L is for Lemons

Ok so I'm writing this up super quick as I have to get ready for work (the pain and torture of working retail). Last night klutzy old me managed to knock good corningware off a counter. It smashed and one of the shrapnel pieces cut my foot. It looked like a crime scene. As I ran...well sort of hopped/dragged my foot to the bathroom. It was a tiny cut but it was a bleeder. Thankfully the bleeding has stopped but foot is still sore. I'm a bit worried because I'm diabetic and we have to watch out for cuts on our feet.


Anyway today's food is lemons. What made me think of today's recipe is because the piece of corningware I broke is usually the one I use to make this recipe. Darn darn darn. I decided to go for the classic Lemon Chicken recipe.

Courtesy of tombotheteminator on flickr

Baked Lemon Chicken

1/4 cup Oil
10 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine
Grated Lemon zest from 2 lemons
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme minced
Salt and pepper
4 boneless skin on chicken breast
1 lemon

Preheat oven to 400. Warm oil on medium high heat and cook garlic for about minute/minute and half. Do not burn or let it turn brown!  Add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, basil, thyme, and 2 teaspoons of salt.  Pour mixture into a large baking dish.

Pat the chicken with paper towels to make sure they are nice and dry and place on top of sauce skin side up. Lightly brush some oil onto the skins of the chicken breast and season them with some salt and fresh ground pepper. Slice up lemon into circles and place the circles among the chicken.

Bake 35-45 minutes till chicken is done and the skin will be a bit brown. You can place it under the broiler for a quick minute or two if you want to brown up the skin even more. Serve chicken over rice with sauce from the pan.

G is for Garlic

Well for the second letter in a row I have no etsy shop :( The ones I had lined up never responded
back to my Q&A. So I'll continue with the shops I already have. But this post here is not about etsy but rather one of my all time favorite foods...GARLIC!!

The weird thing is that I'm not a fan of onions (especially raw, ew yuck!). But, garlic? OH my more please! Since I'm a little late this morning with my post and I have another rant like post I need to do I'm gonna skip the health facts today. Though I will say from the top of my head that garlic is known to be great for your digestive health.


The following recipe is a bit hard for me to post because I don't have exact measurements. This is a dish that my family adores but that we have crafted and developed over the years. We never measure we just kind of know by eyeballing. So I'll do my best to give measurements. We like to serve this with a nice crusty bread to sop up the sauce. My stepdaughter likes to use her bread to make a soggy sandwich out of the pork chops.

photo courtesy of modomatic on flickr

White Wine, Onion, Garlicky Pork Chops

6 thick sliced bone in pork chops (can use boneless but bones add more flavor)
1-bottle dry white wine (Chardonnay is what we usually use)
8 Garlic cloves minced
2 large onions sliced (we like half moon shaped)
2 Tablespoons oil
12 oz beef broth
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2-3 Tablespoons butter
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper


 Preheat oven to 325. We like to brine the pork chops for a few hours ahead of time but it is not necessary. In large cast iron skillet heat up oil and brown chops on both sides. Set aside.  Add onions to cast iron and heat till they start to become translucent. Remove onions and add some of the white wine to deglaze the pan. Add all of the white wine, beef broth, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, butter, a generous sprinkle of garlic and onion powder and a nice sized pinch of salt and ground pepper.  Let wine sauce heat up for a few minutes then add half the onions to the sauce. Place pork chops on top of the onions (make sure to also add the drippings on the plate) and top with the other half of onions. Remove from cooktop and place in oven. Finish cooking in oven. Depending on the thickness of the chops this can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Internal temp of pork chops should be about 160. If you do not have a thermometer cut into one of the chops. The juices should run clear and you should not see pink. When in doubt let it cook just a little longer.