Sage Cubed

Another brined pork recipe that was amazing! And sage makes an appearance in all three dishes! We have the leftover Pumpkin Sage Alfredo Pasta form last night, roasted maple-sage root veggies, and a sage brined pork chop. All were amazing. I was a little worried about the sauce but it turned out to be a delicious combination, don't skip it!

Pork Chops with Squash and Sage

(adapted from the Food Network)

Ingredients:

Kosher salt
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
12 fresh sage leaves
4 bone-in pork loin chops (3/4 to 1 inch thick)
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise (I added some turnip too)

2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Directions:
1. Combine 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 4 sage leaves in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add 5 cups cold water. Submerge the pork chops in the brine and refrigerate for a couple hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Chop 3 sage leaves; set aside. Toss the remaining 5 sage leaves with the squash, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and sprinkle of salt. Spread on a baking sheet and roast until tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the pork and pat dry. Add to the skillet and cook until a meat thermometer inserted sideways into the center registers 140 degrees F, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Divide among 4 plates.
5. Add the chicken broth and the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar to the skillet; simmer, stirring, until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, the reserved chopped sage, and salt to taste. Drizzle the pork with the sauce and serve with the squash.

A Must Make Dinner!

Instead of new recipes today we have two must try repeats!

Maple-Rosemary Brined Pork Chops

Maple Roasted Root Veggies & Squash

The pork delicious, amazing, and oh so tender! Mr. Lawyer started the brining process this morning, if you've never brined anything before give it a try! I highly recommend this recipe because the flavor is so amazing. It is divine! It was the perfect recipe to break in our new cast iron skillet.

For the roasted veggies I diced up a combination of butternut squash, carrots, and turnips for the veggies. There is nothing like roasted veggies! I love the little caramelized bits around the edges. The colors were very vibrant and candy corn themed.

Our fall themed tablescape featuring the cool hues of Plum and Lapis, fall leaf inspired napkins, and a beautiful centerpiece made with leftover wedding flowers.

I love my gurgle pot. It doubles as a great vase. So cute!

MAKE THE BRINED PORK!

Big Kid Dinner

Before I ran off to the shore for the week I made Mr. Lawyer a real dinner with sides and everything! The delicious Modenese Pork Chops made an appearance along with my favorite Farmer's Market Squash Saute. For something on the starchy side I tried a new potato recipe. "Crash Hot Potatoes" involve boiling the little spuds first, followed by smashing them, and finally baking them. You have the freedom to season them with whatever herbs you have on hand which is a bonus. I liked them because you get fluffy baked potato bits but you also get these nice crunchy bits. I see more of these little spuds in our future!

A little "Mise en place" going on.

 Modenese Pork Chops...who doesn't love a recipe that calls for opening a bottle of wine?

 Crispy bits and fluffy bits all at once!

Big kid dinner plate!

Crash Hot Potatoes

(from the Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:
12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Kosher Salt To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste
Directions:
1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.
2. On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
3. With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
4. Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)
5.Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown

Butternut Sauce

Need a change of pace from traditional tomato pasta sauce? Then this is your recipe! This butternut sauce was rich and delicious. It was definitely a heavier dish than I expected, it was very filling. I found several different versions of this recipe: some used onion or leeks, more or less butter, boil or saute squash, etc. One even sautéed the squash in half a cup of butter! Sounds amazing but I went with the more healthy recipe form skinnytaste.com.

Spaghetti with Creamy Butternut Leek Parmesan Sauce

(Pinterest find! Adapted from skinnytaste.com)

Ingredients:
1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon butter
8 oz spaghetti
1 cup leek, white part only, sliced and diced (about 1 large leek)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
4 sage leaves, sliced thin (I only used two)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup pasta water, reserved
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add butternut squash and cook until soft. Remove squash with a slotted spoon and place in a blender, blend until smooth.
2. Add pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions for al dente, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.
3. In a large deep non-stick skillet, melt the butter, sauté the leeks and garlic over medium-low heat until soft and golden, about 5 - 6 minutes. Add pureed butternut squash, season with with salt and fresh cracked pepper and the reserved pasta water, little bits at a time, to thin out the sauce. Stir in parmesan cheese and sage and mix in pasta until well coated.

Perfection. Yet Again.

Nothing like manhandling a chicken into roast perfection. I've got this chicken thing down pat, didn't even need to look at the recipe this time! Although still freakish about disinfecting the kitchen after the manhandling occurs. The other thing I've got down is convincing someone that it's gentlemanly to pick all the meat of the bones for future meals because I abhor it. If you haven't tried this recipe (which I constantly advocate for) you must find a chicken and roast it immediately. Need convincing? From the mouth of Mr. Lawyer himself: "I love that this chicken doesn't need gravy." Truth. Super moist, super delicious. The recipe is here: Martha Stewart's Perfect Roast Chicken.

My mission of eating more fruits and veggies is going well. Our delicious chicken was accompanied by my easy Farmer Market Squash Saute minus all the cheese and some not as healthy cranberry sauce.

I Love Soup

Another Rainy day means warm soup belly! This recipe was delicious and super filling. Plus I love, love, love squash. There was a lot going on in this soup: noodles, squash, fennel, zucchini and much more! I was not strict with measurements because I didn't want any leftovers. I used the whole carrot, zucchini, onion etc. So there was a higher volume of stuff in the soup, very thick and almost stew like. 

