Brined and Grilled Pork Chops

Brined and Grilled Pork Chop
Served with Au Gratin Potatoes and steamed broccoli

My mom, my beloved cooking guru, told me the other day that she made the best, juiciest, most tender chicken the other night; and she achieved that by brining her chicken for two hours before cooking it. Hmm. I've seen brining, eaten the best brined turkey ever made by my sister-in-law, but I had not tried it myself. It seemed like a hassle. Yeah, anyone who knows me is scratching their heads because I am not one to shy away from a few extra steps in order to make food more delicious. Since my mom recommended it though, I decided to try it with the pork chops I had in the fridge for dinner the next night.
I googled "brined pork chops" and came up with TheKitchn.com. The recipe was simple and like Mom said, only took two hours to brine.
I should have thought about the salt that would be in the pork due to the brine and not seasoned the pork with any more salt, but I did it anyway. The chops came out slightly too salty, but not inedibly salty. They were perfectly moist, tender, flavorful, and fabulous. I will be brining my pork chops from now on.
The recipe below is for grilled chops, but I suppose you can prepare them however you'd like once brined at patted dry. Grilling is not a science for me, as is baking, so what you see below is my best guess. I had planned to use my timer to be able to give you exact times and such, but, well, I didn't do it. If you're used to grilling, you should be able to figure it out without details from me. If you're new to grilling, you might want to grill one chop first and see how it goes before you throw the rest on the grill. Best of luck to you. If all goes well, you should be able to enjoy a fabulous, meaty meal.

Brined and Grilled Pork Chops
    --Adapted from TheKitchn.com

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup salt
• 4 cups water
• 4 thick cut pork loin chops
• Italian seasoning or other low-sodium seasoning
• canola oil

Instructions:
Place water and salt in a large bowl and stir a bit to dissolve the salt. Add the pork chops. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 hours (I did mine for the 2 hours).
Preheat your grill to about 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove chops from the brine and discard the brine. Pat chops dry with paper towels. Season both sides with Italian seasoning. Drizzle both sides with a little canola oil. 
Grill chops for approximately 7 minutes on each side, turning the heat down after the first 4-5 minutes of grilling. Be sure to check for flare ups and turn the heat down further if your chops are burning on the outside. Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature once both sides are browned. When thermometer reads 145 degrees Fahrenheit for a chop (take the temperature of each), remove to a heat-proof dish, cover lightly with foil, and allow to rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
Serve with something yummy like Au Gratin Potatoes.
Makes 4 hearty servings.

Bite Size Peanut Butter Cookie Buddies

Bite Size Peanut Butter Cookie Buddies

What needs to be said besides the fact that I'm on spring break and didn't travel anywhere? This is the sort of thing that happens under these circumstances. I've enjoyed way too many of these and will be taking most of what I have to my friend's house today. She and her family are quite thin, so they can handle it. 
These little gems are just what you'd imagine: yummy soft peanut butter cookie below, yummy chocolate candy on top. Truly, a winning bite size combo.
I didn't know what to name these because I already have so many variations on this peanut blossom cookie thing. Since the cookie part and the candy part are so distinct in themselves, I decided that they were good buddies. So, "Bite Size Peanut Butter Cookie Buddies" it is.

Bite Size Peanut Butter Cookie Buddies
    --Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup Crisco vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup smooth/creamy peanut butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups Better Batter Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour or King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• granulated sugar
• 2-3 bags of mini chocolate candies (like Bite Size Snickers, Bite Size Rolos, and Bite Size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups)

Instructions:
Prepare a metal brownie pan (I used a 7 cm x 11 cm pan) by lining it with parchment or wax paper. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, and the sugars until fluffy. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low until combined. Do not overmix.
Transfer the dough to the paper-lined brownie pan and smooth it out until you have an even layer. Place plastic wrap on top and then gently pack the dough in and leave the plastic wrap on top of the dough. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to chill.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit about a half hour before you plan to form the little cookies. Then line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place about 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a bowl that you will use to coat dough pieces.
If you're using the Bite Size Snickers and Rolos, you might want to cut them in half while the dough chills. I leave the Reese's cups whole. Your choice, though.
Once dough is thoroughly chilled, remove from the refrigerator. Lift the dough out by using the edges of the paper. Cut the dough into about 1 to 1.25 cubic centimeter pieces, so that you end up with about a half teaspoon of dough. At this point, you can either roll each cube into a ball, roll in sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheet, OR you can just toss the little dough cubes in the sugar. Shape didn't matter to me today, so I used the cubes--much faster.  Leave about 1 1/2 inches between dough balls/cubes.  Bake cookies for about 5 minutes at 375 degrees, or until they are puffed and slightly cracked. 
Remove from oven and immediately top each cookie with a piece or half a piece of candy, cut face up if you've cut them. You need to move quickly because you have a lot of cookies and they start to cool pretty quickly. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for about five minutes.
Move cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. Wait until the chocolate has solidified again before storing or serving.
Makes approximately 120-140 mini cookies

The candies seemed to big,
so the next batch I cut them
in half. Delicious either way.

