Thursday, September 22, 2011

Week 38: Peking Pork Chops

The Recipe
3-4 pork chops
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 red bell pepper

Put the pork chops in the bottom of the crock-pot. Mix the next 8 ingredients (garlic through cinnamon) and pour over. Cut the bell pepper into bite sized pieces and put on top. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours. Serve with brown rice.

The Verdict
ABSOLUTELY delicious! If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'll know that crock-pot recipes almost always disappointment. This was the exception that proved that rule. The meat was moist and tender, the flavours mixed wonderfully together, and the sauce was yummy, yummy, yummy! You definitely want to serve this over rice to soak up all the juicy goodness :)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

M&M Cookies

225gr / 8oz white sugar
225gr / 8oz granulated brown sugar (farin)
200gr / 7oz melted butter
2 eggs
250gr / 0.5lb flour
1.5 cup / 150gr oatmeal
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup M&Ms (~200gr / 2.5dl)
1 cup Peanuts (2.5dl)

Mix the white and brown sugar, the butter, the eggs and the vanilla to a light mix. Add flour, oatmeal, salt and baking powder. Finally mix in the M&Ms and peanuts (warning, it gets very heavy to mix together, this is as it is supposed to be, you're not doing anything wrong).

Put the dough onto a baking sheet using spoons. I find that one heaped teaspoon is about the right size for a proper cookie. Make sure there's lots of space between each 'blob' of dough, as it spreads a lot while being baked.

Bake at 175C/350F for 12-17 minutes depending on size and desired cripsness... I like mine kinda soft :D

Put on a flat surface to cool down as they're very bendable/breakable until cool.

Eat with great pleasure and no guilt – they taste too good to be destroyed by guilt.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Week 37: Turkey Marsala

The Recipe
400g turkey breast
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp black pepper, divided
1/2 tbsp oil
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Marsala wine (I used white wine)
1 tsp lemon juice

Cut the breast into bite-sized pieces. In a large plastic bag, combine flour, half the salt and half pepper. Add turkey, seal bag and shake to coat. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat; add turkey and cook for 7 to 8 minutes per side or until no longer pink in the center. In the same skillet, melt the butter; add mushrooms and saute for 4 minutes or until tender. Stir in broth and wine and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in lemon juice and remaining salt and pepper. Serve sauce over turkey.

Serve with baked potatoes and carrots.

The Verdict
I'm not sure quite... it tasted okay, but lacked something, and I couldn't quite figure out what. Not salt, not pepper, not chili... just some 'oomph' of some kind.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Week 36 - Tandoori Tenderloin

The Recipe
1 pork tenderloin (300g)
1 dl yoghurt naturel
2 tbsp tandoori spice
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice

Turn on the oven to 250C.

In a bowl, mix together yoghurt, garlic, tandoori and lemon juice. Add tenderloin and leave in fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Transfer to ovenproof dish and cook for 10 minutes on each side. Remove from dish, wrap in tin foil and let it rest for 20 minutes.

The Verdict
It was okay, but unfortunately not much more than that. One of those dishes you eat just to fill up, not because it tastes good. Am not going to bother with that one again.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Week 35: Creamy Jalapeno Turkey

The Recipe
275g boneless skinless turkey breast cutlets (couldn't find turkey, so I used chicken instead)
salt
oil
1 chopped onion
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (I only have pickled, sliced jalapeno, so I used 4 slices)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
40g cream cheese
2 tbsp sour cream or greek yoghurt
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped

Cut turkey into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle turkey with salt. Heat the oil in a skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat; add turkey and brown on both sides. Add onion, broth, jalapenos and cumin. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes or until turkey is cooked through. Stir cream cheese and sour cream into onion mixture in skillet until well blended; stir in tomatoes and bell pepper and heat through. Serve over rice.

The Verdict
I didn't have terribly high hopes for this one as it smelled kinda funny as it was cooking. It ended up being really tasty though - the chili-cheese taste did wonders for the typical blandness of chicken. It was a tiny bit too rich though, so I think I might use less cream cheese and yoghurt next time - 40g/2tbsp is a LOT!

Week 34: Garlicky Grilled Corn

The Recipe
2 ears corn, shucked
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, combine butter, garlic, and paprika. Rub butter mixture over the corn. Season well with salt and pepper.

Roll corn tightly in tinfoil (shiny side out.) Grill over medium heat for 30 minutes, turning frequently.

The Verdict
I had to make this in the oven, rather than on a grill, but using the grill element, so I would assume it doesn't make that much of a difference to the taste. Unfortunately, I didn't like it much. I don't know if there was too little butter, or if the oven made a bigger difference than expected, but it ended up being rather dry and dull. A shame, because it LOOKED amazing!