Mushroom Sauce Pork Chops

I'm stuck in classes most nights and starting in January (or maybe December) I'll have a long term substitute teaching position to replace a pregnant math teacher. The Brain also works long hours for some clients who would test the patience of a saint. Thus our happy little family has become fairly dependent on the slow cooker. It didn't start out so well. In the beginning the slow cooker produced some of the very worst dinners yet. But, now that I've got the lovely Chester Pig in the freezer and found some delicious slow cooker cookbooks, I think I'm getting the hang of it!

This is the Brain's all time favorite slow cooker meal. He's also a really big fan of the Party Beans, but these Mushroom Sauce Pork Chops are his favorite. I think. I know he really really really likes them. I like that some time in the morning I just have to sear the chops and then throw them and a whole bunch of really inexpensive pantry items into the slow cooker and when I get home tired and hungry from school this delicious pork is all ready for me. And this pork is so tender usually just the bones are left in the slow cooker.

Mushroom Sauce Pork Chops

from Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes

4 pork chops

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 medium onion thinly sliced

2 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup sherry

1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp garlic powder

egg noodles

Trim fat from chops and brown on both sides in a skillet in hot oil. Drain off fat. In 5 quart slow cooker place onion and then chops. If you have a mortar and pestle grind tapioca to a powder, otherwise place tapioca in a plastic baggie and whack away at it with a meat tenderizer. In a bowl, combine tapioca, soup, sherry, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and garlic powder. Pour over chops.

Cover and cook on low for 8 or 9 hours. Serve over egg noodles.

Barefoot Summer Borscht

Tonight I do my first peer teaching. Pretty exciting. Nerve racking really. I've created a worksheet. I've thought about what I'm going to say. I've found a nifty SOHCAHTOA video. I've got the Mt. Sohcahtoa poster all finished. And although I'm only teaching for 10 minutes, I'm nervous. Do I have too much content for 10 minutes? What if it all goes over my classmates' heads? What if I get a smartass in class who decides to ask questions that I don't have the answer for? I'm sure it will be fine, but these questions have me nervous.

Unfortunately, I can answer what black bean soup tastes like when you add cinnamon instead of cumin. It tastes like dirt. So there will be no black bean soup recipe posted today. Instead, I give you a delicious soup I made this summer instead. It's Ina Garten's Summer Borscht as printed in her cookbook The Barefoot Contessa at Home. I checked the book out of the library and now I understand what all the fuss is about the Barefoot Contessa. Ina's recipes were easy to follow and totally delicious. I'm adding this particular cookbook to my Christmas wish list, but I'd be happy with any of her cookbooks. Hint. Hint.

And because it's such a beautiful pink color I'm entering it in Cilantro & Lime's Baking For Breast Cancer, even though it's not actually baked. I believe it was so hot outside when I made it that I was baking, but that's a stretch really. But seriously, breast cancer awareness is important to me. I just spent part of the weekend at a party for a close family friend who is now a survivor of breast cancer. The good news is that when breast cancer is detected early then there is a 98% 5-year survival rate. So remember to give yourself a breast self exam at least once a month! (I got my information from the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.)

Summer Borscht

adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Serves 6

5 medium fresh beets (about 2 pounds without tops)

kosher salt

2 cups chicken broth

16 ounces sour cream

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1 English cucumber, seeds removed and diced

1/2 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts

2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

Place the beets in a large pot of boiling salted water and cook uncovered until the beets are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the beets to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine sieve and also set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the beet cooking liquid, the chicken stock, sour cream, yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, 1 Tbsp salt, and the pepper. Peel the cooled beets with a small paring knife or rub the skins off with your hands. Cut the beets in a small to medium dice. Add the beets, cucumber, scallions, and dill to the soup. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Season to taste and serve cold.