The cut candies just seem more reasonable.

Gluten Free Croutons

Gluten Free Croutons: Just bread, butter, and some toasting in the oven.

I'm loving the combo of Chicken Pot Pie Soup and gf croutons.

Here's my convoluted story for these croutons:

Today is my husband's birthday. He requested Red Beans and Rice for his birthday dinner. I do not like beans; never have. Sooo... the logical thing to do in this situation is to make another separate meal that I can enjoy: Chicken Pot Pie Soup, right? Well, I'm in the middle of this experiment to see whether I feel, think, and function better as a gluten free eater. Sigh. I love gluten, as you can probably tell by looking around my blog. Since my son is already gluten limited, it's actually not too much of a leap. So tonight, instead of making pie crust, I've made some croutons from the Gltuen Free French Sandwich Rolls I always have in my freezer. They're super easy, and most people probably don't need a recipe, but for the sake of blogging, and for those who have never made home made croutons, here you go.

Gluten Free Croutons

Ingredients:

• 4 Gltuen Free French Sandwich Rolls
• 2-3 tablespoons butter, softened

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

If sandwich rolls are not already sliced lengthwise, slice them lengthwise. Butter each open face pretty liberally, unless you want to go light.

With a sharp chef-type knife (you know, large and relatively heavy), cut each buttered roll half into 16ths. Place buttered pieces onto a cookie sheet (I lined mine with foil) and spread them evenly into a single layer.

Bake croutons at 375 degrees for 11-16 minutes. Shorter if you want them a little soft in the middle, longer if you want them completely crisp.

If you want to add more flavor, you can sprinkle garlic salt and/or Parmesean cheese on the buttered rolls before you cut them.

Makes about 3 cups of croutons

Churros with Berries and Cream

Churros with Berries and Cream, aka Breakfast

It seems I am always finding new ways to enjoy berries and whipped cream with baked goods. First was the original Shortcake Biscuits with Warm Berries and Whipped Cream, thanks to my friend Jen Wilson. Next, the berries and cream tasted fabulous with waffles. Today seemed like a great day to see how the berries and cream taste with churros, and not surprisingly, they taste FABULOUS. I don't know if there's anything berries and whipped cream don't taste good with at this point. The tart sweetness and the rich creaminess go with just about any bready/cakey sort of thing. 
After eating about 3 of these myself, I had to take what remained to my friends who are meeting at church this morning. I walked away from them hearing the happy sounds of my friend exclaiming, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" That's what I like to hear. 
Seriously, if you've never tried anything with these berries and whipped cream, you have to do it soon. I'm not even a berry fan, and I just can't get enough. Do it. 
[P.S. Jack, if you're reading, this was my breakfast today. No popcorn. :)]

Churros with Berries and Cream
     --Adapted from Gluten Free on a Shoestring

Churros Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk 
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/3 cups Better Batter Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (or regular all-purpose flour if gluten isn't a problem)
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• canola oil for frying
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Berries Ingredients:

• 1 cup mixed frozen berries (blueberries, black berries, and raspberries)
• 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

Whipped Cream Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2-4 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Churros Instructions:
In a medium sized heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk and butter to a simmer. Stir in flour and stir vigorously for a minute or two, until the mixture comes together and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl of a standing mixer (or you can leave it in the pan to cool--but it will take longer).  While dough cools, prepare the berries according to directions below.
When dough is cool enough to touch (about 10 to 15 minutes in the mixing bowl, longer in the pan), beat in the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next (see below for what it should look like). 
Place a cooling rack over a sheet pan and cover with paper towels. Set aside.
In a shallow baking dish, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large sized heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, bring about 2 inches of canola oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
While oil heats, transfer batter to a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip.
When oil has come to temperature, carefully squeeze about 5-6 inch ropes of batter into the oil, and use kitchen scissors to cut the end. Fry about 4 ropes at a time, turning when one side is well-browned. If churros seem to brown too quickly, reduce heat to medium and/or add a little more oil. I ended up frying churros about 1.5 minutes on each side.
Remove fried churros to the paper-towel lined cooling rack. Squeeze more churros into the hot oil. Then place the fried churros in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and turn to coat with cinnamon sugar. Place sugared churros on another paper towel lined surface and continue with this frying and coating cycle until you are out of batter.
Makes about 1 dozen fat churros (depends on the size of your piping tip)

Berries Instructions:
In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, mix the berries, cornstarch, lemon juice, and sugar. Heat until berries come to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer on low for about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn heat off and let berries sit there until ready to serve.

