Solid Gold, hey, hey

Another day at the office, another pork roast to save the day. What can I do to bring back the glitter? 

I've got the usual sweet potatoes and carrots that always go with a pork roast. I need a classic...

I've got it! Pork is yummly with a bit of sweet. I turned crockpot to High for 4 hours then added:
A heavy drizzle of olive oil
1 Cup chicken broth
1/2 Cup apricot or peach preserves
Allow crock to warm and then whisk together (helps dissolve the preserves)
I took a few mins to wake the miscreants, whisked the bottom of the crock, then layered in potatoes and carrots with roast on top. Then sprinkled on:
2 TBSP seasoning - in the case Fines Herbes

Reunited and it feels so good...

Let crockpot do its thing all day, come home to THIS:

Pull roast out onto cutting board, make sauce while meat rests

Sauce is EASY and FAST in the microwave. Ladle out 1-2 Cups broth/drippings from crockpot plus a pat or 2 of butter.

Create cornstarch slurry with 3 TBSP corn starch and 3 TBSP COLD water, stir with fork until smooth. Set aside. Microwave 2 Cups broth/butter pats for 3 minutes, should be bubbly hot. Slowly stream in the cornstarch slurry, while whisking. Voila`! Sauce.

I can't go cheatin honey, I can't play

I found it very hard to stay away

As we reminisce on precious moments like this

I'm glad we're back together 'cause I missed your kiss, hey, hey

Reunited and it feels so good

Reunited 'cause we understood

There's one perfect fit

And , sugar, this one is it

We both are so excited cause we're reunited, hey, hey...

For the Halibut

Well.. for the Mahi Mahi...ok, so not my finest attempt at humor...

But it's late... I'm tired... I'm this guy...

Mahi mahi along with cauliflower with cheese, zucchini pilaf, and honeydew melon.Gathered up ingredients for the pilaf. Simple ingredients, but lots of flavor. RAW apple cider vinegar is THE STUFF.

 Chopped the zucchini (2) and celery (about 4 stalks). Sauteed with a pat of butter and some seasoning (1 tsp).

 Once soft, set aside and added brown rice blend (1Cup) and white rice (1Cup) to pan along with 3 pats of butter.

Stirred rice in hot pan with butter for @4 mins, as rice became slightly translucent. Added 3.5 Cups chicken broth, .5 Cups Apple cider vinegar. Brought to a boil, covered, turned heat to med low.

 

Prepared cauliflower for microwave. Cut cauli into bite sized chunks. Drizzled in a bit of chicken broth and some seasoning like the rice.

 Cook in microwave for 8-10 mins, depending on how large the pieces and how soft you like your veggies. Once cooked, cover with 2 -3 slices of preferred cheese slices, or shredded cheese. I used cheddar.

 Sprayed thawed Mahi Mahi with olive oil and this new seasoning, from Penzey's.

Bring a cast iron grill or skillet to the culinary preferred term, "Screamin' hot". Drizzle with olive oil as well. Don't be stingy with the oil... otherwise, the fish will stick and break apart.

 Rice simmering and fish grilling on the stove. Cauliflower cooking in micro... it's all coming together.

 After about 5-6 mins on one side, I turn the heat down a bit from Screamin Hot and flip the filets. Once you can see the filets start to "flake", you know you're getting close to done.

 Once rice has absorbed most of the liquid, @15 minutes,  stir and then turn heat down to low.

 Cut up a melon, or whatever fresh fruit you have lurking in the fridge.

 I serve most meals family style from the kitchen counter. I have some warped, mental block that if I drag all the dishes to the table, then I'm too tired to clean up and must go to bed immediately. That, and if I have to get up to get more, I probably won't.

Breakfast for Dinner? Show your wild side

Hey I heard you were a wild one
Ohhh
If I took you home
It'd be a home run
Show me how you'll do

I'll do choc chip pancakes for DINNER... that's right, I'm a wild one.  Rules aren't for me!

This is my fave pancake recipe. I usually add a tsp of vanilla or almond per batch. This recipe is good on it's own, but is easily changed up. 

 Getting a little crazy, adding choc chips. Since I'm making the mess anyway, I'm going to do a double batch of "plain" to add choc chips, and a batch of brown sugar and cinnamon too. (Added tsp pumpkin pie spice and substituted brown sugar for the white sugar in recipe. Easy. Not like voodoo or anything.)

Being kitchen appliance junkies, we have a griddle. Large griddle that my daughter requested as a bday present when she turned 11. I love this thing... have to hand wash, but it cleans up easily. If you don't have a griddle, a skillet does just fine. Since I'm doing a triple batch of pancakes, I figure I'd better go all out.

 I started with the brown sugar and cinnamon... adding butterscotch chips.

Then as I had poured out the brown sugar cinnamon batch, started on the choc chip.

I'm calling it... Babe Ruth style:

 And the fans went wild

Change it up Before Chicken Turns to Pina Coladas

I was tired of my lady, we'd been together too long.

Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song.

So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed.

And in the personals column, there was this letter I read:

So we eat a lot of chicken. I have several "got to" chicken dishes... but sometimes you just get a little bored of the same 'ol same ol'. I had intended to grill something with some Asian flavor, but after supporting a project until 3am and being awakened by the kids before 7:30 to enjoy a migraine, my gusto was gone-o. It was reported that I was kinda cranky. I emphatically deny this allegation.

Comfort food without a lot of effort... which, really, I think many comfort foods are slow cooked and largely unattended. Chicken and dumplings, beef stew, pot roast, a variety of other soups and what not. Maybe that's what makes those dishes seem comforting... it being "cooked all day" makes it a food of love.

I didn't think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean.

But me and my old lady, had fallen into the same old dull routine.

So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad.

And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half-bad.

"I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne.

I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape.

At a bar called O'Malley's, where we'll plan our escape."

Grabbed my list of potential meals, scanned for something different and crockpotable. Is that a word? Probably not... too tired today to either look it up or think of something else. 

Scanned the ingredient list and piled on the counter.

Chopped an onion and a few cloves of garlic - sauteed in pressure cooker. You could do this using a skillet and then a crockpot set for 4 hours on high, leaving it on "warm" setting for another 3-4 hours. 

Browned the chicken and removed from cooker.

Added the rest of the wet ingredients, minus the sour cream, and stirred. 
1 can tomato paste
1 C chicken broth
1/2 C white wine (recipe said dry, I like something a tad sweeter)
1.5 TBSP Paprika 
1/4 tsp pepper

Then added chicken back in, coating the pieces. Set cooker for 22 minutes on High.

Put a pot of water on to boil for the noodles.

Once cooked, removed chicken thighs and set aside.

  Added the 1 C sour cream and a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. Stirred smooth with a whisk.

Put the chicken back in to stay warm until ready for dinner.

So I waited with high hopes, then she walked in the place.

I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face.

It was my own lovely lady, and she said, "Oh, it's you."

And we laughed for a moment, and I said, "I never knew"

Chicken Paprikash - the best of what's old and what's new.