Mommie Cooks!

Sometimes Simple, Sometimes Grand, Always Declicious

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Leggo my Schnitzel!

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Pork Schnitzel that is.  And boy was it yummo.  This is a simple, delicious dinner that everyone will love.  I know I sound like a broken record when I say that,  but with three small boys, believe me, you need to get creative with food in order to get them to try new things.  Nick, my oldest, loves a simple, sauce free meat dish any day of the week, so this one’s for him.  Here’s what you’ll need:

1 Pound of Boneless Pork Loin Chops
1 Cup of Flour
Black Pepper to taste
2 Cups of Panko Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs Beaten
4 Tbsp butter
8 Tbsp Olive Oil
Lemon wedges for squeezing

Ok, so the best part about this meal is the first step.  Grab your meat mallet and pound those morsels down to a thickness of 1/4″ to 1/8″ thick.  I don’t know about you, but after a long day with the kids, breaking up fights, changing diapers, dealing with obnoxious customer service reps and the like, nothing feels more cathartic than taking a mallet to some meat.  And yes, that’s one of my little munchkins flying by the camera in the background there.  Got a love an active kitchen.  Here’s what your pounded meat should look like.  The pile is the before and the laid out meat is the after.  I realize it’s not the best shot, but trust me that I pounded it plenty and enjoyed every last minute of it.
Heat up 2 Tbsp of the butter and 4 Tbsp of the oil on medium high heat in a large skillet.  Next you want to make up three shallow dishes.  One will have your flour and pepper, one will have your beaten egg, and one will have your bread crumbs.  Dip a piece of pork in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs.  Place in your skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through and golden brown.  You will most likely have to go in batches to cook all your pork.  It took me about 4 batches and I switched out the butter and oil for fresh butter and oil  (the other 2 Tbsp butter and 4 Tbsp oil called for in the recipe) about halfway through to keep it from burning and transferring to my pork.   When finished, serve it with a slice of lemon and voila!  An easy, super yummy dinner everyone will enjoy.  I served this with buttered broccoli and a little something I came up with on my own that I entitled potato smashup because it’s a combo of white potatoes and sweet potatoes with a bunch of extra yummy mixin’s.  Look for that one to be posted soon!
Enjoy!

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Hey! Hey!  It’s a Cassoulet!
Limey Pork and Rice
Plank Grilled Pork

Don’t be Blue Cheese Turkey Burgers with a side of Seasoned Home Fries

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But honestly, how could you be blue when you’re eating these tasty little morsels?  We don’t eat red meat in this house, something about cows eating corn that just really turns me off, so turkey is the king when it comes to foods involving what should have been ground beef.  Ok, here’s what you’ll need:
1 Pound Ground Turkey
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 cup chopped mushrooms (I prefer portobello)
4 oz. Crumbled Blue cheese (yes, yes, I forgot to put it in the picture, blame my kids)
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix together turkey, soy sauce, onion, mushrooms, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.  Form Turkey mixture into four bun sized patties.  Place in large skillet and cook on medium high heat flipping once until cooked through; about 9-11 minutes depending on thickness.  Turn heat down to medium and add one small handful of blue cheese to the top of each burger.  Cover skillet and let sit until cheese is melting; about 3-5 minutes.  Place cooked pattie on a bun and enjoy!  I love these just plain with ketchup, but they’re also killer with some tomato and avocado slapped on top.
Now, on to the home fries.  No burger is complete without them.  Am I right?  Here’s what you’ll need:
2 large baking potatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
salt to taste
I just want to note that I leave the skin on my potatoes; vitamins and such.  But if you prefer your skin removed, go ahead and get rid of it now.  Next, slice your potatoes into wedges.   Combine the olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, chili powder and onion powder in a gallon sized ziploc (or whatever else you have on hand that can effectively coat fries).  Now throw your wedges into the bag and coat those beauties up.  Dump your contents onto a large jelly roll pan and spread them out in a single layer.  Pop them in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, being sure to turn the fries once.  When they’re good and golden, pull them out and season with salt.  Yummy!
And as long as I’m on a roll, I might as well include a tomato cucumber salad so we can say we had a veggie and make this meal complete.  This salad is so easy and really delightful.  My two older kids beg to have this with dinner every night!  Check it out:
1 cucumber chopped into slices and then halved
8 oz of cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1/2 small onion diced
1 lemon juiced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Place your cucumbers, onions, and cherry tomatoes in a medium bowl.  Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the top and add in the olive oil.  Combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Easy Peasy!
And here’s the final plate.  Yes, my food photography skills need work, but what can I say.  My studio has been taken over by small aliens.  Wait, those are my kids.
Bon Apetit!
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Teriyaki Mahi Mahi with Mang-O-So Delicious Salsa