Winter Minestrone

(adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

3-4 dashes of red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 cups cubed peeled acorn or butternut squash (about 1 medium)
3/4 cup diced zucchini (small zucchini)
1/2 cup chopped carrot (one carrot)
1/2 cup diced fennel (a small fennel bulb)
1 cup water
2 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
5 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste
1/2 cup uncooked ditalini (very short tube-shaped pasta)
2 1/2 cups chopped Swiss chard
1 can rinsed and drained canned Great Northern Beans
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grated Asiago cheese
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, basil, oregano, pepper flakes and garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. 

2. Add squash, zucchini, carrot and fennel; sauté 5 minutes. 

3. Stir in 1 cup water, broth, and tomato paste; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. 

4. Stir in pasta; cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

5. Add chard; cook 3 minutes. 

6. Add beans; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. 

7. Stir in pepper. Serve with cheese.

Crunchy Onions

I love this recipe because it's easy and requires little prep. It has a nice onion taste from the fried onions so you don't need to worry about flavor but it's easy to season the chicken with salt/pepper/garlic etc before hand if you want to add a little zing. I first had this recipe with some family friends who have small children so it's kid approved! I served it up with my Farmer's Market Sautéed Squash (minus the unhealthy cheese bit) and our homemade honey mustard.

Crunchy Onion Chicken Tenders

(From French's, given to me by the Nelsons)

Ingredients:
1 small can of French's fried onion
2 tablespoons flour
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 egg, beaten
Directions:
1. Place fried onions and flour in a bag in order to crush them. Place in a shallow bowl.
2. Dip chicken in egg, then cover in crushed fried onions and place on a baking sheet.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

The Jenni and Mr. Lawyer Show

"If this was a reality tv show....you'd be safe from elimination!"

Romance! I'm glad that my cooking skills are coming in handy and keeping me safe. Martha, Martha, Martha you have done it again. Tonight I once again cooked Martha's Perfect Roast Chicken (at the specific request of Mr. Lawyer) and once again it came out marvelous, proving that it wasn't just a fluke. This recipe is solid gold. It was served up with some Mashed Maple Squash and a lovely loaf of French Bread with a smothering of Parmesan Chive Butter. Oh and some lovely NYS wine from Rasta Ranch! As an added bonus it was all timed perfectly and ready to go as soon as Mr. Lawyer walked through the door (Go Apartment Girlfriend, Go!).

Mashed Maple Squash

(The kitchen of Jenni, picked up from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:

1 whole butternut squash

2 tablespoons butter

Maple Syrup (not measured)

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Hack that squash in two and scoop out the seeds!

2. Spread a tablespoon of butter on each half, leaving a piece in the scooped out part. Sprinkle on salt and pepper.

3. Drizzle maple syrup over each half, let a bunch pool in the scooped part.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes (depends on the size of your squash), until soft.

5. Scoop the squash out of the skin and mash it up! Add more maple syrup if desired.

Yum.

Maple Squash!

Making this the other night made me miss Wegmans and their precut/cleaned squash! Hacking up a butternut was not any fun, especially since we don't really have a high quality sharp knife. Anyway, recipe is wonderful. I love squash and I really, really love maple so what's not to love about this?!

Roasted Root Veggies with Maple Glaze

(The Kitchen of Jenni)

Ingredients:
Veggies of your choice, prepared and cut into uniform pieces (Squash, turnips, carrots, parsnips, or even eggplant!)
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Cooking spray
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 and spray pan.
2. Coat veggies in oil, salt and pepper
3. Bake veggies for 10 minutes
4. Stir in syrup and bake for 20 more minutes or until tender

Bacon on Bacon

The running joke while we were shopping at the Dewitt Wegmans this weekend was "how many pork products can we get in our cart?" The answer is three. How many did we cook with tonight? Two. This was a staple in high school that Dad made all the time and I'm not quite sure why the Dork and I haven't keeled over from a heart attack yet. And for those of you that keep track of these things (Grandma Nancy!), I did use the reduced sodium bacon and serve it up with some Farmer's Market Squash Saute!

Dad's Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

(from the kitchen of Papa Peterson)

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin
4-5 strips of bacon, cut in half
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
Directions:
1. Sprinkle on the desired amount of salt, pepper and garlic powder.
2. Wrap the tenderloin in bacon. I just use half strips and tuck it underneath.
3. Cook for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

I'm pretty sure I heard some declarations of undying love in between the very manly sounds of shoveling pork products into one's mouth.

Squash Me!

I've been a horrible slacker. There has been summer camp, concerts, birthdays, 9:30 bedtimes and not a whole lot of legit cooking (although I did eat a whole box of Wegmans mac and cheese spirals under extenuating circumstances. WIN.) Next week I will be all planned out and on top of things. On Monday I did make this squashy pasta sauce experiment that was inspired by a dish I made last summer.

Farmer's Market Squash Saute

(Kraft Food and Family Magazine)

Ingredients:
2 zucchini, sliced
2 yellow squash, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
Directions:
1. Cook zucchini and squash in hot oil in large skillet on medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, cook 3 minutes or until veggies are tender crisp.
2. Remove from heat, stir in mozzarella and basil. Sprinkle with parmesan.

It was simple and delicious. It's quite the little summer time dish too, all sorts of nice in season veggies. So Monday this recipe became my inspiration for dinner. I followed the recipe up until the cheese part. Instead of adding the cheese I added some left over sauce that we had, then threw it on some pasta, put on the parm and ta-da! Veggie Pasta Dinner!