Pork chops with mustard sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetables

This dinner was plate-licking good! A nice hearty meal for a wintry day. Don't forget about pork: the other white meat. It is really inexpensive and when not overcooked, flavorful and juicy. Flavor it up with a delicious sauce.
First I made the mashed potatoes.
When you do it, make the roasted veg first. No biggie but I made the potatoes first & they were luke warm upon serving.
Use whatever potato(es) please you. I opted for red b/c my little shopper did not want yukons. (Red is more attractive, after all.) Think shrieking toddler in the super. Ok, red it is!
We had leftover 1/2 & 1/2 from the quiche so I used that. Use heavy cream or any fat form of milk. I generally use whole milk but tend to compensate with lots of butter. Pour your poison into a measure (1/3 cup for 1 lb potatoes) and allow to warm up a bit while you cook.
Also included: 2 TB butter, a few cloves of garlic (chop it) and a potato masher.
Put potatoes in a pot, cover with 1" water and put on to boil. Once boiling, reduce to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Test with a pointy knife. It should slide right in. Drain and set potatoes aside, put butter in on medium low and melt.
Add garlic and cook until softened, stop when it starts to brown.
Slice cooked potatoes (skins on) in half, then quarter halves. This will make them easier to mash. Put the pieces into the butter and mash away! Do it minimally, they can turn gummy if you work it too much. Pour in the dairy and incorporate. Salt & pepper to taste.
Pare off the skins of 4 carrots and 2 parsnips and cut into pieces no more than 1" long and 1/2" thick. Cut 1/2 of a red onion into quarters. Remove and throw out any green innards.
Put in a dish you can cover and drizzle a scant amount of olive oil over (1TB) and salt & pepper (and any herbs you want). Cover and shake to evenly coat.
Roast (I use nonstick foil) at 400º for 10 minutes, toss veg then increase heat to 450º for another 20 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye out and toss them again and/or adjust the cooking time.
The pork chops went right into the used veg bowl and I used tongs to handle. Lightly coat both sides with olive oil then S & P both sides. Heat your covered skillet/saucepan on medium high (no oil in the pan).
Someone kept saying, "It's time for dinner!" and "Dinner's almost ready!" repeatedly so I appeased him with a bowl of the potatoes.
Cook the chops in the hot pan, time for 3 minutes. Pork is ready to turn if it's not sticking to the pan. Partially cover it to keep the oil spray/smell down.
Turn then cover and cook remaining 3 minutes. Put on a plate and cover. Typically I use foil but in a vain of environmental consciousness I opted for a plastic bottom from a reused takeout container. The chops continue to cook in their residual heat and will release some juices onto the plate on which they sit.

Pour your glass of white wine (or from a bottle) into the pan. Bring to a nice simmer and reduce the volume by half. Add a good plop (2 TB?) of mustard, a grainy one is nice.

Have and encourage your curious child help out even if it's no help ;D

The roasted veg are done!

The tester cleared his plate! He didn't eat more potatoes since he had a bowl earlier. The large red onion pieces were rejected, understandably (should have cut down).
He was nice enough to fork them over to me, explaining they were yummy birthday cake! That did the trick and I gobbled them up!

Stuffed Chicken Breast Wrapped in Bacon

Chop and drain (and blot with paper towels) sundried tomatoes in oil, and dice up some garlic.

Slice Gruyere (or whatever cheese appeals to you) to fit into a large breast (so big, we split it).

Saute the garlic. Mix with the tomatoes once done.

Stuff breast with cheese and tomato/garlic mixture. Pin closed with minimal amount of toothpicks. I used one. Wrap breast in bacon (4 slices were right for this beast of a breast). Again, try to pin minimally (since you will have to fish them out later).
Heat your pan (with cover) on medium/medium-low.
I used a small amount of olive oil to coat (or a spray) and add the breast once the pan is heated.
Mostly cover with lid to prevent spattering and to help cook the thick breast. Set a timer to three minutes and don't attempt to budge it until then or else the bacon will stick.
If the bacon sticks, give it more time. Flip then cook another 3.
At this point I stop timing but try to cook up the sides so the bacon is crisped on all edges. Think lots of flipping and waiting a minute or two at a time.

A ridiculous upright frying position.

