How to Avoid Overcooking Pasta - Angel Hair Pasta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Test strands. Use the recommended cooking time specified on the package as a general guideline only. Depending on the quantity of water, the particular batch of pasta and the strength of the heat source, cooking times will vary. Lower-quality pastas can go from underdone to overcooked in two minutes. So keep testing for doneness by tasting one or two strands at a time. If the pasta is stiff, offering any true resistance, it needs more time. If it seems relatively soft, but sticks slightly to the teeth, you’re almost there. Give it another 30 seconds. Then it’s ready.

Drain immediately. As soon as the pasta is done, drain it at once. If your sink doesn’t drain quickly, lift the colander up out of the hot water. If you cook pasta often, consider a pasta pot with a colander insert that allows you to remove the pasta at once without tangling.

Remember, it keeps cooking. Like all cooked food, pasta continues to cook even after it’s been removed from heat and has been drained. If it’s hot, even warm, and especially if it’s under a hot sauce, it’s still cooking! To deal with this fact of thermodynamics, the best chefs typically either a) undercook their pasta slightly if it is to be immediately plated with a sauce, or b) rinse their pasta as described below. The intentional undercooking of pasta is especially important if you plan to leave just-cooked pasta in a large serving dish for a dinner party. Just ask any caterer.

Rinse if you need to. If you’re concerned that you have overcooked the pasta, you can rinse, or “shock,” the pasta briefly in cold or room-temperature water. You will read everywhere else that one should never, ever rinse pasta because it removes the important surface starch that helps the sauce cling to the pasta. This is true, but given the alternative of mushy pasta, you can give up some cling. And—trade secret—most of America’s restaurants generally employ this technique, not because they overcook their pasta, but because it allows the chef to halt the cooking process at precisely the right moment. You’ll still want to slightly undercook rinsed pasta if you’re going to be re-heating it with other ingredients in a skillet or wok just before serving time. But you’ll have some breathing room should your recipe divert your attention elsewhere, and you’ll be assured of the perfect doneness when finally ready to plate your completed dish.
 

 

Angel Hair Pasta with Feta and Sun-dried Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16 ounce) package angel hair pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 onion, chopped

3 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, softened and chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 (8 ounce) package tomato basil feta cheese, crumbled

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

• 
  
  Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil, add salt.  Cook pasta in boiling water until done; drain.
• 
  
  Return pasta to pot. 
• 
  
  While pasta is cooking saute garlic, onion, tomato and basil in the butter; add to pasta.
• 
  
  Mix in the oil, feta and Parmesan cheese.
• 
  
  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve warm.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!!!!

Bundt Cake - Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

 

A bundt cake is a dessert cake that is baked in a bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive riged ring.

 

The pan sold somewhat slowly until a Pillsbury-sponsored baking contest in 1966 saw a bundt cake win second place. This prompted a scramble for the pans, causing them to surpass the tin Jell-O mold to become the most-sold pan in the United States. Since introduction, more than 50 million bundt pans have been sold by the Nordic Ware company.

Below is my recipe for Chocolate Chip Pound Cake.

                                                    

INGREDIENTS:

 

1 (18.25 ounce) package devils food cake mix

1 (3.9 ounce) page instant ocolate pudding mix

1/3  cup white sugar

3/4 cup water

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/8 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

 

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, instant pudding and sugar.
• Add the water, eggs and sour cream, mix until well blended.
• Fold in the chocolate chips.  Pour into prepared Bindt pan.
• Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven.  Cake is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Cool in pan for 10 minutes before invertin onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Dust with confectioners sugar before cuting and serving.

Oatmeal - Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Historically Oatmeal was a peasant food traditionally known as porridge.  Oatmeal has a long history in Scottish culinary traditions because oats are better suited than wheat to the short, wet growing season. Therefore, it became the staple grain of that country. Ancient Scottish Universities had a holiday called Meal Monday, to permit students to return to their farms and collect more oats for food.

There has been increasing interest in oatmeal in recent years due to its health benefits. Daily consumption of a bowl of oatmeal can lower blood cholesterol, due to its soluble fiber content.  After reports found that oats can help lower cholesterol, an "oat bran craze" swept the U.S. in the late 1980s, peaking in 1989. The food fad was short-lived and faded by the early 1990s. The popularity of oatmeal and other oat products again increased after the January 1997 decision by the Food and Drug Administration that food with a lot of oat bran or rolled oats can carry a label claiming it may reduce the risk of heart disease, when combined with a low-fat diet. This is because of the beta-glucan in the oats. Rolled oats have also long been a staple of many athletes' diets, especially weight trainers; given oatmeal's high content of complex carbohydrates and water-soluble fiber which encourages slow digestion and stabilizes blood-glucose levels. Oatmeal porridge also contains more B vitamins and calories than other kinds of porridges.

