This one pot Instant Pot meal combines bacon, blue cheese, and mushrooms in a satisfying meatloaf cooked alongside sweet potatoes. If you like a bacon, blue cheese and mushroom burger, you'll like this meatloaf!
I feel like I should put that out there since you can see packaging materials in my photos. When I bought the first package of this ground beef with pork & bacon blend I thought it would be terrific in a meatloaf--and easy to make do if you cannot find the same product. After all, many grocery stores sell a "meatloaf mix" or "meatball mix" which has ground beef and ground pork. I've never seen one with bacon before, though, which is what caught my eye.
Simon is giving the food the side-eye. I think he knows he's not getting any.
When I read further on the packaging--small batch, local, got their start selling at farmer's markets, donate 1 meal for every package sold--well, I was sold. So I'm happy to share with you what brand of ground meat product I'm using--MightySparkFood--just know that I'm sharing because I like the product I purchased, not because the company is aware I exist and asked me to develop this recipe.
[Using my best How to Speak Minnesotan] So, the recipe, then. When I developed my Turkey Meatloaf with Wild Rice recipe and Feta for my Instant Pot Basics cooking class, I did so because I'd wanted to use this product but I had a student who did not eat pork. [I've made that recipe 4 times in the past 2 months and apparently never bothered to grab a camera during the process. Stay tuned, the 5th time is the charm.]
An Instant Pot version of the classic creamy chicken & wild rice soup. Laden with mushrooms, carrots & celery, this soup cooks from frozen chicken breasts in under an hour in an electric pressure cooker.
Yes, it's been a while. I've been teaching a series of Instant Pot Basics cooking classes for the past two months. We make this recipe in Class 2: Cooking from Frozen. My students have inspired me to create some new recipes for the Instant Pot that I'll be sharing here now that I'm in between classes for a bit, so stay tuned!
I love using my IP for soup. The ability to sauté the veggies, deglaze the pan, and then add the rest of the ingredients and walk away is heavenly! Because I'm sharing soups with my folks and my girlie as well, I've had days this winter when I've made 3 different soups in a single morning. My days are not All Soup All The Time, though. Mostly I've been spending my time shoveling since Minnesota decided to welcome me in a Big Way. We live on a corner, so after the first 5 or 6 snowfalls we really got the hang of shoveling this place. I even shoveled a racetrack in the backyard since there's so much snow. (You can see video of the dogs running their track on my FB and IG feeds.)
When I make an assortment of cookies, such as for a holiday cookie tray, I like to have a variety of tastes. Consider these as the Rules of a Cookie Tray. There should always be something chocolate. There should always be something not chocolate. There should always be a bar cookie. There should always be Peanut Butter Blossoms. And most important--all of these cookies should be easy to make since you're making so many of them at once.
I got this recipe from my friend Lasar back when we lived in Hawaii. She called them Tasty Raspberry Treats and that's how I always think of them. Since I try and make my post titles a wee bit more descriptive, however, I've renamed them Raspberry Jam Oatmeal Bars because if you're looking for a way to use your homemade jam, this is a lovely one.
My mother's recipe for lefse--the soft potato flatbread beloved by Norwegians and their descendants at home and abroad. This recipe uses potato flakes for an easy, smooth dough.
We sat amazed as Mother worked the dough. Could her palms sense when it became too warm? Within those hands a shape began to grow. Rolled out, it moved towards its proper form.
She sprinkled flour as she rolled them out. The rolling pin moved lightly in her hands. She turned each lefse over and about, As swirling worlds take shape when God commands.
First rolled up on a stick, and then unrolled; The cookstove added age-spots to each side. Once done, they were removed for us to fold; A simple task that we performed with pride.
Each bite one takes can recreate this mood; What we call "lefse" is not merely food.
This poem appeared in the February, 1989 issue of the Sons of Norway Viking.
I'm sharing my mother's lefse recipe today because, more than any other food, lefse represents a Norwegian Christmas to me. I want to leave a record of this recipe for my children in the technology available to me today.
