CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER - 2013

My guest chef today is Kaitlyn, my granddaughter!  She is now 21 and beginning her own life away at school, but still comes to her "Granny's" house to spend the night.  The best part, besides sleeping with Granny and talking the night away, is that she is beginning to cook for us!

Christmas Day Dinner is a tradition at our house; a time when our daughter, son-in-law, my mom, and, of course, Katie Bug come to celebrate another year as a family.  It's an intimate time for just the immediate family, but often we share it with one of Kaitlyn's friends.  This year it was Mercedes, a high school friend.

The following recipes with the exception of the cornbread, she said, came from a search on Pinterest. 

She started a crock-pot pork-chop dish around noon and cooked it on low until meal time around 6PM.  It was simple enough, and best yet, she never had to touch it again until the meal was served.

Here is all she had to do:

Ingredients

• Pork chops (she used 8 boneless pork-chops 1/2" thick)
• 1 Ranch Seasoning Dry Mix Packet
• 1 can Cream of Cream of Chicken Soup (plus 2 cans of water or milk)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in crockpot and mix well.
2. Cook on low 4-6 hours.

Around 4PM she began her side dishes consisting of macaroni, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes (giving us a choice, but most, like me ate both kinds), mixed vegetables, and cornbread.

The macaroni dish was prepared normally, drained, Velveeta, colby-jack, and some shredded mild cheddar cheese and milk was added, and then poured into a baking dish.  She then added Panko bread crumbs and baked it in the oven for 30 minutes at 375.

She baked 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and put them into a baking dish.  To the potatoes she added a can of pumpkin, butter, brown sugar, salt, chopped pecans, cinnamon, and half and half and mixed thoroughly.  She baked it for about 30 minutes at 350.

The mashed potatoes were prepared normally, except for the addition of garlic powder and Parmesan cheese.

Katie then patiently chopped up fresh zucchini, yellow squash, orange bell pepper, and salad size tomatoes.  She placed the veggies into a baking dish and poured vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and olive oil over the pieces, salted and peppered them, and baked for 45 minutes at 350 covered.

Next, she turned up the oven to 450.  In a 4-cup glass measuring bowl, she added 2 cups of cornmeal, milk to make a batter, an egg, 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar, and 2 heaping tablespoons of flour in a large measuring bowl and mixed.  She put a large cast iron skillet with about a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in it into the oven.  When the skillet was hot, she poured in the cornmeal mixture.  The mixture should start to rise around the edges immediately.  Put back in the oven for 25 minutes.

Katie (R) and Mercedes (L) relax after Christmas dinner.  

All this, including a glass of Barefoot wine, (and a bowl of "store bought" slaw) was placed on our Christmas table and we dove in with both hands!  It was quite a change from the norm, and everyone seemed to enjoy it...most of all the family time.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year folks!

Hamburger Steak Supreme

Yeah, I know this is "Mushy's" cooking blog, but it should be known that my wife (Judy) is also a cook, and I'll admit, a much better cook than me.

It's pretty basic, but tonight's supper is just evidence that she feeds me pretty well.  It was just your basic "hamburger steak" with all her special trimmings, but it was wonderful, as the posted photo shows.

She is a southern cook, raised up knowing her way around the kitchen, studying under her mother's watchful eye.  All our meals are pretty much southern born, nothing fancy, but believe me, there is nothing better in 80% of the restaurants in the country.

She smothered the steak in sauteed onions and red peppers, topped the sweet potato with butter and brown sugar, and sauteed green beans on the side.

If you look at the plate, you can see why I was stuffed; that was a lot of food!  That was also great food!  

HOW TO COOK FORK-TENDER PORK CHOPS

So, there I was shuffling through Food City, just needing a gallon of milk and some bread, when I spotted a package of the most beautiful pork chops I've ever seen!  There, beckoning to me, were two, about 1" thick chops with the bone in; center cut or pork loin chop include a large T-shaped bone.

Almost instantly I visualized how they needed to be cooked.  I knew that if I let my wife cook them, mine would wind up dry and tough.  She loves to kill her meat dead...no hint of pink in her steak; her chicken and chops cooked white and flavorless...so I had to save these from total destruction!

I quickly stuffed a large sweet potato under my arm and headed for the check out with the chops, milk, and bread.

One the way home I went over and over my cooking scenario, and just the right language to use to show Judy just how important it was for me, and me alone, to cook these chops!

Fortunately, she was in just the right mood to let me cook.  Huh, who am I kidding, she's always in the mood for letting me cook!