The Oatmeal cookie recipe below is one that I came up with after a little creating.  They are moist and chewy and will make your kitchen smell sooooo good!!!

Jerilyn's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:  Makes 36

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup raisins

Directions:

• 
  
  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• 
  
  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
• 
  
  Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt; stir into the sugar mixture.
• 
  
  Stir in the oats and raisins.
• 
  
  Drop by rounded teaspponfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• 
  
  Bake 9 minutes until light and golden.  Do not overbake.  Let them cool 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely.  Store in airtight container.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!

Black Beans - Quick and Easy Black Bean Soup

Black Turtle BeansThe small, shiny black turtle bean is especially popular in Latin American cuisine, though it can also be found in Cajun and Creole cuisines of South Louisiana. It is often called simply the black bean (frijol negro in Spanish, feijão preto in Portuguese), although this can cause confusion with other black beans.

The black turtle bean has a dense, meaty texture and flavor reminiscent of mushrooms, which makes it popular in vegetarian dishes such as the Mexican-American black bean burrito. It is a very popular bean in various regions of Brazil, and is used in the national dish, feijoada. It is also a principal ingredient of Platillo Moros y Cristianos in Cuba, is a must-have in the typical gallo pinto of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, is a fundamental part of Pabellón Criollo in Venezuela, and is served in almost all of Latin America as well as many Hispanic enclaves in the United States. The black turtle bean is also very popular for making into soups, which are often eaten with Cuban crackers.
Black turtle beans have recently been reported to be an extremely good source of nutritional antioxidants. 
All legumes are high in protein, and black beans are no exception. Dried beans are important sources of protein in vegetarian diets, and in areas where animal protein is scarce or expensive. However, this protein is incomplete (does not contain all 9 amino acids), so grains (which provide the missing amino acids) must also be a significant part of the strictly vegetarian diet. Or, small amounts of dairy products, meat, poultry or fish (which contain complete proteins) must be part of the diet. In the areas where common beans originated (Central America and southern Mexico) corn supplied the missing amino acids, and squash was an additional source of vitamins.

Black beans, as all dried beans, are also good sources of starches, fiber, B vitamins, iron, zinc, phosphorus, complex carbohydrates and calcium. About half of the calcium is lost during cooking. High percentages of the other nutrients remain however, even after cooking.

This black bean soup recipe is an easy meal that can be ready in 20 minutes or you can put it into a slow cooker and cook on high for 4-5 hours.  Either way you will love this soup!!!
 

Quick and Easy Black Bean Soup

INGREDIENTS:

2 (15 ounce) can Black Beans, indrained

1 (16 ounce) can chicken broth

1 cup salsa

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 (11 ounce) can Mexicorn, drained

Sour cream (optional)

Chopped Onion (optional)

Cilantro (optional)

Avocado (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

• Pour both cans of beans into a pot.
• Add chicken broth, salsa, corn, cumin and chili powder.
• Bring to a boil, serve.
• If desired top with shredded cheese, sour cream, onion, avocado and cilantro.

Enjoy and have a blessed day.

In Honor of Mardi Gras - Shrimp Creole

Shrimp creole is a dish of Louisiana Creole origin (French and Spanish Heritage), consisting of cooked shrimp in a mixture of whole or diced tomatoes, onion, celery and bell pepper, spiced with Tabasco sauce or another hot pepper sauce, and served over steamed or boiled white rice.  The shrimp may be cooked in the mixture or cooked separately and added at the end. Other "creole" dishes may be made by substituting some other meat or seafood for the shrimp, or omitting the meat entirely.

  

Creole-type dishes tend to resemble the combination of a gumbo and a jambalaya. They are typically thicker and spicier than a gumbo, and the rice is prepared separately and used as a bed for the creole mixture, rather than cooked in the same pot as with a jambalaya. Creoles also do not contain broth or roux; instead, the creole mixture is simmered to its desired degree of thickness. Apart from the foundation ingredients of onion, celery and bell pepper, creoles are commonly used as free-form "improvisational" dishes, as the basic recipe may be altered to include whatever ingredients the cook has readily available.

