Apple Pork Chops with glazed carrots

The prepared apples

After cookingOn the plate
Dinner!

PORK CHOPS WITH APPLES

2 tsp. butter 1 c. sliced apples 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 center cut pork chops, 1/2" thick, well trimmed 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper Melt butter in a large nonstick frying pan; saute apples until tender but not mushy. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Push apples to one side or remove to serving plate. Fry pork chops in liquid from apples until almost cooked, turning to brown both sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until chops are done. Don't overcook as chops will become rubbery. Arrange a chop on each plate and serve apples over chops. Makes 2 servings. One serving: 1 chop plus 1/3 cup apples - calories 236. Low sodium diet: Omit salt.

Some things for this recipe:

• After removing the apples, there wasn't a lot of liquid left to brown the meat, so I added a bit of apple juice and cinnamon and browned the pork in that.
  
• It wasn't very specific about "cook until chops are done". I transferred the browned pork chops to a casserole dish, and cooked them covered for 10 minutes @ 400 degrees, and 10 minutes uncovered. Then I put the apples over the top of them and let them cook for 5 minutes more.

Source: Pork Chops with Apples

August Schell Brewery Tour

August Schell brewery is located in New Ulm, MN about 1.75 hrs SW of the Twin Cities. It's the 2nd oldest family owned brewery in the U.S. For 2$/person you get about an hour long tour + 6 beer tastings + 1 glass of the beer or root beer of your choice.

When you get the the brewery, it's about 1/2 mile walk from your parking place but they also offer a shuttle. I'd recommend either walking there or walking back especially during the fall. It's a tree lined slightly uphill walk and very pretty. (see picture). The tour does not go into the actual brewery but is a very informative historical tour.


Other pictures from our tour:
An old boiler:
Antique bottling machine:
The Schells Old Time Band instruments:
Copper Stein:
Unfortunately my pictures of the beer wagon did not turn out and my batteries died (I had yet to put the good batteries in my camera and was just using standard AA batteries) so I don't have more pictures of the grounds, the resident peacocks and deer either. :(

This is the Schell mansion (built for $5000 back in the 1800's):

And this is the "copper kettle" also installed around the same time as the mansion was built, this though cost $25,000 in the 1800's!



My favorites of the ones we tried were the Caramel Bock and the Octoberfest. Maybe it's not that I don't like beer that much, it's that I don't like ales very much? I've also discovered I really really like Sam Adams Octoberfest beer and if ever in Vegas again, their Sin City Amber.

NEW CAMERA!

YAY I finally picked out my new camera! Now I just need to learn to use it. This means I'll be taking a lot more pictures and most of them may be of food! As soon as I learn how to use it, I'll be posting food pics more regularly!

Apple Cinnamon Waffles

By far my favorite breakfast food. I like making them myself too. I just have a cheap square waffle iron but it does the trick. They tend to come out a bit uneven unlike those nice ones we had in college but it works and that's all I need, but I digress.

I just buy a store brand waffle mix that doesn't require eggs as I never have them around.
To make them into apple cinnamon waffles:
2 c. mix
3/4 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 packet cinnamon flavored apple sauce (about 1/2 c.)
Apple pie spice or cinnamon to taste.

Prepare waffles as normal.

ENJOY!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

This is quickly becoming a new favorite recipe for me because it's simple and doesn't require a lot of prep work. I found the recipe a couple years ago while perusing a magazine at work. It was a Hellman's mayo ad for Parmesan Crusted Chicken.

Preheat oven to 425.

In a bowl mix 1/2 c. mayo or Miracle Whip and 1/4 c. parmesan cheese (I just use the Kraft or store brand parmesan chese).. You can also add some italian seasoning and garlic to this mix. In a bag, mix 1 c. bread crumbs, a bit of italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper (I use crushed red pepper in as much as I can because I like the kick it provides). Coat defrosted boneless skinless chicken breasts in the mayo mixture, put into bag of bread crumbs, shake til covered and put on backing sheet. Repeat for remaining chicken breasts. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

The recipe says 20 minutes, but I've always found meat to need 10-20 more minutes than a recipe says.

Bon Appetit!

Once again, I wish I had a picture but alas, the camera is broke and I'm still researching what I want for a camera. This could take awhile as I go from wanting a nice DSLR to a cheaper option that still has DSLR features but doesn't cost a small fortune.... Someday I'll make up my mind.

Salmon

Today, for the first time ever I cooked fish. I think it turned out pretty ok.

Alas, my camera is broke so I have no pictures.

RECIPE:

Salmon fillets
Aluminium foil
garlic
thyme
salt
pepper
lemon juice
butter

I was also supposed to add parsley and onion powder.