Plated up and ready to eat!
Accompanied by rice pilaf (1/2 package of Near East) and from the freezer Birdseye mixed veg.

We always love to have some Cavit Pinot Grigio with our dinner.

The tester approves!

The aftermath.

Chicken, Provolone, Pesto and Pepper Panini

This sandwich is very much open to interpretation and what you have on hand. I did make a special trip to the supermarket to buy Pastene jarred pesto. I have never gone this route but at $3.79 vs. $5.99 for "fresh", it was delicious and doable.
Fire up the press.
Spray cooking spray on outer pieces of bread (we used Scali).
Spread thin layer on mayo on inner sides. Spread pesto over that.
Top one side with sliced deli chicken and top with kalamata olives (no olives for Alex) and banana pepper rings.
Top with slices of provolone cheese then sliced pepperoni. Note: most pepperonis can but super fatty so microwave for 30 sec. on doubled over paper towels to extract it.
Put on the press and cook until the cheese it oozing and delicious!
This reminded us of a calzone, it was so good.

Feast on Mussels

They are so inexpensive and readily available! Every time I get some, they are fabulous- But for some reason I don't buy them more than a couple times a year. Don't let the thought of "poor man's shellfish" cloud your taste buds; this time around, I felt their flavor superior to steamers!
Needless to say, I finally came across a less labor intensive cooking technique. There are more mussels in my future!
If you can, buy farm-raised. They contain far less grit and sand. Who wants to chomp down on that? Rinse them well under cold water.
Instead of cooking the mussels directly in a concoction of wine and garlic, etc., cook your special dip separately. This ensures no grit is involved and you can easily sample the flavor of your dip.
I tried sauteed garlic and minced red onion in butter.
Once softened, add white wine and cook down to concentrate the flavors for a bit.
The mussels go right into a preheated pot on medium high (with a cover). A dutch oven is handy for this. Set your timer for five minutes. If they are layered a bit, use a tool to toss them up after 3 minutes.
Piping open and ready to eat! Carefully remove to a bowl immediately, leaving the juices at the bottom. Pour such delicious juice into dipping bowl(s).
The final spread! Leftover mac n cheese, melted butter, onion/garlic/wine reduction, broth.
I felt the butter was too rich (save it for lobster!) and the broth to be perfect for dipping. The garlic/onion mix was nice, here and there. I didn't think I'd make it through 2lbs, but I did!

Of course there was a little helper. This was his first taste!

He loves butter and buttery things (um, who doesn't?) so he wanted to just lap it up!

Making the connection mussels come from mussel shells!

The shells went into our compost heap in the garden. I LOVE adding shells to the garden. Perhaps it's the memory of great flavors, months later. Or how they transform into shards, over time.

Final note: surely you will not cook or eat cracked or opened shells. Or shells that don't open after cooking. Or, foremost, anything that is otherwise stinky! Enjoy :D

Veggie Burritos

A relatively easy dinner to put together, and delicious every time!
The key is making good black beans & rice. Read on for my recipe.
Key ingredients: 1/2 cup rice, juice of half a lime into a measuring cup with low sodium chicken broth (or your fave veggie broth) as the remainder of liquid to = 1 cup. Add a pinch of sugar to that. Cook in a rice cooker or what-have-you.
Have to say that I am still "on the rocks" about this rice cooker. The rice browns on the bottom, a problem I never had by simply using a small nonstick covered sauce pan. Maybe a rice cooker is kitchen gadgetry.
When the rice is done, fluff it with a fork and gently incorporate 1/2 can of rinsed black beans and some chopped cilantro. If you are not a fan of cilantro, try some thin sliced green onions.

Prep your peppers and onions while the rice cooks.

With a nonstick skillet, minimal oil (I used olive) is required. Heat the oil first on medium high. Add the peppers and let them sit for maybe 3 minutes before flipping.

The finished rice.

The peppers and onions were cooked separately. I wanted to avoid overcrowding.
The only seasoning I added was some s & p to the onions once they were flipped. In the future, some chili powder and maybe some cayenne would be nice.

Assembly!

Like tacos, burritos are best when you can make your own.

I put them under the panini press to melt the cheese- which, perhaps, made them more like a quesedilla.
Add some sour cream and.... Heaven!