Table Talk: Sauteed Pork Chops with Quick Apple-Ginger Chutney

I knew I would like this week's recipe because I really like the combination of apples and pork chops.   And this didn't disappoint.

I couldn't find boneless pork chops.  I bought a roast and sliced it into chops.  It would have been better with a tenderloin, but I couldn't find one of those either.  And when your kids are relay racing through the store, sometimes you just have to grab something that says 'pork' and get the heck outta there.

I was a little nervous to brine my pork.  The last time I soaked a turkey in brine it turned into a ham, no joke.  (I was not happy.  It was the worst day ever.  I love turkey and tolerate ham.  And it was Thanksgiving.  The pilgrims didn't serve ham at Thanksgiving!)  When I saw brine in the recipe I had flashbacks to that horrid day, but then I saw that it was only for 30 minutes to an hour and not 3 days.  And also, it's already a pork product, right?  Ham goes well with apples.

Guess what!  They stayed pork chops.  Weird, right?

I didn't feel like my chutney really 'thickened' but it got to the point I was worried that there wouldn't be any juice left if I didn't say enough was enough. 

I would make this again for sure, I liked the ginger in there but I might add a little less next time and maybe try to puree the chutney.  Can I call it a 'chutney' if I puree it?  Tyler isn't a fan of cooked fruit with meat, but he really liked the sauce.  Or I guess I could just double the sauce ingredients and not give him any 'chunks' on his plate.  Or I could just tell him to eat it and quit being such a baby.  And maybe I could stop rambling.

If you'd like to try this week's recipe, you can get it at Michelle's blog (or you can buy the book).  She was our lovely hostess for the week and chose the recipe.  Thanks for the great pick Michelle!

TWD: French Apple Tart

 I wish I could tell you how this tastes, but I have no idea.  We are really trying to watch our calories around here so we dropped this off to some friends.  I hate that you can't taste this kind of thing before you give it to someone.  I did try all the components by themselves when I was making it and they were all pretty good.  I imagine this would be delicious with a scoop of ice cream and maybe some caramel sauce.....I just decided that I shouldn't have given it away..... :)

I just used the pie crust recipe that I normally use.  I was ready to use the recipe in the book, but I didn't have pastry flour, so I just stuck with what I knew.

It wasn't super hard.  Maybe a little harder than a regular apple pie but it looks so pretty.  If you'd like to try the recipe you can get it at Law's of the Kitchen, our host blog for the week.

And if you'd liked to see how the other TWD bakers fared this week, you can go HERE.

Bake 52: Apple Dumplings with Caramel Sauce

I am not sure what I thought these were when I heard the name.  In my head I combined a dumpling, like from chicken and dumplings, and apples.  Let's just say the actual dessert is WAY better than the one I was expecting.  Emily was our hostess for the week and decided to go a little easy on us since it was Halloween.  I think it was the perfect pick!  Instead of slaving away over any kind of crust, the recipe calls for refrigerated crescent rolls (the kind in a tube).  You roll them out a little bit, throw an apple, some butter and cinnamon/sugar in the middle....

 twist it all up

And bake it.  I couldn't resist an egg wash (1 egg yolk and 1 T milk whisked together, brush over pastries) and sprinkled them with sugar before baking.  They were super easy and super impressive!  These would be perfect for any occasion when you need something quick and easy but also want everyone to feel special. 

And when you cut the thing open, buttery yummyness oozes out.  

Oh, and I didn't make the cider mixture, I went with some caramel sauce instead.  Which is just as easy.

Caramel Sauce:

2 T butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 T heavy cream, heat in saucepan until sugar is dissolved.

And, of course, serve with ice cream. :)

Our kids, the Lego Forrest Police Officers. 

   Tyler made the costumes and everyone thought they were pretty cool.  We decided they aren't the most practical things in the world, but it was still fun. I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

If you'd like the recipe for Apple Dumpling, you can get it at Emily's blog (I hope all is well on the East Coast, Emily!)  Thanks for hosting this week!

