Simply Done | Pork Chops with Caramel Citrus Glaze

This blog is not about travel but, travel figures into the story of this meal. We spent the weekend in California to catch a BNL concert. On the way home, we decided to take the road less traveled and were rewarded with the amazing vista above Palm Springs.  As the miles passed beneath our tires we knew that we were one step closer to the "normality" of home - picking lemons from the tree (the second such harvest, if you want lemons, give me a shout), grocery shopping, laundry, and dinner decisions.  Before we hit the state line, I had already decided that I had hit my limit of dining out so, I would need to cook tonight.

Standing in our local Fresh & Easy store, I pondered our options.  Thanks to whatever unholy winds blew through the Phoenix area while we were gone, grilling was really out of the picture (I would have to clean it before I cooked out there and I just did not feel like it) so, I was gravitating towards doing something in the oven.  We haven't had pork lately so I was leaning that way and then I saw the, "Simple Pork Chops with Caramel Citrus Glaze" in the meat section and we were off to the races.  With an ingredient list that I can actually pronounce and understand, simple oven instructions, we had a foundation of a meal that we served with parmesan roasted potatoes and green beans.  I cannot blame the chefs at the store for their decision (I would rather have under-seasoned than over-seasoned), but I felt this was a little bland and I added some Cavender's to add some depth of flavor.  My only other knock was some that my chop had a lot more fat on it than I would like but, a knife fixed that once it was pulled from the oven.  Though I applied a couple of tweaks, this was a great pick to keep us out of another restaurant.

I have a bonus product review for your consideration. I have said for years to cook meat to temperature and not time.  For years I have used a Polder probe thermometer for bigger items but, it is a pain the butt to use on smaller things (like pork chops).  I found a simple, cost effective solution in the OXO Good Grips Digital Instant Read Thermometer.  Though you should not leave this in the meat while it is on the grill or in the oven (the plastic housing of the digital readout will melt), it is a great tool to quickly check where you are at.  Caution, this is not really an "instant" unit, but you will see the numbers climb and stabilize within about five or so seconds (which should work nicely for what you need it to do). 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Garlic Basil Cream Cheese

Kauai - wonderful beaches, an excellent place to get away from your mainland cares, and someplace that has chickens wandering all over the place.  Since returning, I have been on a eat all the chicken I can get my hands on kick.  Yes, this is a thinly veiled attempt at revenge for having to listen to them crow/cluck/annoy us at every hour of the day.

I also firmly believe that bacon makes everything better and tonight's entree is a result of that belief and a willingness to experiment with the stuff that we had in the fridge.

Let's start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees and gathering the following ingredients;

• Boneless chicken breast (one for each person)
• One tablespoon of cream cheese per breast
• One clove of garlic per breast (in my case that is a Dorot garlic cube in place of each clove)
• Couple of basil leaves (in my case two Dorot basil cubes).
• One piece of raw bacon per breast (I like the thicker cut)
• Wooden toothpicks.

Directions

1. Separate the needed amount of cream cheese into a bowl
2. Mince, press or finely chop the garlic and basil. (upper left)
3. Stir into the cream cheese - Tim's Tip, allow the cream cheese to soften a bit outside of the fridge to make this easier.
4. Flatten or butterfly (personally, I prefer to flatten them) the chicken breasts.  If you have it, you can use a clean mallet to make this easier. The fact that you can get rid of a bit of aggression is my bonus gift to you. (upper right)
5. Spread the desired amount of cream cheese onto one face of the flattened chicken breasts.
6. Gently roll the breast up starting with the smaller end. Be sure that it is even on both sides.
   
7. Take your piece of bacon and starting at one side of the breast, wrap it tightly around the chicken. Secure the bacon with a toothpick (again, do not use a plastic toothpick - that will not be good eats), be sure to remember how many you put in so you can pass the pop quiz remembering to remove them all) prior to serving. (lower right)
8. Place in either a small baking dish or on a baking sheet. Personally, I use a ceramic sheet, lined with parchment paper.
9. Place on the center rack of the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
10. Clean all the stuff that the chicken touched or even thought about touching. I mean it, do not skip this step - I cannot stress how important hot water, lots of soap and Clorox bleach wipes are to avoid revenge of the chicken. If you do not believe me then, listen to the US Government - they never lie... (lower left)
11. When the chicken is done (juices run clear) you can move the chicken up to a higher rack in the oven and turn the broiler on, leaving the oven door open a bit. This will help the bacon crisp up a bit. Once your bacon gets to the amount of crispy yummy you want, remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

There you go - well worth the prep time and my yummy revenge for all the racket while in paradise...

Simple Sunday Lunch and Special Seasoning

As we get closer to our Kauai trip, we have re-embraced a carb free diet.  Sunday breakfast was poached eggs, bacon, and cheese but, lunch was all about handling a craving that I have had for a burger. Burgers as most Americans know them require buns and buns, unfortunately, have carbs...

