Maple Glazed Pork Steaks with Pumpkin Polenta

Maple Glazed Pork Steak with Pumpkin Polenta and a Side Dish of Roasted Root Vegetables! Crappy picture...I need my lights!!!

I know, I know. I am not following the herd right now. Everything is suppose to be about Thanksgiving!!! Trust me, we are all getting plenty of that and we still have to eat the other 364 days of the year. Do yourself a favor and bookmark this recipe for when you are sick of turkey or have finally run out of leftovers! For a really great site that has a ton of Thanksgiving recipes head over to see Jerry at Cooking...by the seat of my Pants!

Onto the recipe:

I saw this recipe on the Food Network site and it is from their Food Network Kitchens. When I told T. what I was making he was a bit hesitant to say the least. We don't really go in for the whole sweet tasting meat thing. But I convinced him that even that it was maple it didn't have to be really sweet. This dish had so many things going on in it that the maple was just an enhancing flavor.

Pork Chops (Food Network Kitchens)

Ingredients:

• 4 (5-ounce) boneless center-cut pork loin chops (I used bone in pork steaks)
  
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup chicken broth, low-sodium canned

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dry the pork chops well and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the oil to the pan and heat until shimmering. Lay the chops in the pan and cook until lightly browned on the first side, about 4 minutes. Turn the chops and cook until the second side is browned and the chops are cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Transfer the chops to a platter.

Pour off the excess oil from the pan. Add the vinegar, and return the pan to the heat and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits that cling to the pan. Stir in the mustard, maple syrup, and chicken broth, along with any juices from the pork chops. Cook over high heat until the mixture is syrupy, about 5 minutes. Season to taste.

Pumpkin Polenta (Food Network Kitchens)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups 1 percent milk
• 2/3 cup quick-cooking polenta
• 1 1/2 cups canned pure pumpkin (or homemade roasted pumpkin puree)
  
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Kosher salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sage to the oil and cook until the sage is slightly crisped, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, put the broth and milk in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Slowly whisk in the polenta, reduce the heat to low, and cook, whisking occasionally, until the polenta is thick and creamy, about 15 minutes. Pull the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the pumpkin, sage with the oil, cheese, salt, and pepper. Hold in a warm place.

Serve the pork chop or steak over the pumpkin polenta with some roasted root vegetables on the side. This was a great meal for a cold night! Not too sweet either just as I told T. it would be!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes for Breakfast and Islamorada for Dinner!

Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes

I am going to do this backwards. For breakfast this morning we had Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes and dinner last night was in Islamorada, one of the Florida Keys. How cool is my life?

The breakfast this morning was a treat for the girls and a treat for us in another way. I always make a double batch of these yummy pancakes because they refrigerate well and can be reheated or eaten cold for the next couple of days. Makes for a nice stream lined breakfast for a busy weekday morning. Oh and did you know, blueberries are in season here!!!


Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup Whole Wheat flour
1 Tbs sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 T vegetable or canola oil
1 cup fresh blueberry (any berry will work)

Directions:

• Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl whisk all wet ingredients together.
  

• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. You may have to add additional milk to make the mixture thinner.

• Lightly oil a pre-heated griddle or pan.

• Pour using a 1/4 cup measuring cup.

• Cook on first side until you see bubbles on the surface. Flip and cook until the other side is browned.

***This recipe can be doubled to make additional pancakes which can be refrigerated and heated up the next day for a quick breakfast during the week.

***You can add 1/2 cup of berries to this mixture to have berry pancakes.

Note the beautiful color of the water!

Trying to catch some spray!

Onto yesterday...we got up early in the morning and fed the girls a quick breakfast (I will post this really cool simple breakfast later this week) and pointed the car due South. We wanted to be in Key Largo before lunch. I had made reservations for us to go out on Spirit Of Pennekamp which is a glass bottom boat that takes you out over the coral reefs off of the Florida Keys. We are lucky enough to have the 3rd largest coral reef in the world. Unfortunately we decided that our youngest daughter was just too young for snorkeling so at least they offered this other amazing option. The boat ride alone is worth the price of admission. If any of you are anywhere near the Keys this is truly a must see! The guides were incredible and the boat captain was amazing. Just hovering over the reef while being told which way to go. We were able to see scores and scores of fish. Puffer fish, nurse shark, sea turtles, coral and the list goes on and on!

