What's for Dinner Tonight

Pork Chop Potato Casserole

2 Tblp. olive oil
4 pork chops, 1 (inch thick) or any other meat
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup chicken stock
3 medium potatoes peeled and in 1/8 inch slices
1 medium onion sliced
3/4 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Heat the oil in the cooker, sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper and brown as many chops as will comfortably fit at one time. Remove to a warm platter. Add the stock to the cooker, scraping up any stuck particles. Layer half of the potato and onion slices in the cooker, sprinkling with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Place a bay leaf on top. Arrange the chops over the potatoes and onions and add another bay leaf. Cover the chops with another layer of potatoes and onions season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour the wine and add the remaining bay leaf.

Close the lid and bring to pressure. Cook for 18 minutes on position 1, 10 minutes on position 2.

**Add a vegetable or salad to this subtly seasoned, succulent dish and your meal is complete.

****If you do not have a pressure cooker you can still make it in a regular pot. It will just take you longer to cook (depends on the meat you're using) and you will need to add a little more liquid.  Remember this is supposed to be a casserole not a stew and it should not be completely dried out either.

Dinner Recipes

I will be posting a recipe titled "What's for Dinner Tonight," once or may be twice a week. I know how difficult it is to decide what to cook for dinner. You get bored of cooking the same old thing, kids get bored of eating the same old thing. I like to try all the recipes before I post them so that I know they are worth the effort.  If I post a recipe that I haven't tried I will let you know.  If you decide to make it, I'd like to get your feedback, please let me know your thoughts on any of the recipes on my blog. Last night I decided to make a Pork Chop and Potato Casserole in my brand new pressure cooker. It was super fast, easy, and super tasty, WOW!!!  I substituted the pork chops for Rib Eye Steak, you can use any meat your family prefers or whatever you have on hand. The meat turned out tender and juicy...oh, so good!!

French Toast with Orange Liquor

1 pkg. fresh strawberries (washed and sliced)
In a bowl mix strawberries, 1 Tbsp. sugar, and 1 Tbsp. orange liquor and refrigerate. (I use orange extract found in the baking section)

6 eggs
1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. orange liquor (orange extract flavoring)
2 Tbsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. orange zest
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients very well with a whisk.  Soak each piece of bread in egg mixture. Cook each slice over butter in a skillet until golden brown. Pour fresh strawberries on top and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.  Serve immediately... Enjoy!

**You will find that the orange gives it a signature taste, it is absolutely delicious a must try. If you don't like the orange flavor omit the orange extract in the egg mixture, but do use the orange zest.

Christmas Tradition

Our Christmas celebration starts on the evening of the 24th, we have a Christmas Eve dinner party that lasts until the wee hours of the 25th. Our dinner consists of eating mole,tamales,turkey,relleno(ground beef stuffing),Christmas salad,ponche(mexican wazzle with tejocotes, guavas, oranges, prunes, sugar cane,cinnamon and walnuts),atole(an ancient beverage that brings together two Mesoamarican natives, corn and chocolate in a delicious and satisfying hot drink additional flavors available like strawberry, vanilla, and coconut),buñuelos (crispy fried rosette cookies coated with cinnamon-sugar),rompope(eggnog),nueces garapiñadas(candied nuts one of our favorite treats, and may be made with walnuts, pecans, almonds or peanuts) and bizcochitos. Our family tradition is a little bit "Americanized" not at all the typical Mexican tradition, for instance there are no presents for the children on Christmas. The presents’ giveaway is featured six days after the New Year’s Day, on the “Dia de los Santos Reyes Magos”. In the case of Mexican Christmas, this preparation takes place during the nine days preceding Christmas’ Eve, or “Noche Buena” (December 24th). This period of nine days is called The “Novena”, and is perhaps the most symbolic of all Mexican Christmas Traditions. I remember as a little girl taking part of the posadas and dressing up as pastores and singing villancicos navideños. We try to keep our traditions alive however sometimes it can be difficult. I have implemented a new tradition with my family as my children grow, I want them to remember how we celebrated Christmas and what a better way to remember baby Jesus's birth than with an awesome brunch with chilaquiles, eggs, and french toast, I will post some recipes I hope you will try.

Coconut Flan

Ingredients

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 cup cajeta or caramel sauce, at room temperature
2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut, toasted

Directions

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Spray a 10-cup Bundt or tube pan with vegetable oil cooking spray. Drizzle the cajeta into the prepared pan, turning to coat the bottom and sides. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the milks, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. Pour the mixture into the pan. Place the pan inside a large roasting pan.  Fill the roasting pan with enough water to come halfway up the sides. Cover the Bundt pan with foil.

Bake until center jiggles slightly when pan is moved, about 1 hour 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Refrigerate, covered, for 3 hours or overnight. Turn the flan out onto a platter. Sprinkle with toasted coconut and serve.

***(Original recipe calls for 3 cans of condensed milk)
recipe courtesy of Marcela Valladolid

Sugar Cookies with Edible Paint Icing

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar (I added about 1/2 cup more)
2 large eggs (at room temp.)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. almond extract
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Garnish: sugar pearls or sparkling sugar


Directions:
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla and almond extract until combined.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixutre, beating until smooth. Wrap dough in heavy-duty plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with assorted cookie cutters and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Chill cut out cookie dough 15 minutes. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Paint cookies with Edible Paint Icing. Garnish with sugar pearls and sparkling sugar, if desired.


Edible Paint Icing:
1/4 cup cold water
3 Tbls. meringue powder
2 cups confectioner's sugar
food coloring, optional


In a medium bowl, combine water and meringue powder, whisk until foamy. Whisk in confectioner's sugar until smooth. Add food coloring, if desired. Used immediately

Recipe courtesy of www.ourbestbites.com.

The Verdict "cookie reviews"

Ok, so I tried the "chocolate gooey butter cookies" and oh, my gosh what a waste of ingredients...  They were nasty with a capital N A S T Y, I can not see myself handing out these cookies to neighbors.  They looked good, but they tasted horrible they left an after taste in your mouth, yuck!  Recipe not worth keeping in my recipe box it's been tossed out.  On the other hand the "sugar cookies with edible paint icing" turned out good and the icing WOW, pretty awesome.  Only one tip of advise do not use self rising flour and if you do, do not use any salt even if the recipe calls for it.

Holiday treats

I will be making some holiday treats to take over to our neighbors as a gesture of kindness since we are celebrating Christmas and "tis the season of giving."  I will be making Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies and Sugar Cookies with edible paint icing on top.  I will post pictures and give you reviews in a couple of days.  Also, for our Christmas Eve dinner I am in charge of dessert.  I have decided to make a regular flan, a coconut flan and a rompope (eggnog) bread pudding "Mexican Style" of course... Can't wait to get started...