Place individual salmon fillets on their own piece of aluminum foil (enough to make a packet). Add garlic or garlic powder, onion powder (if you have it), sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and parsley (if you have it). Add a bit of lemon juice to each packet and butter. Cook in 350 degree oven in a baking pan with 1/2" of water in it for 20-25 minutes. Poof* done!

source of recipe: www.cooks.com
only I forgot to bookmark the recipe. Ooops.

Rating: kind of bland, but a good first attempt at cooking salmon.

Valentine's Day Cheesecake

For Valentines Day, I made Branden a cheesecake, not just any cheesecake, though. I went all out for this one. First off, here is the marbled cheesecake....
Then I added a strawberry I had cut to look like a heart and surrounded the perimeter of the cheesecake with raspberries. I used frozen ones so as they thawed, they ran a bit on the cake but it still turned out quite nice. I then melted chocolate chips a mixed them with a tablespoon of butter to thin. I put that in a wax paper bag and cut a hole in a corner. I squeezed out chocolate hearts on another piece of wax paper and put them in the freezer to cool. I put the chocolate hearts on the cheesecake. The cheesecake was still a bit warm so the hearts melted and it turned out perfect! This picture is of the finished product chilling in my refrigerator.

This is me and my cheesecake, I'm so proud of it!!!!

oh yeah and that's my new red hair! :)

Cheesecake recipe
source: Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book

Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 45 minutes
Cool: 1 3/4 hours
Chill: 4 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers
• 1/4 c finely chopped walnuts (optional)... I omitted these
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 c butter, melted

• 3 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 c sugar
• 2 T all purpose flour
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 c milk

• 2 packages/envelopes Nestle Chocobake
  
• approximately 1T sugar
• approximately 1 T milk (I just kind of poured so I'm not sure on the exact measurement I used)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. CRUST: combine crushed crackers, walnuts, cinnamon. Stir in butter. Press mixture into bottom of springform pan
3. FILLING: beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla with electric mixer. Add eggs and egg yolk, beating on low until just combined. Stir in milk
1. For chocolate swirl, remove half of filling mixture and add 2 packages Nestle Chocobake (pre-melted unsweetened chocolate), more sugar for taste and milk to thin to same consistency as rest of filling
4. Pour chocolate filling in first, add plain filling on top of that
5. Use a knife or spatula to swirl
6. Bake 35-40 minutes for 9" springform pan, 40-45 minutes for the 8" springform pan, until center appears nearly set when gently shaken
7. Cool for at least 15 mintues before taking a knife and gently loosening edges
8. Cool for at least another 30 minutes before adding pretty effects on top (chocolate hearts, raspberries and strawberries)
9. Chill 4 hours
   
10. SAVOR!
    

*NOTES:

• I am still learning the fine art of making a good graham cracker crust. I would probably try to use more butter to make the crust pack better.
• Frozen berries just didn't work as well as fresh ones would have

Stuffed Shells

The picture isn't much to look at, but these turned out FABULOUS! I am really pleased with how this recipe turned out. It's a bit tedious to stuff each of the shells but it's not so bad if you have someone helping.

Recipe:

STUFFED JUMBO PASTA SHELLS

Sauce and meat as with spaghetti CHEESE FILLING: 2 lbs. ricotta or cottage cheese 1/2 lb. Mozzarella cheese, grated 2 eggs 1/2 c. Parmesan, grated 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1 tsp. parsley Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pasta shells. Bring water to boil and then add pasta, boil pasta approximately 15 minutes. Prepare cheese filling. Beat eggs; add ricotta, Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese; mix in seasonings. Using a large casserole dish, layer sauce, meat, and pasta shells which are stuffed with the cheese filling. Bake 45 minutes.

NOTES:

• To cook the ground beef: I added crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to the beef.
• I used cottage cheese because I find ricotta to dry out the dish too much (prior experience with lasagne)
• 2lbs of cottage cheese would have been way too much. 1.5 lbs was too much when I made the recipe. (consider cutting cheese stuffing recipe in half)
• To stuff the shells, lay out a piece of wax paper and put all the shells on them right after straining to prevent them from sticking together and ripping.
  
• Instead of 45 minutes, I baked it for 45 minutes, covered, and then 10 minutes uncovered.

First Post

mmmm......... cake! Double layer chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and rasperries to be specific. I made this awhile ago and thought it would only be appropriate to start my blog with a picture of food.

I've decided to make this a blog about all the yummy things that I attempt to cook, as well as the yummy things I eat at restaurants. But I do plan on this being more about what I make and will post recipes of things I make when I can.

My inspiration for this attempt at a food blog is E. She has had her food blog up for quite a while and I always stare at the delectible food she posts. I don't cook a lot, but when I do, I'm quite proud of it. So here we go, the inaugural post of my food blog.