Chops in Mushroom Gravy

This is a favorite of my families too.  I originally got it from the Taste of Home Magazine.  I have made a few alterations to get it to my taste.


Chops in Mushroom Gravy - Taste of Home Magazine
Serves 6-8
Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 to 2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
6 to 8 boneless pork loin chops (1 inch thick)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 med onion -- chopped
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces -- drained
2 cup milk
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Hot mashed potatoes

Instructions

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the first four ingredients. Add pork chops, one at a time; toss to coat. Set remaining flour mixture aside. (you will use it to thicken the sauce)
In a large skillet, saute chops in butter until golden brown; transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. In the same skillet, saute the onion, green pepper and mushrooms until tender. Stir in reserved flour mixture; gradually add milk until blended. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in lemon juice. Pour over chops. Cover and bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink. Serve with potatoes.


Becky's Recipe Notes:
Changes I have made.  I like to use Roasted Red Peppers from the jar and dice them instead of using the green peppers.  It gives it a nice flavor.  It is really important not to add the lemon juice too soon, or the sauce seems to curdle.  Whisk it in while adding it.  2 Tbsp is roughly 1 lemon's juice.  I also heat the milk up in the microwave so I am not adding cold liquid to my warm dish.


Here is what I did:
I dredged the pork chops in the flour mixure:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 to 2 teaspoons paprika (I like it seasoned well I use about 1 1/2 tsp)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

I melted 4 Tbsp of butter in my scanpan (this is my new favorite non stick pan)


Turn them after they are golden brown. When both sides are browned remove them to a baking dish.

Add the chopped onions, diced (roasted) peppers and can of mushrooms to the pan with the butter.

Stir the flour mixture into the vegetables and cook the flour for a few minutes to remove the raw taste.  It will look a little clumpy, but don't worry it will be fine after you add in the warm milk and incorporate the liquid.

Slowly add the 2 cups of warmed milk




Stir and let the sauce thicken.

Off heat stir in 2 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

Pour the mixture over the pork chops and cover with foil.

Bake at 350 F for 50-60 minutes.  Serve with Mashed Potatoes (my favorite is Garlic Mashed Potatoes) and serve with a salad.

Greek Orzo Pasta Salad

This is a wonderful refreshing dish that I love to serve at our home.  My husband and I seem to always battle for the last bowl when the late night munchies hit.  We end up sharing!

It is an easy dish to put together, chop your veggies and such while the pasta cooks and then cool the orzo under running cold water and it is a flash to assemble.  The beauty of this dish is you can put any veggies in you want.  My mom made this with green beans once and broccoli another time. Both were delicious.  I happen to like this combination the best.  But if you did not like artichokes, or cucumbers - substitute away!

Greek Orzo Pasta Salad
Serves 6-8

3/4 lb Barilla Orzo (I have tried other brands, but I love the size and texture of the Barilla brand)
1 cucumber, peeled and diced (I like the hot house or English ones they are most consistently good)
1 can artichoke hearts
1 can black olives (Greek style if you desire, but can be made with just regular olives if you wish)
1 package cherry or grape tomatoes (chopped tomato is fine too)
fresh basil, chopped (to taste or 1 tsp of dried basil works in a pinch)
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled or cut in cubes if you like larger pieces of feta
1/2 jar roasted Red Peppers (optional)

For the Dressing:
6 Tbsp. olive oil
4 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp. mint
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Cook the Pasta according to the directions.  Prepare the vegetables, and put in a large bowl.  When the pasta is cooked, drained and cooled, add to the chopped veggies.  Combine the ingredients of the dressing and pour over the pasta salad.  Combine.  Add the feta cheese last, it seems to hold together better then.  Enjoy.  This really is quite addicting.  I think you will find it is as well.

Broccoli with Parmesan Crumb Topping

Here is an easy way to prepare Broccoli that even the kids enjoy.

Broccoli with Parmesan Crumb Topping
Serves 6

Ingredients
1 bunch broccoli, washed and cut into smaller pieces
1 inch water
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup seasoned Progresso bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

Put the broccoli in a covered pot with an inch of water and seasoned with salt.  Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low, cover and steam for about 10 minutes until it is a nice dark green.
Drain the broccoli and transfer to a baking dish.  Melt the butter and combine with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle over the broccoli.  Bake at 325-350 for 15 minutes until the crumb topping is golden brown and the cheese melts a little.  Enjoy.  If you wish sprinkle more freshly grated Parmesan cheese and sprinkle some lemon juice over the dish.

Shrimp Scampi

This wonderful garlic and lemon flavored Shrimp dish is always a hit around my house.  The kids and my husband both rave about it every time I make it and it is so easy to prepare.

