Pork Chops Southern Style

In world far away, years and years ago I worked for a special lady who had 

Multiple Sclerosis, she had been a home economics teacher and had a local cooking show. Nancy taught me to make this recipe for her and her family, because she was unable to cook at the time and I have loved, loved, loved it.  Everyone I make it for love it also.   She just simple called it Pork Chops Southern style.  The recipe is for 6 pork chops, notice  in the pictures I only did 4.  Have I mentioned I am still learning this empty nest thing???  I just adjusted the recipe, this isn't a rocket science recipe, things can be adjusted and added or taken away from.  I have made it with chicken stock, left out the soy sauce,  don't be afraid, just keep the rice and stock ratios in sync and all will be fabulous.. trust me!! 

With salt, pepper and garlic powder season pork chops evenly on both sides Melt butter with oil in large heavy skillet, brown chops on both sides.

Transfer chops to large roasting pan.

Slice onions, , tomato and pepper. 

(notice my broken Pampered Chef mini spatula in the background... I CRIED!!! I loved that spatula and had it for over 10 years...::sigh::)

Pour rice evenly over the pork chops .

Place one pepper slice, one onion slice and one tomato slice on each pork chop.

Disolve the bouillon cubes in boiling water, (I do this in the microwave), and stir in Worcestershire and Soy Sauce.

  ( I was out of Soy Sauce, thank goodness I save all those little packets from Chinese take out.)

Pour bouillon(stock) mixture evenly over the whole dish.

Cover with foil.. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  

Serve HOT.

Pork Chops Southern Style

Lemon – pepper  to taste

Salt to taste

Garlic powder to taste
6 (1 inch thick) center - cut pork chops
2 tbsp. butter + 1 tbsp. of oil
3 3/4 c. boiling water
4 beef bouillon cubes

1 1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp. soy sauce (opt.)
1 1/2 c. uncooked rice
12 (1/2 inch thick) slices onion
6 (1/2 inch thick) slices tomato
6 (1/2 inch thick) slices green peppers

With salt, pepper and garlic powder season pork chops evenly on both sides Melt butter with oil in large heavy skillet, brown chops on both sides.

Transfer chops to large roasting pan.

Dissolve the bouillon cubes in boiling water, (I do this in the microwave), and stir in Worcestershire and Soy sauce.   

Place 1 slice onion, 1 slice tomato, 1 slice pepper on each pork chop.     

Pour bouillon(stock) mixture evenly over the whole dish.


Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Serve hot.

Yields 6 servings.

And on another happy note... duct tape fixes everything... until I can get to Lynette's and pick up my new one :)

How to Cook the Perfect Steak without grilling in 100 + degree weather.

I know for most people summer = grilling, but truthfully, there comes a point in Texas that it not only isn't comfortable, it can be dangerous.

1 rib eye steaks or 2 New York strip steaks, 1 1/2-inch thick

vegetable oil, to coat

kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

Remove steak(s) from fridge and start bringing them to room temperature.

After 30 to 45 minutes, place a 10 to 12-inch cast iron skillet in oven and heat oven to 500 degrees F.

When oven reaches temperature, remove the pan and place it on a burner over high heat.

Coat steak(s) lightly with oil and season both sides with a generous pinch of salt. Grind on black pepper to taste.

Immediately place steak(s) in the middle of the hot, dry pan. Cook 30 to 60 seconds without moving. Turn the steak(s) with tongs and cook another 30 to 60 seconds, then put the pan straight into the oven for 3 to 5 minutes. Flip steak(s) and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes.* 

Remove the steak(s) from the pan, cover loosely with foil, and rest for 2 minutes

*The time in the oven depends on how rare you like your steaks. The time given is for medium, but depends on number of steaks, etc. as well. I only cooked mine 3 minutes  as I like them medium rare.. I probably should have just done 2 minutes.  Qman's I cooked 5 minutes.  He is a medium well kinda man. 

I served with baked potato and black bean and corn salsa ..  yummm 

I cut the steak so you can see how well done it was cooked... 

