Flavorful Foursome; Pork Chop Suey, Fettuccine Alla Carbonara, Spicy Halibut and Chicken Paprikash

This post had some great meals!  Thanks to Betty Crocker cookbook for the recipes.  I only changed them a little to fit my tastes.

Pork Chop Suey is something that I haven't had in a really long time.  I have never made it myself, but I will again.  Of course I will have to spice it up a little.

1 lb boneless pork

3/4 cup water

3 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs cornstarch

2 tbs dry sherry

1 tsp chicken bouillon

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbs cooking oil

2 tsp grated ginger

2 stalks celery

2 cups bean sprouts

10 green onions

8 oz water chestnuts/bamboo shoots

2-3 cups cooked rice

I first started my rice in the rice cooker.  

Then cut the pork into bit size pieces, chopped the celery and green onions.  I also add Carrots and garlic and omitted the mushrooms it called for.

Mixed up the sauce by combining the soy sauce, water, cornstarch, sherry, bouillon and pepper.  For some heat, add a little Sriracha to your liking. I used ginger paste instead of grated ginger, so I also added that to the sauce mixture.

Cook carrots and celery for a couple minutes, add bean sprouts and green onions.  Cook for another couple minutes and remove from skillet/wok.  

Cook pork in stages.  Cook until no pink remains, cooking 1/2 the pork at a time. When pork is complete, return all to the pan and push towards to the center.  Add sauce and cook until thickened and bubbly.  Add vegetables and water chestnuts or bamboo.  I prefer bamboo and like them julienne. Cook until all is heated.  Serve over hot cooked rice.

Turned our really good and left overs for lunch the next day.  YUMMMMMY

The Fettuccine Alla Carbonara was good and very simple!

6 slices of bacon

6 oz fettuccine or linguine

1 beaten egg

1 cup half and half, light cream or milk

2 tbs butter

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1/4 cup parsley

Since I was entertaining, I doubled the recipe  Glad I did, because there were no left overs

Cook the bacon until desired crispness.  I don't like mine to crispy, so when done, I chopped it up to small pieces.

Cook the noodles as directed.  I recommend a little before al dente for all noodles. 

For the sauce, melt butter.  Yes, use real butter and use half n half.  Makes the sauce much richer and more flavor.  Splurge on the extra fat and calories for this meal.  Combine egg, half n half in the melted butter on medium heat.  Stir continuously and make sure the heat isn't too high. When the mixture coats a metal spoon, about six minutes, pour over fettuccine/linguine. Toss to coat.  Add cheese and parsley and mix. 

 Serve immediately.It made 6 large portions. I added a little extra parsley for presentation.

I made a Spicy Halibut.  For me, it was kind of boring.  I made a pineapple salsa that was really good.  It was diced roma tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, Serrano pepper, salt and a little lime juice.  It was good on top of the fish.  Better just by itself.

My last review is for Chicken Paprikash.  It's a creamy Hungarian dish.

2 lbs chicken pieces

1 tbs cooking oil

salt

pepper

1 cup chopped onion

3-4 tsp paprika

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 8 oz sour cream

2 tbs flour

3 cups hot cooked noodles or rice

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook until browned.  Remove the chicken.  Add onion and paprika to the skillet.

Cook until the onion is tender and return chicken to skillet, coating chicken with paprika.  Add broth and wine.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 35 minutes.  Remove chicken.  

For the sauce, skim any fat off the top.  Make sure there is enough juice in the pan to equal 1 1/2 cups by adding water if needed.


Mix flour into sour cream.  Add to skillet with pan juices.  Cook for about a minute after it is thickened and bubbly.  Return chicken.

                                                   Serve over noodles.  I used egg noodles.

The Pork Chop Suey was my favorite this time followed by the Chicken Paprikash.  My least favorite was the Halibut.  It just wasn't as flavorful as I wanted, but the salsa made up for it.

And for some fun, I got a new hat!  $5 at Walmart.  Got to love the Sock Monkey!


Next up, I will be trying Feta Burgers, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and Tortilla-Black Bean Casserole.

Testing out the Betty Crocker Cookbook

I've decided to try out most of the recipes of the Betty Crocker Cookbook.  Why not all you may wonder?  Cause I HATE mushrooms and I know there will be some of those vial things in the recipes.  I will swap them with something else if I can, but just in cause.  Also you never know what else there may be that I don't like.


So far I have tried the following:


Chili - very good and will make again!

Chicken Jambalaya - So good!  And Mark took my leftovers that I was saving for my lunch!  Yes, it was that good. So I have to rub it in.(sorry, no photo)

Stuffed Peppers - These were easy and good.  I did add a few extra things to it.  Like some taco sauce on the top and used pepper jack cheese in the filling and extra sharp cheddar on the top. (sorry, no photo of this either)







Old-Fashioned Beef Stew - I have made stews before, but this one was really good. Normally I do it in the crockpot, but this time I did it on the stove and it worked out very well I think.


What have I been thinking, I keep forgetting to take a photo.  So here is a photo from the left overs.  FYI, they are also just as good.  Maybe better even.

I even tried out Swedish Meatballs - I liked them.  Mark thought they needed something more.  But there are kind of a subtle flavor to them. The recipe called for Allspice or Nutmeg.  I used Allspice, but I think Nutmeg would be better.  I also used Milk.  The recipe stated to use Milk, Half-and-Half or Light Cream, so maybe the Cream or Half-and-Half would do more.  Also I baked the meatballs, so I didn't have as much pan drippings, so next time I will just fry them so I have more drippings.  Over all, I think it was a success. And of course, I forgot a photo.  But at least I had left overs for it.

Up next is one that intrigued me.  Winter Pot Roast.  Since it is winter and pot roast sounded so good, I figured why not try it. Normally I just through stuff in the crockpot, but this isn't a crockpot recipe and I want to make it with the recipe to see how it is supposed to taste. But I will prep some stuff early, so I don't have to do it all at once.

In the morning I prepared the veggies and items that needed some chopping or other prep.

First I chopped up some carrots and parsnips.  The recipes called to use either, but I figured that I would do a half and half thing with them.  Cause I love them both.  If you haven't had parsnips before, to me they are a little sweeter than carrots. 

 (if you want to mess with family and friends for dinner, try cooking a bunch of parsnips in boiling water and then drain and mash.  Just like mashed potatoes, only sweeter.  Just need a little butter.  Mark didn't care for them, but I also didn't tell him what they were until after he tasted them.  Yes, I can be evil.)

Next I did the garlic. I have three gadgets that make using garlic a breeze.  First is the peeler.  It is the tube thing in the photo.  All you do is but the clove of garlic in it and roll it back and forth for a few seconds and the skins come right off.

Look at that!  Way to easy really.  The silver item is used to mince the garlic.  This is the best tool ever for mincing garlic.  Plus when you wash it, rub it over your hands.  It actually takes the smell out.  I use it when I do onions and garlic.  So when I'm done, takes both the smells out.

It called for one large onion cut into wedges, so I used two small ones and just chopped them largely.  

 Next up, I halved the apricots and prunes. No cool tools for this.  Just a knife.






That was all the prep I was able to do. Cooking time is 2 1/4 hours. So I started about at about 3:30 p.m. so that dinner would be done around 6.


After the first hour and 45 minutes, I added all the veggies and cooked for 40 more minutes.

The results were really good.  Mark of course wasn't a fan of the parsnips, but did like the meat and the gravy.  I like the whole thing and next time, no Parsnips.  Maybe I will throw in a rutabaga or turnip.  :)

Coming up next, Cashew Pork and Pea Pods and Scalloped Potatoes.