I've been exploring some new ideas in the kitchen lately, and I must say that several of them have been smashing! Thought I'd share...
Pork Chops
I have always liked pork chops - would normally do them on the grill or with shake-n-bake but that seemed boring. One evening I got a wild hair and thought that maybe breaking the chops before slapping them on the grill would be good. I didn't want to over-do it, but the results were fabulous.
I mixed together some seasoned bread crumbs (Old London are the best I've found) and some Lawry's season salt and coated the chops with the mixture - no egg or milk, just used the naturaly wetness of the chops. I then grilled them, turning them often. I've done this several times now and they come out so moist and tasty! Mmmm. I got brave last night and used "Iowa chops" instead of the regular ones. "Iowa chops" are simply fat pork chops - they cut them at about 1" thick. You have to cook them slower to make sure they get done all the way through, but damn they were good.
Egg in the Basket
I discovered a treat that I suspect has been around for a long time - I just didn't know about it. Until I did a little googline, we were calling it "eggy bread" but in Europe that's what is known here as French toast. I discovered this morning delight while watching V for Vendetta - it's the egg in bread that V makes for Evey for breakfast. You cut a hole in the center of your buttered slice of bread and drop an egg in the hole and fry it up in a skillet. It's awesome and I've become stuck on them. Is this a British thing?
Beef Stew
I've tried to make beef stew several times, but it's always turned out badly. The beef always comes out tasteless - like meat that's been boiled in water for far too long. Well, this time I got it right. I looked on-line at some recipes, and used an Irish beef stew recipe from Epicurious.com as my base. I sauteed the stew meat in butter (it said veg. oil, but butter's better!) with lost of minced garlic. Then, I added beef broth, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings and simmered it for about 45 minutes. I then sauteed all the vegetables in butter and added them to the stew. Cooked it for another 45 minutes or so and it ROCKED. This stew was a vegetable explosion - I added green beans, corn, onions, green peppers, celery, potatoes, okra, carrotts and asparagus. Damn it was good. I have to giggle when I eat it, though, because my son and his father refer to farting on eachother as "beef stew". I have no idea why. lol
Garlic Bread Pizza
This is nothing of my making, just a freezer-section discovery, but it's worth mentioning. DiGiorno is now making a "garlic bread pizza" that we tried for the first time a few nights ago. DAMN, it was good. Now, I am a huge garlic bread freak (though I've been depriving myself for the last year or so) so this was right up my alley. The best way to describe it is that the crust is made of garlic bread. I got the "four cheese" variety, loaded on some mushrooms and italian sausage and it was THE BOMB. It's a carb-counters nightmare, but hey - you've got to live now and then! Damn, now I'm really hungry. Fortunately, I have a big fat Iowa chop waiting at home for me for lunch. Mmmmmm!
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