Out the Door in a Hurry? You can still have dinner on the table!!!!!!

My niece Danielle had called me recently just to chat. She said, "Aunt Elise, I love the blog, but how about some crock pot recipes?" Danielle is Marc's brother Ivan's second daughter. I had written this post shortly after that, but didn't get a chance to post it.

Since I am off to Buffalo today, because today is Match Day, and any of you who have a doctor in the family know that this is the day when medical students all over the country find out where they are going to be doing their residencies. My son David is one of them and we are so excited!

Today is also my mother-in-law Betty's or MomMom as we call her 84th Birthday - so Happy Birthday MomMom - we love you!

Karen, Jennifer, Ivan, and Danielle

We have lots of girls in the Feiner Family

Danielle, Marc, MomMom, Lauren
Jennifer and Abby


Karen, Abby, Jennifer, Betty Feiner, Lauren, Danielle

Ivan has three, Kevin has two, and we have one

I guess I'll have to start cooking in order to fulfill her requests. The other day, I did make my pork chops in mustard in the crock pot, and they were delicious. They may not look beautiful (as most things that you cook in a crock pot don't always photograph beautifully) but they taste delicious. These aren't even better reheated the next day. The pork chops become nice and tender, and the mustard/chicken with rice soup, makes a delicious gravy over some creamy mashed potatoes, believe it or not! You can make this recipe on top of the stove as well, just let them cook over a very low heat for a few hours. I am giving the recipe for the stove-top, but I'm showing you how to do them in the crock-pot.

PORK CHOPS IN MUSTARD

8 boneless pork loin chops (Use thick ones, you can use chops with the bone if you want to)
2 cans Family Size Campbell® Chicken and Rice Soup (or 4 small ones)
1 small jar of Gulden’s® Mustard (you may need more if the chops are big)
Salt and Pepper
4-5 medium onions, peeled and sliced

Trim any fat off the chops, and set aside. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Spread both sides of the chops with very generously with mustard. Place the trimmed fat from the pork chops in a large deep frying pan or casserole pot. If there is not enough fat on the chops use a little oil (Wesson®) just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Render down the fat and sauté the onions for a few minutes. Add the pork chops and brown well. Remove the chops and place on a dish. Add the two large cans of soup and 1 large can of water or the 4 small cans of soup and two small cans of water (half of what you would normally use), and onion soup. Cook for a few minutes, and then put the pork chops back in the pan. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover the pan and let cook about 45 minutes to an hour. Check after 45 minutes and if sauce is not thickening a little, cook for about another 15 to 20 minutes with the cover off. You can also do this in a crock-pot. Prepare as above except after you brown everything put it in the crock-pot on low for about 5 to 6 hours.

This is what you'll need for the recipe:


PORK CHOPS IN MUSTARD

8 boneless pork loin chops (Use thick ones, you can use chops with the bone if you want to)
2 cans Family Size Campbell® Chicken and Rice Soup (or 4 small ones)
1 small jar of Gulden’s® Mustard (you may need more if the chops are big)
Salt and Pepper
4-5 medium onions, peeled and sliced

Peel the onions


cut the onions in half


and thinly slice your onions


set the onions aside


Place a crock-pot liner in the crock-pot
If you have never used them, you should try
them, they clean-up so easy



Place two cans of the soup at
the bottom of the crock-pot
save the cans and fill with water; set aside


Trim any fat off the chops, and set aside

Season the pork chops with pepper

and salt



Place some mustard in a paper dish


Spread both sides of the chops
with very generously with mustard



Place the trimmed fat from the pork chops
in a large deep frying pan or casserole pot
If there is not enough fat on the chops
use a little oil (Wesson®)


just enough
to coat the bottom of the pan - these chops were
very lean so I used the oil


Render down the fat and
sauté the onions for a few minutes



Add the pork chops


and brown well on both sides


Remove the chops and onions
and place in the crock-pot


Add a little water to the frying pan to get
all the drippings (called deglazing the pan)


add the dripping to the crock-pot


Have the other two cans of soup and 2 cans of water ready
(half of what you would normally use)
You can also use 2 large cans of Campbell's Family
Size Chicken and Rice as well, just add one can of water


Add the remaining soup to the crock-pot



Add the two cans of water


Make sure you plug it in...been there done that
and turn it on
Cook on high for 5-6 hours


The chops will be so tender, they will fall apart


Serve with mashed potatoes
(the sauce is delicious over mashed potatoes)

I Come Not to Bury Caesar but to Praise Him!!!

