Last night I made the most incredible pork chops - I think I like this twist better than even my Mom's version when cooked by her. Which is... impossible!?!?

As usual, I have no patience for measurements, so duplicating in the future will be... frustrating. I want to try my best to get the recipe down so I can remember later.

Pork Chops

olive oil for skillet
3 thin-cut pork cutlets (boneless)
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. crushed rosemary
fair coating of garlic powder (thought it was too much at the time)
good coating of Cavender's Greek seasoning
seasalt & pepper to taste

* I always sprinkle my spices 1 by 1; I don't make a mix to "toss" the meat in

** All seasonings were on one side only, except for seasalt, pepper, and a light pass of Cavender's.

Browned and cooked-through on medium, or just under (my burners are a joke!). Cut them in half mid-way because they were so thin they were curling like bacon. Used a meat thermometer at the end, putting it on full medium and covering with a pot cover to trap heat. Removed all pork to plate.

Gravy

Setting at lowest, de-glazed the skillet with roughly 1 TBSp each olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic. For once the drippings actually came off the bottom to add their yumminess to the mix! No scorched pan!!

Added 1 can Campbell's low-sodium, condensed Mushroom Soup. Dash of Seasalt, pepper, Cavender's. Mixed and heated through, re-added pork chops. Covered to reheat to serving temperature.

Result: I ate it ALL despite myself. Decided to cook with paprika more often! Paprika and the minced garlic were definitely the game-changer for this version of the recipe. Also, covering got the temperature in the meat rising very quickly!

A friend sent me an unbelievably yummie looking recipe for Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies from My Kitchen Cafe. While I haven't gotten around to trying it out yet, I did click around and find some interesting dinner recipes. Tonight I made Creamy White Chili. Despite some substitutions, it turned out great - and Eric liked it! OMG!


Lately, my cooking has been a little hit-and-miss. I attribute this to my tendency to change up a recipe at will: adding and subtracting ingredients, as well as guestimation measuring. The former is usually due to missing items and/or my frustrating pickiness, while the latter I inherited from my mom - most of her recipes were done from recipes in her head that she measured by eye. Early this year I made an amazing lasagna based on the many plates I enjoyed in Italy - which was a matter of changing up my mother's spaghetti recipe into something thicker for the filling, and exchanging mascarpone for the traditional (American) ricotta. The first was amazing, the 2nd less so, and the most recent... bland. That's what I get for adding a million extra spices without keeping track and never bothering to write anything down!

So tonight when I didn't have all the proper ingredients, I was torn between accuracy and laziness (no desire to go to the grocery store at 7pm). So in the end, I left out the cumin and cayenne pepper, substituting half a package of taco seasoning instead. Then I decided that I should listen to my hesitancy about adding the green chillies (they can make me sick), and instead sauteed 2 chipotle peppers (from a can) with the onion (only half of what the recipe dictated). Then I removed the peppers because I didn't want them to overpower things. I also used a clove of garlic instead of the garlic powder. The sour cream I halved (and used fat-free), and I also substituted half-and-half for the whipping cream.

With all those substitutions, I couldn't believe it came out so great! The flavors were subtle (a rarity for me), and it wasn't all that spicy - on first taste. There was an aftertaste that was quite unexpected, and tasty! Definitely try it with crackers - it brings out the sweetness.

Next up, I'm going to try Melanie's Chicken and Corn Chowder with Sweet Potatoes. Sounds awesome!