Pork chops and gravy for dinner

This is an old-school, blue plate special kind of dinner. It's not healthy by any stretch of the imagination, but a great comfort food dinner for once in a while.

You'll need

5-6 boneless pork chops
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 to 3/4 cups water

In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil about 1/4 inch deep. Season the chops with salt and pepper, then dredge them in the flour. Add the chops to the hot oil.

Fry the chops for about 8 minutes, turning once. Remove the chops to a plate to rest.

Your pan should have plenty of carmelization from the chops. This browned coating is full of flavor and is the basis of your gravy.

Remove any excess oil, leaving about 2 tablespoons. Sprinkle in about 2 tablespoons of flour and blend with a fork, scraping up the browned bits from the pan.

I combine the water and milk. Add the liquid to the pan, stirring constantly. You can use the same fork, or a wire whisk.

Cook until the mixture is thickened and bubbly. You can add additional water, if necessary. Making gravy is something you have to practice and get a feel for. How do you like my new gravy boat from Pier 1?

I served the chops with rice and greeen beans -- a classic blue plate kind of dinner.

Sausage and white bean chowder

Like most people, I try to stretch my food budget and I love developing recipes that are low in cost and big in flavor. Soup is a great way to get high nutrition for fewer dollars; using low cost dried beans is a great way to get added protein.

My family really likes kielbasa – I’ve usually got a pound of the stuff tucked away in the fridge waiting to be part of something delicious. Kielbasa is a wonderful substitute for beef in spaghetti sauce. And it is terrific in soups and stews.

This recipe was a delicious variation on white bean soup, often made with ham.

You’ll need:
1 pound of kielbasa, sliced
½ white onion, diced
1 cup navy beans, soaked overnight, then drained and rinsed
½ cup white wine
14.5 ounce can corn, drained
2 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon diced jalapenos

Soak the beans overnight, then drain and rinse in fresh water. Add to a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Warm the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the kielbasa and cook for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the kielbasa with a slotted spoon and add it to the slow cooker. Add the diced onions to the skillet and sauté for about 3 minutes. Pour in ½ cup white wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Pour the onions and wine into the slow cooker. Add 3-4 cups water. Cook on low for about 6 hours.

Once the beans have softened, remove about a cup of beans from the cooker and smash them with a potato masher. Return the mashed beans to the cooker; add drained corn and the diced jalapenos. (I buy jalapenos that are diced in the jar. It makes a wonderful addition to recipes that need a little bit of tang and heat.) Cook another hour on low.

To serve: Place a half cup of cooked white rice in the bottom of a soup bowl. Ladle sausage and white bean chowder over the rice. Top with a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese. Yield: 8-10 servings.

This recipe is smoky and spicy and has a creamy texture without adding cream, thanks to mashing the beans. A great trick!

Can't beat cornflakes and cheese

Hot chicken salad: Every family in the South (and perhaps elsewhere) has a version of this recipe. It’s a great way to use up leftovers and turn them into something special. Most all the variations I have seen use crushed potato chips or corn flakes as a crunchy topping.

I recently bought a rice cooker and despite Alton Brown’s edict to avoid one-purpose devices, I love mine and have used it many times. I measure out the rice and water, turn it on and get on to other things. (It is cooking rice right now, while I work on this post, btw.) Last week, I had all the basics for this dish on hand – chicken, rice, cheese, corn flakes, so I set to work.

In a 9x13 dish, I combined 2 cups cooked chicken, ½ cup of mayonnaise, 2 cups of cooked rice (thank you rice cooker!), 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup and a ½ cup of milk. I sprinkled it with salt and pepper…

…then added a cup of green peas, straight from the freezer.

In a medium bow, I mixed 1 cup of crushed cornflakes and ½ cup grated Cheddar cheese. I like mixing the two, then adding it as a topping -- it blends completely and the cheese helps brown the crunchy top, without adding more butter or margarine.

Bake the casserole 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Delicious!

Here’s the complete recipe

HOT CHICKEN SALAD

2 cups cooked chicken
½ cup mayonnaise
2 cups cooked rice
1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup milk
Salt and pepper
1 cup green peas, frozen
1 cup crushed cornflakes
½ cup grated Cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients except cornflakes and cheese together and spread in a 9x13-inch casserole dish. Top with the cornflakes and cheese, which have been mixed together. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until browned and bubbly.

Pork fried rice

One of my favorite Asian dishes, fried rice, is really just a way for families to make use of leftovers. I tried my hand at this at home, with excellent results. With some leftover cooked rice, a bit of meat and vegetables and a couple of eggs, you can make something wonderful and inexpensive. If you are a vegetarian, this is a great way to use up a variety of veggies.

