October 16: Sage and Balsamic Pork Chops with Creamy Pumpkin Polenta

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
5 fresh sage leaves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 large garlic clove, chopped
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 1/2 to 1 1/2-inch-thick boneless center-cut pork chops
2 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup milk
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
   Freshly grated or ground nutmeg, about 1/8 teaspoon
3/4 cup quick-cooking polenta
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus some for garnish
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Preheat a large, oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO. In a shallow dish, combine the balsamic, sage, parsley, garlic, the remaining 1 tablespoons of EVOO, salt, and pepper.

Coat the pork chops and then place them in the skillet and sear the meat on both sides to caramelize, about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer the skillet to the oven to finish off, about 8 minutes, or until the meat is firm to the touch but not tough.

While the chops are cooking, in a sauce pot combine the chicken stock, milk, and pumpkin and season with the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Place over high heat and bring up to a simmer. Whisk in the polenta and stir until it begins to mass together. Add the grated cheese and butter, stirring to combine. Keep in mind that polenta is very forgiving. If it becomes too thick, not smooth and creamy, you can always add more warm chicken stock or milk.

Serve the polenta alongside the sage and balsamic pork chops with steamed vegetables. Garnish the polenta with a little extra grated or shaved cheese.

4 SERVINGS


I made this meal for the church potluck, and I poured the polenta into a pan and cut the pork chops into cubes and put them on top. I could have sworn that I took a picture of how I served it, but it wasn't on my camera. Maybe I was in such a hurry to get to church for choir practice that I thought I took the picture when I actually didn't. Anyway, this meal was really, really good! I would definitely make it again! RR says, "Serve with steamed broccoli or cauliflower." I meant to make the broccoli, but I ran out of time and I figured there would be enough vegetables at the potluck. It was international potluck day, so I guess this meal would have been the Italian food???

October 15: For Almodovar: Spicy Spanish Raisin and Olive Chicken, Ole!

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 pound chorizo, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup dry sherry
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup large Spanish green olives with pimientos, drained and coarsely chopped
   Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO. Season the chicken liberally with half of the thyme and salt and pepper and add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Return the skillet to the burner over medium-high heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of EVOO, and add the chorizo, onions, celery, red pepper flakes, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the celery and onions are tender. Add the sherry and cook until the pan is almost dry, 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, raisins, and remaining thyme and continue to cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until there is only about 1/4 cup of liquid left in the pan. Turn the heat off under the pan. Add the butter and whisk until it has completely melted, then add the olives, lemon zest and juice, and parsley and toss to combine.

Serve the chicken breasts, whole or sliced, with the raisin and olive sauce.

4 SERVINGS

I didn't make this meal this time around either. I figured I shouldn't be buying so many ingredients if I could go into labor any day now. We had a harvest party with our church, so that's pretty much where we were all day - so no time to cook anyway. I made this recipe before and marked it a keeper. RR says: "Pedro Almodovar is my favorite foreign film director - I have his whole library. My favorite film and the one I most relate to: Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." She doesn't say what to do with the lemon, so I just added it in there at the end.

October 14: Lime-and-Honey Glazed Salmon with Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
   Juice of 2 limes
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 6-ounce salmon fillets
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1 10-ounce box frozen corn kernels, defrosted
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
6 cups baby spinach

Preheat a medium skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO. Add the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, preheat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO. In a shallow dish, combine the juice of 1 lime, honey, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Add the salmon fillets to the lime-honey mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. Add the seasoned salmon to the hot skillet and cook until just cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

To the cooked onions, add the bell peppers and corn kernels and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the black beans and cook until the beans are just heated through. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the juice of the second lime, the cilantro, and spinach. Toss to wilt the spinach and then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the lime-and-honey-glazed salmon on top of the warm black bean and corn salad.

4 SERVINGS

I didn't make this recipe this year because I was having a party and it was Friday night (so I made Mac-n-Cheese for my DH). I made this recipe last year and it was really good! I love the salad especially. RR's tidbit is: "If fresh corn is in season, by all means cut the kernels from 4 fresh ears instead of using frozen."

October 13: Golden Raisin and Almond Chicken

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 ounces sliced or slivered almonds
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
   Green salad
   Boiled baby potatoes

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO. Season the chicken liberally with half of the thyme and salt and pepper and add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Toast the nuts in a small skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter to the toasted nuts; melt and toss to coat. Add the chives and toss to combine.

Return the chicken skillet to the burner over medium-high heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of EVOO, and add the onions, celery, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the celery and onions are tender. Add the white wine and cook until the pan is almost dry, 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, raisins, and remaining thyme and continue to cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until there is only about 1/4 cup of liquid left in the pan. Turn the heat off under the pan. Add the remaining butter and whisk until it has completely melted.

Serve the chicken breasts whole or sliced with cherry sauce poured over them. Serve the salad and potatoes alongside.