We then headed to Islamorada which is more southernly and had a wonderful dinner at a beautiful gulf side restaurant. Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant , located at mile marker 81.5 (how cool to be on a mile marker???!!!). We both had a couple of tropical cocktails and for dinner we had locally caught yellow tail snapper! The kids had alligator and clam strips but then back to reality...

and alas, all good things must come to an end and for us instead of hanging around for the night we opted on traveling home and not fighting the exodus on Memorial Day For us the drive is about 3 1/2 hrs but completely worth it!!! With Webkinz as our co-pilots we crossed our fingers (saw many, many, many drunken drivers) and once again headed North!

This is really hard to see but if you click on the picture it will appear better. See all of those things out there? Those are boats...hundreds of boats all anchored up by a sand bar in the Atlantic Ocean at Holiday Isle. It's a tradition that is carried on virtually every weekend with the holidays and race week being the most congested.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

A rant about a bit of a dilemma I have

This was what I was getting back in February!

I have been struggling with a bit of a dilemma. May not seem to huge to everyone but I think some people are going to understand this very well. I just wish I could find a way to change this instead of just b******* about it!

I have spent the winter eating locally, seasonally and organically. I have been able to do this very cheaply and without much effort thanks due to the Worden Farm Farmer's Market that I have been going to every week since December. I have gotten some beautiful, fresh produce. They are no longer though. In South Florida our growing season is just about over. Yeah you can get strawberries, tomatoes and several other things but I want it all.

I want zucchini, eggplant, lettuce (nice, soft bursting with flavor lettuce), swiss chard, rhubarb, asparagus etc...(you get my point) but I can't in all good conscience buy this stuff. If you walk into your local grocery store you will find that almost all of the produce that they have there is from someplace else and I don't mean the neighboring state of Georgia or Alabama. I am talking Chile, Argentina, Mexico!!! This really ticks me off. Why does my food have to travel an average of 1600 miles and from a foreign country to get to me. Talk about leaving a "carbon footprint"???!!! I know up north things are starting to pop up. Why can't I get some of that???? I would be happy to buy things from other states in the U.S. Hell, I would buy from Canada just give me the options.

I am now having to pay an outrageous amount of money for all the things that I want that are organic. Most of these things have traveled from California to get to me but at least then I know that I am not getting any pesticides that are illegal to use in this country. Yes...some of the countries that we import our produce from use pesticides that are illegal to use here but they have no such laws governing them. This whole things sucks to me! I am trying to feed my family the best that I can possibly get and I can't even find it!

I guess maybe I was just so spoiled during our growing season and now I am seeing what all of you living up North have to deal with all winter. I have never been as conscious of this before this year so I guess that is also why it is hitting me so hard.

Okay, now here is my apology. I am sorry for not posting a recipe but at least I wasn't standing in front of you bi***** about this (So sorry T.). You could have stopped reading...poor T. doesn't stand a chance!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Strawberry Walnut Bread

Strawberry Walnut Bread

Alright you guys all know by now that I am on a huge, life altering journey into the world of seasonal, local and freshly grown produce. So it would just be natural for me to compete in a challenge based around using goods that were available on a seasonal basis! Except I have almost run out of time. This is another challenge that I am getting in just under the wire!!!

This event is hosted by Ben from What's Cooking? The requirements are that you have to cook something that is in season in the area of the world that you are from. Well, as luck would have it, on Wednesday I was at our local U-Pick and they happened to be running a special on strawberries. For each quart that I bought I got a pint free! How could I refuse that...but what would I do with the extra strawberries?

When in doubt make bread!!!


I made Strawberry Walnut Bread out of my bounty! Was it ever good. I can't wait until next Wednesday to see if I have extra strawberries again!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Homemade Basil Pesto

Okay, now I have spent all day long on a field trip to an art museum with a bunch of 7 and 8 year olds. 10 hours???!!! Can you just imagine how I feel at this moment? Actually pretty good. A couple of glasses of wine later and some good food it all seems much better than it did!

Yesterday afternoon was kind of cool though. I had gone to the organic Farmer's Market on Wednesday and had bought some organic basil and I sooo did not want it to go bad on me. Basil is pretty delicate. I decided that I would make some pesto from it to help extend it's life a little. I had a bunch of other pots in the fire during the day so I waited until after I had picked up the girls and instead of doing the regular homework we did some life lessons! I taught them how to make homemade pesto! The recipe was really easy using the food processor but they did get to get their hands into it by picking the basil. Enough about all that...here's the recipe.

