Recipe Collection

Main Dishes

Apple Smothered Pork Chops

You will need:

Boneless Pork Chops
Apples - cored and sliced
Flour
Medium onion finely chopped
Vegetable oil
Water or Milk
Salt & Pepper
Cinnamon
Ginger
Sugar


In a skillet large enough to hold your pork chops you will put enough oil to fry your meat in. Season your flour with salt and pepper to taste. Dredge your chops in flour on both sides. Place in the hot oil and fry just until they start getting brown. They don't have to be all the way cooked, because they will finish cooking in the oven. You're just trying to crisp the outside on both sides. Place them in a single layer in your baking dish and set aside.

Gently drain off most of the oil but leave a few tablespoons and add the apples. Cook them until they get brown and crispy. Place on a paper towel or paper plate so the excess oil can drain off. Into the skillet add your onions. Cook until they are translucent. Add about three or four tablespoons of flour and mix it into the oil and let it start to brown. Slowly add either water or milk stirring and insuring all lumps get stirred out. Let it thicken and come to a simmer. Mix in about a half a teaspoon of cinnamon, ginger, and sugar. Remove from the heat.

Cover your pork chops with the apples, then pour the gravy mixture over the meat and apples. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes depending on how thick your meat is and how long you cooked it on the stovetop. Remove and let sit for five minutes before serving.

My family likes it served with simple buttered rice.

**Special Notes**

1. You can use any boneless cut of pork. I've used pork loin and pork steaks.
2. Any kind of apples will do, but if you use Granny Smith, you might want to increase the sugar to offset the tartness.
3. I've also browned the pork in the skillet without breading it and it worked just fine. But the breading mimics a crust in apple pie and my husband prefers it with the breading.

Orange Ginger Sesame Chicken

What you will need:

One whole chicken
one can of frozen orange juice thawed
Soy sauce
Onion Powder
Garlic powder
Ground Ginger
Dried Basil
Sesame seeds
Vegetable oil

In a small bowl, put half the orange juice, a dash or two of soy sauce, few sprinkles of garlic and onion powder ginger, basil, and a small bit of vegetable oil. Wisk until well combined. You can add salt and pepper to taste if you choose.

Place your chicken in the roasting pan. Brush liberally with orange juice mixture and place in the oven at 350 Bake one hour. Remove from the oven. Baste with more orange juice mixture. If your chicken is small to medium and you will only need to bake another 30 minutes or so, sprinkle sesame seeds all over the bird and place it back in the oven. IF your chicken is large or was not completely thawed at the time you put it in the oven, then baste it with the orange juice mixture only. Bake additional thirty-forty minutes then, when the chicken has about thirty minutes left to cook, then, remove from the heat and sprinkle the seeds on it then return it to the oven.

**Special Note**

1. I have done this but used cranberry juice in place of the orange juice.
2. I've done this with a whole turkey as well.
3. You can use cut up or boneless chicken, just adjust your cooking time accordingly.