4 SERVINGS

This is the 1st variation on the Tangy Cherry Chicken. I changed the fresh thyme to dried and I added the salad and potatoes to the ingredient list. I liked the cherry sauce better, but this was ok too. I did really like the almonds. For the cherry chicken, I cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise, so it really did take about 5 minutes on each side to cook. With this recipe, I used whole chicken breasts, so I had to cook them for about 10 minutes on each side (at least). They finally got done in the middle, but they were terribly burnt on the outside. That's part of what made this recipe not so good.

October 12: Fall Minestrone

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 pound pancetta, cut as thick as bacon from the deli counter, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 portobello mushroom caps, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery ribs, chopped with greens
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 stems of fresh rosemary
8 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 small bunch of kale or chard, trimmed of tough ends and veins and coarsely chopped
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained
1 14-ounce can petite diced tomatoes or chunky-style crushed tomatoes
1 quart chicken stock or broth
2 cups vegetable stock or broth
   A piece of rind of Parmigiano cheese
1 cup ditalini pasta
   Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to pass at the table
   Crusty bread, for mopping

Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat and add the EVOO. Add the pancetta and brown for 2 minutes.

Add the red pepper flakes, garlic, mushrooms, onions, carrots, and celery. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the mushrooms are lightly browned.

Season with salt and pepper and add the rosemary stems and the sage to the pot. Add the zucchini and chopped greens and stir them into the pot until all the greens wilt down, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the beans, tomatoes, stocks, and cheese rind, then place a lid on the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Uncover and add the ditalini pasta. Cook the soup for 7 to 8 minutes at a rolling simmer, uncovered, until the pasta is al dente (with a bite to it). Remove the pot from the heat. Remove the rind and the now bare rosemary stems (the leaves fall off into the soup as it cooks). Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into shallow bowls and top with grated cheese. Pass the crusty bread at the table.

6 SERVINGS

This soup is very delicious. There were a few things I did differently: I only used 1 onion (my husband doesn't like them), I only used 1 carrot because my daughter ate the other one yesterday (I'm glad she likes to eat veggies), I used dried sage because it's cheaper, I forgot to buy a zucchini, I used all chicken stock instead of a mixture of vegetable and chicken stock. There are so many ingredients in this soup that these small changes don't make much of a difference. I took this recipe from July 21. Today's was supposed to be orzo and skirt steak. But I'd rather have Fall Minestrone in the fall! RR says: "More like fall-in-love-with soup." And her tidbit is: "You can now find vegetable stock in cartons on the soup aisle next to the boxes of beef and chicken broth." I'm not sure why I didn't buy any. I think I didn't see it in the recipe, so I didn't write it down on my list. Oh well. It still tasted great! Oh, and I changed the serving amount from 4 to 6.

October 11: For Neil Diamond: Tangy Cherry Chicken

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup dried cherries
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
   Green salad
   Boiled baby potatoes

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO. Season the chicken liberally with half of the thyme and salt and pepper and add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Return the skillet to the burner over medium-high heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of EVOO, and add the onions, celery, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the celery and onions are tender. Add the white wine and cook until the pan is almost dry, 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, dried cherries, and remaining thyme and continue to cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until there is only about 1/4 cup of liquid left in the pan. Turn the heat off under the pan. Add the butter and whisk until it has completely melted.

Serve the chicken breasts whole or sliced with cherry sauce poured over them. Serve the salad and potatoes alongside.

4 SERVINGS

I changed the fresh thyme to dried and I added the potatoes and salad to the ingredient list. RR says: "You got the way to move me, Baby!" I suppose that's a song by Neil Diamond, but I've never heard of it.

The chicken is delicious and the cherry sauce is divine. I served this with bread and bell peppers because that's what I had on hand.

October 10: Broiled Lamb Chops with Sweet Pea and Spinach Couscous

2 cups chicken stock or broth
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups plain couscous
1 large red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2-pound rack of lamb cut into 12 chops (3 chops per person)

1 10-ounce box frozen peas

4 cups baby spinach

10 fresh basil leaves, chopped or torn

10 fresh mint leaves, chopped

Preheat the broiler.

Place about 1 1/2 cups of the chicken stock and 1 tablespoon of the EVOO in a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Cover the pot and raise the heat; bring the broth to a boil. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the couscous, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes.

While the chicken stock is heating up, preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of the EVOO. Add the onions, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the onions are tender.

While the onions are cooking, arrange the chops on a slotted broiler pan and season both sides with salt and pepper. Broil the chops for 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium rare, 5 to 6 for medium well.

To the onions and garlic, add the frozen peas and the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Heat for 2 minutes, then add the baby spinach and wilt. Add the basil and mint and remove from the heat.

Fluff the cooked couscous with a fork. Add the veggies and herbs to the couscous on a large platter, toss to distribute, and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.

Serve the lamb chops on top of the sweet pea and spinach couscous.

4 SERVINGS

This is a nice quick and easy recipe. I couldn't find a rack of lamb, so I used a T-bone steak. It was a nice change of pace (it was on sale, so I didn't have to spend $20-$30 on the meat.) That's the only thing I did differently (except that I didn't use a platter to mix up the peas and couscous).