Basil Pesto

2 cups fresh organic basil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
4 medium sized garlic cloves, smashed
salt to taste

Pick the basil leaves from the major stem and crush in the food processor. Add the parmesan cheese, add the olive oil slowing while the food processor is running. Add all of the other ingredients.

This should be good in the refrigerator for about 1 week. If you leave out the Parmesan you can freeze this, thaw it out and add the Parmesan and use then.

This is an excellent way to preserve fresh, seasonal produce!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Some of the best meals are made when cleaning out the fridge!

I am looking for chickens...actually not really chickens I want their eggs! We have been trying to eat seasonally and locally but boy is it hard sometimes. I have been looking for farm fresh chicken eggs. shouldn't be too hard right? Wrong. I drove 3 hours today on the hunt for chickens eggs and still came up empty. The only place that I can find around here won't return my calls or emails so I have to keep hunting. Hopefully by the end of the week I will be able to show you some great things I have made with my farm fresh eggs!

Anyway the other night after we had been to our local U-Pick I wanted to just clear out the fridge and make sure that we used up everything that we could before we put the new stuff in. We ended up with a wonderful meal utilizing left over items and some really great fresh, local produce!

We had some eggplant left over form my Royal Foodie Joust entry so we used that and made it into 2 individual stack like eggplant sandwiches with fresh mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and tomato slices in between. T. topped his with some left over Manchego cheese and Parmesan! Then we baked them to get everything nice and warm and the cheese melted and browned.
Then onto the spinach. We had some baby spinach leaves and wanted to cook them up. We used some Panchetta that I had left over from the Royal Foodie Joust so I cooked that up nice and crispy and cooked up some mushrooms that were on their last days as well. All went great with the spinach as you can see!
To cook the spinach I first browned up the panchetta (regular bacon would work as well but you might need to drain it before you add the other stuff) add a bit of olive oil (1 Tbsp) some sliced mushrooms and some chopped up garlic (we use a lot of garlic). Cook until all of this is soft. Add the fresh spinach. It will be completely fill you pan but just stir it around and it wilts right down. Cook until just wilted and stir in 1 Tbsp of butter. Remove from heat and serve! This can be done without the bacon or panchetta as well.

Next we move onto the zucchini fritters. I have posted that recipe before but here it is again. This is such a nice easy side dish to make when zucchini are plentiful. Zucchini Fritter Recipe. T. decide that he wanted some aioli sauce (garlic/mayonnaise sauce) with his so he made some up and put it in these fresh roasted jalapeños that we had as well!
This turned out to be one of the best meals that I have had in a long time! The kids liked it and ate bits and pieces here and there. Sure beats eating left overs again!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Oven Roasted Beets

I was so excited to get my big box of produce yesterday and couldn't wait to get cooking! Unfortunately with as busy as we are I had to wait until this afternoon. Tonight was a karate night so I made the beets this afternoon and figured I would just heat them later. A couple of days ago I was looking at another blog The Left-Over Queen and Jenn had made a roasted beet salad. I so wanted to try it! But due to a cold snap last week the tops of the beets were a little messed up so I decided just to skip that part and just roast them following her directions. I ended up serving them at room temperature as a side to the pot roast that we were having. I can honestly tell you that these were the best beets that I have ever had! I don't know if it was the roasting in olive oil or the freshness of the beets but they were delicious. I was actually sad that I had only bought one bunch...guess I have an excuse to go back now!

Oven Roasted Beets (from Jenn the Left-Over Queen - Roasted Beet and Beet Greens salad)

4 fresh beets
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F. Wash and trim beets, leaving their skins on.

Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Place beets on cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary, thyme, salt & pepper. Shake cookie sheet so that beets get coated with oil and spices. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 45 minutes or until beets are fork tender.

Take beets out of the oven and peel skins off. Note: If you care about your nails, which some people do, wear gloves, or you will have red dye under your nails for days afterwards. Do not run under water as it will wash away a lot of flavor.

Cut into quarters. Drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper.

We left these at room temperature and ended up serving them this way and they were absolutely amazing! I think the balsamic made this as well so don't skip this part!

Thanks for another great one Jenn!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com