If you know lefse, then you probably get it. Unlike other traditional Norwegian foods, [cough lutefisk cough] lefse doesn't seem to divide people. It is universally loved. Who doesn't like a tender flat potato bread, spread with butter and sprinkled with sugar? For me, only dark brown sugar will do but I'll bend enough to add a shaker of cinnamon sugar to my Christmas Eve smorgasbord for those weirdos who may prefer it. You savory lefse eaters . . . well, keep on being you.
The reason that I'm sharing my mom's lefse recipe and not just pointing you to Alanna's cousin LeAnne's excellent video tutorial (found here) is simple. My mom's way is different than what LeAnne does, and I want to be authentic to my mom's recipe.
It's a funny thing, the concept of authenticity. What makes a recipe authentic? Is it the way you or yours learned it or the way the most popular chef of the time chose to make it? In a FB food blogger group we recently had a lively discussion about authenticity and tradition as they relate to recipes. [Can a carbonara sauce be a carbonara sauce if you choose to use pig belly not pig cheek? I'm not going to touch that debate, but I'll happily eat a plate of whichever meat is used in the carbonara you prepare for me.]
My mother learned how to make lefse when she was a county extension agent in Minnesota in the 1950s. Her office was in the Pennington county courthouse, and she had a demo kitchen complete with multiple ovens and an overhead mirror. One of her functions was to prep the 4H kids who were doing demos at the fair. [The county fair was very early in the season, before the produce was ripe for showing/preserving, so they did all sorts of demos instead.]
Early one summer Doris Belanger won a blue ribbon making lefse at the county fair. That meant she'd be taking her lefse demo to the state fair at the end of the summer. In order to help polish her demo, my mom first had to learn from Doris how to make lefse. [I guess this isn't even my mom's lefse method, it's at least Doris's mom's mom's method.]
Doris taught my mom, and all summer long the 4H leader and mom met with Doris while she practiced. They gave tips on how to improve her presentation. At the state fair, Doris won a blue ribbon. She was comfortable and relaxed while making lefse, and her picture even appeared in the Twin Cities paper! In thanks, Doris's grandpa made my mom a grooved rolling pin on his lathe, and Doris's mom took a slat from an apple crate and carved a lefse turning stick which we call a spuda [spoo-duh--I don't know how to spell this].
See one, do one, teach one.
My mom demonstrated this method during Scandinavian Week at the 1976 Bicentennial Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife on the National Mall in Washington, DC. If you know lefse, you get it, and tourists in the crowd who knew lefse would crowd around after each session, chatting and enjoying samples.
Mom has even appeared on Norwegian TV in a program about how Norwegian Americans celebrate Christmas. Now it's my turn to demo this method, this time using the internet. I'm still using my mom and her equipment, though.
mixing up a batch of dough
shaping before rolling
failure is always an option--and a tasty one too
This video shows my mom making the first piece of a batch of lefse. She rolls out the dough until we can see the pastry cloth markings through it which is how we ensure it's thin enough. Then she checks to make sure it's not bigger than the paper towel it will cool on. Finally she rolls it up on the spuda and carries it to the griddle.
Once she's sure the griddle is very hot, she unrolls the lefse onto it. [Mom knows her griddle heats evenly and doesn't need to spin the lefse for even cooking.] After the lefse is blistered on one side, she flips it over and cooks the other side. Then she picks up the lefse and walks back to the paper towel, realizing on the way that we need a new location for the finished stack so we're not walking all over the kitchen while doing the lefse dance. It's kind of a cardio exercise.
Potato Lefse (Recipe from Marjory Olsen Olson)
This recipe was developed in a university agricultural research facility in Crookston, Minnesota in the 1970s. Crookston is in the Red River Valley where potatoes are harvested and processed into instant potato flakes.
Note: This recipe requires chilling the dough before rolling it out. If I'm planning to cook the lefse in the morning, I'll mix up the dough the night before and leave it in the fridge to chill overnight. If I'm planning to cook in the afternoon, I'll mix up the dough while I'm having my morning cuppa and chill it until I'm ready to cook. You'll need several flat surfaces--to roll out the dough, to cook the lefse, and to hold the cooked lefse until you're all finished. Once you set everything up (and have flour all over the kitchen) you might as well keep on going until you've used up all the dough.
