced about a teaspoon of fresh rosemary, and diced half a yellow pepper. I placed all of these under and over the pork chops in a pan. I then poured the apple cider mixture over the pork chops. This was tipped off with two diced apples. The oven was already at 350. I put the pork chops in the oven about half an hour after the potatoes started. They cooked for forty minutes total. 

In the meantime, my daughter is not a fan of my apple pork chops. So I prepared separately one pork chop, seasoned with salt and pepper, mixed in with onions, garlic, bell pepper slices, rosemary and olive oil.  This also cooked at 350 at the same time as the apple pork chops. 

All in all, I was happy with the meal and with the company!  Next time, I may add more mustard. 

Learning to Make a BLT

My youngest has been wanting to learn to make a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. So, his mother took the opportunity tonight to get the ingredients and teach him. 

Here he is carefully cooking the bacon. He's very meticulous.  He wants to do it just right and to be safe about it. 

His mother also showed him the safe and correct way to slice a tomato. He did very well. 

I got him some fancy lettuce from the garden. He put the sandwich together, cut it and then acted like a waiter when he served it to his mother, our neighbor who happened to stop in at the right time and myself. 

Proud of my boy. Especially since he doesn't like tomatoes and didn't eat the BLT sandwich himself. He specifically wanted to do this for others. 

Strawberry Lemon Bars

I see cooking as experimentation. So, when I asked my cousin what to bring to a barbecue and he responded some cooking with the Kovatches, I figured it was time to try something. I chose strawberry lemon bars. 

I used a Food Network recipe as my base. You can find it here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/classic-lemon-bars-recipe.html

I followed the directions for the crust to a tee. I won't reprint it here. All I say is to check on the oven after 20 minutes. In my case, a small part of the crust did burn. 

As for the filling. I followed it with these changes. I added five sliced strawberries. I also used the zest of about three lemons.  After mixing the eggs, flour and sugar, I put the lemon juice, strawberries and lemon zest in a small blender, and then added it to the filling. It seemed very watery, so added some more sugar and flour. I poured the filling into the crust and baked at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. 

In all honesty, the filling is tart. I personally like the tartness. Others may find it overwhelming. Next time, I think is reduce the amount of lemon juice and zest to account for the strawberries. 

My plan is to serve over vanilla ice cream. 

Hot Wings

From yesterday's barbecue.  I was amazed at just how simple this was. 

To make the Buffalo sauce, simply mix equal parts hot sauce and a dairy product. I used Frank's Hot Sauce and buttermilk. 

You can make it fancier by adding slices, like garlic powder.  

I let the wings marinate for a few hours in the fridge. Then, I cooked them in the oven at 400 degrees. First for 25 minutes. Then rotating the wings with tongs. Then for another 20 minutes. 

I had ranch and blue cheese dressing on hand. 

These wings were a hit at the barbecue. 

Pomegranate and Date Molasses Chicken Wings

I heard about this recipe in the Washington Post, and I had to try it out:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/recipes/roast-chicken-pomegranate-and-date-molasses/14037/

I started by marinating the chicken. The marinade is fairly simple to make. The proportions are:

1/2 Date Syrup

1/4 Pomegranate Molasses

1/4 Olive Oil

A splash of soy sauce.

I thought that finding the ingredients would be difficult. I was pleasantly surprise to find them easily in my local Asian supermarket. The chain here is called LA Mart. I go to the one in Springfield, VA, near Bob Evans. 

Mix the marinade. Let the wings marinate overnight. Then, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook for 25 minutes. Use tongs to rotate. Cook for another 20 minutes. 

My oldest and I found these delicious. We also used it as a marinade for pork chops. 

Chicken Legs with Barbecue Rub

I've been experimenting for a few weeks on the best way to cook chicken legs on the grill. My conclusion:  don't. 

So, we are preparing for a barbecue, and I wanted to cook legs.  I decided to cook the legs the night before in the oven and then to heat them up on the grill before serving. 

For those of you who need exact quantities, you're going to hate me. I didn't bother. 

First, marinate the chicken in a brine. This brine was diluted apple cider vinegar with salt and sugar. Mostly water. They sat for about eight hours in the fridge. 

For the rub, the main ingredient was brown sugar. But, I also used bread crumbs, paprika, cumin, nut meg, onion powder, ground ginger, pepper and salt. 

I preheated the oven to 425. Coated the legs, and baked for 20 minutes. Using tongs, I turned the legs over. Turned the heat down to 400. Then cooked for another 25 minutes. 

Taste great tonight. I put then in a aluminum pan with a cover for the night. I made sure to collect as much of the drippings and put them in the aluminum pan as I could. Tomorrow, the plan is to hear them in the aluminum pan over low heat on the grill until warm.