Apple Bacon Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

This is by far one of my favorite salads.  Ever.  I know it's because of the dressing.  I think it would taste good on just about anything.  

I tease Tyler about it constantly because the first time I made this dressing he refused to eat it.  I think I had to force it down his throat.  He has evolved quite a bit during our marriage but he used to think salad started and ended with Ranch dressing.  Nothing else.  Now, he asks me to make this salad often and admits that it is also his favorite salad.  I love that I

Homemade Sparkling Cider

We had a church get together tonight and I was in charge of a couple of things.  One of them was sparkling cider.  When we were initially talking about it, we were trying to decide how to make our own since we didn't have a budget that would include buying the fancy bottles for our party.  I started thinking about how we could do that.  It has to just be juice and carbonated water, right?  Right.  I went to the store and bought all the ingredients with the intention of trying it before the party to make sure it was good.  Today rolled around and I hadn't tried it yet.  I really did think it would work though.  And for once, I was right.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

I really love cheesecake.  I know, it seems like I really love everything.  (Hence, the name of the blog) But it's really serious.  I mean, really.  I forget many details about my past, but a lot of times food memories stick with me.  I remember when I was working, probably 9 or so years ago, eating a caramel apple cheesecake at a restaurant once for lunch.  My co-worker and I embarrassed ourselves with pleasure noises while eating dessert that day.  We tried to go back, just for the cheesecake, many times and they NEVER had it again.  It's been in the back of my mind ever since.  

Candied Yams with Apples and Cranberries (Slow Cooker)

I know I usually lead with a photo of the dish all ready to eat.  However, we had company for dinner tonight and I didn't want them to think I was a weirdo for taking pictures of our food before we ate it.  I am sure Tyler thinks it's weird enough and we are trying to make friends here, not send people running for the hills.  Maybe I should just get a sign for my door that says, 'WE ARE NOT WEIRDOS.'  A little too defensive? Do you think?  Anyway, so I opted to try not to be a weirdo; at least while we had company.  

Caramel Apples

It has been too long since we have made caramel apples.  I don't think we will wait that long again!  We all love them.  Of course, we all love different versions of them.  I would prefer a Pink Lady apple for mine; some tartness but not as much as a Granny Smith.  Tyler and Hadlee would prefer the Granny Smiths and Calvin would probably eat any of them as long as there was caramel involved.  I love this caramel because it's not too tacky.  It's still soft and a bit gooey even after being in the fridge, but still stays on the apple.

Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

I know it's Halloween.  I should be posting some kind of gruesome thing to eat.  Like those witches fingers or eyeball cupcakes or something.  But alas, I have no such post.  If it makes you feel better, it's a dead pig. ;)  

When I was growing up we used to eat pork chops with cream of mushroom soup over rice quite often and I loved it.  This is kind of a play on that but I think tastes a little fresher and is a bit healthier. We had it with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes but you could serve it with white or brown rice.  I had a pork roast in the freezer that I cut into pork chops but you could definitely buy them already cut.  This is a pretty painless recipe with few ingredients and not a lot of supervision.  I hope you like it as much as we did. :)

Apple Struesel Bagels

 

 Let me just tell you, I started out on this bagel quest with the idea of making a pumpkin bagel.  There are a few recipes out there for pumpkin bagels, but apparently, they aren't for me.  There were 4 attempts made, and none were successful enough to make me crave them or even share the recipe.  And that was my lesson.  Just because I am in a pumpkin craze right now, doesn't mean everything needs to be pumpkin.  Some things just aren't meant to be pumpkin (for me anyway).  I did add a pumpkin crumb topping to some of these bagels, and they were good, but the pumpkin flavor wasn't particularly strong and I liked the apple crumb better after taste testing.  I did do some messing with the cream cheese that was very successful, but that's another post.  And these bagels are good enough, you don't even need the cream cheese.