My Mother's Lefse
By Kirsten Olson Madaus
A recipe for the soft potato flatbread beloved by Norwegians and their descendants at home and abroad. This recipe uses potato flakes for an easy, smooth dough. Total time does not include chilling the dough, but does include cooking all the pieces of lefse.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Yield: 15 pieces
Ingredients:
2 cups water 3 Tablespoons vegetable shortening 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter 2 teaspoons salt ½ cup milk 2 cups potato flakes (mom & I use Hungry Jack--bang the measuring cup on the counter to settle the flakes) ¼ teaspoon baking powder 1 Tablespoon sugar 1½ cups unbleached all purpose flour plus more for dusting the . . . well, everything
Instructions:
In a 3 quart pot bring water to boil (or use a large oven safe bowl and microwave on full power for 3 minutes), remove from heat and stir in shortening, butter, salt, milk, potato flakes, baking powder and sugar.
Cool to room temperature. (If I'm planning to cook in the morning, I'll start this the night before and let it chill in the fridge overnight. If I'm planning to cook in the afternoon I'll mix up the potatoes in the morning and let them chill until I'm ready to cook.)
Transfer 1 cup of this potato mixture into a medium bowl (keep the rest refrigerated until ready to use--which can be another day or two). With your hand, work in ½ cup of flour.
Divide into 5 equal portions. On a flour-dusted pastry board and with a flour dusted grooved rolling pin, roll each portion to dinner plate size and as thinly as possible. [On a Foley pastry frame, we roll until we can see the markings through the lefse.]
Bake on a very hot griddle (around 400 degrees Fahrenheit), flipping once, until flecked with brown. Total cooking time will be 60 to 90 seconds. It's quick.
Lay each piece on a paper towel and cover with another paper towel forming a stack.
Once all the balls of lefse dough have been cooked, cover the stack with a kitchen towel while they cool.
Fold and place on a serving tray once cool. Cover them with plastic wrap to keep from drying out.
Serve at room temperature, spread with butter and dark brown or cinnamon sugar.
I know other folks' traditional recipes start with whole potatoes. For more recipes using potatoes, please see my Potato Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.
This compound butter is tangy and slightly sweet, terrific on seasonal veggies, desserts, or breads. It's a terrific last minute homemade addition to a Thanksgiving or holiday meal.
I couldn't decide if I should post this recipe for Thanksgiving, Thanksgivukkah, or Christmas meals, so I opted for the 'throw it up there the day before Thanksgiving and call it a last-minute homemade addition' strategy.
Did it work?
If you're reading this in a turkey coma, I hope to give you ideas for upcoming meals or a reason to toss a bag of cranberries (on sale now, impossible to find later) into the freezer.
The pretty pink color would look nice on a variety of tablescapes--Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's day--tragically I am not a tablescape kind of person. I can cook the food. Don't rely on me to make it look pretty, too.
Sweet and spicy, this gluten free condiment is terrific on a leftover turkey sandwich. The bright color makes a lovely edible gift during the holiday season.
I have a confession and an apology. Apology first. When I shared the Cranberry Chicken Swiss Chard Leek Enchiladas I was unaware that one of the ingredients I used, cranberry salsa, was not always available. I'm sorry.
Now for the confession--I often work ahead, posting recipes made up to a year in advance. See, I'm slow as the molasses in my cold kitchen in the wintertime. If I were to get recipes written, photographed and typed and published in order I'd be sharing tomato recipes in November, pumpkin recipes in January, and butternut squash recipes in April.
Nobody wants that--not even the folks Down Under?! Instead of missing the seasons by a mile, I opt to save posts until they are seasonally ripe. I've got some flexibility that way, so I can toss in a Beef and Venison Sloppy Joe recipe or a Slow Cooker Apple Chai for a crowd when the spirit moves me [and I'm asked].
Most of the time this method--of working ahead and taking my time, works fine. Sometimes I screw up. Royally. In this case I tried to find the same brand of cranberry salsa in the store and even contacted Ocean Spray only to learn that they don't make cranberry salsa each year. Instead of just saying 'oh well, you're on your own', I grabbed a bag of cranberries from my freezer stash and some hot peppers from my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share and made a batch.
