Pork and Beans But Different Like!

Last night I was a little on the ill side and just wanted something very comforting for dinner. My friend also came over too so this was the perfect opportunity to cook something warm and delicious.

I made Pork Chops with Stewed Cannelinni Beans (aka White Kidney Beans). Delicious it was! I really love new kitchen toys and last night I got to use two of new toys. This recipe had sliced onions and as you all know by now, onions and I are mortal enemies or were. I peeled the onion and through into my food processor -- all sliced in like four seconds! It was most awesome! I also got to use my new indoor grill for the pork chops. I loved that I was able to put them on the grill and didn't have to keep flipping them or what not. This allowed me to focus on making the beans.

The stewed beans actually had more in them than just the beans. There was also kale, onions, canned diced tomatoes, carrots, and garlic. This was very easy to make. I basically just heated some oil, added the garlic, and then the onions. I cooked the onions for about five minutes and then added the chopped kale, carrots, tomatoes and beans with about 1/4 cup of water and cooked them for about ten minutes until the kale was wilted through. After you serve the vegetables, you can season them with salt and pepper or you can do it while they are still cooking. What I love about these recipes is that you can mix things up, so this recipe would work well with just about any vegetable -- so long as you cut the pieces up small enough to cook all the way through or you can used canned vegetables too.

I will be posting links to all of these recipes next week, so hang tight if you have been wanting to try them! I just found out they will be available next week. Also, in the coming weeks I am going to try my hand at recipes that are designed for people with diabetes, heart issues, and other things like that as I have to change a few of my eating habits. So, I will be looking around for some new recipes to try that address those issues. Happy eating!

Pork Chop and Stewed Cannelinni Beans:

I Like Cake! Potato Cake That Is!

So sorry it has been almost a week since my last blog post. I have been battling (yet again) the sinus infection from the unmentionable place. Hopefully I am on the mend this time!

For tonight's dinner I made Potato Cake With Bacon, Sour Cream, Apples, and Kale. This was probably a recipe I was hesitant to try, but I persevered and made it anyway.

The potato cake did not look so cakeish to me, but that could be because I cooked the potatoes in my cast iron casserole dish and not a skillet. I don't have a skillet deep enough for this recipe, so I had to improvise. The potatoes did get cooked all the way through and they had a very nice bacon, salty flavor to them.

I have never really had cooked apples outside of apple pie. These were quite interesting. As they cooked in the pan, the apples released their sugars and so they got all sorts of caramelized. It was pretty good! I would have saved the extras, but I left the bowl with the apples in them on the stove while I had the broiler going and they got all mushy. If you do have left over apples, make sure you take care of the extras right away so you don't end up with mushy apples.

I am not a huge fan of dark leafy greens because I tend to get sick when I eat a lot of them in large quantities, but I still tried the kale. Surprisingly, the kale had a flavor similar to celery or romaine lettuce. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The sour cream was to be served with both the potatoes and kale. I felt like the sour cream took away from the flavors of both, so I preferred to eat the rest of this dish without the sour cream. Of course if you like sour cream, then you will like it in this dish.

Well, that is tonight's critique. Tomorrow I will be hitting the grocery store for ingredients for a new set of recipes. So watch this space for more exciting recipes!

Potato Cake in pan:


Potato cake out of pan:


Potatoes, Apples, and Kale: