Pork and Mushrooms w/ Chicken Stock

Tonight my boyfriend's dad came over for dinner. I made boneless pork loin chops (Hormel), topped with slices of seared mushrooms and chicken stock gravy. I put the pork chops on piles of white rice in order to soak up any "stray" gravy. All in all - completely delicious!

Step 1: Sear the mushroom slices in extra virgin olive oil in medium heat until browned, season. Set the mushrooms aside in a bowl.
Step 2: After seasoning the boneless pork chops on both sides - I used steak seasoning because it has salt & pepper & herbs, etc. all in one- sear them in the same pan used to cook the mushrooms. You may have to add a bit more olive oil to the pan first. About 4 minutes on each side (medium heat) will cook the pork chops perfectly, depending on the thickness of the meat. Look for golden brown color!
Step 3: You want to start cooking your rice while you sear the pork chops. I used white rice, although the recipe called for brown rice. Bring the water to a boil; remove from heat and add rice. Let soak - covered - for 6 minutes. Drain.
Step 4: After removing pork chops from the frying pan, pour chicken stock into the pan and heat. About two tablespoons of flour (depending on amount of stock) must be mixed in gradually, using a wisk. This will thicken the stock into a gravy, along with letting the stock & flour bubble for a full minute. Add the mushrooms you've set aside and mix.
Step 5: Plate. Place a small pile of rice in center of plate. The boneless pork chop leans against the rice, and the mushrooms & gravy will be poured on pork chop and rice.

It was so good, I'm not kidding! My pork chops were juicy and well seasoned. Perfection. My mushrooms were not overcooked OR undercooked. But I've always had a problem with eating rice without soy sauce, personally. It tastes bland. Maybe I should have added some salt? Still....anyway - that's what I've recently cooked up! Stay tuned for more recipe projects. =)

Good Ol' Guacamole!

Today I made a batch of guacamole. First of all, I used to be a fan of it, but within the past few years - I haven't liked it very much. It just tastes "green" to me. But I thought I'd give it a second chance, and make it myself. Here's are the ingredients I used, from a recipe on foodnetwork.com:

• 4 ripe avocados
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 serrano chiles, sliced thinly
• 1 big handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

The verdict? Compared to guacamole that comes from a restaurant, this stuff tasted a little spicy. I think it needed less cilantro and less onion. But luckily my boyfriend loves it (I told you he'd eat anything!), so whatever I don't end up eating, he can. With this recipe, I attempted to make a guacamole lettuce wrap. You take a gob of guacamole and mix it with cherry tomatoes that have been cut in half - then wrap it in a piece of romaine/butter lettuce! It sounded healthy so I wanted to try it. The problem is....guacamole is so rich, that I got sick of the taste and only ate 1/2 of my wrap. But now I know. The remaining guacamole will just be used as a dip for my veggie crackers, I guess.

Up next - something from this website I found, called http://www.choosingraw.com/. I don't want to become a vegan or anything, but look at all of the healthy meal selections they have! =)

What is Next

Here is the recipe I used to make my italian meatballs: http://southernfood.about.com/od/meatballs/r/r80118c.htm

The only thing different about my recipe, is that I didn't use any parmesan cheese, and I seared them over the stove in olive oil. Ten minutes on one side, then ten minutes on the other - over medium heat. There were about three batches of meatballs, so making them took easily over an hour. But they were so good! And they made my apartment smell real nice. I would definitely cook these again and again. Is this how you cook meatloaf? Because it tasted exactly the same....

I had my meatballs separate, but my boyfriend put them in some spaghetti sauce and let it simmer. Then he cooked up some pasta noodles, and had the meatballs in a meal. I was just as proud of the italian meatballs as I was when I made tomato bruschetta! The question is; what do I cook now? Nothing jumps out at me. I'll have to research some "dinner" recipes. Healthy is key, though. I don't want to make anything that has to be cooked with gobs of butter. Ideas?