If you've ever made cranberry sauce from the bag of berries, you can make cranberry salsa. It's just boiling and stirring, after all. If your cranberry sauce involves opening a can from both ends, let's talk and explore your options.
I canned this cranberry salsa. In fact I've canned so many things that my shelf support broke! Luckily the shelf fell onto the jars of salsa verde and Cantina Style Strawberry Salsa, so nothing slid to the floor. Although I did get 7 jars to fill up my canner, I did have a wee bit left over and it has been in my fridge for 2 weeks and tastes delicious. I'll bet it's good for at least 2-3 weeks in the fridge, and that's plenty long for Thanksgiving turkey sandwich leftovers. That means you don't have to process this before using.
Salad greens from the farm share and kohlrabi pickles make this sandwich amazing.
A cornbread stuffing with chunks of apple and turkey sausage along with sautéed celery and onions. If you're using gluten free cornmeal, this is a gluten free side dish for a holiday table.
Today you can turn on a TV and see chefs making recipes in well-lit studios right in their own homes. It wasn't always this way. In the 1950's, in Minnesota, watching a food show on Minnesota Educational Television meant a county extension agent coming into the studio to demonstrate a seasonal recipe or new product. Hot lights, unscripted--just wild & wooly cooking on the fly where anything goes. The original Reality TV.
I grew up eating "Doc Billings Stuffing" on Christmas day at Mrs. Loomis' home, but it wasn't until I was older that I learned the story behind the name.
Eleanor Loomis was a Consumer Education Specialist in the Extension service of the University of Minnesota in the 1950's. She was on TV weekly, sharing buying tips, recipes, and cooking techniques. One week the theme of her show was Thanksgiving, and she brought in a special guest, Doc Billings. Doc Billings was a Turkey Specialist in the Extension service. For that episode she made her signature stuffing recipe--a moist rosemary-scented stuffing with apples and onions.
Doc Billings was aghast at how wet her stuffing appeared and threw a handful up the the ceiling. The cameraman followed the action all the way up, lingering on the glob of stuffing stuck to the studio ceiling. Mrs Loomis was mortified, her story became legend in my family, and I've always liked apples and onions in my stuffing. I also like cornbread stuffings, and oyster stuffings, and really I'm just a stuffing fan. Or call it dressing, if you prefer--I don't stuff my bird with it either way.
Mashed potatoes made decadent with cream cheese, roasted garlic, and sour cream. Make them ahead of time and reheat in the oven or the slow cooker. Great for holiday potlucks, kids having dental work, or just because this is such a great recipe. Thanks, MA!
The third occasion was after my spouse returned from a deployment, when I was stuffing him full of all his favorite dishes night after night. I even shared some of those leftovers with folks who found themselves unexpectedly in a hospital far away from home. Thanksgiving knows no boundaries.
Making a Thanksgiving meal from locally sourced farmer's market or Community Supported Agriculture farm share ingredients? I got this.
Eating with the seasons means that change is constant. Come to think of it, being a military spouse means the same thing. Being a parent means the same thing--once you get a handle on one age, growth and development means your newfound knowledge is sorely lacking. Again. Heck, I guess being human means that change is constant. I'm getting off track.
This website focuses on using seasonal produce, and it's Fall, so we're talking apples, apple cider, buttercup and butternut squash, and that's just the start of the alphabet. As the seasons change so does the offerings in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share and at the farmer's market. Just like my dogs warmly greet me even if I just ran upstairs for a pair of socks, I warmly greet the arrival of each new season (although with considerably less tail wagging).
I like everything about this--the contrasting textures of apples and pecans with the soft bite of the figs and cheese. I like the sweetness of the honey balancing the tartness of the apples. The crunch balancing the creaminess. It's very satisfying to eat because it hits on so many levels, which is pretty awesome for a dessert because you don't end up eating larger amounts simply to be satiated. Yet this dessert is easy to make--and easy to source locally.