Shrimp Scampy
Serves 5
2-3 lbs raw, cleaned and shelled large count shrimp (I used Jumbo size which is around 16 shrimp to a lb)
1 stick butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chopped Garlic (I also like to use the garlic that is prepared and in a tube that you can find in your vegetable section of your grocery store)
Juice of 2 lemons
Parsley (dried or fresh to your liking)
dash of red pepper flakes for a little kick

Heat a large skillet with a stick of butter and olive oil.  I find the butter does not burn as easily if combined with Olive oil.  Add the garlic and cleaned and shelled shrimp.  Saute for a few minutes and turn the shrimp over when it is pink on the underside.  When the shrimp is fully pink it is fully cooked!   Do not overcook or it will be tough.  Add lemon juice, parsley, and pepper flakes.  Enjoy with mashed potatoes, or angel hair pasta.  The sauce is really good over pasta.

Pumpkin Belgian Waffles with Vermont Maple Syrup Whipped Cream

I found this great little recipe online at a Bed and Breakfast site that also had a lot of recipes posted
(See http://www.lanierbb.com/recipes/). Here is one I tried this morning and everyone loved! Enjoy Fall.


Pumpkin Belgian Waffles With Vermont Maple Syrup Whipped Cream Recipe
Brought to you by Price House Cottage B&B
Serves: 5-6

Ingredients:

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/4 Tsp Clove
1 Tsp Ginger
1 Tsp Cinnamon
4 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Milk
1 Cup Pumpkin Puree, Canned
4 Eggs, Separated
1 Cup Butter, Melted
For the Flavored Whipping Cream:
1 Cup Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp Pure Maple Syrup

Instructions:
Preheat waffle iron (Belgian or regular). In a large bowl, combine first seven ingredients. Whisk together milk, pumpkin puree, and egg yolks. Stir pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and add melted butter. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into pumpkin mixture. Ladle batter onto waffle iron and cook until steam ceases to escape from the iron, producing a lightly browned waffle.

For the Flavored Whipping Cream:
Whip the cream until peaks begin to appear. Add syrup, when peaks begin forming, and finish whipping the cream until stiff peaks form. Serve waffles with pure maple syrup and a generous scoop of the whipped cream.

This is what the batter looks like after you fold in the stiff egg-whites.  It is light and airy

Here is the baked Waffle- nice and golden brown.  Begging for Maple Syrup and Whipped Cream

















BECKY'S NOTE: In the interest of time I skipped the Flavored Whipped Cream (this time) and served it with Maple Syrup and Whipped Cream from a can.  The kids really ate it up too!  My husband LOVED them (and anything Pumpkin) they already requested it for Thanksgiving.

Garlic Herb Cheese Bread

Garlic Herb Cheese Bread

Ingredients

4 oz Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Butter -- softened
1/4 cup Parsley -- fresh, minced
1 Garlic clove -- minced
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 loaf fresh French Bread - sliced lengthwise

Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine cheddar cheese, softened butter, parsley, garlic, garlic powder, and paprika.  Combine with a fork.  Spread on both sides of the french bread; Heat in 375 F oven for 10-15 minutes.

This recipe is great with Lasagna or any pasta.  It has a lot of garlic- which is why I love it!

Lasagna

Lasagna and Garlic Bread always is a hit in our home.  There is something about Lasagna that brings everyone to the table with healthy appetites.

 Lasagna Recipe:
1 lb shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 Tbsp. olive oil
 1 lb ground beef
3/4 lb Italian Mild Pork Sausage
3 -28 oz cans Hunts tomato sauce
package of Barilla no cook Lasagna noodles
2 tsp. salt
1 (15 oz) tub Ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs

Shred the Mozzarella cheese if you have not purchased already shredded cheese.  Saute the meats (I substituted them with real meats .. none of this low fat around my house) in olive oil.  I added 1 Tbsp crushed garlic to the last minute of browning.  I drained the meat thoroughly.  I returned the meat to the pan and added the spaghetti sauce, heating it through.
I combined the Ricotta cheese, eggs, 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese and mixed them.

Pour about 1 cup of meat sauce in bottom of your lasagna pan and layer with Barilla no cook noodles (these are my favorite to work with)  Add half the cheese mixture and spread out over the noodles.  Top with enough meat sauce to cover.  Top again with Lasagna noodles, remainder of cheese mixture, another layer of sauce and finally another layer of lasagna noodles.  Top this again with sauce (remainder) and Top with remaining cup of Mozzarella cheese.

Cover and bake for 60 minutes at 350 F.  Uncover and bake another 10 minutes.  Remove the lasagna from the oven and let sit (loosely covered with foil) for another 10 minutes.  Trust me it will still be plenty hot when you sit down to eat!  Serve with Garlic Herb Cheese bread (see Recipe).