I got out an iron skillet, and turned the stove eye up as high as it would go.  While it was heating to nearly a red glow, I washed the chops off.  There are always little bones on steaks and chops that can ruin a great eating experience.

I salted, peppered, and added some garlic powder to one side of the chops, and plopped them, seasoned side down, in the hot skillet.  As the down side was getting properly browned, some parts blackened, I seasoned the up side, and then turned them over.

On a cookie sheet, I spread out one layer of aluminum foil and then placed 2 smaller sheets on it for the chops.  I took the seared chops out of the skillet and placed each one on its own sheet of foil.  I then wrapped them up carefully, making sure they were completely enclosed.

I washed the sweet potato and placed it, unwrapped, on the cookie sheet and slid it all into a 400 degree oven for 1 hour!

After one hour, I unwrapped both chops, poured off the juices, and re-wrapped mine.  I left Judy's uncovered in order to properly brown and kill it!

I put it all back in the oven for just 15 minutes more.

I plated the supper, slathered the potato with some butter, sprinkled on some brown sugar, and sat down to see if I had accomplished what I wanted...a fork-tender chop.  

Success!  I was indeed fork-tender, and the whole meal was properly cooked in 75 minutes!

ACCIDENTAL CHICKEN BAKE

We came home from the store a couple of evenings ago and put the perishables in the refrigerator. However, we did not notice that we put a whole bag of Tyson frozen chicken tenderloins in the meat chiller drawer. My wife happened to notice the mistake after the chicken had all thawed, so she reacted quickly to save the meat.

In a large glass-baking dish, she placed all the tenderloins around the bottom, salted, and peppered the pieces. She turned the oven to 450 to pre-heat, while she continued to improvise. She opened a can of Cream of Chicken and another can of Cream of Broccoli soups and poured the contents on top of the chicken.

Just as she finished, I noticed a plastic baggy of left over corn bread. I crumbled the 3 pieces up inside the bag and then spread it out evenly over the top of the soup-covered chicken.

She sprayed down a large sweet potato with cooking oil, placed the potato in an aluminum pan, and she popped it and the chicken dish in the oven for 45 minutes!

When the timer sounded, she placed a can of green peas in the microwave, along with some salt and pepper and a lump of butter, and we were in business!

After spraying the peeled sweet potato with butter spray, and sprinkling some brown sugar around, we sat down to a delicious meal.

Had we not let the chicken accidentally thaw, we would not have had such a quick, easy, and great tasting meal!

WEIGHT WATCHERS – THE NEW PROGRAM

Well, some of you have been poking fun at me about the “Caveman” falling off the wagon, and it’s true. I have wondered to the wrong side of the forest for a time. No one noticed it more than Ms. Mushy did, so she has me on a new program – Weight Watchers!

I love the idea of the Caveman Diet, because I love nuts and fruits, but alas I’m too weak to last on anything. The only thing I ever did right was quit smoking. However, I do puff a stogie on occasion, but like Bill Clinton I do not inhale. Tried it once and got deathly sick!

Anyway, thought you might like to see last night’s meal and get build on the idea that you can eat pretty well on Weight Watchers.

Being a man, a manly man, I get about 10 more points per day than does she, and that seems to make me happy. I really haven’t been hungry, and if I do I still have fruit or popcorn (which is free if in the light version).

Last night my wife baked a beautiful pork chop, sweet potato, and side salad for me. Look at it! It was so good.

Sitting to my right was my granddaughter who insisted on macaroni and cheese with her chop…and yes, I stole 2 bites!

Here’s hoping I do better on this and have to buy all new clothes! Nah, I don’t want to go that far.

T-BONE STEAK & SWEET POTATO

My wife and I celebrated my 60th birthday tonight with steak, pork chops, and sweet potatoes. We spent the evening on the screened porch watching the baby geese trains (daddy, babies, and momma playing follow the leader) slowly making their way around the lake. Very peaceful evening and I would not have wanted to be anywhere else in the world.

My wife turns 60 Sunday, so the party will continue on the houseboat with our family all weekend. Tomorrow we will treat ourselves to seafood at Bonefish!

The T-Bone was smothered in Cajun blackened seasoning and the sweet potato was covered in butter and brown sugar. My wife baked her chops in the oven very slowly, but my steak was the best!

I enjoyed a couple of Bass Ale's while toking an Ashton. What more could a guy ask for on his birthday?

Thank ye Lord!