I am all for Pumpkin Everything in the Fall. Really! That video of guinea pigs discussing the merits of pumpkin spice? A perennial favorite. [I miss our composting pigs, they were wonderful pets, although having my 3pack of dogs is enough for me now.] That does not mean I don't appreciate the wonders of other fall flavors. Especially apples. My grateful thanks to John Chapman.
When we started eating from a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm share back in 2006, one of my favorite discoveries was the amazing apples grown in the Shenandoah valley--part of the fruit share at Bull Run Mountain Farm CSA. In Ohio I found more local apple varieties to delight my senses in the fruit share of Mile Creek Farm CSA. And now in Minnesota there are yet more varieties being created over at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (I'd like to think my daughter's tuition $ will contribute to the making of the next Honeycrisp). We are having fun exploring our new home via the local produce we find on our expeditions.
This slow cooker green tomato curry is studded with cubes of buttercup squash and chunks of marinated chicken. A flavorful and vegetable-filled warming meal.
Buttercup squash are kind of homely looking, aren't they? Compared to the smooth unblemished skin of a butternut, they end up looking like the barnacle-covered whales of the winter squash family. No matter what a buttercup squash looks like on the outside, on the inside it's a thing of beauty.
A buttercup squash has rich orange flesh that can be peeled and cubed or roasted whole and pureed. Use it like you would most of the winter squash family (exception: spaghetti squash). This recipe combines a buttercup squash with green tomatoes and chicken in a slow cooker curry.
I'm still exploring my new stomping grounds. Over the weekend we hiked around the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, part of the University of Minnesota--those geniuses behind the Honeycrisp apple and the apple I used in today's muffin recipe--the SweeTango. My first bite of this apple I thought 'hmm, nope, it's a bit too tart for my tastes' but it's grown on me as I work my way down to the bottom of the bag. I have a couple left and will make apple crisp out of them, but I can already tell that they're good for baking since they make a tasty muffin!
Pork chops baked with curry-seasoned green tomatoes and onions in this homey casserole from a vintage cookbook.
Each time I make this dish, I add a few tweaks on the seasonings but keep the main elements of pork chops, green tomatoes, and onions. I'm happy to report that this casserole is delicious over rice and my family still ate it all up! I used lemon pepper seasoning with the pork chops and hot curry instead of sweet curry on the vegetables--and they were very flavorful.
Right now the seasons are a bit topsy turvy. The temperature swings from shorts to sweater weather. I'm excited to turn on the oven but still using the grill. The trees have started to change colors and I foresee leaf raking in the not to distant future. Yet the tomato plants are still plugging away, producing plenty of tomatoes. Once the night temperature dips far enough, there's no amount of sunny days that will bring me red tomatoes. I need to bring them in to ripen--or learn to love green tomatoes. This recipe is one of the ways I've embraced green tomatoes, and I'm glad to re-share it with you.
I love to read cookbooks. I may be terrible at actually following the recipes, but I never come away from a visit with a cookbook without inspiration. The other day was no exception. I was looking through the index of my mom'sOK it's mine now 1950 1st edition Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook for something in the Cs, and I came across this recipe name: Cabin Casserole. I flipped to the page and saw this:
CABIN CASSEROLE
A heart-warming dish for a cold day.
Place in alternate layers in buttered casserole sliced onions
and sliced tomatoes (green preferred) . . . using in all 1/2
cup of each for each chop and sprinkling each layer with
salt and curry powder. On top, lay browned seasoned pork
chops. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees (mod. oven) 45 min.
Then cover, and continue baking until tender (30-45 min more). Serve hot.
This whole wheat treat combines the sweetness of fresh local strawberries and ripe bananas with the tang of sour cream while using less sugar than you'd expect.
You know how seeing one of those cooking videos ignites a craving? That's what happened here. I kept seeing a video for strawberry banana bread in my feed, or strawberry banana smoothies at the store, and the next thing you know I've got a hankering to make Strawberry Banana Muffins.