Whipped Cream Intructions:
In a medium size bowl, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla, until firm peaks form. Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

BWW Parmesan Garlic Sauce Copy Cat

Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Sauce Copy Cat

There are times, as a working mom, that I have to be gone in the evenings for meetings, parent-teacher conferences, and yes, the occasional social outing. Over the last couple of years, my husband and kids have gotten into the habit of eating at Buffalo Wild Wings on those nights I am not with them. They know it's not one of my favorite restaurants (the grease and sodium levels are off the charts), even though I will eat there with my family once in a blue moon. This Parmesan garlic sauce is one of the flavors that I really enjoy there, and so does my 11-year-old son. Today he asked me if I thought I could try making the sauce at home. The kid knows me well enough to know that I would immediately look up a recipe and try it. 
The first recipe that came up when I googled "buffalo wild wings parmesan garlic" was at Raininghotcoupons.com, and it tastes GREAT, in my opinion. Salty, creamy, garlicky, herby. Yum. My son says there's something slightly different from BWWs' sauce, but he can't quite put his finger on it. I don't eat enough BWW to know the difference.
I only had Tyson frozen chicken fries to try it out on today, and we did try it before the recommended sit in the fridge. So, later today when we go to SuperTarget, we're going to pick up some chicken wings to try it out on.
Update: Delicious success with the real chicken wings. Many thumbs up.

Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Sauce Copy Cat
   --adapted from Raininghotcoupons.com

Ingredients:

• 1 small head (6-7 medium cloves) garlic
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon basil
• 1/4 teaspoon marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (powdered/grated)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (or plain yogurt if you want it light in calories)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 
Trim the top of the garlic head about 1/8-1/4 inch, to expose the cloves. Place on a square of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until fragrant and soft.
While garlic roasts, mix the following ingredients in a medium bowl: salt, black pepper, basil, marjoram, oregano, red pepper flakes, thyme, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, vinegar, and corn syrup. 
When garlic is done, remove from the oven, and carefully remove the roasted garlic nuggets from their skin and place them in the bowl with the other ingredients. With the back of a fork, smash the roasted garlic into the other ingredients to make a paste. Add the mayonnaise and whisk to combine.
Cover and refrigerate sauce for a few hours to overnight before serving (at least that's what Raining Hot Coupons recommends).
Makes about 3/4 cup 

Roasted garlic skin

Gluten Free Bite Size Peanut Butter & Peanut Blossom Cookies

I've been toying with the idea of going gluten free/gluten limited myself. So far, I've been gluten free for six days. My life has not completely changed so far, but I'm looking out for it. I've been craving the Bite-Size Peanut Blossom Cookies I made around Christmas time and thought this was a perfect time to try making them gluten free. I've discovered two things with this experiment: 1. These cookies taste excellent gluten free, and 2. It is not necessary to form balls of cookie dough before baking them. I used my new favorite method of portioning dough--refrigerating cookie dough in a pan and cutting squares/cubes from the resulting slab of dough. It makes life so much easier, and they taste just as good. There's no law that says cookies must be round, right? Thank you refrigerated cookie dough manufacturers for giving me the idea.
So, gluten free peanut butter cookie fans out there, give these a try. You'll love them. I promise.

Gluten Free Bite Size Peanut Butter & Peanut Blossom Cookies
    --Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup Crisco vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup smooth/creamy peanut butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups Better Batter Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• granulated sugar
• 1 bag Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Baking Chips

Instructions:
Prepare a metal brownie pan (I used a 7 cm x 11 cm pan) by lining it with parchment or wax paper. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, and the sugars until fluffy. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low until combined. Do not overmix.
Transfer the dough to the paper-lined brownie pan and smooth it out until you have an even layer. Place plastic wrap on top and then gently pack the dough in and leave the plastic wrap on top of the dough. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to chill.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit about a half hour before you plan to form the little cookies. Then line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place about 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a bowl that you will use to coat dough pieces.
Once dough is thoroughly chilled, remove from the refrigerator. Lift the dough out by using the edges of the paper. Cut the dough into about 1 cubic centimeter pieces, so that you end up with about a half teaspoon of dough. At this point, you can either roll each cube into a ball, roll in sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheet, OR you can just toss the little dough cubes in the sugar. Shape didn't matter to me today, so I used the cubes--much faster.  Leave about 1 1/2 inches between dough balls/cubes. If you plan to make blossoms, put them in the oven at this point. If you want just peanut butter cookies, use a fork to press a criss-cross pattern on the top of each dough ball/cube. Bake cookies for about 5 minutes at 375 degrees, or until they are puffed and slightly cracked. 
Remove from oven and immediately top each peanut blossom cookie with a milk chocolate chip, pressing down to secure the chip. You need to move quickly because you have a lot of cookies and they start to cool pretty quickly. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for about five minutes.
Move cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. Wait until the chocolate has solidified again before storing or serving.
Makes approximately 150-175 mini cookies