Cantaloupe Salad with Prosciutto

I had some left over cantaloupe that I wanted to use before it went bad, ditto for some fresh mozzarella, and prosciutto. I started thinking that cantaloupe and prosciutto taste great together, prosciutto and mozzarella taste great together, what tie these three together, basil. Let me tell you, this was light, refreshing and would be great for a brunch menu, plus it only took 3 minutes to put together. Give a whole new meaning to fast food. My only wish is that I keep getting these inspirations when looking in my fridge.

Cantaloupe Salad with Prosciutto

1/2 cantaloupe, cut into 1/2 cubes

6 slices of Prosciutto

2 oz. of fresh mozzarella

4 leaves of fresh basil

Put cantaloupe into a bowl, dice prosciutto into small bite size pieces, add to cantaloupe. Mix in cheese and basil. Serve.

Recipe Testing

I get a few magazines each month, Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living, Bon Appetit, and Gourmet. Each has some articles that inspire me one way or the other. This month it was the strawberries in BHG and Bon Appetit. For breakfast I made this recipe from Bon Appetit.

Strawberry Citrus Salad

Ingredients

3 cups of sliced strawberries

2 large navel oranges, supremed

2 tablespoons of golden brown sugar

2 tablespoons of thin sliced fresh mint leaves

Toss all ingredients in a bowl let sit for 30 minutes, and serve. For the original content please visit http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/05/strawberry_citrus_salad

To make this recipe right I wanted to learn how to segment an or as I learned supreme. This site gave me enough confidence to give it a try. I must say that some practice will definitely be needed before I am perfect at this. http://freshcatering.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-supreme-segment-orange.html

Panzanella

I absolutely love finding great fresh tomatoes, yesterday I found quite a few and after having an inner debate about whether to make gazpacho or panzenella, panzenella won out, after all I do have a great batch of homemade croutons to use. I use a modified version of this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/heirloom-tomato-panzanella-recipe/index.html The flavors are great and it really showcases the tomatoes. I hope you try it and enjoy as much as I do.

Dean and Don's

There is a great seasonal produce place that open in April, closes in November and other than the farmer's market is the best place to gt fresh produce around here. John, Emma, and I headed over to see what was in this weekend. Wow did we find some tasty treats. John wanted a watermelon, instead of a whole one we found an already cut up one that was the right size for us, and allowed Emma to try her first bite of watermelon. I found a perfect 1/2 cantaloupe to enjoy the prosciutto sitting in my fridge with. There were pre-season strawberries that if I did not know when the right part of the season was I would not have know they were early based on the flavor of these ones. John found some shortcakes to go with so this morning we enjoyed strawberry shortcake sans the whip cream for breakfast. Plus I have two strawberry recipes that I want to try out so those are on the menu in a day or two. There was local asparagus that had some of the deepest purple tips I had ever seen. Navel oranges, new potatoes in a basket, and an apple for John rounded out our purchases. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the tomatoes that are on the menu tonight, some great beefsteaks that smelled fresh picked. I am in fresh fruit and veggie heaven and the kids are loving it too.

Perfect Seasonal Side

Rena and I were having a conversation about food, as always, and she mentioned a salad that she had read about that featured peas and asparagus, I thought that sounded great, so armed with no recipe off I went to create a great side dish to feature the local asparagus that I got at Dean and Don's the other day. This is quick and simple and even my five year old liked it.

1 bunch of local asparagus
1/3 cup of frozen peas
2 tablespoons of olive oil
the zest from 1 lemon
salt and pepper to season

Wash asparagus and cut each spear into about 3 pieces. Heat a skillet large enough to fit all of your asparagus on medium high and add oil. When oil is heated add asparagus, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Cook stirring regularly until asparagus begins to turn a brighter green, about 3 minutes, at this time add the peas and cook until peas are bright green. Serve on the side of fish, chicken, pork, beef, or eat alone. Enjoy...

Croutons

I know that this may be a silly topic to post on, but really who does not love that added crunch in a salad. I normally buy mine, but I had some bread that was starting to go stale and I want to make some Panzanella with weekend and thought that it would be so much better if I made it with my own croutons. I had so much fun making these that I really want to make some more and experiment with different flavors. Here is a pithy recipe for croutons, I hope you bake some up for yourself and enjoy.