Conveniently I had fresh local strawberries from the farmer's market and ripe bananas on hand, plus the the endurance to make muffins. You see, while we're mostly unpacked in our new home, very little is set up exactly how it's going to stay. That means every time I cook something it involves finding the right ingredients, locating the proper tools, and doing a lot of 'hmmmm . . . this would work better over there, which means I should move that to this other place, and stick that other thing in a pile by the stairs to figure out where its new home will be . . .'. It's the standard dance of the military family in a new place--finding the best way to arrange our stuff to quickly make a house into Home.
Tender pork chops in a creamy Dijon sauce are ready in minutes using the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Four simple ingredients for the sauce, six minutes cook time under pressure, and an easy weeknight dinner is done!
This post is sponsored by the Ohio Pork Board. They asked me to create a post for an easy weeknight dinner so I'm bringing you these tender pork chops in a Dijon pan sauce. I used the Instant Pot pressure cooker to make them in minutes--this recipe is definitely a weeknight keeper!
This recipe comes from the cookbook Weeknight Cooking with your Instant Pot by Kristy Bernardo. I've enjoyed her Wicked Noodle website for a while now, so when she asked her fellow food bloggers if we wanted to check out her new Instant Pot cookbook my hand shot right up in the air. [Then I put it down and started typing out my info for the publisher.] Finding an easy weeknight recipe, using a common cut of pork in an interesting and accessible variation, was total synergy and I knew I'd combine this cookbook with this sponsored post to make a terrific meal.
One of my favorite aspects of the Instant Pot, as you can see from my video below, is that I can walk into the kitchen, start the machine heating on the Sauté function, then gather my ingredients while it's getting hot. Like I showed in my Spring Risotto recipe video, you don't need to have your onion chopped before you plug in the Instant Pot. Just get it going and then you can get going!
I may not have a relationship with my local butcher, but I do have a relationship with my local hog farmer. To determine the best type of chop for this recipe I headed down to the farmer's market to ask Jean Mattis of KJB Farms her opinion. She suggested an inch thick center cut chop which would hold up well to pressure cooking. Jean is right--the chops turned out moist, tender, and fully cooked!
The first time I made this recipe I substituted whiskey instead of white wine in the sauce. [I'm trying to use up booze before we move, and I'm not much of a whiskey drinker.] The sauce was terrific--anything with a stick of butter will taste good--but I figured I'd try it again with the white wine Kristy calls for and that also resulted in a yummy sauce. We used the rest of the sauce on roasted potatoes, and I think it would also be good with rotisserie chicken. If you don't have white wine or whiskey, try sherry or use additional chicken broth. For a similar technique and different flavor, maybe beer with stoneground mustard instead of the Dijon?
Note: my pork chops, in addition to being thick, were very large. This was great for feeding my hungry teenagers, but did mean that the browning took longer as I could only fit 1 chop at a time in my 6 qt pot. I was OK with that--I don't need a larger machine--but know that if you've got smaller chops or an 8 qt pot, you can brown the chops twice as fast by doing 2 at a time. Based on my raw footage, it took me about 17 minutes from turning on the Instant Pot to closing the lid to start pressure cooking.
Instant Pot Pork Chops with a Dijon Pan Sauce
By Kristy Bernardo
Tender pork chops in a creamy Dijon sauce are ready in minutes using the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Four simple ingredients for the sauce, six minutes cook time under pressure, and an easy weeknight dinner is done!
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Yield: 4 servings, plus additional sauce Ingredients: 4 bone-in pork chops (I used 1 inch thick center cut chops--2 pounds or 0.9 kg) 1 teaspoon coarse salt (I used kosher) 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons (10 ml)extra virgin olive oil ½ cup (118 ml) dry white wine ¼ cup (59 ml) low-sodium chicken broth 1 Tablespoon (15 g) Dijon mustard ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces ¼ cup (10 g) chopped parsley (I prefer curly for chopping)
Instructions:
Press Sauté to preheat your Instant Pot. Season the chops with salt and pepper on both sides. When the word "Hot" appears on the display, add olive oil and brown the chops on both sides, about 3-4 minutes/side. Remove chops and set aside.
Add wine and stir to deglaze the pot, allowing the wine to reduce slightly. Add the chicken broth to the pot then return the chops to the pot, along with any accumulated juices.