Farafalle with Sausage, Cannellini Beans, and Kale

Have you ever been so angry you walk around your house completely useless because you're muttering to yourself about how angry you are? Well, I've had a rough morning and as a result I'm just about angry enough to spit (like spitting would help). In the interest of not leaking that anger (or mentioning the person with which I'm angry), today's Legume Wednesday will be fairly without commentary.

All I can say is it's a truly delicious dinner and I'll definitely be making it again. Yum!

Farafalle, with Sausage, Cannellini Beans, and Kale

adapted from Cooking Light

16 ounces uncooked farafalle (bow tie pasta)

1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 pound pork sausage

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 (14 oz.) can fat-free less-sodium chicken broth

1 (16 oz.) package fresh kale

1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Keep warm.

Drain tomatoes in a small sieve over a bowl, reserving 2 tsp oil; slice tomatoes. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add sliced tomatoes, reserved 2 tsp tomato oil, onion, and sausage to pan; cook 10 minutes or until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble. Add garlic to pan. Cook 1 minute. Add seasoning, pepper, and broth to pan. Stir in kale; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until kale is tender. Stir in pasta, reserved 1 cup cooking liquid, and beans. Sprinkle with cheese.

Black Currant Jam from Norway!

This week I received a fabulous package in the mail from Siri of Transplanted Baker. Siri sent me some gorgeous and delicious black currant jam. I don't think I've ever had a non-dried currant before and I can honestly say I love this jam. It's almost a molassesy tasting fruity jam. And it's absolutely delicious on Zingerman's farm bread. Which I also love and pick up pretty much every single time I go anywhere close to Ann Arbor.

Siri also sent me a Norwegian candy bar, but I have no photos because I ate it immediately and oh my it was delicious too! It was a Kvikklunsj and it was like a Kit Kat, except it was so much better it was almost not in the same category.

So why am I the lucky recipient of the jam? Well it was Molly at Batter Splattered's Jam and Jelly exchange. This was a totally fun event. Megan over at Megan's Cooking got the jam I sent just in time for her birthday. Hooray! Go check out Transplanted Baker and Megan's Cooking and Batter Splattered. This was a fun way to get to "meet" new bloggers! And try new jam in the process!

And just in case you wanted to know what it feel likes to be a total math geek, go to your local college campus and carry a poster like this around for a while.

Anyone know a good way of getting kids to spell SOHCAHTOA without using Some Old Hippie Caught Another Hippie Toking On Acid? I'm aiming it at 9th graders for crying out loud.

Country Lentil Soup

I've decided to bring it back. It's Legume Wednesday! See I got to thinking. Part of the reason I was doing Legume Wednesday was to show how easy and versatile legumes are. For example, I think the entire prep time for this lentil soup may have been a whopping 5 minutes. It would be less if you are speedier at chopping 1 onion, 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks and used dried herbs. I was out of thyme. Oh the irony! And seriously, there are so many people out there who are far busier than I am and they're still blogging regularly, and besides they might appreciate an easy and hearty bean meal.

Ergo. It's back! SO today for Legume Wednesday, I brought out the kickass cookbook, 1001 Best Slow-Cooker Recipes. I have to admit this is the first recipe I've made out of this cookbook, but it was so easy and delicious that I'm sure there will be more. And the Brain can tell you that I have a bunch of cookbooks that I haven't cooked anything out of. Or maybe only one or two things anyway. It's his prevailing logical argument against me buying more cookbooks.

So yeah, this is a delicious Country Lentil Soup. Super easy to make. I mean really, there's minimal chopping and then it all just gets thrown into the slow-cooker and 8 hours later you have some really yummy soup. What better way to enjoy a rainy day in fall?

Country Lentil Soup

adapted from 1,001 Best Slow-Cooker Recipes

6 entree servings

3 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1 cup dried lentils

1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes, undrained

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried)

1 tsp fresh marjoram, chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried)

1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried)

salt and pepper, to taste

6 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients, except salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese, in 6 quart slow-cooker; cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each bowl of soup with 1 tablespoon cheese.