We have all experienced Julius Caesar through the writings of William Shakespeare. Who hasn't uttered the lines from the play Julius Caesar sometime in their life. We can all recite the words from Marc Antony's Speech:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him;
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones,
So let it be with Caesar ...

Or the other famous line:

"Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s".

I wonder if Caesar's heirs had a good agent and a licensing agreement, imagine the money they are making if there was a good one in place. Every where you turn you see good old Caesar's stamp, what restaurant have you been in that doesn't have a Ceasar Salad on the menu,then we have Julius Caesar the play by The Bard himself, Caesar's Woman Perfume, Little Caesar's Pizza, and lest we forget Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and tonight I added
Hail Caesar's Pork Chops (I hope I don't have to pay any royalties.)

I was going through some old recipe files and found a recipe for pork chops that were dipped into Blue Cheese Salad Dressing. I thought they might make a nice change for dinner, because I remembered that they had been very moist. The only problem was that I had been playing around with all these Buffalo Wing recipes lately and when I went to get the Blue Cheese there was none.

As I said to my children so many times, cooking is like a good batter, sometimes you get the signs, but then you just have to bunt! I had a few bottles of Caesar Salad Dressing mix so I thought, why not???

I made a few other adjustments as I went, in fact, I think I reinvented the recipe, because I added Panko crumbs in place of breadcrumbs, threw in some grating cheese, trust me, I changed it. Here is the recipe I used to make these delicious pork chops (by the way, if you don't eat pork chops, I think this recipe would work very well with Veal Chops, but if they are thicker, you may have to adjust your cooking time accordingly.) These are so easy to make, and they were tender and delicious!

Hail Caesar Pork Chops

¼ cup Wondra flour
2 teaspoons Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing
½ cup Marie’s Creamy Caesar salad dressing
4 boneless pork chops about ½-inch thick
½ cup grating cheese (I used Locatelli-Romano)
½ - ¾ cup Panko Crumbs


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 8 X 8-inch glass baking dish with PAM. Mix the Wondra flour and Good Seasons Italian salad dressing together in a paper dish or plate. Put the salad dressing into another dish. Mix the grating cheese and Panko crumbs together in a third dish.

Dip the pork chops into the flour mixture, coating both sides well. Then dip the floured chops into the salad dressing. Then, dip the chops into the Panko crumb mixture. Place the chops into the prepared baking dish. Make sure you discard any remaining flour mixture and salad dressing. Bake uncovered, 40 to 55 minutes until the crumbs are lightly browned and the chops are no longer pink in the center.

This is what you will need for the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


Place the Wondra flour is a paper plate,
or any plate, use wax paper, whatever you like


Add the Good Season's Italian
Salad Dressing to the flour




Mix well and set aside


In another dish place the
Caesar Salad Dressing


In the third dish,
place the Panko Crumbs


Add the grating cheese to
the Panko Crumbs



Mix the crumbs and the cheese well


Spray a baking dish
(I used an 8 x 8-inch glass baking dish)
with PAM


Dip the pork chops in the
flour mixture


coat both sides well


then dip in the Caesar Salad Dressing


again, coating both sides well


and then finally in the Panko/Cheese mix


Place the chops in the baking pan



Bake for 40 - 55 minutes until
golden brown and no longer
pink inside (don't overcook
or they will get dry)


Enjoy...


Maybe old Julius Caesar got the last laugh after all,
you never hear of a Marc Antony or a Brutus Salad