Shrimp Creole has many variation and combinations. You can substitute the shrimp with other types of seafood like, lobster, scallops, crayfish or crab, different types of meats can also be added.

 

Shrimp Creole

 

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 clove garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon Worchestshire Sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 pound frozen, peeled, coooked small shrimp, thawed

Hot cooked rice

 

Directions

 

• In a large skillet, saute the onion, green pepper, celery and garlic in oil for 6 minutes.  
• Stir in the tomatoes and the tomato sauce, chili powder, sugar, cayenne and the Worchestshire Sauce.  Bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.
• Add shrimp; cook and stir until heated through.
• Serve with rice, if desired. 

This recipe is very quick and easy.  You can adjust the "heat" depending on your taste.

Enjoy and have a blessed day.

The Story Behind Cheesecake

In 1872, William Lawrence from Chester, NY, along with other dairymen, came up with a way of making an "un-ripened cheese that is heavier and creamier by accident, actually looking for a way to recreate the soft, French cheese, Neufchatel.  Lawrence distributed the cheese in foil, becoming a brand that is familiarly recognized as "Philadelphia". Later on in 1912, James Kraft invented a form of this cream cheese, but pasteurized it- this is now the most commonly used cheese for cheesecake.

Almost all modern cheesecakes in the United States use cream cheese; in Italy, cheesecakes use ricotta; Germany and Poland use quark cheese. Cheesecakes are most easily baked in a Springform pan.
The type of cheese affects not only the texture and taste, but also the ability to incorporate certain types of ingredients. When cheesecake batter is too thin, many cheesecakes will not be structurally sound and fall apart at the table. One way to get around this is to use unflavored gelatin or a little cornstarch beaten with the eggs.

A common difficulty with baking cheesecakes is its tendency to “crack” when cooled. This is due to the coagulation of the beaten eggs in its batter. There are various methods to prevent this. One method is to bake the cheesecake in a hot water bath to ensure even heating. Other methods include blending a little cornstarch into the batter or baking the cheesecake at a lower temperature and slow cooling it in the oven, turned off, with the door ajar. If these methods fail, a common practice is to cover the top of the cheesecake with toppings such as fruit, whipped cream, or cookie crumbs.

Banana Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup margarine, melted

1/4 cup sugar

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons banana extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel Topping for drizzling

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a medium bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and melted margarine.  Press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan.
• In another bowl, mix together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla, banana extract and mashed banana.  Pour into the prepared crust.
• Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the center is set.  Cool, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
• Drizzle Caramel topping on and garnish with fresh bananas, if desired.

How to Cook With Wine

Cooking with wine can be a pleasure and an enhancement to good food and a fine meal!

When wine is heated, the alcholic content as well as sulfites disappears, leaving only the essence imparting a subtle flavor.

As Julia Child often said,  "If you do not have a good wine to use, it is far better to omit it, for a poor one can spoil a simple dish and utterly debase a noble one."

The first and most important rule:  Use only wines in your cooking that you would drink.  Never, never use any wine that you WOULD NOT DRINK!  If you do not like the taste of a wine you will not like the dish you choose to use it in.

Do not use the so called "cooking wines!"  These wines are very typically salty and include other additives that may affect the taste of your dish and your menu.  What you may not know is that the process of cooking/reducing the wine will bring out the worst in an inferior wine.

An expensive wine is not necessary, although a cheap wine will not bring out the best characteristics of your dish.  A good quality wine, that you enjoy, will provide the same flavor to a dish as a premium wine.

Wine has three main uses in the kitchen - as a marinade ingredient, as a cooking liquid, and as a flavoring agent in a finished dish.  The function of wine in cooking is to intensify, enhance and accent the flavor and aroma of your food, not to mask the flavor of what you are cooking.  As with any seasoning you use, care should be taken in the amount of wine you use.  Using too little wine is inconsequential and too much wine can tend to be overpowering.  Neither extreme is one that you want. 

For best results, wine should not be added to a dish just before serving.  The wine should simmer with the food, or sauce, to enhance the flavor of the dish.  If the wine is added to late in the preperation, it can impart a harsh quality.  It needs to simmer with the food or in the sauce while it is being cooked; as the wine cooks, it reduces and becomes an extract which flavors.  You should wait at least 10 minutes or more to taste your dish before adding more wine.

Remember that wine does not belong in every dish you cook.  Use wine when it has something to contribute to your finished dish.

One more thing to mention is that the alcohol in wine begins to evaporate at 172 degrees.  Even people who avoid drinking wine for religious or personal reasons can cook with wine.

