Pork Chops With Apples and Garlic Smashed Potatoes

I jumped the gun on my fall menu already! But I saw granny apples at the farmers market and decided, why not?!  I love showing pictures like this one prior to cooking to show all fresh, farmers market ingredients. It's my preferred way of cooking! 

Here is the final result! I do not use buttermilk in my potatoes, just regular milk. The apples are so delicious. This dish has the perfect savory/sweet balance. 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pork-chops-with-apples-and-garlic-smashed-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Pan seared Pork with lemon

This was too bland and basic for me.  It needed a kick of something else.  I did the potatoes separately in the oven.

http://www.marthastewart.com/314549/pan-seared-pork-with-potatoes-and-lemon

Pork Medallions with Orange Sauce

Oh Martha, you are rocking my world this week. Every recipe I've tried so far is going into permanent rotation, including this winner. Sophia kept asking for more pork and she's not a big meat eater! The pork was so tender, sauce had the perfect acidity....amazing. I did let the sauce reduce a bit longer than listed in the recipe. It was still too watery after the suggested 2-3 minutes.  I also loaded up on the capers because I love them!

http://www.marthastewart.com/341003/pork-medallions-with-orange-sauce

Ms. Sicily's Signature Pasta

My life was changed when I discovered Rao's! Expensive jarred sauce but worth every penny. Trust me.

Boil a pot of heavily salted water.
Brown the sausage and zucchini in a saute pan until cooked. Add in sliced roasted red pepper slices and the sauce. Bring to a light boil and simmer while your pasta cooks. Drain your pasta, pour your sauce over it and serve! Mangia-Mangia!

Cuban rubbed pork chops

This is one of my summer favorites.  Mainly because I get to pair it with corn, tomatoes and avocado!  In the recipe he says to remove the pork chops and reduce the sauce, I've found that they are not cooked enough.  So I leave them in the pan while it reduces.

I toss the tomatoes and avocado in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  The cook the corn on the cob and cut it out.  But you could totally serve it on the cob if you prefer.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/cuban-pork-chops-with-mojo-recipe/index.html

Memorial Day Weekend - We eat!

On Saturday, I didn't make it to the store until pretty late in the evening and knew I had to make something quick and easy.  Fish is always something I turn to on these kind of nights.  Halibut is in season and one of our family favorites.  A bit pricey but totally worth it!!  I had been sitting on this recipe since last fall and now I'm not sure what I was waiting for.

First time trying something new, I follow the recipe but next time I will be making some adjustments.  I will cut down on the chicken broth and add more coconut milk and up the amount of curry. Also, it's sitting on a bed of spinach.  Totally need to double the amount of spinach!!  I served it with bowls of basmati rice.  This was a totally winner despite all the changes I'm going to make on the next round.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/thai-style-halibut-with-coconut-curry-broth-recipe/index.html

Sunday night we were in the Memorial Day spirit and decided on pulled pork sandwiches.  I've done these before and they are AMAZING!  Great weekend meal.  Prep takes a good 45 minutes but then you're basically done.

I toasted the buns with butter and served it with baked beans and cole slaw (purchased from Gelson's).  Topped it with some KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce and gobbled them up.  Don't be intimidated by the recipe.  You throw everything into a blender, reduce, add stock and reduce some more.  It's really EASY and totally worth the work.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/slow-cooker-pork-tacos-recipe/index.html  (Yes it says for tacos but felt they were better as pulled pork sandwiches)

Monday - Memorial Day, I'm off duty.  Earl is cooking his amazing ribs.  I requested fall off the bone ones, so they've been baking in the over for a couple of hours now and then he'll throw them on the grill.  We'll have corn, beans, cole slaw (homemade and tastes just like KFC's), pasta salad (from Gelson's) and corn bread (Marie Calendar's mix).

This weeks menu:
Spicy-honey chicken with risotto and zucchini
Herbed chicken with quinoa and braised kale with bacon
Steak with roasted potatoes, onions, red peppers and carrots
Homemade pizza using Trader Joe's dough, Rao's pizza sauce and soy cheese.  Might top it with pepperoni and pineapple.