Old Style Comfort Food

On Day 2 of this fall menu experiment, we had a meal that was almost something my mother would have made.

Coke & Red Wine Pork Chops
1+ lbs. boneless pork loin chops
1/4 cup coca cola
1/2 cup red wine (leave this out next time!)
salt & pepper

Marinate chops in coke and red wine. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes and broil on each side for 2 minutes at the end.

I wish I hadn't added the red wine and had just used the coke. The red wine is good with pork, but I think it tastes better with a fruity complement like a jam of some type mix in with it. I thought the wine overpowered the coke in a way I hadn't intended. This is what I get for not wanting to waste a drop of anything. I could have just poured the wine out...

Baked Apples
5 gala apples, washed & cored
In each apple:
1 pat of butter (about 1/2 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Bake at 350 for an hour or more. (They can't really cook too long.)

The baked apples were an addition to the fall menu per the request of A, so she was excited to have these last night. I think apples and pork complement each other well, so we'll probably have a similar combo sometime in the near future.

We had the above dishes with English peas and mashed potatoes. (My mother liked to serve pork chops with sweet potatoes, which I would have done, if I hadn't used my two remaining sweet potatoes for yesterday's soup!)

Fall in a Bowl

This is our first week of using our fall menu. It coincided nicely with fall's actual arrival since Sunday's weather was crisp, cool and just what you want from an autumn day. First up, Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup.

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups water
1/2 cup white wine
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can pumpkin
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup half & half
sour cream

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven and saute onions and celery.
When veggies are soft, add water, white wine and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to summer until potatoes are soft (about 15-30 minutes).
Blend with immersion blender until mostly smooth.
Add spices and pumpkin.
Bring back to a near boil.
Add half and half and stir until warmed through.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and cornbread muffins.

This was a hit with the family. Even J, who is not a big fan of soup, thought this was a good one. I've made a southwestern pumpkin soup in the past, but this tasted more like pumpkin or sweet potato pie in a bowl. The 1/4 cup of brown sugar didn't make it too sweet, but it combined nicely with the cinnamon for a good fall flavor.

Fall Menu

My husband found an article that talked about a mom who created a menu for her family. While I can't quite bring myself to establish a year-round menu, I like the idea of a seasonal menu where key dishes repeat. I've decided to give this a try for three months and see how it goes. Last night, we brainstormed as a family about what foods should be on our fall menu. Here's what we came up with:

Entrees
Chili (B or P)
Pumpkin Soup (V)
Chicken Pot Pie (C)
Pork Chops (P)
Lasagna (V or C)
Chicken & Dumplings (C)
Jamblaya (S)
Taco Soup (B)
Pot Roast (B)
Pork Loin (P)

As indicated, we have a pretty good variety of beef, chicken, pork and vegetarian entrees. I think 10 entrees will give me enough variety that I'm not bored to tears. We also agreed that we will follow our normal procedures for left-overs, which is to turn them into a different meal before eating them. For example, taco soup leftovers are spooned out with a slotted spoon and served in enchiladas or quesadillas. Pork loin leftovers might end up in a stir fry, etc.

Side Dishes
Broccoli (Italian, steamed or marinated)
Roasted Veggies (zucchini, squash, potatoes, onions, peppers)
Baked Apples
Roasted Green Beans
English Peas
Carrot Souffle
Baked Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes (diced or baked)

I think all of these side dishes would complement at least three or four of the entrees, so they seem like good staples to have on hand. It was good to get feedback from the girls because A offered the idea of baked apples and B asked for green beans to be in the rotation. K can't eat enough broccoli, so she was glad to have that one make the cut.

Most of the entrees are strictly fall servings in our house. No one wants to eat chili when it's 90 outside and I'm not going to make a dense dish like lasagna when the humidity is already weighing us down. But the side dishes are fairly season neutral, with the exception of baked apples and carrot souffle. So I imagine the entree menu will change more with the seasons than the side dishes will. Time will tell.

So, if you were crafting a menu for your family's meals, what would be included? What have I left out that is a must-have in your family?