With all of this being said, I am showing you how to prepare a very simple, but elegant French Onion Soup.  Match this soup with a spinach salad for a delicious dinner.  This soup is made to serve 6 people.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

5 sweet onions, thinly sliced

6 cups beef broth

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 pound shredded Swiss cheese

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/2 cup white wine

1 tablespoon Worchestshire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, sliced

• In a medium stock pot, heat beef broth over medium-high heat.  Stir in Worchestshire Sauce.

 
• In a saute pan, add butter and cook over medium-high heat.  Once heated, add onions and stir, until onions are tender and transparent.  Stir in sugar.
• Add onions to heated broth, stir and let simmer for 20 minutes.

• Add wine and season with salt and pepper, simmer for 10 minutes.
• Pour soup mixture into individual serving bowls and place a slice of bread on top, making sure the bread gets well soaked.  Place shredded cheese on top of bread and broil, 3 inches below heat, until cheese bubbles.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!

Stuffed Peppers

Today my husband and I are celebrating our anniversary.  Seven years of wedded bliss are ours today.  In honor of today I am making a special meal for my husband.  Tonight we will be sitting down to a meal of Spinach Salad with hot bacon dressing, Homemade French Onion Soup, Shrimp Creole served over rice and for dessert I have made a wonderful Banana Caramel Cheesecake.  Yummmm!!!!!!  My husband is very spoiled.

Since I am busy preparing for our special dinner I am going to keep this very short today.  The recipe today is sweet green and red peppers stuffed with tomatoes, onion, ground beef, sausage, green chile peppers and rice.  This recipe is easy and delicious.

Stuffed Peppers

1 pound  ground pork sausage

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

1 dash garlic salt

2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, undrained

1  1/2 cups instant rice

2 large green bell peppers

2 large red peppers

1 cup grated pepper jack cheese

Directions

Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, and remove seeds.  Place in a pot of boiling water and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.

                                        

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage, beef and onion until sausage and beef are evenly brown and onion is tender.  Season with garlic salt.  Drain grease.  Mix in 2 cans diced tomatoes and 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, add the rice. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

                                        

Arrange pepper halves in a baking dish and fill each with the meat and rice mixture.  Sprinkle with pepperjack cheese and top with the remaining can of diced tomatoes with chiles.

Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly.

Enjoy and have a blessed day.

Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Lasagna

Lasagna is an Italian casserole dish made up of layers of pasta sheets, meats, cheese and tomato sauce.  However, there are many variations of lasagna.  The most traditional recipe involves ricotta and mozzarella cheese, meat sauce and pasta.  Other popular versions include spinach lasagna,  and eggplant lasagna.  You can also make vegetarian and seafood versions. 

While Americans call it lasagna, it is called lasagne in Italy.  The name lasagna originally derived from the pot that was used to cook the dish.  While lasagna is attributed to Italian cuisine, the word "lasagna" is Greek and means "cooking pot."  It is also possible the word could also be attributed to the Greek word "laganon," which means "a flat sheet of pasta cut into strips."  While we do not know how old the dish is, the recipe was found in the first cookbook written in England, so many people thought it was an English dish.

I chose to make this lasagna with a lower fat content for those of us that are looking for a healthier meal.  Be careful not to bake the lasagna uncovered for more than 10 minutes or the cheese may burn.

Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Lasagna

1 (8 ounce) package lasagna noodles
3 cups fat free half and half
2 (10.75 ounce) cans 98% fat free Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 cup grated fat free Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cooked boneless chicken breast halves, diced
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
3 cups reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring a large pot ot lightly salted water to a boil.  Cook lasagna noodles for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente.  Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a suacepan over low heat, mix together half and half, cream of mushroom soup, parmesan cheese and butter.  Simmer, stirring  frequently, until well blended.

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  Cook and stir in the onion in olive oil until tender, then add garlic.  Mix in the chicken and spinach,  cook until heated through. Pour it all into the mushroom soup mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly coat the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with enough of the cream sauce mixture to coat.  Layer with 1/3 of the lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the ricotta, 1/3 of the cream sauce, 1/3 of the mozzarella.

Repeat layers until you have used all ingrediants, placing mozarella cheese on top, cover with foil.  Bake for 1 hour.  Remove foil and bake 10 minutes longer to brown the top.  Remove from oven and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

Enjoy and have a blessed day.

