Sunday, January 27, 2013

Spinach and sun-dried tomato stuffed pork chops


I made this for Sunday dinner today for some guests and it was so delicious.  It is a Giada recipe so there is no big shock that I loved it.  I love all her recipes I have tried.  I doubled it since we had company.  


Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
  • 1 (10-ounce) bag of frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/4 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese
  • 1/3 cup reduced-fat cream cheese
  • 4 (4-ounce) center-cut pork chops
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 lemon, zested
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Directions

Warm the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook until combined, about 2 more minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the goat cheese and the cream cheese. Stir to combine and set aside.
Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into the thickest portion of the pork chop. Stuff each pocket with 1/4 of the spinach and sun-dried tomato mixture and close the pork around the stuffing. Season the outside of the pork with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl combine the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, and mustard.
Warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the pork. Cook until golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the pork to a side dish and tent with foil to keep warm. Add the chicken broth mixture to the skillet over medium-high heat. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan as the chicken broth simmers. Reduce the broth by half to make a light sauce, about 8 minutes. Spoon some sauce over the pork before serving.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Linguini Mushroom Alfredo

I made this up the other night and it was fabulous. I told mom and dad about it and they asked me to put it on the blog so here we are:

A pound of mixed mushrooms, sliced
2-3 Tbsps butter
1/2 cup marsala wine
1 cup half and half
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
1/3 cup chopped, fresh parsley
1 tsp fresh minced garlic
1 box linguini noodles
1-2 green onions

I liked a mix of wild and regular white mushrooms. Portobellos would be great too.
Put butter in a sauce pan over medium heat to melt.
Wash and slice the green onions and mushrooms.
Sautee onions, garlic and mushrooms in butter until they soften.
Remove onions and mushrooms.
Deglaze pan with the marsala wine.
When the wine/butter is simmering, add the  half&half.
Add parmesan cheese.
I whisked in about a tsp of flour to help it thicken.
Once the sauce has thickened put the mushrooms back in and add the fresh parsley.
DON'T LET THE SAUCE THICKEN TOO LONG!

Serve over Linguini that has been boiled 8-10 minutes (al dente)