There is a way around this and we gave it a go for lunch today.  The last thing I was to do is work hard today (killed myself yesterday and am not inclined to apply myself today). While the turkey burgers were on the grill (lightly seasoned of course), I grabbed some cheese, leaf lettuce and tomatoes from the fridge.  Slice the tomatoes, salt lightly and place on your plate.  Add whatever condiments you want to one face of the lettuce leaf (mayo in my case). Once off the grill, allow the patties to rest for three or so minutes. Add the cheese (cheddar in this instance) and wrap in the lettuce leaf.

On another subject, I found a steady supply of Cavender's seasoning at Wal-Mary of all places.  y father used to use this on the London Broils he would grill but, I have come to love it on just about everything you might use salt on. It adds a depth of flavor that salt alone cannot bring.  If you are watching your salt intake, there is a salt free version that isn't too bad...

Nutrition Label Makeover

Reading nutrition labels can be confusing and involve a bit of serving size conversion.  Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that they would like to make some changes - I am all in support of what they propose.

The FDA is proposing several changes to the nutrition labels you see on packaged foods and beverages. If approved, the new labels would place a bigger emphasis on total calories, added sugars and certain nutrients.

The most visible change is that calorie counts are bigger and bolder, to give them greater emphasis. In addition, serving sizes start to reflect the way most of us really eat. The current serving size is a half-cup. Under the proposed new label, the serving size would become 1 cup. A 20-ounce bottle of soda would be labeled as one serving. And with that, the calorie count at the top would come closer to reality.

The FDA says it will accept public comment on the proposal for 90 days.  For more information, visit the FDA website.

Trying Turkey "Steak"

Decided to try something different this evening for dinner...Turkey Breast "Steak". I will confess, I nearly passed it by. The "containing up to 12% of a flavoring solution" note on the label scared the hell out of me.  That solution has ingredients that I am pretty sure that I need a chemistry degree to understand what they are...

Regardless, we decided give it a whirl. While the grill was pre-heating to medium heat, I opened the package and drained away all the fluid that was likely generated in close quarters to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating station.  For extra measure, I blot dried with a paper towel before placing on the grill. Cook ten minutes each side on medium heat.  I would suggest that you add a bit of salt and pepper as well.  The taste of the cooked product was not bad, i just have an issue with food having faux food components.

Better yet, avoid the student loans for the chem degree and stick with something that has 0% of a flavoring solution.

Sensational Chicken Noodle Soup

Rose is sick so, with a little bit of effort, I was able to cobble together a version of chicken noodle soup that was much better for her and a canned option.  Here is what you will need.

• 96 ounces of chicken broth. (I suggest using organic or low sodium versions).
• Two large, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Two carrots, peeled and chopped
• Two celery sticks, chopped
• Four Dorot garlic cubes
• Four Dorot basil cubes
• Two Dorot cilantro cubes
• Whole wheat pasta

Grill the two chicken breasts.  Once cooked, bring inside and allow them to rest for 5 minutes.  In a stock pot, combine the chicken broth, basil, garlic, and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste and slowly bring to a light boil. Cover, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.  Pull chicken apart, add pasta, carrots, celery and cook covered for another 8 minutes.  Stir before serving.

While not as easy as a can, it was certainly worth it.  Bonus points awarded for having enough for Rosie to take to work for lunch Monday.

Lemon Pepper Tilapia with Brown Rice Asparagus

Lemon Butter Sauce with Garlic and Basil

Since I started the workday at 6:30 am and was on back-to-back calls through 11:30,  I decided to work from home. The bonus of this opportunity was that I decided to grill some turkey burgers for lunch. While flipping the patties, I noticed that some of our lemons were ripe for the picking and was inspired to make lemon pepper tilapia for dinner.

Start by preheating you oven to 375 degrees. Place the tilapia fillets on an oiled baking sheet - I used a foil wrapped ceramic flat (the foil is my fail-over to make the clean-up easy) pan. Slice a lemon into thin strips and place on top of the lightly salted fish.  Take a 1/4 stick of butter and gently melt in a small saute pan. Add pepper, the juice of one lemon (two if you want it really tart), two cloves of finely diced garlic (for which I used two Dorot garlic cubes) and some finely diced basil (also two Dorot cubes in my world). Gently stir over medium-low heat until all the components are mixed together.  Once completed pour over the fish and place it into the oven for 12 minutes.

Easy Prep for a Tasty Meal

I tried something different with the asparagus tonight. I had a some leftover turkey bacon that I decided I wanted to use up so that got diced and thrown into the stir fry pan. Add a 1/4 stick of butter (at least I am consistent on the butter tonight), two cloves of diced garlic (again, in my world that is two Dorot cubes) and asparagus tips. Saute covered for ten minutes over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until done.  To further jack things up, I added a package of fresh & easy microwave brown rice (don't judge, seriously, three minutes in the microzap - it is kind of hard to screw up rice) to the wok and mix it all up.

Plate the rice and pull the fish from the oven.  Remove lemon slices and pour the baking pan drippings over the top of the fish. In a little less than fifteen minutes you will be enjoying a great dinner. 

Lemon Pepper Tilapia with Brown Rice Asparagus