Some bread, can be any kind, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

some olive oil

some salt and pepper

some seasonings, use whatever you think you would enjoy

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place bread cubes in a bowl, mix olive oil and seasonings in a separate container. Pour oil mixture over bread and mix making sure that all cubes are coated, but not saturated. Place seasoned cubes on a cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Let croutons cool and serve with your favorite salad.

Why?

So I got the bones for the dogs, the vet says, no. I figure that is OK, I make broth, now I have all of this beef broth to use and it is like 90 degrees outside, really who wants to eat soup on a day that hot. Plus I live in Southern Virginia, heat equals humidity here, really soup is not a good thing on a hot day here unless it is gazpacho. So I am hoping for a cold day because I really want to make French Onion Soup. I even found a recipe to play with http://www.cookography.com/2008/the-best-french-onion-soup-ever. This looks like it has tons of potential. I am going to play when I make it. I might just make it this weekend, try some and put the rest in the freezer, or maybe I should just put the broth in the freezer. Ugh, why can't I just have one more day of cold weather?

Beef Broth

I got some beef bones that I was going to give to the dogs, but after a talk with the vet I decided I would keep them for some broth instead. I made this in the crock pot because I figured I could just forget about it until the next day. It came out great even though it looks like a witches brew and I thought I would share the recipe for the broth.

2 lbs of beef bones

1 cup of chopped celery

1 cup of chopped carrots

2 cups of chopped onion

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

a handful of black peppercorns

some fresh thyme sprigs

10 cups of water

Place all ingredients in a crock pot, place on low heat and cook for at least 8 hours. Remove fat and use.

Prig Khing Green Beans

Trader Joe's sells a frozen version of these, but I
really do not like the sauce that comes with them. I figured this would be an easy flavor to recreate, so I did. I served these will my Thai Snapper last night and I think that my son liked this better than the fish, go figure, but what do you expect from a 5 year old?

Prig Khing Green Beans

1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1/2 pound of green beans, ends cut
1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
1 handful of peanuts, mashed
1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce
a pinch of garlic powder or minced garlic

In a large skillet heat oil, before oil starts to smoke add green beans and stir fry for 3 to 5 minutes. Add soy sauce, garlic, peanuts, and red pepper flakes and stir fry for an addition 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from skillet and serve.

Thai Red Snapper

This is a super easy recipe, it came out great and had tons of flavor. If you do not have any Nuoc Nam use some soy instead. We had this for dinner last night and really enjoyed it.

Thai Snapper

3 tablespoons of lime juice
1 tablespoon of Asian Fish Sauce Nuoc Nam
1 tablespoon of olive oil
½ teaspoon of sugar
½ teaspoon of minced garlic
4 red snapper fillets (6oz. each)
1 carrot, but into 2 ¼ inch long thin strips
1 large green onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup of fresh cilantro leaves


Mix lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, ginger, and garlic. Make a packet with tin foil large enough to hold one snapper fillet. Place snapper skin side down in packet and top with carrot, green onion, and cilantro. Pour lime juice mix over fish and vegetables. Grill over medium heat for 8 minutes.

This recipe is adapted from some grilling book that I checked out of the library.

1 meat, 2 meals

I cooked up a London broil on the grill this week and we ate some one night as grilled steak, the next used the leftovers to make steak sandwiches with mushrooms and onion. This lead me to think of what other meals that you can make one meat dish and create two very different dinners with. I was only able to come up with the obvious things that you can do with roast chicken and turkey. But does anyone have some ideas for others? I thought that this may be an interesting topic especially when people are trying to save some money. I would love to hear your thoughts...

Potato Salad

OK, so you died the Easter eggs and now are stuck with a dozen hard boiled eggs, what do you do with them? There are the simple things like egg salad (which I am not a fan of), deviled eggs (another thing I do not enjoy unless my husband is making them), and hard boiled egg sandwiches, but you can only eat so many of those. I decided to add some eggs to my potato salad. I have no idea what measurements I use so use your taste buds to figure out what you like. Here is my pithy Potato Salad recipe...

