Lentils with Pork or Sausage

This is another of those recipes that I found in Fannie and then ended up adapting so much that I'm not sure it's even based on her recipe anymore. Her recipe was for Lentils and Sausage, and I didn't have sausage, so I used some pork bones for flavor (and boy did they make the whole thing taste like I was eating pork instead of lentils!) and tried to follow the rest of the recipe. It didn't work out that well, as it was WAY dry and I had to double the water. By the time I was done, it had very few aspects of the Fannie Recipe. If I have sausage again, I might make this, but I found it a bit lacking of vegetables and overall a disappointment. It was way too bland for me. I love my lentil soup (I don't have a recipe, but I've made it many times and it always turns out full of flavor) and this was just eh. The next time I make a lentil dish, I will probably not repeat this one.

For this, I used:
1 1/4 c. dried lentils
2.5 c. water
2 small onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 potatoes, chopped
1 bay leaf
pork bones OR 1/2 lb. italian sausage, cut in 2 inch pieces

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, combine lentils and water. 
2. Add onions, garlic and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer.
3. Add potatoes and sausage or soup bones.
4. Simmer 20-30 minutes until lentils are soft.
5. I had to add about 2 c. more water because not everything was covered by the water. It all boiled away, so this is not a soup, but a drier lentil dish.

I ended up putting soy sauce and sour cream and cilantro on this just to make it have some kind of flavor besides overwhelming pork-ness. Seriously, it was like I was eating a pork chop. Couldn't taste anything else!

Sausage-Stuffed Apples

This recipe is from my mom's old Boston Cooking School Cookbook, and is not found in my updated Fannie Farmer Cookbook. It's a shame, too, because this was a very interesting dish. It didn't really seem like dinner, but it had sausage, so I wouldn't call it dessert. It would kind of fit in the breakfast category, but it didn't taste at all like a breakfast food! I made it for dinner, so I guess it's a dinner dish.

For this, I used:

• 1 lb. ground sausage
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. onion, chopped fine
• 8 apples
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• (optional: 8 strips bacon...I didn't have any or I'd have used it)

Instructions:

Cook onions, garlic and sausage in a skillet for about 10 minutes or until sausage is completely cooked.

I used drops from my mom's tree, so if they look a little scrubby, that's why!

Core the apples meanwhile.

Stuff the cavity in each apple with sausage (I really had to pack it in and still ended up with a bit extra)
Sprinkle sugar over the tops
If using bacon, drape a strip over the top of each apple
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until apples are soft.

These turned out well. The first night, the apples were a little crisp still, but we reheated the leftovers the next day and the apples cooked until soft, as they are supposed to be. It was good both nights. The sugar made a crispy sheen on top of the apples, and the sausage and apples complemented each other nicely. This is a good apple dish that can be a main course, and it was nice to find a use for apples that wasn't a dessert. This was a little different than a usual dinner course, but not bad for a change of pace.

 

 

Skillet-Fried Pork Chops

 

This is the second time I've made pork chops, and unlike last time, I paid attention to their thickness and didn't overcook them. They turned out really well.

For this you will need:
3-6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick.
1-2 tbsp. flour
salt & pepper

Dust each chop with flour, then sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cook each 1/2 inch thick chop for 5 minutes on each side, a 3/4 inch one for 8 minutes per side.

I served these with sauteed summer squash and apple zucchini bread. It was a much greater success than last time I tried to make pork chops. It's all about the thickness. Live and learn!

Braised Pork Chops with Apples

Putting the chops in to fry.

Confession: I have no clue how to cook meat. I was a vegetarian for half my childhood and all of high school and college. Since then, I've learned how to cook ground beef, but anything more complicated than that leaves me wandering in the dark. So I follow the recipe pretty exactly when it comes to slabs of meat. In this case, that was where I went wrong. That, and the fact that I tried to cook three things at once, which I do NOT recommended to newbie cooks (especially if you're barely keeping your eyes open because you stayed up watching Sex & the City until 1 am the night before). I ended up so stressed I wished I'd saved my one beer instead of putting it in the cheesy beer bread I made to go with the chops. Not to mention that by the time I was done, my kitchen was a disaster area that took another half hour to clean up.

After a minute of searing.

So, on with the chops. I had a package of frozen pork chops my sister had given us after she raised pigs (along with the ham). I looked up how to cook them in Fannie Farmer and followed the recipe pretty exactly. I made the recipe for Braised Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes, but used the apple alternative. Unfortunately, I failed to notice that she said to use 1 1/2 inch thick chops, and mine were more like 3/4 inch. So, when she said to cook them on medium high for 30 minutes, and I cooked them for 25 on low, they still ended up a bit burned in the spot towards the middle of the pan. Luckily I checked them five minutes early or they would have been charred to a crisp.

See the burnt spots? I never claimed I could cook!

Fannie's recipe, with my adaptations:

• Take 4 pork chops (1 1/2 inch thick)
• Coat them lightly on both sides with 1 1/2 tbsp. flour
• sprinkle with salt and pepper
• put 2 tbsp. of butter in a skillet and cook on medium high, 1 minute on each side
• Lower heat to medium, add 2 c. sliced apples (peeled unless they are organic--you don't want to eat what's on a commercial apple skin), cover the pan and cook for 30 minutes. Note the thickness of your chops and alter accordingly so you don't end up with chops like the ones above.

Despite the charring, these really weren't bad. My pan seemed to be sizzling a LOT, so after about 5-10 mins, I turned the heat to low. I'm really glad, too, or I might have caused a kitchen fire or something! As it was, I just scraped off the burned bits and everything tasted fine. My husband just ate his and said he didn't even notice. So they weren't bad. But I will definitely remember the timing lesson next time I make chops!

The apples in the pan with the chops were really good, and probably saved them from getting dried out. Plus, they went really well with the side dish, Braised Red Cabbage and Apples. Even though the chops had a bit of charring, they weren't dry or tough at all. Even my son ate them without complaining about anything but the strips of fat going through the meat. Overall, this is a good, simple recipe for pork chops that I may make again now that I know not to cook them so long (edit: for a more successful cooking experience, see my second attempt here).