Double the Crunch, Double the YUM!

Last night I decided to make a new recipe that I found on Pinterest. (if you haven’t looked at it before…..please..do us all a favor and go there. Warning: website may cause lack of sleep, other priorities to be pushed back, extreme hunger and or salivation, injury due to DIY projects attempted, and other various side effects)  This one is defiantly going in the recipe book and will be made again and again. It was a major hit! The roomies and the Sam loved it. I thought it was dynamite too (if I do say so myself).  I think this recipe would have turned out just a touch better if I had all the ingredients and / or used the correct ingredients.  However, remember that this bacon lover is on a budget and I don’t have all kinds of monies to throw at getting spices an’ all dat’. So, I’ve given you the real recipe below and then crossed out the ingredients to demonstrate what I actually used that turned out to be quite an adventure on the palate; one that I wouldn’t mind going on again:

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Pork Chops

6 center loin pork chops, well trimmed

Sift together for Pork Chops:
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
2 one tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp 1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp ground sage
1 tbsp 1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Make an egg wash by whisking together:
2 eggs
4 tbsp water milk (it works better than water)

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, then dip the chops in the flour and spice mixture. Dip the chop into the eggwash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the chop to get good contact.

Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola (who has canola oil??) oil olive oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chops do not brown too quickly on the outside before they are fully cooked on the inside. I find just below medium heat works well. I use a burner setting of about 4 1/2 out of 10 on the dial and fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. Meanwhile, make the honey garlic sauce:

Drain on a wire rack on a plate with paper towels... who has a wire wrack!? really?! for a couple of minutes before dipping (twice or three times) the cooked chops into the Honey Garlic Sauce. Serve with noodles or rice couscous (cus its awesome...duh.)



Honey Garlic Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic tsp garlic powder

In a medium saucepan cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown. Then, add:

1 cup honey
¼ cup soy sauce teriyaki sauce (had it on hand already)
1 tsp ground black pepper


Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Watch this carefully as it simmers because it can foam up over the pot very easily.


________________________________________________________________________

I served this with  a side of parmesean couscous. (which I love) and it was quite superb!

First time around: SUCCESS:

The Sneaky Chef

Recently, I rediscovered ( and now am obsessed with ) an old site I used a lot during my student teaching days. This site is all about a mom who actively tries to be “sneaky” and feed her children healthier foods without them realizing it. She takes old classics and our favorite day to day recipes and makes them healthier. This is done through a number of methods. For example: she will add unconventional ingredients that you wouldn’t expect to a recipe that not only make it taste delicious, but you never even know you are getting a full serving of fruits or vegetables! *this method will be showcased in the recipe I describe below. In other recipes, she will substitute the fat (butter and / or oil) content within a recipe with fruits and vegetables. GENIUS. I made the brownie recipe on this site for my students during student teaching and had them do a blind taste test along side “regular recipe” brownies, and 9 out of 10 students liked her recipe more. After they all agreed they liked this one better, I then announced the “secret ingredients”. Some were not as pleased as others as they do not normally like those ingredients. Its like that old saying, if you don’t know whats in it I’ll eat it. So, last night I dove head first into this site and began with someone that most people know is my favorite thing in the whole world: corn dogs. If you read to the bottom more, I had to start with the “Make-ahead- recipe #4” in order to make these corn dogs. The make-ahead recipe is where the sneakiness of this chef comes into play.


Top Dog Corn Dog Muffins


- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons sugar - 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/2 cup White Puree (See Make-Ahead Recipe #4, p. 260)
- 6 tablespoons low-fat milk
- 1/2 cup grated low-fat cheddar cheese
- 2 hot dogs, cut in half lengthwise, and chopped into small pieces
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 cup Flour Blend (See Make-Ahead Recipe #8, p. 265) ******
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda




********Instead of using the make-adhead recip #8, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and baking soda is just used 1 box of jiffy corn bread mix. it already has all those ingredients and takes about 2.5 seconds to open the box. no measuring out all those ingredients AND its about .19cents. --the budget...remember?! > Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper liners. Spray liners lightly with cooking spray oil. > In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined, then whisk in the melted butter, White Puree, milk, cheese, and hot dog pieces. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, Flour Blend, baking powder, salt, and baking soda take jiffy corn bread mix out of the box. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until flour is just moistened (don't over-mix or the muffins will be dense). > Scoop the batter into muffin tins, filling just to the top. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Make-Ahead Recipe #4: White Puree

 Makes about 2 cups of puree. Double recipe if you want to store even more, which can be done in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze 1/4 cup portions in sealed plastic bags or the small plastic containers.