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This was delicious and easy to make.  And best of all, the kids loved it.  Even Andrew (my one year old) downed a kid sized portion like it was candy.  So let’s get on with it.  Here’s what you’ll need to make this dish:

First off, the marinade for the fish (yes I forgot to add the sugar to this picture.  It’s a fault of having two small children running around my feet and one wheeling around in his walker while I attempt to make dinner and subsequently take pictures of it):

Ingredients Needed:

3 mahi mahi filets
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup cooking sherry
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp ginger
1 clove of garlic, minced

Combine the soy sauce, sherry, sugar, ginger, and garlic.  Pour the mixture over the fish and let it marinate in the fridge for 2 hours or more.

Now for the mango salsa.  I need to add, that the hot pepper and the hot sauce is an optional addition.  I didn’t use them this time around mainly because of my three kids who aren’t big fans of spicy foods.  If you do decide to use them, they can be added to the top of the fish before cooking; as much or as little as you’d like in spiciness.  Ok, here we go with the salsa.

Ingredients Needed:

2 Mangos, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced (I used Trader Joes Melange a Trois 3 pepper mix)<
4 Green Onions, chopped
1 Tbsp Cilantro
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 fresh lime’s worth of juice squeezed
salt and pepper to taste
Again, if you want spice, feel free to add a chopped jalapeno.  I held off on spice because of the kids.
1/2 fresh lemon for squeezing on fish

Combine the Mango, bell pepper, onions, cilantro and jalapeno.  Stir in the garlic powder, lime juice, salt, and pepper.  Place salsa in fridge for 1 hour to give flavors a chance to meld. Heat a large skillet with 2 Tbsp of butter on medium high heat.  Add Mahi Mahi to the skillet and squirt with lemon over the top of the fillets.  Cook through, flipping once; about 7-9 minutes.  Serve hot with Mango salsa on top.  Yummy!

So here’s the final meal. I served it up with blue cheesy rice and buttered broccoli as side.  Happy Eating!

Short Stack Toffee Torte….

By 6 Comments

…or, in other words, my renamed attempt of a six layer toffee torte to the reference above because, in the same fashion as an Olympic figure skater going for the triple sow cow but only hitting the double, I chickened out big time.  We can’t all be perfect on the first try, right?

Anyway, we attended our neighborhood supper club last night and I was in charge of bringing the dessert. It was our first time with this group of people and I wanted to make a good impression.  Hence, the six layer toffee torte was born.  This is not a torte for slouches!  It took me the better part of the day to make.  In fairness to the amount of time it took, I will say that I did give it a few extras to pretty it up.  Ok, on to the cake.  Here’s what you’ll need:

3 cups flour
2 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup + 3 Tbsp butter softened
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup cocoa
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
3 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups hot coffee
2 cups whipping cream
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tsp coffee
3 king sized Heath Toffee Bars
1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Grease and flour three 9″ cake pans (if you have parchment paper around I highly recommend using it for this cake.  Grease your pan, place down your cut parchment paper and then grease the paper).
3.In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, butter, buttermilk, cocoa, vanilla, baking soda, eggs, and salt.
4. Beat slowly until just mixed and then add coffee to batter.  Increase speed and continue to beat for two more minutes until batter is smooth.  Pour batter evenly into pans.
5. Bake cakes for 25-30 minutes and then let cool for 10 minutes in the pans.  Remove cakes from pans and let them cool completely.
6. While the cakes are cooling chop up your 3 king sized Heath Bars.
7.  Place 1 tsp of cooled coffee in a mixing bowl.  Add to it two cups of heavy cream and three Tbsp of brown sugar.  Beat the cream until stiff peaks begin to form.
8. Cut your three cakes in half with a serrated knife to make your six layers (or, if you’re like me, just say no to scary slicing and leave it at three layers).
9. Place the first cake slice on your platter and spread a layer of the whipped cream over the top.  Sprinkle with toffee bits.  Repeat layers until all your slices have been added.  Here’s what you should have so far:

I left the toffee off the top in this picture because for the outside of the cake, I wanted it to be a finer cut than the chopped pieces I used on the inside.  So at this point I took the remaining chopped toffee and put it in a food processor.
You’ll finish off the cake by frosting the sides and then adding your finer chopped toffee to the outside.  And here’s the finished product:
For the decoration, I used a dark chocolate bar.  The chocolate around the bottom is shavings that I created by running a potato peeler along the long edge of the bar.  The butterflies were made by taking a piece of waxed paper and drawing the butterfly with a marker, turning it over so the marker was on the bottom and hence not in the food, and then tracing the picture with piped chocolate.  Here are my drawings. Not pretty I’ll admit, but again, it was my first attempt and we’re talking chocolate here.  It’s hard to go wrong with that.

