Every week we try to have at least one new thing on our menu. It doesn't always work out, but it's so fun when it does. This week I had two new recipes down and last night was one of them...and it was a delicious meal!!
I'm not usually into the whole sweet and savory thing on my plate. I don't know if it's all in my head or if I really dislike the taste, but for some reason I had been dying to do a pork chop and apple recipe. I surfed the web until I came across the recipe I wanted to try. I chose Tyler Florence's Thick Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Raisins. I liked the simplicity of the recipe and the fact that it called for brining the chops. Everything came together very easily. You brown the chops for 4 minutes on each side before moving them to the oven to finish cooking, which gives you time to prepare the apples. I chose to omit the raisins from mine, because, well, I just don't like them. They turned out really nicely! Pork and apples have been long friends, but it's the first time they've come out to play with one another at our house. I will certainly be adding this recipe to our list of menu must haves.
I apologize for the poor quality of photo (I promise it tasted better than it looks here!), but I had a screaming 2 year old who was ready to eat, so no time for re-shoots!
Speaking of must haves, The Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes absolutely won me over!! These are not for the faint of heart, as they include such ingredients as half and half and cream cheese. Yes, that's right, cream cheese! I'm not a cream cheese fan at all, but oh.my.gosh. these were fantastic!!! If you're on a diet, I promise it's worth breaking for one day just to try these. She called for Russet of Yukon Gold potatoes, but I had red potatoes at home, so that's what I used. I didn't follow amounts as indicated because my serving for the 3 of us was much smaller than the recipe's called for 5 pound of potatoes. I just started with a little of the cream cheese and went from there. I used 6 medium sized potatoes and probably used about 1/4 of an 8 ounce package of cream cheese. Bailey doesn't like mashed potatoes (I know, I don't know how that's possible!!) and even she said these were yummy. I promise they won't let you down.
Photo courtesy of The Pioneer Woman. I didn't take a picture because of the screaming 2 year old mentioned earlier.
Ok, you are now the 2nd person with a ringing endorsement for that mashed potato recipe. Believe it or not, Colin is not a huge fan of them either. What is wrong with our children?! I love the new tabs at the top but I'm glad you pointed them out because I had totally missed them!
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