Pork with apples without apples and with peaches

I made an incredible lunch today from last night's leftovers and that made me realize that I didn't blog yesterday's meal. So, to try and remember...

- 5 thin boneless pork chops
- apple juice
- brown sugar
- canola oil
- country herb blend
- one can sliced peaches
- 1/4 cup Archer Farm lemon dill mustard

Cook the pork chops in one tablespoon canola oil, five minutes each side in the Le Creuset skillet.

Add about 1 teaspoon country herb blend, one cup apple juice, 1/2 cup brown sugar, the peaches (drained) and the mustard. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and let simmer about 15 minutes. Add frozen greenbeans, serve when the greenbeans are cooked.

Now, with the leftovers, I chopped the pork and the peaches very small. I put them and the leftover juice in the skillet. Cook until. Add about 1-1 1/2 cups cooked spaghetti. Swirl with about 2 teaspoons sesame oil. Cook until noodles are hot, stirring constantly. Sprinkle liberally with sesame seeds.

Avocado Salad

This is my first shot at replicating the avocado salad I had at a French household.

This sounds similar:
http://www.acozykitchen.com/avocado-salad-with-honey-mustard-dressing/
At least in terms of dressing... so...

I made a good dressing of:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, cold-pressed
• almost 2 tablespoons lemon dijon mustard
• 1 TBS champagne vinegar
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsps. fresh parsley

I like the way the dressing turned out, but my avocados are overripe and mushy. I threw them in the fridge to chill will the dressing, but it's a futile attempt. I have a feeling I'll be mashing them and making avocado mustard dip. 

Crabbiless Crab Patties

This recipe comes from The Imus Ranch Cookbook. That particular cookbook considers itself vegan because they raise their own chickens and therefore have a comfort with eggs. If you are truly vegan, this recipe will not appeal to you.

For the everyday eater, this is a fabulous way to use up those zucchini from the garden, especially the big ones that may not longer be tender.

I will be making a version tonight that includes lemon-pepper cheese from the farm.

Crabiless Crab Cakes
By Deirdre Imus
From The Imus Ranch cookbook

2 cups grated zucchini (whether or not you skin it first is a personal preference)
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
3/4 cup soy or regular cheddar cheese (I have reduced this in the past)
1/2 cup finely diced red onion (I skip or replace with some chives or with a clove of garlic)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegan (soy) or regular mayo
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce (I use soy sauce)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup olive oil (for frying)

Combine everything but the oil in a big bowl, form into patties and fry. They suggest these amounts make six cakes. Cook over medium heat seven to ten minutes per side.

Thursday, July 23... Two days after the original post... I finally got the ingredients assembled to make this. That huge zucchini made about 13 cups grated zucchini. I froze about 5 cups in one bag, four in another and kept the remaining for a double batch of the crabbiless patties.

My ingredients
4.5 cups grated zucchini
3 cups Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
3/4 cup sheddar sharp cheddar
1/2 cup parmesan
1/4 lemon cheese spread from the farm
2 farm fresh brown eggs
2 teaspoons brown mustard
4 tablespoons safflower mayo
2 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh grated four color pepper
2 teaspoons It's a Dilly
a random spattering of fresh chives

I got 11 patties yield. I layered five on paper towels to help absorb the moisture, covered with wax paper, another paper towel and then another five. I repeated one more time with the last lone pattie and then covered and placed in fridge until ready to cook.

Too much moisture and too rapid heat with make zucchini hash out of your patties. So cook carefully.

Chicken à la diable with Asparagus

I made Chicken à la diable for lunch to use the four chicken breasts I thawed for last night's dinner. Click on the chicken link below to see the recipe. I more or less followed it today, except I added some Indian Chili Powder into the bread crumbs for kick. I used the last of my homemade breadcrumbs and had to add some storebought to make it work.

The asparagus. Well, I meant to glaze it with olive oil and bake with the chicken. Except the olive oil came out too fast so it may be heavier than I wanted. I sprinkled library with garlic pepper, my four-color peppercorns and some sprinkle parmesan.

Fancy Dinner with Mark and Julie

Last night, my husband confirmed that our friends Mark and Julie would be coming for dinner... tonight. So, with 24 hours to prepare, I had a dinner party to whip up. This would mark the fourth time this week we went to the grocery store, and I believe our grocery total for the month is about $200 (and it's not even the 15th yet) and we spent $25 on eating out (pizza one night). If I try really hard, I can survive the next two weeks without hitting the store again. And be on budget...

My husband had mentioned croque monsieur to our guests, so they were interested. And I figured it was scrumptious last night so it would be yummy again. And I thought I'd get some raspberries and make some Vouvray-lavender honey sauce to complement them. And a prepackaged salad. A baguette. And voilà, simple multi-course dinner.

And the guests said they'd bring dessert.

I had enough cheesy bread left to make a couple small sandwiches. I needed a little more of everything, so I headed to Wegmans. I spent about $42, way over what I wanted to but I bought double what I intended. Ham, 1 lb., $6. Gruyère, 1/2 pound, $6. smoked gouda, $5. baguette, $2. batard, $2. The salads looked awful, so I opted for a hunk of La Chaume cheese instead ($5). If I couldn't whip up a salad, I'd serve a cheese platter. Two quarts of raspberries, $10. Maille imported French dijon mustard, $4. And my daughter insisted on petit ecolier cookies, $4. Yes, I caved. They're French and dark chocolate.

My husband agreed to stop on his way home for salad. Mark and Julie would get a cake.

Plus a bottle of wine I had on hand means I made dinner for five for $5o. Not so bad...

The recipe for fruit salad with white wine-honey sauce can be found under the "French" link and probably under "Vouvray" too. I followed those basic instructions, cut back the sugar and used only raspberries.

I prepped the sandwiches so they just needed to bake. I got 11 or 12 sandwiches. But my cheese sauce wouldn't thicken so they were a tad dry. I needed another tablespoon flour, but ran out of time.

My daughter set the table with the Royal Doulton Isabella. We got out the silver. We even went to the rose bush and picked the first buds of the spring for a centerpiece. We filled the princess house glasses with water and when the guests arrived there was Vouvray for everyone.

Two types of bread were on the table.
First course: raspberries
Second course: croque monsieur
Third course: Dole Spring Fling Salad with almonds and berry vinagrette dressing
Fourth course: International Cheese Flight of Swiss gruyère, German smoked gouda, French Chaume and New York Extra Sharp Cheddar (from Aldi no less!)
Fifth course: (here's where the courses get funky, order wise) chartreuse
Sixth course: decaf with coffee mate Parisian Almond Cream creamer and strawberry shortcake torte

Full bellies, happy bellies. Very sleepy grown ups...