Apple Pork Chops and Pumpkin Cheese Cake

Earlier this week someone on my FB was asking about slow cooker recipes. I gave her my patented Apple Pork Chops Recipe. I thought "hmm maybe I should also post this recipe on my foodblog. I should also note, I have contemplated talking about other things in life on this blog, but I know I have posted the address on both my FB accounts. So for the time being, it shall remain all about food/crafts and food. 


Apple Chops
I like to use boneless...bones creep me out. 

Use anywhere from 1-6+ chops. Today I did a flat of 6 boneless chops from Metro. We have a friend coming for dinner :)
You will need at least 1-4+ apples, depending on number of chops. I used 3 today for the 6 chops. Type of Apple depends on your tastes when it comes to apples. My husband prefers Empire, and I prefer Mac's or Granny Smith. We had organic grannies, so I used 3 of those.
Peel and slice apples. (I have this wonderful do-dad that spins the apples, peels and cores and slices them all at once! Best thing I ever bought!)
Now I actually pulled the chops out of the freezer last night and let them sit in the slow cooker "pot" overnight in the fridge with pumpkin pie spice sprinkled on them. Remove the chops from the pot if you also do this. Place the first layer of apples on the bottom of the pot and then place the first layer of chops. Place another layer of apple slices and then sprinkle the whole sha-bang with either cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice  etc. Repeat until you have no chops left and there are apples on top of everything. At this point I like to pull out my whole nutmeg and fresh grate nutmeg on top of everything. Yum! Place lid on slow cooker and turn on high. Today we are having dinner late-ish and I was up bright and early prepping at 730am. So I am going to leave it on high until about 11 or 12pm and then set to low for the remainder of the day. The entire thing is done when the chops basically fall apart and the apples are apple sauce. Perfect for serving ON the chops! As per usual I will add pictures. So far I only have one. This is a recipe I have made about a million times in my life, and apparently is the recipe that won my now husband over. Awesome Possum.


As for side dishes...tonight's menu will be Oven roasted baby red potatoes (from the garden), Ontario grown Cauliflower with shredded cheese, honey glazed carrots (the last from the garden) and Pumpkin Cheese Cake. 


I've never done this cheesecake recipe, it's from the Kraft Living magazine that the previous house owners still get in our mailbox :) 
Here is the recipe and directions as per the Kraft Website.

Cheesecake

3/4 cup Honey Maid Graham Crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/4 cup butter, melted

1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

3 pkg. (250 g each) Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese, softened

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Praline

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 Tbsp. water

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

CHEESECAKE: 
MIX graham crumbs, nuts, 1/4 cup each brown and granulated sugar, and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate 1 hour.

HEAT oven to 350ºF. Whisk pumpkin, remaining brown sugar, eggs and spices until well blended. Beat cream cheese, remaining granulated sugar and cornstarch in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add pumpkin mixture; mix just until blended. Pour over crust.

BAKE 45 to 50 min. or until centre is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool completely before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours. Meanwhile, prepare Praline.

PRALINE:
BRING sugar and water to boil in small saucepan on medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling, without stirring, 5 to 7 min. or until syrup is thickened and golden brown. Remove from heat. Stir in nuts. Spread onto parchment-covered baking sheet. Cool. Break into bite-size pieces.

 TopCheesecake with Cool Whip  and Praline just before serving.
 Variation:
Today I am attempting a variation on this recipe. I loved the crust so much (the cake btw was AMAZING) that I am attempting to use the same crust and make a pumpkin pie with the left over pumpkin. 

EDIT: the pie was ALSO a huge success. I am never making a pumpkin pie in a traditional pie crust again.

Sláinte!

lets make love and die...

from a chocolate overdose of epic proportions!

Ok i always said i would never ever give out my death by chocolate recipe..no way no how.

here i am giving it out :)

Now the recipe i adapted was small to begin with, then i made it huge as i made massive batches for work. I am attempting to reshrink the recipe now.

I do not take responsibility for any loss of life or cavities.

1 egg
1 1/8 cups butter
1 1/4 cups cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
pinch of baking soda
splash of vanilla (can you tell i don't measure very well?)

dry + wet

2 cups (give or take) flour
and anything you want...chocolate chunks/chips/nuts/raisins (eww!) ETC

bake at 350F for aprox 8-10mins...they should puff just a bit and be soft and chewy.

the dough will end up thick almost like fudge.

the won't flatten out much at all. do not panic.

I will make a batch later today and post pictures of the entire ordeal. I will also try making them with this condensed smaller batch version to ensure quality control.

placed in a lovey jar with a bit of wax paper to seal them in, a ribbon and VOILA. a gift!

The experiment worked fine. They are fantastic.
Sláinte!

gra-gra-granola!

hurray! granola!

I randomly realized this morning that i have not made granola in a really really really long time. Infact, i cannot even remember the last time i made this delicious cereal/snack/awesomest food ever. So i gave Jackson the option of Granola bars or just granola for eating with yogurt and milk. He went with granola.
so here follows is the recipe i used...after finding one online and modifying it. (it was huge!)
i do apologize now to my American readers, as the original recipe was in metric, and being Canadian, i left it that way.

