Cooking 101 #34/52 Cajun Rubbed Pork Chops w/ Tex-Mex Corn Fritters

Cajun Rubbed Pork Chops with Tex-Mex Corn Fritters

Pork chops.  Growing up this mean thin sliced chops cooked to the point of challenging my shoe leather for toughness (sorry, Mom).  Not sure why they were always made that way, but that is what I thought pork had to be.  They'd be fried up with some onions, then topped with salt and pepper.  That was all I knew of pork chops until my wife made them for me years ago.  Get out, they could be tender and juicy too?  Who knew?

Well, it was time for me to try them on my own.  Picked out some nice center loin cuts.  Coated them generously in Rick's Ragin' Cajun rub and topped that with a bit of oil to prevent outright burning on the grill.  Left that to sock in some flavor while I prepped the corn fritters.  Started the grill heating and asked Michelle to watch the chops while I fried up the fritters.  Never had corn fritters before in my life, but they seemed like something I'd go for.

The meal was great!  The Rick's Rub gave the pork chops great flavor and they were cooked just long enough, still tender and juicy (although credit for that is really Michelle's).  The corn fritters were a perfect combination of sweet and spicy.  I think I made them a bit large, but they came out pretty well for a first attempt.  We'll be doing these again in the future, although I may try a different recipe just to see how else they can be made.

Cooking 101 #33/52 Faux Deep Dish Pizza

Faux deep dish pizza

Ok, this was an experiment based on a dish I saw on an episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on The Food Network.  One of the meals was a deep dish pizza that was made in a bowl.  They started by lining the bowl with cheese, added sauce and fillings, then topped the bowl with a crust.  Bake it until the crust is a golden brown and tip it over on a plate to serve.

So, I started by making a batch of the sauce from the lasagna recipe I made a while back.  Took a few baking dishes, lined them with a variety of cheeses (provologne in one, Sargento italian cheese mix in another, both in a third).  Topped each with the sauce from the lasagna recipe (with some diced black olives added).  Topped the bowls with some Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust (see my last post about cheating, get over it).  Tossed it in the oven per the crust recipe and tipped them out onto plates.

The flavor was great.  the crust could definitely be improved upon, but it was more than passable.  The cheese was nice and gooey.  It would be nice to have some bowls that would be better shaped, some had handles, they weren't round, and there wasn't enough crust to make it further than the edge of any bowl.  Sort of prevented it from being actual deep dish.  But this is definitely worth doing again.  The sauce simply made this dish delicious!

Cooking 101 #32/52 French Onion Pot Roast

French Onion Pot Roast

Ahhh, summer.  Temps over 90 for days on end and humidity to match.  I'm looking for meals that won't heat the house much at all.  No steaming pots on the stove, no over at 400 degrees.  Pretty much leaves slow cookers or grilling.  In my search for interesting meals I stumbled across this recipe.  I had planned on making a roast, so why not?

I guess using canned French Onion soup was a bit of a cheat, but I'm not a chef, just a dad trying to pick up some of the basics of cooking.  Cheating is quite alright with me.

This was a good solid meal and it was easy to prepare.  I'd honestly like to kick the flavor up a bit if I make this one again, but no one was complaining about the results as they were.

Cooking 101 #31/52 Garlic and Chili Rubbed Steaks w/ grilled veggies in balsamic garlic vinagrette

Garlic and Chili Rubbed Steaks with grilled veggies in balsamic garlic vinagrette

Summer.   Grilling weather.  Found this recipe as a way to dress up some steaks and it was absolutely delicious. Not extremely spicy, but the rub gives it great flavor and color.  Simple to make as well.  All around winner here.

The veggies (red potatoes and carrots) were marinated in Good Seasons garlic dressing mix (using 3/4 balsamic vinegar and 1/4 apple cider vinegar).  Tossed in the microwave for a few minutes to partially cook and soften them, then tossed them on the grill for browning and flavor.  Michelle and I both liked the results.

Cooking 101 #30/52 Banana, Chocolate, Peanut Butter Crepes w/ whipped cream

Banana, Chocolate, Peanut Butter crepes with whipped cream

I was in the mood for something different for breakfast.  Decided to make some crepes.  Rather than just rolling up each crepe I basically built a layer cake out of them.  Two layers each of peanut butter and Nutella, one of caramelized bananas.  Elvis would be proud.

Cooking 101 #29/52 Chicken Fajitas w/ Spanish Rice

Chicken Fajitas with Spanish Rice

Chicken fajitas, one of my favorites.  We often use D.L. Jardines marinade or a recipe that Michelle has come up with that emulates the commercial marinade.  I wanted this to be something different so I went with something heavy on the lime.  I loved it.  It had a much fresher and crisp flavor than our usual.  Michelle was not as crazy about it, she thought it was too heavy on the lime.  So, if you like lime, give it a go.  If strong lime flavors aren't your thing... skip this one.

The Spanish rice I made by simply adding some salsa to a normal rice recipe.  I loved it, much better than the recipes we've tried before.  Get out your favorite salsa, toss some into the rice as it's cooking, see what you think!