Tried and true recipes, new twists on old favorites, and new dishes to expand my family's palate.
UPDATE:
The contest has ended, and thanks to Random.Org a winner was selected. Lisa from Sweet As Sugar Cookies was the #8 comment that was randomly selected. Lisa has been notified and responded with her information and will be receiving her prize from My Blog Spark. Thanks to everyone for entering!
I think by now I’ve made it abundantly clear that I’m a lemon and lime freak, right? I’ve shown you various recipes where either of these citrus fruits are a core ingredient and instead of adding the normal amount to the dish I always end up doubling, or even tripling the amount. I can’t help it. If a dish calls for lemon or lime I want that to be the dominant flavor. It’s just the way I am.
Pork Milanese is one of my favorite dishes to cook up for so many reasons. Besides it being delicious, it’s also simple, quick, and of course, filled with lemon flavor.
Normally when I bread the pork chops I use seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs. But ever since the wave of Panko has hit the store shelves I find myself either using Panko in place of bread crumbs, or as an accompinament to the breadcrumbs.
Then of course I add the lemon and heaven begins to sing down on my plate.
But, Progresso came out with not only their own line of Panko, but a Lemon-Pepper version. Insane. When the folks over at My Blog Spark
gave me the opportunity to try out this new Progresso Lemon Pepper Panko I knew just what I wanted to try with it! To me it was the perfect addition to this dish because it infused even more lemon flavor into the dish. Not to mention the additional crunch it added to these chops!
If you are a lemon lover, give this one a try. It’s easy and delicious!
PORK MILANESE:
Serves 4
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In three shallow bowls or pie plates add the following; one with the Panko and parmesan cheese, one with the egg and milk and one with the flour.
Begin by dredging each pork chop through the flour, then the egg and then the Panko. Make sure to press the Panko into each chop well. Allow the chops to rest on a plate for a few minutes.
In a heavy cast iron pan (or other frying pan that is safe for oven use), add the oil and butter and allow to heat up.
Once hot, fry each pork chop on each side until golden brown. Once done, transfer the pan to the oven and allow to cook for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, or until cooked through.
Serve immediately with lots of fresh lemon wedges!
*Note* I recommend using any additional salt and pepper in this dish sparingly. The Panko and the parmesan cheese really already has enough salt in them. I actually didn’t find the need to add any additional salt or pepper to this dish before or after cooking.
Enjoy!
Now for the giveaway!
Thanks to the wonderful folks over at My Blog Spark
and General Mills, they’ve made this giveaway possible. And they not only sent a gift of each of these to me, but they will send another to one of my readers who wins!
If you’ve ever watched Michael Chiarello on Food Network you know all about the beautiful food he serves up. He has a new cookbook out and you get the opportunity to win an autographed copy of it, along with a package of Progresso’s Lemon-Pepper Panko. This cookbook is gorgeous and BIG. There is definitely something for everyone in here to enjoy. It’s gorgeous.
What do you need to do to win? Simple. You have the opportunity to enter twice each day during the duration of the giveaway. I’m running this giveaway for a week so that gives you up to 14 chances to enter.
HOW TO ENTER EACH DAY:
THE RULES:
Disclosure: This giveaway was generously provided through My Blog Spark and General Mills. Neither My Blog Spark or General Mills is paying me for this review or giveaway. Michael Chiarello has no idea I’m offering this giveaway or who I am, but I think he’s cute!
This is enjoyed by both kids and adults and you hear nothing but slurping when I serve it up. In fact, I haven’t made this in a while and making it the other night brought comments from my four-year old daughter like, “Mom, this is the best dinner ever.” Wouldn’t it be great if you got to hear that every night?
The original recipe for this soup was inspired by the traditional Stracciatella soup. Stracciatella in Italian means “torn rags”. The soup got that name for the egg that is swirled through the soup and breaks up to look like torn rags. If you don’t know it by now, I hate eggs. I cook and bake with them yes, but you won’t ever see me eat an egg in its natural state. I cannot and will not and that’s just the way it is. So I certainly have no intention of ever adding an egg to this recipe. Okay, I did add it to the meatball mixture, but that’s different.
