Rosemary Dijon Pork Cutlets

Sometimes there's no great story, it's just a really great dish. This is one of those times. I used pork cutlets because they caught my eye in the grocery store. After a long day on the road I knew they would cook quickly. The sauce is very creamy and the Rosemary, Dijon combination is perfect! This recipe is really more of a method. You could use any protein. Chicken, turkey, steak or even fish would be great. You can also flavor the sauce in a variety of ways. You could add your favorite cheese, herbs, even veggies like mushrooms or sun dried tomatoes. Get creative and give this a try.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 TB seasoning salt
1 lb 1/2 thin pork cutlets
2 TB butter
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 TB fresh rosemary, chopped
1 TB Dijon mustard

Directions
Heat oven to 180 degrees. Combine flour and seasoning salt. Lightly coat pork cutlets in flour mixture. Melt butter over medium high heat in a large skillet. Cook cutlets for about 3 minutes on each side in the skillet. Remove to a oven safe pan and keep warm in the oven while your make the sauce. Deglaze pan with  chicken stock, scraping up brown bits. Add heavy cream and reduce by half or until sauce reaches the thickness you prefer. Add rosemary and Dijon. Serve over pork cutlets.

Chicken Breast with Creamy Herbed Mushroom Sauce

This blog really is about the food I really cook for meals that we really eat. The photos are taken while I'm really cooking and just before we really dig in to eat. That's why I haven't blogged for a week. Puppy Daddy was out of town and I spent the week eating up all the left overs in the fridge. I was so excited to make this dish for his first dinner at home last night.

This is pretty simple and the creamy mushroom sauce is delicious both on the chicken and on buttered egg noodles. Start by pounding out your chicken breast to about 1/2 inch thick. You can just saute the breast by itself in some butter, but I really like it with a thin coat of breading on it. The flour also helps thicken up the sauce. Just cook the chicken breast breaded or not in butter. When it is cooked through and both sides are browned put it in an oven proof dish and keep warm in the oven.

Next make your sauce by sauteing sliced mushrooms and  chopped red onion. (You may need to add a bit more butter.) When the mushrooms and onions are soft, deglaze your pan with  dry sherry, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Next add  chicken stock or broth,  heavy cream, a few sprigs of thyme (The leaves will come off as it cooks. You just remove the stems before serving.) and dried tarragon. Cook  until the sauce starts to thicken. Spoon over your chicken and eat!


Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt/pepper
1/2 cup flour
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 - 4 TB butter
1/4 cup chopped red onions
2 TB dry sherry
1 cup chicken stock or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 TB dried tarragon

Directions
Pound chicken breast until about 1/2 thick. Season with salt and pepper. Dredge lightly in flour. Cook in a medium high skillet with 2 TB of butter until browned on both sides and cooked through. Remove to an oven safe dish and keep warm in a 200 degree oven. Saute mushrooms and onions is skillet adding butter if necessary. Cook over medium high heat until soft and browned. Deglaze skillet with sherry, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add stock, cream, thyme and tarragon. Cook until it reaches desired thickness. Serve over chicken breast.

Apricot Pork Tenderloin

This recipe is easy enough to make for a week night dinner, but impressive enough to make for guests and special occasions.

Even though the recipe calls for apricot preserves or jam, you can use a variety of flavors including blackberry. In fact if you look at the picture of the ingredients I used to make this dish you will see orange marmalade instead of apricot preserves. I didn't even realize that I had picked up orange marmalade until I opened the jar and noticed it didn't smell like apricots. Now I am not an orange marmalade fan, but the dish turned out great!

The recipe also calls for Chinese 5 Spice powder. This blend include star anise, cloves, cinnamon, sichuan pepper and fennel. For many years I couldn't find 5 Spice in my grocery store so I just used cinnamon, which works just as well. Just rub the spice mixture all over the pork tenderloin.

You should try this soon!





Ingredients
1 pork tenderloin, silver skin removed
2 TB Chinese 5 Spice powder or cinnamon
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 TB butter
3/4 cup apricot jam or preserves
3 green onions, chopped
1 TB soy sauce
1 TB dry sherry, optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend 5 Spice powder, salt and pepper. Rub all over pork tenderloin. Bake tenderloin in oven for 30 - 45 minutes until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. Meanwhile, melt butter in a small sauce pan. Add jam, green onions, soy sauce, dry sherry. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let stand until tenderloin is ready to serve. Let tenderloin sit for 10 minutes after removing from oven. Slice and serve with apricot sauce.

Creamy Lemon Parmesan Chicken

Wow, it's amazing how busy you can get being semi-retired! I haven't blogged in almost a month now, but I've still been doing plenty of cooking. Even when I'm DOG tired, my favorite thing to do is pour a glass of wine and prepare a home-cooked dinner. This recipe has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. It came from a holiday cooking magazine about 20 years ago, but it makes a great any night meal. Even my son Brandon, who was quite a picky eater when he was young, loves this.

There are just a few simple ingredients: Chicken Breast, Lemon, Heavy Cream, Chicken Stock or Broth, Grated Parmesan Cheese and Butter

Begin by pounding the chicken breast very thin. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and saute in some butter. When the chicken is done take it out of the pan, place it in an oven safe dish and keep it warm in the oven while you make the sauce.




Next deglaze your pan with lemon juice. Then add lemon zest, chicken stock and heavy cream. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Add your Parmesan cheese. Stir until sauce thickens and serve it with your chicken. So tangy and cheesy!

Ingredients
2 TB butter
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Melt butter in 12 inch skillet. Pound chicken between plastic wrap until about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Saute in melted butter, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from skillet and place in an oven safe dish. Place in the warm oven while you make the sauce.

Deglaze the skillet with 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Next add one tablespoon of lemon zest, chicken stock and heavy cream. Bring to a boil and reduce by about half. Stir frequently and reduce heat if sauce is bubbling too much. The sauce should easily coat the back of a spoon. Then add Parmesan cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Serve sauce over chicken breast.