Corn Chowder with Smoked Pork Chops

I have been so busy.....I have my other blog My Blog - My Journey, I am working on 4 reviews that I need to get done this week, plus work on recipes for this blog.  Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it. 

I have been wanting to make a Corn Chowder and my Nueske's order for their Smoked Boneless Pork Chops arrived, so it was time to make that soup.  This is my first time making a corn chowder and I am very pleased with the way it came out.  I already got the first thumbs up when my husband was taking his bowl into the kitchen and he turned to me and said that was the best soup you have made yet.  

Satisfaction.....my work is done.

Corn Chowder with Smoked Pork Chops

4 slices bacon, diced
2 smoked boneless pork chops, diced (I used Nueskes Smoked Boneless Pork Chops)
1 onion, diced
3 stocks celery, diced
1 large russet potato, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1 roasted poblano chili, diced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons flour
1 32oz box chicken stock low sodium
fresh corn from 4 or 5 ears
1 cup heavy cream


Heat a large dutch oven and add bacon, cook until crispy, remove and set aside.  Add diced pork chops, cook until lightly browned, remove and set aside.  Add onions, celery, bell pepper, potato and pepper, season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper, sauté for 15 minutes; stirring often.  Sprinkle with flour and cook for 3 minutes.  Now add chicken stock; give it a good whisk to incorporate the floured veggies, add corn; cover and cook on low for 30 minutes. Add heavy cream and pork chops to dutch oven; cover and cook for 15 minutes; taste and season if needed.

Garnish:  Shredded white cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, greens onions or chives and tabasco.

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Cookbook Review: Haute Dogs - Russell Van Kraayenburg

I have the perfect cookbook to review for the upcoming Independence Day celebration.  Who doesn't love hot dogs?  I love them and they are the perfect summer food for both the kiddo's and adults.

Book:  Haute Dogs - Recipes for delicious Hot Dogs, Buns and Condiments

Author: Russell Van Kraayenburg

Haute Dogs starts out giving you a history of the hot dog along with some educational history tidbits.  It then goes into "The Basics" from the ingredients, cooking methods and assembly.

You will find classic American hot dogs along with International favorites.  I love that there is a section just for the vessel "Buns" and a section for condiments.

Some of the Dogs you will find in this cookbook:

The New York Style Hot Dog

Texas BBQ Dog

Maxwell Street Polish

Loaded Guatemalan Meat Dog

German Three-In-A-Bun

There are over 40 different hot dogs, something for everyone.

Pros:  Very nicely written - Informative - Great photos (and hot dogs are not the easiest to photograph) - Variety

Cons:  Chili Base Recipe, I did make the chili recipe and it was too tomatoey, it tasted more like a pasta sauce than chili for a hot dog.  I'm not sure if the 8 oz of tomato paste was a typo or not.  Also the recipe said it was enough for 4 hot dogs I felt it was enough for at least 10 to 12 hot dogs.  I will using the leftover chili with pasta tomorrow night.

Chambord Blackberry Sage Frozen Treats

We have all seen those gorgeous photos on Blogs and Pinterest of frozen treats, well this isn't one of those photos, how do they do it?  It is however a post that has a delicious recipe for adult frozen treats, yep save the popsicles for the kiddies and enjoy these Chambord Blackberry Sage Frozen Treats.

Chambord Blackberry Sage Frozen Treats

1 1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
15 good size sage leaves torn up
2 6oz containers fresh blackberries
1/2 cup Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur

In a sauce pan add water and sugar, bring to a boil while stirring, add sage leaves and remove from heat.  Remove sage leaves after 15 to 20 minutes, it's okay to leave some of the smaller pieces, intact I chop up some of the sage leaves real fine, I like the flavor.  Bring sage simple syrup to room temperature. Add Blackberries and smash leaving some whole, add Chambord Liqueur and pour into frozen treat molds, place in freezer for at least 8 hours or over night.

Italian Breakfast Sandwich

I am late this week on my breakfast recipe.  I needed to make some changes in my life regarding exercising and what I am eating.  I am not saying I'm dieting to me diets fail, I am making life style changes.  I will be posting more healthy recipes along with my regular recipes, after all my skinny husband could use some meat on his bones.  What I will try to do (not sure if I can do it for every recipe but I will try) is give ingredients both ways as I have done with the recipe below.

I have started a second blog with my journey if you would like to check it out and these recipes will show up there too now and then.  My Blog - My Journey This blog is being brutally honest and is not always viewer friendly, just a warning.

Italian Breakfast Sandwich

8 slices prosciutto, thin sliced (I used Boar's Head Deli Slices)
5 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
a few cranks of fresh cracked pepper
4 tablespoons water (you can substitute milk)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion chopped small
4 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes with basil julienne cut, rough chop (I used Bella Sun Luci)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
fresh mozzarella, cut into 1 oz slices (more if you are not watching calories)
Fresh basil leaves
Good Italian Bread, sliced and lightly toasted (I used La Brea Bakery, roasted garlic)
English Muffins (if you are watching calories)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover cookie sheet with foil and lay prosciutto slices flat. (If you are using an english muffin I put the prosciutto in round bundles.  Bake prosciutto for about 10 to 15 minutes, just until barely crisp. Since it is very thin keep an eye on it.