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Well - as you can imagine - my tomato bruschetta was a big hit with my boyfriend. He inhaled his plate, and finished mine. It made me wonder if he would eat anything I put in front of him, but that doesn't matter so much. On a scale of "1 to 10," he declared a "500". I've learned not to over-handle the tomatoes, otherwise they get mushy. Making tomato bruschetta has brought to my attention that I know nothing at all about how to properly dice a tomato. Also; don't be afraid of the olive oil! Not using enough when toasting your bread slices on the stove will cause them to burn. I like rubbing a clove of garlic on one side of the bread only - both sides can taste really strong.

This was the second real dinner I've made him since we've moved into our apartment. And that was four months ago! The first thing I ever made was a couple sirloins with some pasta. (Yum!) I've decided that the next thing on the menu will be some homemade meatballs that are 1 part italian sausage, 1 part hamburger meat with assorted spices, and some good ol' fashioned spaghetti! I love meatballs. This meal will probably be made with jarred sauce. Not too gourmet I know...I would make it with my homemade spaghetti sauce, but that takes hours and I haven't been feeling too well today. I think I caught some sort of stomache bug. I called in sick today, so I'm not even going to work.

On a small side note, the first snowfall of the season was yesterday! I love snow. It still hasn't really stopped. A nice November surprise, since we didn't get any snow at all last year...

Tomato Bruschetta

Last night I watched one of my favorite movies - Julie & Julia. Baking is mostly what I do in the kitchen, but I'd really like to start cooking actual meals. Everything that Julie cooks looks absolutely amazing! One thing that caught my eye was in the beginning of the movie; tomato bruschetta. It looked so gorgeous that I decided to make it for my boyfriend this weekend. I'm personally not a big fan of tomatoes, but he is. Who knows? This recipe could change my mind.

For those of you who don't know what a tomato bruschetta is, here's a description. You take a loaf of rustic or french bread and cut it into thick slices. Cook the slices in a little bit of olive oil on the stove, until they are golden brown. Rub each slice with a clove of garlic. Then put a mixture of tomato chunks, fresh basil, and salt/pepper that's been tossed in olive oil right on top of the bread. Sometimes it's topped off with mozzarella cheese, but I'd prefer to keep the meal as healthy as possible. And contrary to the word "oil" in olive oil, that's good for you too.

I found the perfect recipe online for my tomato bruschetta: http://favoritegardenrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/08/bruschetta-julia-child-way.html

All I can say is that the picture in the link doesn't do the movie's version justice. Julie used red and yellow tomatoes, which is what I'd like to do...if I can find any that are yellow. I'm sure my boyfriend and I will love it anyway. Well, he'll love it and I'll just like it. We'll see! =)

Introduction

This is my first post on blogspot. I'm not sure if I'll be posting a lot on here, but I'm going to try.

I guess I should start with an introduction. You can call me Food Lover. A short description of me; I'm a twin, petite caucasian female, 107 lbs, long brown hair and blue eyes. I live in the apple state...in Western Washington. It's rainy and green. I've lived here all my life, and don't ever want to move. I have a boyfriend that I live with in a one-bedroom apartment. We've been together for exactly 17 months yesterday. I work as a temp in a large office building six months out of the year. Which means right now, I have a full-time job. Sometimes I work over forty hours a week. My boyfriend works as a grocery store cashier...part-time, for three years now. He's aspiring to be a police officer. My hobbie is being a candle maker. I also like to bake.

Currently, I'm looking for more in life. My work is data-entry. Which means that I hate it. I seem to have the perfect setup for any normal 20 year-old: boyfriend, job, apartment. But lately I feel like there's been a giant lull in my daily routine...I want more, and am not quite sure where to find it. My sister is deemed "the adventurous" one in the family - tall ship sailor, emergency responder, traveler...ski lift operator in the mountains currently. She's single and has no money. But she's a free bird, while I feel weighed down by my normal route of life. Sometimes I feel like there was a fork in the road and I chose wrong. The constant search for ways to spark up interest in my life is starting to wear on me. But I have to keep trying.

So welcome to my blog! Hope you enjoy.