- 2 cups cauliflower, cut into florets - 2 small to medium zucchini, peeled and rough chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 tablespoons water, if necessary > Steam cauliflower in a vegetable steamer over 2 inches of water, using a tightly-covered pot, for about 10 to 12 minutes until very tender. Alternatively, place cauliflower in a microwave-safe bowl , cover with water, and microwave on high for 8 to 10 minutes until very tender. > While waiting for the cauliflower to finish steaming, start to pulse the raw peeled zucchini with the lemon juice only (no water at this point). Drain the cooked cauliflower. Working in batches if necessary, add it to the pulsed zucchini in the bowl of the food processor with one tablespoon of water. Puree on high until smooth. Stop occasionally and push contents from the top to the bottom. If necessary, use the second tablespoon of water to make a smooth (but not wet) puree.



So, for my first try, they turned out AMAZING!!!

Here is the white puree leftovers that I will be utilizing in some of her other recipes.









Would you ever have guessed there is zucchini and cauliflower in these?? NOPE!

Replacing Book Titles with Bacon

To go along with the title of the blog, my roommate and I thought it would be fun to #replace book titles with bacon.  Last night we almost peed our pants coming up with the best book titles we could. I feel as though this game could also be played with music song titles, movie titles, TV show titles; anything you want to replace with bacon is really fine by me. If there’s bacon involved, it really can’t go wrong…

1.       The Five Bacon Languages

(The Five Love Languages)

2.       The Bacon of Huckleberry Finn

(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)

3.       To Kill a Mocking Bacon

(To Kill a Mocking Bird)

4.       Bacon in Wonderland

(Alice in Wonderland)

5.       Romeo and Bacon

 (Romeo and Julliette)

6.       A Streetcar Named Bacon

 (A Streetcar Named Desire)

7.       Gone with the Bacon

(Gone with the Wind)

8.       A Midsummer Night’s Bacon

(A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

9.       Sherlock Bacon

 (Sherlock Holmes)

10.   The Bacon-sitters Club

(The Babysitters Club)

11.   The Bacon of Anne Frank

(The Diary of Anne Frank)

12.   Having a Bacon Heart in a Bacon World

 (Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World)

13.   The Secret Life of Bacon

 (The Secret Life of Bees)

14.   Bacon for Elephants

 (Water for Elephants)

15.   The Bacon King

(The Lion King)

16.   The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Baconhood

(The Diving Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood)

17.   The Bacon

(The Help)

18.   Bacon is For Real

(Heaven is for Real)

19.   The Chronicles of Bacon: The Lion the Witch and the Bacon

(The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe)

20.   Harry Bacon and the Sorcerer’s Bacon

(Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)

21.   The Girl with the Bacon Tattoo—don’t forget its sequal—The Girl Who Played with Bacon

(The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) (The Girl Who Played with Fire)

22.   Lord of the Bacon—The Trilogy
           The FellowShip of the Bacon
           The Two Strips
           The Return of the Bacon

(Lord of the Rings)

23.   Memoirs of a Bacon

(Memoirs of a Geisha)

24.   The Great Bacon

(The Great Gatsby)

25.   The Scarlet Bacon  or  The Bacon Letter

(The Scarlet Letter)

26.   Bacon Calling

(Jesus Calling)

27.   The Bacon Games

(The Hunger Games)

28.   The Lucky Bacon

(The Lucky One)

29.   What to Expect When You’re Bacon

(What to Expect When You’re Expecting)

30.   The Bacon Garden  or  The Secret Bacon (Equally awesome in my opinion)

(The Secret Garden)

31.   Bacon Soup for the Soul
         (Chicken Soup for the Soul)

32.   He’s Just Not That Into Bacon

(He’s Just Not That Into YOU)

33.   All the King’s Bacon

(All the King’s Men)

34.   Bacon Farm

(Animal Farm)

35.   The Bacon in the Rye

(The Catcher in the Rye)

36.   The Grapes of Bacon

(The Grapes of Wrath)

37.   The Invisible Bacon or The Bacon Man

(The Invisible Man)

38.   Bacon the Spy

(Harriet the Spy)

39.   Brave New Bacon

(Brave New World)

40.   Sisterhood of the Traveling Bacon

(Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)

41.   I, Bacon

(I, Claudius)

42.   BaconTime

(RagTime)

43.   Wuthering Bacon

(Wuthering Heights)

44.   Little House on the Bacon

(Little House on the Prairie)

45.   Moby Bacon

(Moby Dick)

46.   Pride and Bacon

(Pride and Prejudice)

47.   Of Mice and Bacon

(Of Mice and Men)

48.   Anne of Green Bacon

(Anne of Green Gables)

49.   The Old Man and the Bacon

(The Old Man and the Sea)

50.   The Bacon Code

(The DaVinci Code)

Hope you enjoyed that bacon!  Happy Bacon!