Cranberry Chicken Thighs

I bought a package of chicken thighs and had no idea what to do with them...  I searched  the internets and finally combined a few recipes (to match the ingredients I had)  and this turned out

 

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small  red onion, chopped
• 3 pounds chicken thighs
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1 (8 ounce) can cranberry sauce.  ( I had jellied but I think whole would be much better.
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• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F.
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• Place the chicken thighs in a baking dish in a single layer and bake for about 25 minutes.
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• Saute the onion and butter in skillet on medium heat, until the onion is translucent, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard powder, and cranberry sauce, and heat.

 

Remove and discard fat from the  baking dish.  Spoon the cranberry mixture over the chicken thighs, and return to the oven. Bake until the cranberry mixture is slightly caramelized and the chicken is done, about 20 more minutes.

 

I served with Pioneer Woman's Corn Casserole from her latest cookbook.  The basic recipe is found on her website here, but the one in the cookbook is kicked up a notch.   Yummy in my tummy!!!

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Unstuffed Bell Pepper Casserole

This is one of the easiest, tastiest casseroles I make, I have submitted it to  two of those cookbooks for fundraisers, but it has never been published. So here it is.  When I had kids at home I doubled this, and if making for a family you can double and make in a pot and transfer to a baking dish, no problem.


Unstuffed Bell Pepper Casserole

1 pound Ground Beef

⅓ cups Diced Onion

1 cup Crushed Tomato (undrained)

⅓ cups White Rice, Uncooked

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

½ teaspoons Basil

½ cups Water
1 cup diced green pepper
2 c. shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground beef, onion in  an oven safe skillet ( I use my biggest cast iron one).  Drain grease.

Stir in tomatoes, rice, worcestershire sauce, basil, water, salt and pepper.  Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and let cook about 20 minutes until rice is tender.

Stir in peppers and half of the the cheese.   Top with remaining cheese and pop in  the oven for about 15 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

                              

 

Hobos and a Scarf

I posted this yesterday and then it disappeared into the internets lost and never to be found... so let's try again.

I haven't felt so well this  weekend and just wasn't feeling up to cooking yesterday and made the easiest meal I could think of... well, except for picking up the phone and ordering something to be delivered.  Most who know this meal will associate it with camping, but Mama always made it in the oven and called it Hobo dinner.   You can put any veggies in it, but depending on what you put in it, whether it is  basic Hobo Dinner or High Falooting Hobo Dinner.  Mama says if you add mushrooms then it is High Fallooting.

In the FAMOUS Hart Cookbook there is a recipe for it called Child's Supper.  That is the the one I am going to post here, but I will put what I do differently, but only if I happen to have the ingredients.  

 Child's Supper
Rose Ellen (Copeland) Gregg

   It was the duty of our children to cook a meal once in a while.  Any 6 or 8 year old can fix this.
   Peel a potato and cut in small squares; 1 carrot cut in small squares, 1 small onion (chopped), salt and pepper.  Take a 12 to 18-inch (piece of) foil, place all ingredients in center of foil.  Add 1/4 pound of hamburger meat; wrap airtight.  Bake in oven approximately 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  This  can be eaten  from foil with fork.




I season the hamburger with the trinity uhh I mean salt, pepper and garlic, and lay onion slices on the hamburger and sometimes bell pepper. Yesterday I had bell pepper and I chopped the onion and mixed them in the hamburger.  I was thinking you could add some tomato sauce or tomato paste.  I also add soy sauce and/or worchestershire sauce.  I also use baby carrots, cause I dislike peeling things, I do usually peel the potatoes. If I have red potatoes I don't.

Ok on to the scarf. It was 76 degrees here yesterday, but you know this is Texas  and I might need a knitted item at any MOMENT.

I tried to get a good picture of this but couldn't get the color right. It is a deep ruby red and fuzzy and soft and yummy... and the temp is suppose to be 20 degrees cooler this week.  This is might even be too warm for 56 degrees.