Pork Chops

I actually really hated pork chops growing up. It wasn't until my dad made me a pork chop with corn flakes that I actually started eating and enjoying it. Now I make pork chops regularly and thought I would share my version with you.

Before you start, I try to let my meat warm up to room temperature because it cooks more evenly.

For the breading I use a mixture of crushed corn flakes and seasoned italian breadcrumbs. About a 50/50 mix. I also season my breading with Goya, garlic powder, pepper and basil. Don't forget to also salt and pepper your flour.

Dredge your pork chop in flour first, then buttermilk, then breadcrumb mixture.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

I served this with sauteed green beans and onions. I simply threw green beans and onions in a skillet with a little olive oil and seasoning, covered and simmered until soft. Here's a tip, if you add a spoonful of sugar it helps with the carmelization of the onions.

Buttermilk Biscuits

This recipe is courtesy of my Dad. He used to make these biscuits all the time and was worried they would die with him. Never fear, I learned and now the job has been passed on to me.

These biscuits really aren't that difficult, just a lot of technique, and only three ingredients needed.

So for these biscuits you are going to use Hudson Cream Flour (The only place I have really been able to find this is at our local IGA. Sometimes Walmart has it) Buttermilk and butter.

The most important part of this recipe is having your buttermilk at as close to room temperature as possible. If the buttermilk is ice cold the biscuits aren't going to rise.

Before you do anything, get your baking dish ready. Grease your pan well with butter. This would also be a good time to grease and flour your biscuit cutter. Don't forget to also flour a clean surface to turn your biscuit dough onto.

Start off with a large bowl and add your flour. There really are no measurements that I could even begin to give you for this. When it is just the two of us, I use less than two cups of flour because we don't eat that much. Basically you're going to have to play with it.

Add in your buttermilk. Now, here is the difficult part that might take some practice. You don't want to add small amounts of buttermilk at a time. If you stir this mixture too much, your biscuits are going to be super dense and unpleasant. When you get good at it, you should be able to get your mixture perfect in less than ten stirs.
My guess would be that you are going to use about 75% as much buttermilk as you do flour. When you initially pour in your buttermilk, it should look like you added way too much (That's what I always think, but after a couple stirs I realized I need more). These biscuits are going to be pretty wet.

Now turn out onto your floured surface and pat in the edges to make a nice circle.

Cut your biscuits and place in your baking dish. I like to use my cast iron skillet because it is the perfect size.

Pour melted butter over the top. BUTTER, not margarine (eww)

Let the biscuits rise for about 5 minutes and then bake at 350 until golden brown. Mine normally bake for 35-45 minutes.

 These biscuits are sooo delicious and fluffy when done right.

Hobo Hash!

Ok so this is seriously so simple, yet I can't ever get enough. We mainly make this while camping, but this can also be made in the oven or on the grill.

If you are making this in a fire or on the grill I would suggest doubling up on your foil. If making in the oven, a single wrap is fine.

I made this over the weekend camping, so don't mind my caveman ways. It just proves how easy it is to have something other than hot dogs.

Start by slicing some red potatoes about 1/4 inch thick. I used 1 small potato per person, it just depends on how much you want to make. Also cut some carrots and onions. I cut mine in advance and put them in a plastic bag in the cooler.

 *I also normally put Magda in my hobo hash but it is not quite in season yet. Don't worry, full blog dedicated to Magda to follow. You could also throw in some sausage or chicken if you wanted to make this a full meal instead of a side.

Pull out two sheets of foil per serving and start by layering your potatoes on the bottom, and then putting your carrots and onions on top. Sprinkle on your seasoning. I have a little container of a mixture of Goya, garlic powder, basil, and pepper made up specifically for this.

Note: Do not use cheap foil!! Good foil can stand up to open flame, cheap foil will literally catch on fire.

Top with 4-5 pats of butter.

Fold in the sides of your foil to make a nice square foil packet. Repeat with the second piece of foil. I used to turn the packet over and fold the other way, so that the butter couldn't escape when turned, but it resulted in a lot of burnt fingers and was just a pain.

Now throw it in the fire! Make a small fire and let it burn down so that you have some nice coals. You can then build the fire back up just a little but leaving an open section for your hash to go. You don't want to put your hash directly on the flame.

Turn every couple minutes until cooked. Usually takes about 20 minutes.

This really is so simple but you won't believe how delicious it is.

Banana Bread Muffins

Found this recipe courtesy of Yammie's Noshery http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2013/10/the-best-banana-bread-muffins-ever.html

For real these are the best banana bread muffins I have ever had. They are ridiculously moist. So good that I could not resist sharing this recipe.

Start by putting 2-3 ripe bananas in your mixing bowl. (Perfect for those bananas you are about to throw away because you dont know what to do with them) Oh yeah, and preheat your oven to 350.

Add 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp cinnamon. Mix well, the batter is going to be super wet. Let's face it, there's only one cup of flour in this whole recipe. You could also add some chocolate chips and nuts if you wanted. I do, but caution, since this batter is so wet, the chocolate chips are going to sink to the bottom as it cooks and probably stick to your pan.

This is not a huge recipe. I like big muffins, so this recipe for me makes 6 large muffins.

Bake at 350 or 375 until a tooth pick comes out clean. Mine baked for 30 minutes. Now because these are soooo moist, they arent really going to look done, but they are!

Sausage and veggie flatbread

I had no idea what to make for dinner the other night so I looked at what I had in the fridge and started chucking things together.

I started with two italian sausages and cut off the casing, then pulled apart the sausage into chunks and started cooking in a skillet.

Then I cut my veggies into small pieces and added them to the pan with the sausage. For that night I used broccoli, onions, carrots, red pepper and 1 tomato.

Simmer on low until the veggies are soft. I seasoned with Goya, Mrs. Dash, pepper and garlic. I also added around 1/8 cup of balsamic vinegar for acidity.

The flat bread I used was store bought. I just followed the package directions, threw it in the oven and made it crispy.

When your flat bread is crispy, top with sausage and veggie mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. At this point I put mine back in the oven for about 3 minutes just to make sure it stayed crispy until we were ready to eat.

Easy!