Heat olive oil in a skillet, sauté onions while you are preparing the other ingredients. Add sun dried tomatoes, garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes, stir with onions for about 2 to 3 minutes.  In a bowl whisk together eggs, salt, pepper and water.  Add to onions and gently fold eggs into the onions, cook until your doneness liking.  Remove from heat to assemble sandwiches.

Lightly toast bread/english muffins.  If you are not watching calories drizzle bread with some olive oil.  Take on half of the bread and add mozzarella cheese and place under broiler until melted. On the other bread add prosciutto, eggs, basil and top with the melted cheese bread. (note: if you are counting calories I scooped out approx 4 rounded tablespoons of egg, which is about 1 1/2 eggs.  Makes 4 sandwiches

Calories if using english muffin - 396

Sharing the Love at Best Blog Recipes - The Weekend re-Treat Link Party #80

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

You know you are in a rut when you start changing things, it might be the furniture in your bedroom, the pictures on your wall.  Well in my case it's my blog, first it was changing my blog's design and now I'm changing how I post.  Somethings might not work and some might be a perfect fit you never know until you try. 

My first change is themed months, doesn't that sound fun!  Once a week through the month of June I will be posting a Breakfast recipe.  To kick off the first week I made Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes.

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

3/4 cup buttermilk (you can sub all milk if you don't have buttermilk)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1/4 cup melted butter, cooled

9 pineapple rings

9 maraschino cherries

butter

In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl whisk together wet ingredients.  Slowly add wet ingredients to the dry stirring at the same time until it's all incorporated.  Allow batter to rest 8 to 10 minutes while you are heating your griddle.

Butter griddle, add a pineapple ring and place a cherry inside the ring, top with batter so the pineapple is covered.  Cook on a medium low heat until the edges of the pancake are dry, flip and continue to cook on the other side until done. Serve with butter and syrup.  Makes 9 pancakes

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Loaded Chicken Sandwiches

Since getting back from New York my daughter Anna has been working non-stop.  She decided to take some days off before starting a new adventure at her job.  She called me Friday telling me what she was planning and seeing if she could work it out.  Saturday afternoon I got a text message saying she was leaving....after a 7 hour drive she arrive in Utah around 11pm, we sat up talking until 2am.

While she was here she got to unwind and relax.  We did a little shopping in town, had lunch at our favorite pizza joint Centro Pizzeria, coffees at Starbucks.  Anna does not have a TV in her apartment she watches Hulu on her computer.  She loves Chopped so we watched a few episodes and we watched the new show Penny Dreadful.

Thursday came too fast, we got up early, made sure we filled her gas tank up.  We drove down to St George she wanted Cracker Barrel for breakfast and of course we did a little shopping in their General Store.  We then parted ways her heading back to Los Angeles and us heading home.

It had been almost a year since we saw her last and that visit and listening to her goals for her career got me inspired to kickstart my blog.  I have been feeling insecure about my blog, not sure what direction I wanted to go in and uninspired.  Now I'm excited to develop some new recipes and try some new ideas that I have been kicking around.

I hope you will follow me on my new adventure and see where this takes me.

Loaded Chicken Sandwiches
makes 6 sandwiches

3 chicken breasts, sliced in half
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper, optional

Marinade

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jelly
1/2 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1/4 cup whiskey
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoons minced cilantro
1 green onion, sliced

Other Ingredients Needed:

Rolls
Onions
Mushrooms
Bacon
Sliced Swiss Cheese (2 per sandwich)

In a small saucepan heat olive oil medium low heat add garlic and sauté 2 minutes.  Add raspberry jelly and horseradish, stir until melted, cook on low for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat add whiskey and butter.  Allow to cool, add cilantro and green onion.

Salt and pepper sliced chicken breasts, lightly sprinkle with cayenne pepper, rub into breasts and place in a ziploc bag.  Poor marinade over chicken, seal bag and squish around to make sure the chicken is covered by the marinade, refrigerate for two hours.

Place chicken on a hot grill cook for 4 minutes on each side or until done, no pink, assemble. (see below)

Toppings:  onion slices that have been grilled, sautéed mushrooms, bacon, raspberry mayonnaise* and swiss cheese.

Assemble: Slice your favorite rolls in half, I used onion rolls.  Spread some of the raspberry mayonnaise on the top and bottom of your rolls, add chicken,  grilled onion, bacon, top with a slice of swiss cheese,  mushrooms, a slice of swiss cheese.  Place under broiler until cheese has melted.  Top with the other bun and serve.

*Raspberry Mayonnaise: 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 2 1/2 tablespoons raspberry jelly, 1/2 tablespoon prepared horseradish, mix together and refrigerate 2 hours before using.