Warm and Fuzzy

Tonight was one of those hectic nights, although it didn't start out that way. I came home with plenty of time to prep the meal for tonight, take care of the dogs, go for a run, etc., etc. But of course I sat around and played online looking up cake plates and Halloween decor. Now that I write this, it seems like a weird combination, but the mind wanders when ambling around the internet. You have to agree that it would be worth throwing a Halloween party just to serve apple cider out of this cauldron with some fake spider webbing strewn around! Anyways, the point is that I waited until the last minute and had to shorten my run in half and just as I was defrosting my pork chops, Greg's car pulled in the driveway! One disaster followed another, but at least now I know that Risotto takes A LOT of time and patience and isn't something to whip up while you have 10 other things bubbling over in the kitchen!

Tonight's Menu:

Oven Fried Pork Chops
Risotto
Bistro Mushrooms
Peas

To start off, I was supposed to have a certain kind of rice, but I couldn't find it at the grocery store, so I used Jasmine rice for the Risotto. Are you laughing at me yet?

Now you're laughing. Yes, I used Stove Top stuffing to coat my pork chops, but I didn't have enough time to crush them into tiny pieces and I don't have a food processor because my kitchen is too small and all of the cabinet space is used up! (I have the hand-me-down bread maker from my mom still stored on top of my dryer in the mud room) So, the stuffing barely stuck to the chops. Therefore, I just dumped a load of stuffing on them in the pan.

Food was flying everywhere! Rice was popping like popcorn out of the pot, onions were dropping all over the floor, I was screaming at the dogs "get out of the kitchen," which is my nightly mantra.

Of course I didn't read the instructions before starting the Risotto and I have never made it the "real" way before, so I didn't realize that you brown the rice a little bit first with oil and onions and garlic and then you pour in 28 ounces of chicken broth a 1/2 cup at a time, waiting for the rice to absorb each bit of liquid, while stirring constantly nonetheless! Meanwhile I was making Bistro Mushrooms (also, for the first time) and had to be stirring those the whole time as well. I was a crazy person in the tiny kitchen. Luckily Greg got home when he did!

Flipping the chops.

Stirring the Risotto. The second pot had the boiling chicken broth that I was adding bit by bit.

Again with my mushroom obsession... This is so easy though, and tastes delish! It's just sliced mushrooms (about 3 cups: button, shitake, cremini, etc.) sauteed in a couple tablespoons of olive oil for about 4 minutes. Then add 1/3 cup of dry red wine or sherry, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste, and about 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme and let it simmer for 3 more minutes while sitrring a bit, and there you go! You will have Bistro Mushrooms. I put it over the Risotto.

Finally it absorbed all it could and thickened up.

And the end result.....

Yay Stove Top!

Where would we be without the peas that Greg made? I'll tell you where, sitting at dinner with no veggies!

So, it was a crazy night. I didn't expect dinner to take over an hour to make, but it ended up tasting pretty darn good. The Risotto didn't have the cheese that it was supposed to because we forgot it at the grocery store this week, and the peas were just from a bag of frozen ones that we keep on hand in case of a vegetable crisis, but it all turned out.   Warm and fuzzy?   I     think     so.

Fall is in the Air

The first week of school: Kids are already forgetting homework, lessons are waiting to be created, copiers have already crashed, and I'm halfway through my new teaching clothes after one week. But with all of the stress that the new school year brings, it also brings my most favorite season, autumn. If life could be lived as a revolving cycle of August through November, I would seriously consider it. There is nothing like warm sunny afternoons leading into cool, brisk evenings. The colors become more earthy and rust-colored and the food becomes more hearty and aromatic. I could go on and on and on... Needless to say, tonight I was inspired to make my first fall meal of the season. The house smelled like apple cider and cloves. Greg walked in the door and said "yumm!"

First I browned the pork chops on both sides.

I added onions, butter, and salt and pepper.

Then, I added apple cider and brought it to a boil. I turned the heat to low, covered the pot,  and set the time for two hours! While the pork chops were simmering, Camden and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. Pee-wee football was in full swing at the park next to our community and Camden and I both watched with interest as the tiny boys drowning in football pads, helmets, and maroon jerseys were tackling each other and having such a great time just being kids. It only added to my contentedness. What a perfect night.

Then, I started sauteing some mushrooms in butter. (One of my favorite things in the world)

Whoops! Almost forgot the shallots!

Then I added my fresh steamed green beans.

I boiled the orzo for 9 minutes.

After two hours, my pork chops are falling apart, literally! Note the big chunk in the middle.

After plating the pork chops, I dumped about a tablespoon of cornstarch in the leftover apple cider, turned it to high heat, let it boil, and whisked the hell out of it. It basically turned into apple gravy. Then I poured this over the meat and the Orzo. If you want to try this out, make sure you add salt to the pasta to balance out the super sweetness of the apple gravy. The combination is insanely good.





Dinner is served!

 

The green beans with mushrooms and shallots are from The Food You Crave. The rest was just kinda made up as I went, but all in all it was a satisfying dinner. Greg said he could taste the work I put into the food tonight, which is his sweetest comment about my food as of late. The only thing that could have made the night better was some pumpkin pie to finish it off...but I'm getting a little ahead of myself. So I just lit a spiced pumpkin candle instead. 

Thanks for reading my comments about food and fall tonight. I can't wait to post some more autumn recipes and meals in the coming months. I'm already thinking about the Turkey Roulade that I'm going to try out for Thanksgiving. It's like a cinnamon swirl, but made out of Thanksgiving food. You'll see... 

I'm going to try out this video thing, so we'll see what happens. The lens kept fogging up because of all of the hot food!

 

 I think this one is of mushrooms sauteing.  

  

And the green beans

And here's the pork simmering.