6 small red potatoes, cut into quarters

1 tablespoon of vinegar

some mayo, not very much, I hate the stuff

some mustard, I use more than the mayo amount

some dill relish

some chopped roasted red peppers, drained

some chopped red onion

some chopped chives

and a 3 cut up hard boiled eggs

Boil potatoes until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Place potatoes in a large bowl and sprinkle with vinegar. Place potatoes in the fridge and cool. When potatoes are cold, add other ingredients to bowl, mix and serve.

Easter Brunch

One of my favorite things in the whole world is Easter Brunch. Trying to figure out which one is the best lead to a debate today that ended in a tie, The Hotel Del Coronado, and The Prado. Each one has it high points, both have great food, an excellent service. Last year we went to brunch at Colonial Williamsburg, this year for some reason there was no brunch there, which is really too bad as I think we would have made that a family tradition for the duration of our stay in Virginia. Looking for a substitute we headed to Schelsinger's in Newport News. I enjoyed it, but really all brunches should be champagne brunches, and I think that this is the main thing that kept me from really loving it. However I would love to go there for dinner one night without the kids. The lamb, roast, and all the other offerings that I tried were great. The rest of the family loved the place. Check out the restaurants website at http://www.schlesingerssteaks.com/index.php. I hope that everyone had a very happy Easter.

Williamsburg Farmer's Market

On Saturday we took a trip to the last preseason Williamsburg Farmer's Market. I must say that I am looking forward to returning. There was a good variety of meat and cheeses, but only one fresh vegetable stand that day. We tasted some great pie, cheese, and dips, learned about lamb, buffalo, and if the land is on my side I found a place that may have some French Sorrel for me in May. We bought some sun-dried tomato goat cheese from Goats R Us, they have some great flavored goat cheeses. Three pies, an apple toffee crunch, a strawberry-rhubarb, and blueberry from Simply Southern Pies, good luck in that upcoming competition. A fresh Piedmont cheese from Everona Dairy. Shenandoah Farms has some wonderful watercress, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I am looking forward to getting some jams from Rockahock Farm, French food from Normandie French Cuisine, and checking out all of the fresh produce that will be coming starting in May. If you find yourself in Williamsburg on a Saturday morning from May to October, stop by and see what fresh and local finds are around. For more information visit http://www.williamsburgfarmersmarket.com/index.html.

For a great lunch with some of our find from the market I made watercress and cucumber sandwiches, a English Tea classic. Toast some bread, spread some whipped cream cheese on each side, add watercress to one side, cucumbers to the other, place together, cut off crust and serve.

Green Bean Salad with Feta

I have started checking out cookbooks from the library to get some inspiration and int he South Beach Diet Cookbook I found a recipe that sounded too good to pass by. It is From the menu of Pacific Time by Chef Johnathan Eismann, Chinese Long Bean Salad with Feta. Here is my version:

For the Salad:

1 pound of green beans, end trimmed and cut into 1/2" pieces

1 cup of crumbled feta

1 cup of mung bean sprouts

1/3 cup of chopped scallions

1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/4" cubes

1 red bell pepper julienned

Blanch green beans in boiling water for about 4 minutes, In a large bowl combine beans, sprouts, scallions, cucumber, and bell pepper.

For the Dressing:

2 tablespoons of strong brewed black tea

2 tablespoons of lime juice

1 tablespoon of lemon zest

2 tablespoons of finely chopped chives

1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk to agitate and combine flavors, pour over salad and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Add feta before serving.

Sesame Crusted Seared Tuna

John got to pick out the fish that we had for our last Fish Friday of Lent and he chose his favorite, Ahi Tuna. He loves this super easy recipe and I enjoy it too.

1/4 cup of black sesame seeds

1/4 cup of sesame seeds

salt and pepper to season

1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil

1 pound of ahi tuna, cut for 4 servings

Place sesame seeds into a flat bottomed container and combine. Using a skillet large enough to fit all the tuna pieces, add oil and heat on medium high. Season tuna with salt and pepper, if kids aren't eating, use some powdered wasabi. Place season piece of tuna in sesame seeds and press down to form a crust on each side. Add tuna to pan and cook until tuna reaches desired doneness. For rare, this about two minutes on each side.