Disconnect

There's been a disconnect lately between what's been happening in my kitchen and what's been happening on this blog. I've woefully neglected to blog anything that I've cooked in a long time. I can't possible catch up on everything, so here's what we had for dinner tonight, along with an article that my husband suggested inform my cooking going forward. He sent this to me after one night last week when he and two of my daughters all turned their noses up at homemade tomato soup. I'm thinking about trying what the article suggests...

Chicken Casserole
1 cup rice
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup lite sour cream
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dry mustard
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed (or crushed cornbread crackers from your pantry, as the case may be)

Cook rice and place in greased 9 x 13 casserole dish.
Top with cooked chicken.
Mix soup, yogurt, sour cream and spices together. Spread over chicken.
Mix melted butter and crushed crackers together. Top casserole.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Served with roasted green beans.

Easy Doesn't Have to Mean Boring

Today was a busy day. While grocery shopping, I had planned to throw in the ingredients for a sweet potato burritos for dinner tonight. Sadly, I didn't remember this plan until after 1 pm, which wouldn't allow time for the crock pot to cook the ingredients!

Instead, we had...

Bruschetta Sandwiches
2 cups mixed roma and cherry tomatoes, chopped
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
dash garlic salt
dash salt
dash fresh ground pepper
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
sliced provolone cheese
hoagie buns

Mix tomatoes, vinegar, oil, basil and spices.

Marinate for 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature.

Use a slotted spoon to place the tomato mixture on sliced hoagies.

Top with provolone.

Spoon some of the oil and vinegar mixture onto the other side of the hoagie.

Bake at 400 for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

We had friends over for Labor Day and I made Bruschetta as an appetizer, so it was on my mind as I searched my kitchen and my brain for dinner options. I also needed to use some of the left-over hoagie rolls from that gathering. This sandwich was similar to a caprese, but I actually liked it better because you could taste the tomatoes more. I will admit that my daughters would have been less than thrilled with these because the vinegar is a bit too much for them. So I served them left-over hot dogs from Monday's cookout instead.

We all had fruit salad and potato chips (hey, I said easy) to round things out.

Breakfast (Casserole) for Dinner

My mother hates to cook. She fed us only because we would die without food while growing up. But one of her staple meals was breakfast for supper (as we called it in Southern Alabama). My mom's usually consisted of fried eggs and cheese toast. My own variation of it for tonight was a tad more complicated, but not much:

Breakfast Casserole
1/2 lb. Conecuh (or other) sausage
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 zucchini, cut into small pieces
4 hot dog buns, torn into small squares (buns are left-over from Labor Day gathering)
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 slice provolone cheese
1 slice American cheese
1/3 cup spinach, shredded

Spray 9 x 13 pan with non-stick spray.

Place torn bread in pan.

Brown sausage, adding bell pepper, onion and zucchini and sauteing until soft.

Pour sausage and veggie mixture over bread.

Scramble eggs, milk and plain yogurt. Pour over other ingredients.

Tear cheese slices into squares and place over casserole. Top with shredded spinach.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

Peruvian Lomo Saltado

OK, it's been a while since I posted a recipe of any sort. Last week was crazy with Monday bringing dinner guests for B's birthday, Tuesday bringing dinner guests for Prince's Hot Chicken (carry-out) and Wednesday bringing the birth of a new nephew! I thought I would cut my losses and not blog about any of that, but start this week out right. Lomo Saltado is a recipe I found from a friend who was a missionary in Peru. This dish has a fabulous flavor!

For Monday Night:

Peruvian Lomo Saltado

2 lb. chuck roast, cubed
6 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, cut in strips
2-4 tomatoes, chopped

Combine vinegar and spices. Add the meat and mix well.

Let marinate for one hour (at room temp, if possible).

Brown the meat and onions in olive oil, then reduce heat and cook for 1-2 hours or until meat is tender. (The longer, the better in my opinion. Last night, I only had about an hour to spare before dinner was served.)

Add the tomatoes about 30 minutes before serving.

Serve over french fries (I know it sounds crazy, but it is good) or over rice.

We had this with English Peas to round it out.