Parmesan Pork

This is actually a recipe for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but I figured it would work just as well for pork chops. It's a pretty similar recipe to the parmesan crusted pork chops we make sometimes but I enjoyed this one even more. When we make the parmesan crusted pork chops, I feel like most of the cheese falls off when I dip the pork in the egg. That's why I liked that the parmesan was grated and mixed with the breadcrumbs here and was the last thing the pork chops were dredged in. The parmesan flavor really comes through on this one!

Parmesan Pork
adapted from Ina Garten, FoodNetwork.com



4 to 6 boneless pork chops
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Unsalted butter
Olive oil

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the pork chops on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook pork chops on medium-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the remaining pork chops, if necessary.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

We forgot to take any meat out to defrost for dinner last night so I wound up making this macaroni and cheese I'd been eyeing for a while. It took a little longer to get on the table than I'd like but it was tasty. If we're going to do a baked pasta dish, I still prefer baked ziti, but this is a good alternative for sure.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
from Alton Brown, FoodNetwork.com



1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Yogurt Bran Muffins

In an effort to eat a relatively healthy breakfast every morning this week, I pulled these muffins together tonight. I've actually been wanting to bake something with blueberries for a while now, but blueberries have been super expensive so I've held off. Finally they were on sale this week so I grabbed a few pints. These were fairly easy to make, though I did have some trouble getting the batter in the muffin cups without making a huge mess. I haven't had one yet so I'll have to post an update tomorrow after I've tried them!



Yogurt Bran Muffins

from EatBetterAmerica.com

1 cup Fiber One original bran cereal

2 egg whites or 1 egg, slightly beaten

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 containers (6 oz each) Yoplait Original 99% Fat Free French Vanilla yogurt

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/4 baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup fresh blueberries or raspberries

Heat oven to 400F. Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular size muffin cups, or grease bottom of reach muffin cup with shortening.

Place cereal in resealable plastic bag; seal bag and crush with rolling pin or meat mallet (or crush in food processor).

In medium bowl, stir together egg whites (or egg), oil and yogurt. Add cereal, flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently stir in berries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan.

Valentine's Day Treats

I know it's not Valentine's Day yet, but I think these would be an excellent dessert to serve if you're having dinner at home. They're really quick and easy to make, and taste just as good as the ones you'd pay $6 or $7 for at a restaurant. We love them and the leftovers do not last long at our house!

The only change I made to the recipe below is to cook the cakes in ramekins instead of muffin tins. I sprayed the ramekins with cooking spray before baking and after the cakes came out of the oven I ran a knife along the outside edges. This allowed me to remove them without much trouble.



Molten Chocolate Cakes
from Allrecipes.com

1 cup unsalted butter or unsalted margarine
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, or bars, cut into bite-size chunks
5 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
4 teaspoons flour (or matzo meal, ground in a blender to a fine powder)
8 extra-large paper muffin cups (or use regular paper muffin cups, which will make 12 cakes)

Garnish:
1 (6 ounce) container raspberries, barely moistened and rolled in about
1/2 cup sugar right before serving



Melt butter and chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; remove from heat. Beat eggs, sugar and salt with a hand mixer in a medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Beat egg mixture into chocolate until smooth. Beat in flour or matzo meal until just combined. (Batter can be made a day ahead; return to room temperature an hour or so before baking.)

Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a standard-size muffin tin (1/2 cup capacity) with 8 extra-large muffin papers (papers should extend above cups to facilitate removal). Spray muffin papers with vegetable cooking spray. Divide batter among muffin cups.

Bake until batter puffs but center is not set, 8 to 10 minutes. Carefully lift cakes from tin and set on a work surface. Pull papers away from cakes and transfer cakes to dessert plates.
Top each with sugared raspberries and serve immediately.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

We have far too many chocolate chips in our house (leftovers from holiday baking) so when Shane wanted a treat for work this week, it was an easy decision to look for something that'd use some of those chocolate chips. These cookies actually call for chocolate chunks and while I used some leftover chocolate we had on hand, I used mainly chocolate chips. Shane didn't love these cookies as much as some of the others I've made. I think it may have something to do with all of the butter in them, which I'm sure changes the flavor.



Chocolate Chunk Cookies
from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook - Original Classics

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup chocolate chunks or chopped bittersweet chocolate



In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and both sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix on high speed to combine. Add vanilla; mix to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Beat on low speed just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll 1/4 cup dough into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake until just brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks to cool, then transfer cookies to the racks to cool completely.

Alfredo Sauce

I had some leftover heavy cream in the fridge that needed to be used last night. We rarely use heavy cream (we had it on hand for a recipe we tried last week) so I wasn't sure what to use it for. I did a quick search on Allrecipes.com and found this alfredo sauce, which looked incredibly easy, so I decided to try it. The sauce was definitely good, but a little too cheesy for me. If I make it again I'll cut back on the parmesan and I think it'll be perfect!

Alfredo Sauce
from Allrecipes.com

1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley



Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes, then add garlic and cheese and whisk quickly, heating through. Stir in parsley and serve.

Super Bowl

Ok, so maybe the Super Bowl didn't turn out quite the way we'd hoped, but we still had fun spending time with our friends. Ben and Lauren were back from their honeymoon so they came over. Plus, our neighbors, Pete, Torri and their adorable baby Jack, were able to come by for a while. Shane and I had a great time and really enjoyed our first Super Bowl at the new house!

We had plenty of food, but I'll just post a few things here. First and foremost, we had wings because you really can't have a Super Bowl party without wings! I also made football shaped treats in the spirit of the game. Shane's favorite snack for the Super Bowl is huge subs so he put together a fun arrangement of cold cuts.





Buffalo Wings
from Allrecipes.com

I followed the recipe exactly with only one exception. I baked the wings instead of frying so they'd be a little healthier. I baked them at 350 for 45 minutes then sprayed them with cooking spray and cooked for 5 minutes more at 375 (to get them crispy). These were great and went fast! (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures before these were gone!)

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup hot sauce
1 dash ground black pepper
1 dash garlic powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 chicken wings
oil for deep frying

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 F. The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely, an inch or so deep. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.

In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place chicken wings in a large nonporous glass dish or bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.

Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts of wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve.


Chocolate Football Crispies
from Good Things Catered

These were really easy to make and so fun for the Super Bowl! They were a little too rich for me, but others really seemed to enjoy them.



6 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
½ cup light corn syrup
1 Tbsp butter
½ tsp vanilla
4 cups Cocoa Pebbles Cereal
white decorating gel



Microwave chocolate, corn syrup and butter in large microwaveable bowl on high 2 1/2 min., stirring after 1 ½ min. Blend in vanilla. Add cereal, mix well.

Let cool 10 min and then shape into football shapes on parchment with moistened hands.

Let cool completely and use decorating gel to add lacings. Let stand until gel is firm.