Pork fried rice

1 cup cooked pork, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
¼ cup green onions, diced
2 eggs
3 cups cooked rice, cooled (best if from an earlier meal and refrigerated until cold)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
Oil

Get everything organized before you begin:

In a wok or large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the pork and carrots and stir fry for 3-4 minutes.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a tablespoon of water and the green onion; reserve about a tablespoon of onion to garnish. Pour the eggs into the pan, with the carrots and pork. Scramble the eggs into the vegetables and meat.

Add the rice, soy sauce and fish sauce; blend well and heat the rice through. Remove to a serving platter and garnish with remaining green onions. I served this dish with prepared spring rolls from the grocery store.

It really is ‘great on everything’

My husband loves sauces and seasonings – literally the door of our fridge is full of hot sauces, barbecue sauces, marinades and dressings. But his favorite seasoning is Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning. The container says “great on everything” and my husband happily obliges. He uses it on meat, pasta, rice, vegetables – just about anything he puts in his mouth. The Creole seasoning is a blend of salt, red pepper, garlic and “other spices.” And he loves it.

I recently made a chicken and sausage stew that featured this Creole seasoning. The grownups loved it, but my youngest son thought it was too spicy. You could cut back on the seasonings, use plain diced tomatoes or use a milder flavored sausage. If you like things hotter, add crushed red pepper or hot sauce.

Creole Chicken and Sausage Stew

1 pound chicken, cut in 1-inch pieces (I used chicken breasts)
½ pound Creole sausage, sliced in rounds
1 teaspoon oil
½ onion, diced
15 ounce can diced tomatoes with chipotle peppers
15 ounce can corn, drained
2 teaspoons Creole spice (I used Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning)
Hot cooked rice, to serve

In a large skillet or stock pan, heat the oil. Add the chicken breast and sausage. Add the creole spice and onions. Cook 7-10 minutes, until the chicken and sausage are browned.

Add the diced tomatoes with chipotle peppers and the can of corn.

Simmer for 20 minutes. To serve, scoop hot cooked rice into bowls, then top with the stew.

Brown rice adventures

The real difference between brown rice and white rice is the hulling process. Whole grain rice has multiple layers; when only the outermost hull is removed, the result is brown rice. When rice is milled more, removing the layers of germ and bran, the result is a whiter rice. After those grains are further polished, that is the white rice we are used to seeing in grocery stores. The commercial benefit? Milling away the hulls (and their associated essential fats) makes a product less susceptible to spoilage. Of course, all that milling removes much of the rice’s nutritional content and leaves the rice as a refined starch.

This week I read an article that said the milling process to make white rice removes 67 percent of Vitamin B3, 80 percent of Vitamin B1, 90 percent of Vitamin B6 and 60 percent of iron. It also removes all of the natural dietary fiber and the natural essential fatty acids.

With those facts in mind, I aim to eat more brown rice in 2011 and beyond. It is rich in fiber, helps control cholesterol and helps control blood sugar. And I am trying to get away from more processed foods and feed myself, and my family, “real food.”

My husband can be resistant to dietary changes. He allegedly hated a variety of foods and dishes until I modified their recipes, or just had him try the product again. Same story with the brown rice. Didn’t want it. Wouldn’t eat it. I ignored him and bought a large bag last week.
I made a pilaf-style recipe with it and (of course) he loved it. My 9-year-old son was skeptical of the carrots in this dish. There are a plethora of brown rice recipes; I'll keep trying new ones until I hit on one he enjoys.

This recipe is easy and versatile; I used chicken stock as the primary liquid to give more flavor. Substitute beef stock, vegetable stock or water.

Brown rice pilaf
½ cup brown rice
1 cup chicken stock
½ cup water
2 carrots, diced
½ onion, diced
1 tablespoon oil
Salt and pepper
Parsley to garnish

Place the oil in a medium saucepan with a lid; warm over medium heat. Add the carrots and onions and cook 3 minutes until golden. Add the raw brown rice and stir to coat with the oil and vegetables; cook another 3 minutes until rice smells nutty and is golden. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken stock, stir well, cover and lower the heat to low. Total cooking time will be about 45 minutes. Check the rice every 15 minutes; stir and check for dryness. If additional liquid is needed, add up to ½ cup water. Once all liquid is absorbed, check seasoning and add parsley. Brown rice never gets as tender as white rice, but I love the chewier texture. Serves 4.