Grown Up Mac and Cheese

Once again those folks at the Food Network got to me. I was sucked in by the Barefoot Contessa and determined to try this recipe. I think this why I should just let my son watch TV more often, really I am joking on that one. I did and I must say that is not bad. I personally will add a shallot to the mushrooms the next time I make this. But the real treat came from trying to hunt down the ingredients needed to make this meal. Let me tell you, truffles, at least the non chocolate kind are not easy to find in this neck of the woods. Truffle butter came with a phone call to those wonderful folks at Harris Teeter, who seem to always have that one thing you cannot find anywhere else. I did not find any cremini mushrooms, but after a conversation with Rena, she reminded me that unless you want to pay tons of money, they are sold as baby bellas on this coast. So that is what I used. I look forward to planning this one out better next time I make it and I think the addition of the shallot will make this a meal worth the effort (getting the ingredients) and the money. Really $8 for 3 oz. of truffle butter, ouch. Here is the link to the recipe, I hope that you enjoy it, now I am going to eat some leftovers and look forward to a great seafood meal tomorrow. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mac-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

Slow Cooker Asian Pork

OK, so I so forgot how nice it is too cook with a slow cooker. Fix it and forget about it until dinner is done. One of my husband's favorite recipes is an Italian Beef. Take a round roast, add a jar of spaghetti sauce, cook on low for 6-8 hours, shred meat, serve on toasted rolls with provolone cheese. I decided to make that up for him and the baby is loving it too. I check out a book at the library and was intrigued by the idea of a recipe in it and decided to play around and see what came out of the slow cooker six hours later. Just a little tip for this one, the recipe I got the idea for said that this was 6 servings, try closer to 8 or more.

Asian Pork

1/8 cup of honey

the juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup of brown sugar

5 lbs of country style pork ribs

1 cup of soy sauce

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons of red pepper flakes

if you must 1 tablespoon of minced ginger

1 bunch of green onions chopped

3 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds

Put chopped onion into the bottom of the slow cooker. Place all other ingredients but pork, green onion, and sesame seeds in a bowl and mix until all are incorporated. dip pork into sauce and add to slow cooker, pour remaining sauce of meat. Put cover on the slow cooker and cook on low or at least 6 hours. Remove meat and garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.

Crab Ceviche

As an added touch to our Mexican meal the other night I decided to whip up a quick ceviche. I was way in the mood for crab and felt that this would be a nice accompaniment to our meal.

Crab Ceviche

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 Serrano pepper, sliced thin

1/2 red onion, diced

the juice of one lime

1 pound of crab meat

In a small container combine red bell pepper, onion, sliced Serrano, and lime juice. Place container in refrigerator and let sit for at least 3 hours. Right before serving, fold in crab meat and serve. Note: if pepper is too hot, deseed, dice, or cut down on amount used.

Cassoulet Inspired Meal

I have some veal shanks that I was trying to decide what to do with. I know that cassoulet does not normally have veal shanks, but I figured I could play around some and make a great meal with them that would go with the goat cheese tart and salad that we are having tonight. So here is the recipe I hope that you like my version.



4 Veal Shanks, at least 1 inch think

1 tablespoon of butter

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and Pepper

A few pinches of flour

1/2 large onion diced

2 carrots, peel and sliced about 1/4 inch thick

1 can of Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained

1 can of organic tomatoes, slightly drained

5 sprigs of thyme

3 gloved of garlic, peeled and smashed



In a large skillet heat butter and olive oil until just smoking, season shanks with salt and pepper and coat lightly with flour. Brown shanks in skillet on all sides. In a slow cooker add all other ingredients. Add browned shanks and cook on high for at least 4 hours. Serve and enjoy.

Carne Asada Revisited

There are times when my husband really misses San Diego, that is probably every day, but I think part of why he misses it so much is the Mexican Food. We have tried a few Mexican restaurants here, but seriously, I have never had nachos covered in Enchilada Sauce before in my life, nor do I ever hope to be served something like that again. Trust me, if the menu had said there was a sauce on the nachos, I would not have even ordered them. That is just one of the experiences I have had. Another, I was being cussed at in Spanish because the waiter did not listen to my order. Seriously I lived in Southern California for close to 20 years, I know what is being said in Spanish, especially when it is negative. Needless to say that experiences like this have turned us off of going out for Mexican or at least what passes as Mexican here. So I made some yummy Baja style food for my man last night.