Apple Pie

It's fall! I happen to really really like fall. But every fall, I start to feel bad. Because there's the one project that up until now has eluded me. My greatest downfall as a housewife. Well that and vacuuming. Man I hate vacuuming. But doesn't my front door look pretty? My greatest downfall has been pie making. I suck at it.

Well I did until now. I went grocery shopping and decided I would do something nice for the Brain. He loves pie. I don't. So there's lots for him when I make it and usually he forces it down. There have been some really bad pies that have come out of my oven. Burnt ones. Soggy ones. Fairly transparent ones. I've even screwed up using the already made roll out crust.

But I've been looking at all the apples in the store and I decided to give it one last go. The Joy of Cooking recipes for pies haven't turned out so well for me before though so I knew I didn't want to retry them. Finally I remembered that in the midst of all my fancy cookbooks, I had a big red Betty Crocker cookbook. You know the one I'm talking about. The one that everyone's mom has. I think my mom gave me hers actually. I figured you can't go wrong with Betty Crocker. I was right!

For the first time ever, I created a pie that was beautiful. And the Brain kept saying from the living room. "This is a good pie! A DAMN good pie!" I almost made another one on the spot. Except I didn't have any more of the roll out pie dough and I wasn't about to learn how to master crust the same day that I finally make a good pie.

Apple Pie

from the Betty Crocker's Cookbook

Pastry for 9-inch two crust pie

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

dash of salt

6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (I used a combination of Gala and Granny Smith)

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line pie plate with one half of the pastry. Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in apples. Mound apple mixture into pie plate. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust, poke with fork and cut a steam hole in the center. Cover edges with 3-inch strips of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Bake until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slit in crust, about 45 minutes.

Operation Baking Gals- October!

Alright, so I'm really slacking on getting these posts up, but I did mail my packages. I also had a lovely long conversation with the mail lady. That would be one of the very nice things about living in a small town. I have long conversations with the ladies at the post office. The teller at the bank notices when I lose a little weight. It's like that old Sesame Street song, "These are the People in Your Neighborhood". SO I went to the post office this morning with my jam, and my two soldier packages.

Yes, it's time for another installment of Operation Baking Gals! This time I have two soldiers. A soldier who is now on his second tour in Iraq and another soldier who has 50 soldiers with him. So I sent one soldier some of Aunt Nicky's Butter cookies cut into leaf shapes.

And then I sent another soldier some Cowboy cookies, delightful oatmeal-pecan-chocolate chip-coconut cookies of unfortunate Republican roots, made over by the lovely Martha Stewart (who has a really neat blog now. Check it out! And yes, neat as in tidy, duh, but also neat as in cool.)

And finally I searched the library book of the month, The Complete Cookie. I also got the Maltese Falcon (ooooh good) and Fahrenheit 451 (yikes scary). I don't just read cookbooks. In The Complete Cookie, I came across a delicious recipe for Caramel Meringue Filled Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies. They were really pretty easy to make and super delicious.

I hope the cookies brighten the soldiers' day.

Caramel Meringue-Filled Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
from The Complete Cookie

Dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
1 large egg white
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp dark molasses
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer set at medium speed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated.

Drop the dough by the heaping tablespoonful onto the prepared cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until the cookies turn light golden.

Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

For the filling, bring water to a simmer over low heat in the bottom of a double boiler.

Meanwhile, combine the egg white, sugars, water, molasses, and cream of tartar in the detached top of the double boiler. Whisk to blend. Fit the top of the double boiler over simmering water, making sure that the water doesn't touch the underside. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches a temperature of 140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the top of the double boiler from the heat and begin to beat immediately with an electric mixer at medium speed. Continue to mix for about 8 minutes until stiff peaks form.

Spread about 2 1/2 teaspoons of the filling on the flat bottom of a cooled cookie and top with a second cookie, flat side in, to make a sandwich. Repeat the process until all the cookies have been filled.

Freeze for 2 days and then mail off.