Close and lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Press "Manual" and adjust the timer to 6 minutes. Check that the cooking pressure is on "high" and that the release valve is set to "Sealing".
When the time is up, allow the pot to release pressure naturally for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure using "Quick Pressure Release". Remove the chops and tent with foil to keep warm.
Press "Sauté" and allow the sauce to reduce by half, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the Dijon. Add the butter two pieces at a time, stirring until incorporated. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper, if necessary. Return the chops to the pot and toss them gently to coat with the sauce. Top with the parsley and serve. We had these with Instant Pot Spring Risotto.
A bright side dish with peas and lemon, this creamy risotto cooks up quick and easy in the pressure cooker. The parmesan flavor goes well with pork, chicken, or seafood or as a springtime meatless main course.
As the weather turns warmer I crave lighter foods. When evenings are still cool, however, having a nice warm side dish makes for a cozy meal. This Spring Risotto from Kristy Bernardo's cookbook Weeknight Cooking with your Instant Potis perfect for this time of year.
My spouse bought me an Instant Pot last summer, and I think it's a terrific tool to help me get a home-cooked meal on the table. I almost said "nutritious home-cooked meal" but if you've been here before (thanks for coming back!) you'll know my usual fare is nutritious home-cooked meals. I feel the IP is more than a gadget--the ease of making clear, beautiful chicken stock ahem chicken bone broth, dry beans to a meal in an hour, and easy to peel hard boiled eggs are big selling points--but it will not replace my rice cooker or my slow cooker. I don't think I'll ever throw dry spaghetti, sauce, and water into the IP. It's too easy to do on the stove top. Frozen meat? Maybe. We'll see.
Updated 3/2018
As much as I enjoy baking in my kitchen, fixing goodies for my family or something just for me, it's a treat to go out for a snack. Choosing amongst the variety of offerings in the bakery case is Big Fun for me, and that's how I was inspired to make these muffins.
Our local military spouse group met for coffee at the grocery store down the street. As previously mentioned, I'm a tea drinker and fancy coffee drinks are just plain lost on me. However, I like the conversation--I always learn something new that makes my life smoother. Military spouses bring a wealth of life experiences to the table, and we're a formidable asset to any community. Recently my fellow spouses have helped me prepare the house for market, and wow what a difference fresh eyes bring to your place!
I was peckish, so I scanned the muffins in the Bakery Case and saw Good (or Better?) Morning Muffins. The muffin was yummy, and got me wondering why I haven't combined my finely shredded Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share carrots into a muffin before. I played around with my key muffin recipe to come up with these, and the result is a whole grain muffin using honey, maple syrup, raisins and dates for sweetness.
I'm not normally one to throw the word "healthy" around, because I believe it can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways and I'm not about to say which way is best--and it's not a One Size Fits All definition anyway. I'm confident in saying that a baked good which tastes as good as these muffins, that doesn't happen to contain refined sugars and does pack in some protein and fiber, is healthy--at least compared to a slice of iced carrot cake that is, and if you're not allergic to the components of the muffin, that is. And since it's got some of my favorite parts of carrot cake--I'm going with an easily searchable recipe title though I hope I don't prevent myself from making an even carrot cakier type of muffin!
Shrimp tossed with a spiced Greek yogurt & feta sauce, served 2 ways--spread on toast or layered with preserved and fresh vegetables in a salad.
Everybody dies famous in a small town.
I'm usually more pop music or classical than country music, but I've been humming Miranda Lambert's song for the past few days. Our little town* has a weekly newspaper and this blog was profiled. On the front page. Above the fold. I'm very pleased with the article and doubly glad that I don't need to clean my house to have you come and read this blog post. [Mom & Dad, I've already mailed a copy of the paper to you and when I did the gal at the UPS store said 'you were in the paper, weren't you? I read about you while eating dinner last night'.]
As high falutin' as it may seem to be on the front page, that doesn't alter the reality that I spent part of the morning scooping the back yard. Let me tell you, replacing 8 pound Wee Oliver Picklepants (there is no replacement) with 40 something pound Robert Barker is NOT easier in that regard. However, once the back yard was cleaned up I did manage to have a pretty glamorous lunch.
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