Garlicky Pork Cutlets with Prosciutto, Lemon and Sage

8 boneless pork chops (3-4 onces each), about 1/4 inch thick

8 slices prosciutto

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 TBS vegetable oil

6 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 cup chicken broth

1 TBS lemon juice

1 tsp minced fresh sage

2 TBS butter

salt and pepper

Pat pork chops dry with paper towels. Lay 1 slice prosciutto on each chop. Cover chops with plastic wrap and, using meat pounder, pound each until 1/8 inch thick. Dredge cutlets in flour, shaking to remove excess flour.

Heat 2 TBS oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of cutlets proscuitto side down, and cook until light golden brown on the first side, about 3 minutes. Flip cutlets and cook until just cooked through, about 1 minute. Transfer to plate, tent with foil, and repeat with remaining oil and cutlets.

Add garlic to empty skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth and simmer, scraping up browned bits with wooden spoon, until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add accumulated pork juices back to pan and whisk in lemon juice, sage and butter. Season with salt and pepper and pour sauce over cutlets.

From Cooks Country October/November 2006

Tony Roma's Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:
2 potatoes (I usually use at least 3 potatoes. Gotta have enough potatoes!)
3 Tbs margarine/butter
1 medium onion (approx 1 cup)
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock (we use no-chicken broth because LSOC is allergic to chicken)
2 cups water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups instant mashed potato flakes
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper (This is quite a bit of pepper. We usually use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp dried thyme
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
8 oz bacon - cooked and crumbled
2 green onions, chopped

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.) Bake potatoes for 1 hour, or until done. Set aside to cool.
2. Melt butter in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until tender and golden brown. Stir in flour, and cook 5 minutes to make a roux. Pour in chicken stock and water. Add cornstarch and mashed potato flakes. Season with salt, pepper, basil and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Remove the skin from the cooled potatoes, and discard. Dice the potatoes into 1/2" cubes, and stir into soup, along with the half and half. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thick. Spoon into bowls, and garnish with shredded cheese, bacon and chopped green onion.

Yields: 6 servings
Time: Close to 2 hours (including baking potatoes).

Dill Veggie Dip

1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp dill
1 tsp Bon Appetit seasoning salt

Mix together and chill for at least two hours. Serve with a variety of veggies.

Cheese Ball

2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 can (8 1/2 oz) crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup pecans, chopped fine
1 cup pecan pieces
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
2 Tbs dried minced onion
1 Tbs Lawrey's Seasoned Salt (maybe a little less, depending on taste)

Mix all ingredients except pecan pieces. Roll into a ball and chill. Roll ball in pecan pieces. Serve with your favorite crackers

Sausage and Bean Soup

1 Tbs olive oil
1 package of all beef kielbasa sausage
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (14.5 oz each) cannellini beans, drained
2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, with juices
28-32 oz broth (we usually use no-chicken broth - which comes in 32 oz box)
2-3 carrots (I actually like to use about 2/3 a package of matchstick carrots. It's really easy to quickly chop them into bite size pieces.)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Saute the garlic and sausage in the oil, briefly, in the bottom of a dutch oven. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes to 2 hours. Enjoy with some yummy bread.

Potato Cheddar Soup

12 slices precooked bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 TBS butter/margerine
1/2 tsp sage
1 tsp mustard
32 oz broth/stock
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups half and half cream
12 oz sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
dash of hot sauce (tobasco sauce)

In a dutch oven, heat up the bacon to render the fat. If you have more than a TBS of fat rendered, discard the excess. Add the margarine and melt. Add onions and saute until tender. Add the sage and mustard and cook 1 minute. Add potatoes, broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer for 13 minutes. Mash the potatoes against the side of the pot. Remove the pot from heat and slowly add the cream while stirring. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Add the hot sauce and stir to combine. Serve with a yummy, crusty bread and great salad.

Best Rice Krispy Treats Ever

1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (we prefer creamy)
6 cups rice krispies
1 package chocolate chips
1 package butterscotch chips

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan and heat to rolling boil; stir in peanut butter. In a large bowl combine rice krispies and syrup and fold together until well blended. Press evenly into large shallow pan, about 10x15" (careful, it's hot!).

Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips (the original recipe says over hot water - but I just put them in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time, stirring between. Once they start to melt, just stirring them usually melts it completely.) Spread chocolate mixture over bars and cool.

Dan's Favorite Meatloaf

1 slightly beaten egg
1 1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry ground mustard
dash pepper
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped

Glaze:
2 TBS ketchup
1 TBS light corn syrup

In mixing bowl, combine milk, egg, Worchestershire sauce, seasonings and bread crumbs. Let stand about 5 minutes. Stir in beef and onions. Mix lightly, but thoroughly. Shape into loaf in a 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Combine ketchup and corn syrup, brush on meatloaf. Bake 15 minutes more.

Tilapia Soft Tacos with Chipotle Cream Sauce

4 8" tortillas
1 1/2 tsp + 1 TBS vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp Mexican seasoning, ground (we used a packet of taco seasoning)
1 TBS garlic, minced
1 lb. fresh Tilapia filets
2 TBS cilantro, chopped
1 lime (juice only)
salt, to taste
1 cup lettuce, shredded

Chipotle Cream Sauce
2 TBS prepared Chipotle salsa (we just used regular salsa - because it was what we had on hand)
1/4 cup sour cream

Evenly combine ingredients for Chipotle Salsa, reserve in refrigerator. Toss together 1 1/2 tsp, Mexican seasoning, garlic and Tilapia filets. Heat remaining oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat. Place seasoned filets in pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side. Remove cooked filets and place in a small bowl. Add cilantro, lime juice and salt, mixing and breaking the fish into chunks. Heat tortillas per package instructions and place on clean work surface. Top each tortilla with 1/4 cup lettuce, 1/4 of tilapia mixture and 2 tsp of Chipotle Cream Sauce. Fold each tortilla in half (taco style) and serve.

The recipe says it serves 4 (it makes 4 tacos) but everyone in our family ate at least 2 tacos. So, the amounts given here would only feed two in our house.

Easy Pork Chops and Stuffing

4-6 pork chops
1 box stove-top stuffing
(usually the stuffing calls for 1/2 stick of butter)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can milk.

Preheat oven to 350. Brown pork chops. Make stuffing according to recipe on box. Put stuffing in 9x12 glass baking dish. Put pork chops on top. Combine soup and milk. Pour over chops and stuffing. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour 15 minut

Easiest-Ever Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 spice cake mixes (just the dry mix - not the egg or oil or anything)
1 large can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling - just pumpkin)
1 bag chocolate chips
That's it. Seriously!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cake mix and pumpkin. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop spoonfulls onto cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes (Mine actually had to bake for 16-18). Enjoy! Just as an added bonus - Stacy informed me that these cookies are only 1 point per cookie on the Weight Watchers plan. We got three dozen big cookies out of this recipe - I'm sure we could have gotten four dozen with regular size cookies.

Smoky Tomato Soup

medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 TBS fresh thyme leaves (I used dried)
2 28oz cans whole fire-roasted tomatoes (I couldn't find that so I used 4 14.5oz cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes)
1 14.5oz can chicken broth
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and thyme and cook 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth and chipotle; lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Using a blender, puree the soup (Mom got a hand held blender stick for Christmas and it was so much easier to use than pouring the soup into a blender!) Serve with grilled cheese sandwiches (ours were made with pumpernickel bread and da Vinci Gouda cheese. Yum!)

This soup has a really nice fresh flavor. However, I think it needs cream. I added a couple dollops of sour cream to it and some members of my family put some milk in their servings. Next time, I will have some half and half cream available. Also, the chipotle chile was a lot spicier than we were expecting. The cream will help, but I'll probably try to remove some of the seeds next time. I think this would also be good as a dip for crostini if it weren't quite so soupy - maybe omit the chicken broth (and the cream)? Something to experiment with.

Recipe from a Rachael Ray magazine.