I also tried to use as much organic stuff as i could, but since i was using what i had, it was only 1/4 organic (ok fine, only the oats were organic)

454gr of old fashioned rolled oats (no quickies!) (1 lb)
50g ground walnuts (the recipe called for ground almonds, i switched it up for fun.)
50g pecan pieces (again it called for almonds...boooring!)
50g almond slices (i gave them a chance.)
50g flax seeds (it said to use ground, i had whole, i tried to grind them in my grinder, they don't really grind that well...too bad, they went in anyways!)
then i added pumpkin pie spice, because, really is there ANYTHING in this universe better than pumpkin pie spices?

mix all the dry ingredients together
in a separate bowl mix approx 1/3 cup honey and 1/2cup canola oil (i didn't have canola, went with sunflower) you can warm these so they mix slightly better, then pour into the dry ingredients and mix mix mix!

stored in an airtight container, it should keep for at least a couple weeks.

i line my cookie sheets with parchment paper, so i don't grease them...lay the granola out on baking sheets and put in the oven at 250F for 50mins, pulling them out to stir every 15-20min. After it is cooled mix in a fruit of your choice (dried cherries, raisins, cranberries) I went with cranberries.

 The doubled recipe said it would make 31 half cup servings, but we tend to eat more like 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup servings which is why i halved the recipe. So far the house smells like lovely lovely cinnamon and toasting nuts.

did someone say SQUASH!?

ah, autumn is upon us here in the NW of Ontario. It barely made it past 15C today and the leaves are already beginning to crisp on the edges and flutter to the ground. This makes me sad for only 1 reason...it means it is September and i will be 30 in less than a week. Ok ok, not the end of the universe, the real reason it makes me sad is because it means winter will be here all too soon. I used to say i loved NW ontario after living in the SW of the province for the first 24 years of my life....but now as i get older and i realize how much i miss the long drawn out days of autumn and the warmer nights of winter, that they endure down there, i realize i could probably put up with the sweltering summers simply for the longer autumns, the longer growing season, and the ability to have my olde english rose garden that i have always longed and dreamed of owning. Southern Ontario, you might be more polluted and crowded, but you have your strong points, and i think if we find the right house in the right locale where i can't see my neighbours and i can't hear a highway, i think we may just find our roots and come home to you.

Ok so today's adventures in the kitchen involved my delicious curry fall squash soup and some delicious no bake chocolate peanut butter oat cookies.

As for the soup, i originally used a recipe to figure out how exactly to make the soup. Now its more of a trial and error each time i make it. Sometimes i use carrots, sometimes i don't. the basics of it are as follows.

halve an acorn squash (i imagine you could use a buttercup also, i use always seem to use acorn) remove the seeds. next i place each half on a sheet of tin foil while the oven heats to 350F I put about 1 tsp of butter in each half and liberally sprinkle them with either cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice  and then yellow curry. Depending on how "hot" you like your foods, gauge how much curry you might like to use...and remember, you can always add more later.
wrap up the halves and place on a cookie sheet and let them oven roast for about 45-60mins. I do this to A) make my house smell like autumn, and B) it makes removing the rinds oh, so much easier.
While that is going on you can get everything else ready. I chop up about half an onion and sautee it with butter in the bottom of my soon to be soup pot. I usually use about 1 handful of baby carrots and 2 medium sized potatoes. (any colour flesh is fine) tonight i didn't peel the taters as i used superior golds and they have a nice thin skin. mmm fiber! chop up the potatoes so they cook faster. Next either use a carton of veg or chicken stock or make some. Careful if you make it...too much powder means yucky salty soup. I've learned this the hard way. i now make my stock separate and then add it, ensuring it tastes ok. Now comes the whole how thick do you want your soup to be step. if you prefer a nice thick almost baby food like soup texture (we do! it stays on bread better!) then only use enough stock to cover everything once the squash and veggies have been added to the pot. If you want it watery then add a bit extra. I would say for 1 squash and 3 med sized potatoes (no carrots, didn't have any) i used about 850ml of stock. once the squash is done roasting you can remove them from the oven and either let them cool or as i call them use your working woman's hands and handle them hot-ish LOL...jackson always freaks when i do things with my bare hands and they are hot. Remove as much flesh from the skin as you can with a spoon/knife and add to the soup pot, then add carrots/potatoes and cover with as much stock as you desire. Once it is at a nice simmer let it cook until everything is nice and soft. If you find it doesn't have enough curry/cinnamon etc add more! once its all cooked, i use a hand blender to puree the soup into a delicious golden mess of flavour. Serve hot with sour cream or whatever you like, and some nice fresh bread. I'd say this is one of our most cherished soups, we make it year round, but since we went to the fair yesterday and bought 3 fresh local squash, the fall is most def. the best time of year to make it. I might try making squash filled ravioli next week...stay tuned!

goes great with a nice panini for a warm filling lunch!