Honey Mustard Chicken

Trying to get a lot of my favorites and reliable stand-by's out of the way, so time now for Honey Mustard Chicken.  Although, to be fair, I don't really follow that recipe too closely.  Yeah, it was helpful to use their cooking guidelines: 350 degrees, about 30 minutes, flip and another 10-15.  And I try to use equal parts mustard and honey as they prescribe.  But I ignore their spice additions (maybe if they called for some thyme that would get my attention).  I also prefer using skinless, boneless thighs when ol' Morton Williams has 'em.

In any case, it's a straightforward but tasty dish, and it's worth keeping the two main sauce ingredients (honey and mustard, if you're paying attention) around.  Here's it with some classic kale chips:

And here it is accompanied by roasted Brussels sprouts with pepperoni.  This concept (not even really a recipe) deserves its own paragraph.  It's so simple - just half a sprout with a pepperoni on top.  Amazing, though:

Baked Breaded Pork Chops

After trying out a number of pork chop recipes, here's the one I've gone back to by far the most.  Breading and baking the chops just seems to be much simpler and harder to mess up than pan-searing it.  Instead of stressing about not over- or undercooking your chops, you have a little bit of fun getting your hands dirty breading it, then just let it sit in the oven some 40 minutes. OK to get specific:

The Recipe

pork chops
butter crackers (1-2 servings per chop)
1 egg
butter
garlic powder, salt and pepper

Beat the egg(s); crush the crackers and sprinkle in the seasonings and anything else you want to mix in.  Dip the chops in egg, then coat with the cracker mixture.  Put in a baking dish with pats of butter - a quarter cup for two chops.  Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

Thoughts

I've experimented with different substitutions and additions to the breading - Corn Flakes, pretzels, Goldfish, Parmesan.  But it's hard to top the way the butter crackers absorb the juices and, yes, butter.  If you do want to change it up, I recommend mixing equal parts crushed butter cracker and breading element of choice.

Another advantage of the hands-off baking approach is that, while it's cooking, you have plenty of time to prepare a vegetable or other side, e.g., roasted asparagus, Parmesan zucchini, or sauteed kale.

Pretzel pork with roast asparagus

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

I haven't cooked this one in a while, but it's definitely worth including in the archives here...  The backstory comes from when I was just starting to think about cooking for myself more, was hungry one night but didn't want to get groceries.  With help from Google and the Food Network, I found a recipe for which I actually had all of the key ingredients on hand - pasta, eggs, bacon, garlic, olive oil and parmesan cheese. Here goes:

The Recipe

1 lb spaghetti
4 oz bacon (or pancetta), chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan
pepper

Get all your ingredients queued up because this moves fast.  Start your pasta.  Beat the egg and Parmesan together.  Meanwhile, heat your oil, then bacon until crisp, then garlic for about a minute.  Your pasta should be done here - add it to the pan with about 1/2 cup of the water.  After that's mixed, turn off the heat and add the egg/cheese and some pepper.  Eat.

Notes

Returning to this recipe many, many times over the following months, I refined it to my liking with a few footnotes to the Food Network recipe:

• Start the oil just a minute or two after the pasta goes in the pot.
• Plop the bacon in with around five minutes to go. It hits that perfect point quickly! One minute it looks like it'll end up undercooked, the next it's crisping up...
• I suck at cracking eggs.
• Don't strain the pasta. Just pour out as much water as you can without losing any noodles, and the rest of the pot gets tossed with the rest of the mix.
• Never bother with parsley or (ugh) peas.

After a quick but intense 15 minutes or so, you too can end up eating this:

Asparagus & Egg

I was surprised to come across this concept for broiled asparagus and eggs - apparently it's a thing? - but I was intrigued enough to try it.

1 lb asparagus - the good end, chopped into about 1 inch pieces
1/4 onion, diced
4 eggs
lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper

Turn on the broiler and get the rack about 5 inches below.  Put 1-2 tbsp oil in a skillet and heat it in the oven.  Add the vegetables and coat in the oil, then cook until lightly browned, a few minutes.  Clear the center of the skillet and crack in the eggs.  Cook until set but still runny (could be as quick as a minute or two).  Sprinkle with lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and eat.

I made it as a hearty side for a steak, which overall worked out pretty well, i.e., I didn't go hungry.  I reduced the portion size but not proportionally - could have used another egg and (a lot) less onion.  Not sure I nailed it but worth trying again.  Spargel!