Easy Carne Asada

Flank Steak or other thin cut steak

1 cup of orange juice or enough to cover steak

2 green onions chopped into 1 inch pieces

2 Tablespoons of Tapitio

1 onion diced

1 bunch of chopped cilantro

corn tortillas

3 limes, sliced

Place OJ, green onions, and Tapitio in a dish, taste to see if you want more hot sauce, add steak and cover for 1 to 3 days. Heat grill on high and cook steak until just done about 6 minutes. Slice with a pizza cutter into strips. Serve with diced onion, chopped fresh cilantro, warm corn tortillas, and lime slices. Enjoy.

Salmon in a Foil Packet

OK, we are heading down to the last week of lent and I have made salmon for dinner almost every Friday since the beginning of Lent in a way that I was sure my guys would eat and devore. I am not always one to stick to the same dish, but when it works and the 5 year old actually eats without a fight in less than 4 hours, you tend to want to stick with what works. Well to be honest I am bored with salt and sugar salmon and I wanted something new. Salmon was not even on the menu until we headed to one of our favorite places to get fresh fish and they had wild caught salmon on sale for $6.99 a pound. I had told someone recently to try this recipe since she was having issues getting fish to turn out good and this is one of the easiest recipes that I have ever made. I taught one of my friends who doesn't cook (her oven wasn't used for over a year) how to make this and she was able to do this too.

Grilled Salmon Packets:

Salmon Fillet or Steak

Salt and Pepper

Lemon, sliced

Fresh Dill

Pat of Butter

Take a salmon fillet or steak and place on a piece of tin foil large enough to make a packet around the piece of fish. Season both side of fish with salt and pepper. Place skin side down and top with a pat of butter. Using the butter as an anchor, put some sprigs of fresh dill on the fish and top with a slice of lemon. Wrap up foil packet and place on a preheated grill for about 5 minutes on high. Check for desired doneness and serve when done.

Brussels Sprouts that EVEN Hater's will LOVE

I love Brussels Sprouts, I have my whole life. My enjoyment of this vegetable has left many baffled including my husband and son. I have always wondered why everyone hates these great veggies? I mean it is like a mini cabbage, it is full of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid, and a good source of fiber. That sounds like something we should all want to eat, yet only a few of us seem to truly love the Brussels Sprout. Well here is a recipe that even those of you who have never liked Brussels sprouts before will love. I have tested this on a man who had never enjoyed Brussels Sprouts in his 30 years of life and who now asks for them to be cooked this way and on a 5 year old who I even took to calling Brussels Sprouts "Zombie Heads", in hopes of getting the boy in him to want to eat something gross sounding, which failed miserably until this recipe.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt and serve immediately.

Recipe Courtesy of:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-brussels-sprouts-recipe2/index.html

Faux Mashed Potatoes

This is a great side dish. A friend turned me on to this when I was in the low card/no carb phase of my life, and it has been a side dish that I have been cooking up ever since. There are time when I actually like this better than the real thing especially with fish. One of the best meals I feel that I have ever cooked involved this dish.

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen cauliflower

2 tablespoons of fat free cream cheese

Seasoning options:

1/2 teaspoon of garlic

1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon of butter

2 tablespoons of diced chives

1/2 cup of cheese (Parmesan or Pecorino Romano)

In a medium sized pot bring water to a boil and cook cauliflower for about 10 minutes. You want the cauliflower to be slightly over cooked. Drain in a colander until all excess water is gone. Place cauliflower, cream cheese, and seasoning in a food processor and process until mixture reaches a consistency of mashed potatoes. If you are not getting the consistency with ingredients listed you can add some more cream cheese or chicken broth.

