Caramel Apple Pork Chops

Sorry it has been a while since I put a new recipe up. See what I mean about not keeping up. School has kind of been stressing me out the last week. These short semesters are going to kick my butt.

So we tried these Sunday night and they were really yummy!! Not quite what I was expecting or hoping for but still definitely worth making again. Let me know if you have any suggestions on how to change them.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 pork chops (I used about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick boneless chops)
vegetable oil (or canola or whatever you use)
salt & pepper to taste
minced or crushed garlic to taste
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 apples, peeled, cored & sliced (original recipe called for tart but I used galas and it turned out fine)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Pour a little oil in the pan and heat it up. Add garlic and saute just a touch to bring out the flavor. Add the pork chops. ( I seasoned mine first with my usual seasonings I put on almost everything - garlic powder, fresh ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper.) Brown on both sides until almost done or just done. Transfer to 9 X 13 baking dish. Add butter to same pan. When just melted, add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt & pepper, and apples. Cook until apples are just tender. Pour apples and sauce over pork chops in 9 X 13 pan. Put in the oven to bake for 20 -30 minutes.

My original intention had been to serve over rice, but there wasn't enough sauce to serve with 3 - 4 servings of rice, so I made mashed potatoes. I contemplated adding some apple juice to stretch the sauce, but I didn't have any on hand so I haven't tried that yet. Again, if anybody comes up with a way to improve this one, let me know.

Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Burgers

My lack of measuring really comes into play in this recipe.

Ingredients:

Burgers:

• Ground Beef

• Whatever you use to season your hamburgers ( I use ketchup, worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and dried onions)
• You are going to want to find good buns for these cuz they should be pretty good sized burgers...like a good onion roll or something, not the cheapy hamburger buns

Filling:

• Cream Cheese (helps if it has been softened)
  
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• green onions, sliced
• real bacon bits
• chopped jalapeno, to heat preference ( fresh or jar, I used jar)
• For a pound of ground beef I used 4 oz. cream cheese, around a 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, about 2 or 3 green onions sliced including green part, about 4 slices of bacon chopped up and cooked, and probably 1/8 cup of chopped jalapenos. It had a slight kick but nothing too crazy. I did have about enough for 1 more burger left.
  

Mix up hamburger meat and seasonings. Make patties creating a dip or well of sorts in the middle of half of the patties.

Mix together all filling ingredients. Put some in the well of each patty. Take flat patties and put over filling making sure to seal the sides well. Cook as desired.

Mom and I have talked about this filling and think that it could be used in a whole variety of ways. Our thoughts were as a cheese ball of sorts served cold with crackers, served hot and gooey with tortilla chips, mixed with chopped or shredded chicken (possibly without the bacon bits) as an enchilada filling with green sauce, or with boneless/skinless chicken breasts pounded flat then wrapped around the filling and rolled up then dipped in bread crumbs or panko crumbs and pan fried. Let me know if you can think of any other ways it might be good.

Just the beginning....

Well I am not the best at sticking with things so we'll see if I am able to keep this up.

For all of you that know me, you know that I love to cook and hopefully most of you would agree that I am pretty good at it. Unfortunately, meals lately have been feeling a little boring. I get stuck in a rut....whether in cooking or eating out....and once I find something I like, I stick with it. Sooooo....I make the same dishes over and over. They are still good, just getting a bit tired of them. Thus, I have decided to start trying out some new recipes so as to expand my repertoire. So far, I think I have happened across some pretty good successes that will be added to the regular line-up. And as my friends, I have decided to share with you all. Please let me know if you try anything, and if you find a way to improve on it. Heck, if you find anything you think I might like, throw it up there for me.

A couple of disclaimers (warnings):

We LOVE garlic, so everything I cook, except sweets, has tons of garlic in it. Feel free to cut back on it if you are not so enamored with this wonderful spice, herb, whatever it is. I can't promise the outcome of that, of course.

I don't always measure, so when I can, I will at least provide approximates, otherwise just go with what you think looks good. (or tastes good)

I am not looking to change the world, or make people think here. Just looking to provide my friends and family with some new ideas for the kitchen.

I may throw other things in here from time to time if I get comfortable with blogging. As the title says, this is just the beginning so we will see where we go from here.

I cannot promise how often I will post, because as most of you are aware, I have recently started back to school and that is taking up a whole lot of time.

I hope you enjoy.