Also, in a typical Stracciatella soup you would add some shredded spinach, which to me would have been perfect. However, my children have an aversion to anything green and it took awhile just to talk them around the parsley that was flecked in the meatballs. Sometimes I will split up the batch of soup and add the spinach to half and leave it out of the other half. And since spinach cooks up quick enough, you can always add it to your own dish before serving.
Whichever version you choose, with our without spinach, this is a simple but delicious soup. The recipe I’m providing below is a double batch since I always serve up one batch and then freeze the second batch for a later day. You can cut the recipe in half if you want to just make it for a single family meal. I serve this with some grilled cheese sandwiches and call it a night.
MINI MEATBALL & ALPHABET SOUP:
Begin my filling a large stock pot with the chicken broth and water. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil.
While waiting for the broth to boil, mix up the meat, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, egg, onions, parsley, salt and pepper. Roll the meatball mixture into tiny meatballs about 1/2″ in size.
Once the broth is boiling, add the meatballs carefully to the broth along with the pasta. Turn heat to low and allow the pasta and meatballs to fully cook. The meatballs will float at first, but will eventually sink to the bottom. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
Once done, serve up immediately with some extra parmesan cheese sprinkled on the top.
Enjoy!
This was my lunch the other day and it was just what I was craving. Simple, tasty, and something you can do with whatever you choose. There are no measurements for this dish because it’s pretty much just a catch-all for whatever fresh produce you have on hand and want to throw in and mix up. Simple!
PARMESAN COUSCOUS SALAD:
After cooking the couscous according to the package directions, fluff with a fork and then refrigerate until cool.
Add couscous to a large bowl, add in all remaining ingredients and mix together. Serve immediately.
You can switch this up with some lime juice and fresh cilantro.
Add some vinegar in place of the lemon and top with some feta cheese.
The possibilities are endless.
Enjoy!
I’ve seen these made all over the internet and had them in the back of my brain to try. Then I attended a bake sale and these little beauties were right there staring me in the face. I bought a couple and fell in love! If you are a chocolate lover there is no way you can’t enjoy the overload of chocolate denseness in this treat.
I asked for the recipe and the woman told me she got it from Betty Crocker. I love you, Betty!
I’ll give you the link to the recipe here, where you can see pretty much everyone else that tried this loved it as well. I did make some slight changes to the recipe which I will list here.
Here is the link for these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies from Betty Crocker’s website. Check it out and try these! They won’t last long in your house, especially if you have a husband and children. Trust me.
I can’t say I have ever met a dessert I haven’t liked, but I can say this is one dessert I absolutely love!
One of my most favorite cookbooks is The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. I have almost broken the binding on the book we have used it so much. It’s filled with little yellow post it notes on some of our favorite recipes from the inside of their collection. And I can tell you honestly that I have never made a recipe from this cookbook that wasn’t great. I always swear I’m going to cook my way through that book.
This recipe I’m sharing today is not really out of their book. They didn’t have a recipe for Apple Crisp, but they did have one for Rhubarb Crumble. And I’ve made it and loved it. I’ve used the same principles to adapt that recipe to this Apple Crisp, and it didn’t disappoint!
Warm Apple Crisp
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and the oats. Stir well until combined. Add the butter and cut in until the mixture becomes crumbly. Set to the side.
Wash and peel the apples. Cut them into about 1″ size chunks. Add to a separate mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice and vanilla and stir until well combined. Add the sugar and mix well.
Grease an 8″ x 8″ baking pan. Add the apples to the pan and spread out evenly. Top with the crumb mixture and spread evenly to cover the entire top of the apples. Bake on the middle rack for 40 to 45 minutes.
Once done, remove from the oven and allow the crisp to sit for about 10 to 15 minutes so it sets a little. Serve warm with some ice cream on the side. A little swizzle of Caramel on the top isn’t bad either.
**Note: The pan I baked this in was a round Corning Ware dish that was about 1″ x 10 inches.
Enjoy!
