It’s been a big day in the French Kitchen. 3 new recipes tried today! Some were more successful than others, so I’ll start with the not-so-stellar dinner:
Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops with Crash Hot Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli
I am always looking for recipes that use pork because I like it and it’s a nice change from chicken or beef. I also love freshly grated parmesan cheese.
This recipe for Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops from Annie’s Eats looked good so I gave it a shot. Annie’s pork chops look way better than mine, but I tried right?
My breading stations — freshly grated parm cheese, 2 eggs and italian bread crumbs.
The chops ready to hit the pan.
My chops after hitting the pan for about 6 minutes and then flipping.
As you can see, the chops got a little more than golden brown. In hindsight I could have avoided this in two ways: 1) Buy much thinner pork chops; 2) Brown the breaded chops in the pan on both sides and finish off in the oven. Ultimately, the chops were not horrible and WF said the flavor was good. I strongly suggest checking out the recipe (and the pics) on Annie’s website because mine don’t do them justice.
Onto the Crash Hot Potatoes
This recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman. My best friend Christa suggested this recipe after seeing the blog. Again, the pictures on the website are fabulous and mine are… humorous.
I boiled just a few potatoes since I’m only cooking for FW and me, NOT an army of children 😉
Notice the very different sizes these EIGHT potatoes.
This recipe instructs you to oil the baking sheet, and then mash the potatoes so you can season and bake. I’ve got FIVE nice looking potatoes here. If you remember, I started with 8… That’s because the two larger potatoes did not soften up as much as the smaller potatoes. Here’s what happened:
That would be the floor of the French Kitchen and yes, those are casualties. I lost three potatoes while (unsuccessfully) trying to smash the larger potatoes. They went flying. Pretty funny. After I got over that, I seasoned the potatoes. Chives anyone?
I was pretty excited to cut chives with kitchen shears. I’ve never bought fresh chives before. If you look a few pictures up you can see the chives on the potatoes. The back two potatoes have Italian seasoning on them per WF’s request.
The potatoes are baked in the oven and come out looking delish. We both added sour cream to our potatoes, WF added cheese and I added bacon (yum!) The broccoli recipe is really a tough one. You have to chop the broccoli and then put them in a steaming basket over the boiling potato water. That one really did me in. After recovering, WF and I enjoyed a decent dinner. I admit: presentation is not my strong suit.
STAY TUNED for the successful recipe! Blueberry Crumb Bars!! I’ll post about that soon but here’s a sneak peak:
HELLO FRESH BLUEBERRIES
From the French Kitchen 