National Grilled Cheese Month

Someone on Foodbuzz mentioned that April in National Grilled Cheese Month, how cool is that. I love grilled cheese and all the possibilities that come from bread, cheese, and whatever you can imagine tasting good with it. Tonight for dinner I decided to go ahead and honor National Grilled Cheese Month. I hope that you will be inspired to whip something up in honor of this month.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon dried herbes de Provence 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch rounds

2 summer squash, cut into 1/4-inch rounds

1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 loaf of rustic bread cut into 1/2 inch slices

butter for bread

Cheese of your choice for this I recommend gruyere, fontina, or provolone

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a shallow baking pan place veggies and cover with olive oil, herbs, and salt. Place into oven and cook for 20 minutes. Right before vegetables are done cooking butter slices of bread and began to grill on a medium high heated skillet. Add cheese to one slice of bread, when vegetables are done cover the cheese with a serving of vegetables and top with grilled slice, cook until bread reaches desired golden brownness, and cheese is melted.

My 6 1/2

This is the ultimate sandwich. I have been craving this for so long, but never seem to have fresh mozzarella around the house. This simple sandwich is definitely one that you will crave and enjoy serving to others. Fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, prosciutto, and basil drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Italian herbs, served on a baguette. You can add pesto or roasted red bell peppers, but in my opinion the simpler the better for this one. This is another Morucci's inspired sandwich, once again, i you find yourself in the Bay Area, take the trip to Walnut Creek and enjoy a great lunch.

I am trying to work on my pictures of food, but I now realize why professionals use fake food to get great pictures.

Stuffing Stufted Chicken

I have a problem figuring out how to use leftovers. I used to make my husband a lunch that was made up of the leftovers from the night before, but that doesn't work anymore. John doesn't get packed lunches quite yet, and I tend to eat sandwiches for lunch, so I felt it was time to get creative and came up with this recipe using the left over stuffing from our pork chop dinner the other night. This meal was a big hit, next time I will add some more yummy things to the stuffing, but this worked for the first time making this recipe.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 granny smith or other tart green apples, peeled and diced

1 1/2 cups of cooked stuffing

1/3 cup of diced onion

a pinch of dried sage and parsley

salt and pepper to season

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a medium sized pan to medium high, add onions and apples and cook for about 5 minutes or until apples are soft. Remove apples and onions from skillet and mix with cooked stuffing. Butterfly cut chicken breasts, and place 1/4 of stuffing mixture inside, season breasts with sage, parsley, salt, and pepper and place in a shallow baking dish. Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes. Serve with a salad of blue cheese, apples, dried cranberries, and walnuts.

Grilled Pork Chops with Apricot Orange Glaze

So we eat a lot of pork here. I get bored with just cooking it in the typical ways so I am always experimenting with it. I had really wanted to do something with apricots and pork so I came up with this recipe. I served the chops with some stuffing and a salad with red onion, yellow bell pepper, and feta. If I wasn't having to feed John too I would have added some red pepper flakes to glaze to add some more flavor and a touch of heat.

Pork Loin Chops

Salt and Pepper to season

1/2 cup of Apricot Preserves

1/4 cup of Orange Juice

1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns

In a small saucepan add apricot preserves, orange juice, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil and then simmer until glaze becomes thick and is reduced by almost half. While glaze is reduce preheat grill on high. Season pork chops and set aside. When glaze is done place chops on grill, cover and cook for about 3 minutes on each side. Using a silicone brush paint glaze on both sides of pork chops and cook for about 3-5 minutes more on each side. Remove from grill and serve.

Scallops, Finally

I wrote about this recipe awhile ago on Foodbuzz, but I have not made it in forever as my guys are not couscous fans. I had been craving this so on Friday, I made them up some greens and I enjoyed my couscous. For those not on Foodbuzz here is the recipe, for those on Foodbuzz sorry for the repeat.

Simple Pan Seared Scallops with Lemon Pepper Couscous

couscous to serve 2

zest of one lemon

juice of 2 lemons

3 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of black pepper

6 large/jumbo scallops

¼ cup of Marlborough sauvignon blanc

In large heavy bottomed skillet heat butter on high/ medium high heat until about to brown, add scallops and sear on both sides for about three minutes each side. While butter is heating and scallops are cooking, prepare couscous according to box directions. When scallops are done searing place on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Add wine and lemon juice to pan and deglaze, reduce wine, lemon juice, and butter mixture until thick. When couscous is done mix in lemon zest and pepper. Plate couscous, add scallops and pour sauce over the plate. Eat and Enjoy!