How to Cook Pork Loin

Many people just learning to cook are very hesitant to cook a large piece of meat.  It seems so intemidating!    Well, it dosen't need to be, at all.  This pork loin is a great place to begin.  Pork tenderloin is a versitile and simple dish to prepare.  It has very little fat and no bone.  A 1 1/2 pound tenderloin will serve 5 or 6 people.

All you need to cook this roast is some olive oil, garlic and some dried herbs.  You will rub these all over the roast and put it in the oven.  That is it.  I have also included a recipe for a sauce I like to serve with my tenderloin.

Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin

1 (5) pound boneless pork loin

Olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon sage

1 tablespoon rosemary

1 tablespoon ground thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstartch

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

4 tablespoons soy sauce

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Rub the tenderloin with olive oil.
• In a bowl, combine garlic, sage, thyme, rosemary oregano, salt and pepper.  Rub thoroughly all over pork.  Place pork in an uncovered roasting pan and place on the middle oven rack.

Bake in the preheated oven approximately 3 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches at least 150 degrees, depending upon your desired doneness.

• 

• Meanwhile, place sugar, cornstartch, vinegar, water, and soy sauce in a small saucepan.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken.  Brush roast with glaze 3 or 4 times during the last 1/2 hour of cooking.  Pour remaining glaze over roast, and serve.

 

Enjoy and have a blessed day!

Eating Healthier with Turkey Meatloaf

Why would you want to learn to make turkey meatloaf?  Well, because meatloaf is the ultimate comfort food.  It makes many of us think of home, and eating dinner at the table while we are fighting with our siblings.  However, while comforting, meatloaf isn't always the healthiest of meals.  In fact if you make it the traditional way, it can be very high in both fat and calories.  If you are one of the many millions of people trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle, meatloaf is probably on your list of foods that you have to stop eating.  But what if you don"t want to give up one of your favortie foods?

Well, I am here to tell you, you don't have to and I am going to show you how to make a much healthier version using ground turkey instead of ground beef.  I know what you are thinking, ground turkey is bland and it will turn out to be very dry.  Not true, if you follow my recipe your family will compliment you over and over about how it is the best meatloaf you have ever made.  So let's get started creating.

• 2 Lbs ground turkey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup Wheat Thins Toasted Chips, Golden Gate Garlic and Rosemary, crushed
• 1 medium brown onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon sage
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 12 oz jar Heinz Rich Mushroom Gravy

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare a 9x5 inch loaf pan wth cooking spray.

Add the eggs to the ground turkey and mix well.

Next add your crushed crackers, onion, herbs, onion soup mix and Worcestshire Sauce, mix well.  Add 1/4 cup of the mushroom gravy mix and shape into loaf to fit the pan.

Pour remaining gravy over the top and bake, covered loosely with foil, for 1 hour or until meat is cooked thoroughly.

New Month, New Blog - Caramel Apple Pork Chops

Well, I have honed my writing skills and now I am working on my photography skills.  I am once again changing the way I am doing my blog and I now feel that I am on the right track for what I am trying to accomplish. 

As you will notice I have added a couple of new items on the right, A joke of the day, A quote of the day and a tip of the day.  I hope you will find these items not only put a smile on your face but also help to make your day a little bit better.

As many of you know I am working on writing a series of cookbooks, the first one in the series is geared toward easier recipes for the "Non-cook".  That does not mean that those of you that are way more experienced, and know what a kitchen is used for, can't try them out yourself.  I will, on occasion, put in a more complicated and time consuming recipe for the more daring cook.

So let's get started and have some fun.  As always, remember I welcome feed back and comments.  Let me know what you may have changed in the recipe to make it your own or if you made it just as I posted.  Well let's get cookin'.

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

• 
  
  4 boneless pork chops, 3/4 inch thick
• 
  
  4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 
  
  Salt and pepper to taste
• 
  
  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 
  
  1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 
  
  4 tablespoons butter
• 
  
  2 medium tart red apples, cored and sliced into 1/2 inch wedges
• 
  
  6 tablespoons chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

Heat skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute chops, 5-6 minutes, turning occasionally, until both sides are evenly browne.  Remove from skillet and place in a pre-heated 200 degree oven.   

   In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add butter to skillet.

Add the apples to the skillet.  Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes or just until the apples are tender.  Remove apples with a slotted sapoon and arrange on top of chops; place them back into the warm oven.  Continue cooking mixture in the skillet, uncovered, until the sauce thickens slightly.  Spoon sauce over apples and chops.  Sprinkle with pecans.

            

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!!!!!