After getting the butterflies on the waxed paper, I placed them over the top of a muffin pan and gently pushed the center of the butterfly down so that they would have the appearance of flying.  Place them in the fridge for a couple minutes and Voila! So there you have it; Six Layer Toffee Torte turned short stack.  Enjoy!

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Beyond the Basics: Sponge Cake Results
Beyond the Basics: The Science of Sponge Cake
Amaretto Banana Bread

Lusciously Lemony Lentil Soup

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That was the meal tonight, along with a spinach salad and man was it delicious!  There are few things for me that hit the spot more on a cold winter’s evening than a hot bowl of soup and a fresh roll (or three).  I’ve been looking forward to trying this meal for two days now, and let me tell you, it was well worth the wait.  So let’s get started.  Here’s what you’ll need for the Lentil Soup:

Ingredients Needed:

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Large Onion, Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/8 tsp Chili Powder
4 Cups Broth (Veggie or Chicken)
2 Carrots, Peeled and Chopped
1 Pd Cooked Lentils (If using dry, use 1 Cup and cook according to package directions)
2 Tbsp  Lemon Juice
3 Tbsp Cilantro
Salt to Taste

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  When the oil is hot, add your onion and garlic and cook until  soft; about 5 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste, cumin,  salt, pepper, and chili powder.  Cook until spices are fragrant; about 2 minutes.

Stir in the chicken broth.  I use Better than Bouillon chicken base (love, love, love this stuff!!).  Add in the carrots and simmer covered on medium low heat until they are soft; about 15 minutes.

Add in the cooked lentils (I love the precooked black lentils from Trader Joes and I just throw in the whole bag) and cook until lentils are heated through (you can also use dried lentils.  Just add in with carrots and let simmer for approximately 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes).

Once lentils are heated through, blend soup until smooth.  This can be done with with either an emulsifier right in the pot or by putting the soup in batches into a blender.

Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro.  Season with salt to taste.  Enjoy!

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Lusciously Lemony Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Large Onion, Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/8 tsp Chili Powder
4 Cups Broth (Veggie or Chicken)
2 Carrots, Peeled and Chopped
1 Pound Cooked Lentils or 1 Cup dry lentils cooked according to manufacturers directions
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
3 Tbsp Cilantro
Salt to Taste

Directions:

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat.

When the oil is hot, add your onion and garlic and cook until soft; about 5 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Cook until spices are fragrant; about 2 minutes.

Stir in the chicken broth.

Add in the carrots and simmer covered on medium low heat until they are soft; about 15 minutes.

Add in the lentils and cook until they are heated through (you can also use dried lentils. Just add in with carrots and let simmer for approximately 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes).

Once lentils are heated through, blend soup until smooth. This can be done with with either an emulsifier right in the pot or by putting the soup in batches into a blender.

Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro. Season with salt to taste. Enjoy!

Lusciously Lemony Lentil Soup on Foodista

Pizza with whatever’s in the fridge

By 5 Comments

Here we go!  It was another long day with the three amigo’s so on the menu last night was homemade pizza with any toppings I could find in the fridge.  I managed to track down Trader Joe’s crust, Mozzarella cheese, spinach, onions, leftover teriyaki chicken from the previous night’s dinner and blue cheese.  The tomato sauce was used to make some quick pizza sauce.

For the pizza sauce I mixed together one clove of garlic, one tsp basil, one tsp oregano and a can of tomato sauce.  Nothing fancy, but for a quick week night pizza, it does the job.  And speaking of garlic and basil, if you haven’t discovered Dorat (the red and white containers shown below) you need too!  They are frozen versions of some of the more common spices such as fresh basil, cilantro, and garlic.  One cube equals either a teaspoon or if you’re using garlic, one clove.

Anyway, back to the pie.  After chopping, dicing, mixing, and dough flattening, the pizza is assembled.

And into the oven we go at 450 degrees.  It usually takes about 7-9 minutes, but I had a small distraction up in the boys bathtub while it was cooking (don’t ask) so it went a couple minutes longer than I had planned.  No harm no foul – it was a bit darker than I had hoped but still delish.   The final product. 🙂

Bon Apetit!