Tormented Kitchen

I love these potatoes. They are easy and tasty. I've noticed one secret to helping them crisp, is using a dark metal pan. Now, what to eat with these awesome potatoes? Lamb chops , roast beef , or oven-roasted chicken. If you make the chunks smaller, you could even fix these for breakfast and serve with Quiche or frittata. The recipe below is just enough to serve four people. Ingredients 6 large potatoes ¼ cup vegetable oil ¼ tsp. Paprika ¼ tsp. Pepper 1 tsp garlic salt 2 T. Parmesan cheese Method 1. Preheat oven to 375F. 2. Peel and chop potatoes. 3. Mix oil, spices, and cheese. 4. Toss sauce with potatoes. Spread potatoes in a single layer in a 9" x 13" pan. 5. Stir and flip potatoes every 15 minutes. Bake 45 Minutes to 1 hour or until tender and crusty.

The other day, we went out grocery shopping. To be different, (and to spend a gift card I got a Christmas), we went to Trader Joes. Now, I like my food healthy, and reasonably priced, but I rarely shop at TJ's because they are WAAAAAAAY across town and usually bustling with uptight yuppies. Justin, me, and the kids braved TJ's early-ish Saturday morning. We bought some fruit, tortillas, and a package of lamb chops. I was hoping for some pork, but apparently, they don't carry pork. I was a tad bummed about the pork, but seeing the lamb lifted my spirits. I only get lamb a few times a year, usually on special occasions when we go out to eat. Seeing these chops got me thinking about how I would prepare them. I remember the last time I fixed lamb at home, I pan-fried it. It was tough. It was muttony. I know lamb has a very distinct fragrance and flavor, but that time was Not Good. I was hesitant to pan fry again, but only searing in the pan and finishing in the oven kept ...

I'm dying for some good home-made food. With Justin away from home for so long, I've been making kid-friendly junk. I'm looking forward to making this over the weekend so we can use it in enchiladas. This meat is also very good in sandwiches with barbecue sauce. When I make enchiladas, I layer this shredded pork with cheese, olives, canned green chiles, and sometimes sauteed onions on a flour tortilla, roll it, then top it with green enchilada sauce and more cheese. MM I can smell them now. Ingredients 1 boneless pork shoulder roast, 3-4 lbs 2 unpeeled ripe bananas (getting spotty) 4 tsp. liquid smoke 1/2 c. water 4 tsp. soy sauce Method 1. Make a pocket of out foil to fit the roast. Put the roast in it. Cover with smoke and soy sauces. 2. Wash bananas and place on on each side of the roast. 3. Pull up sides of foil and add water. Seal and wrap again. 4. Put in a shallow pan and refrigerate over night, turning often. 5. Bake in foil at 400F for 1 hour. Reduce heat to 325F...

Guacamole! I accidentally figured this out one weekend. No more packets of guac seasoning for me! It goes very well on chips or as a topping for Quesadillas or other Mexican foods. And it's a winner with the picky eater (Eric), so it may be a hit for other picky kiddos. Ingredients 2 ripe avocados 1/3 cup salsa (you choose the hotness) squirt of lemon juice Method 1. Peel, then chop or mash avocado (I like mine with small chunks). 2. Stir in the salsa and lemon juice. 3. Eat!

Let me tell you, I have been making this exact schnitzel recipe for years now. Justin and I have taste-tested many iterations to come up with this particular formula. And then one day recently, we went to lunch with Justin's mom to the nearby Olive Garden. Justin ordered their Pork Milanese. We looked at it. We tasted it. We sat there slack-jawed because it was exactly *EXACTLY* (No I'm not exaggerating) the same as I make it. Crazy huh? Usually if I want to recreate a restaurant recipe, I google it on the Internet. So anyone who loves OG's breaded pork cutlet, give this a try. PS Sorry, I have not tried to clone their ravioli that comes with the pork cutlet. Ingredients 6 cutlets of lean pork or venison, about ¼" thick 2 eggs 1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. poultry seasoning 1 ½ cups plain bread crumbs 1/3 cup flour ½ cup butter or margarine 2 lemons, cut in wedges 3 T. chopped fresh parsley Method 1. Pound meat with a malle...

One more gem for the Holiday Cooking Guide, Justin's Thanksgiving meal isn't complete without some kind of cranberry side dish. This cranberry-based mousse is nice alone, like a dessert, or smeared on your turkey. Justin's mom even likes it on her turkey sandwich. (I'll take plain cranberry jelly for that!) And on the topic of Justin's mom, I got this recipe from her. She usually makes it with sugar-free gelatin and sugar-free juice. I happen to get horrible headaches from too much artificial sweetener, so I went for the regular, full-sugar versions. But if you are trying to shave a few calories, go for the sugar-free stuff. It's tasty either way. Ingredients 1 6 oz. box raspberry gelatin 2 cups cranberry-raspberry juice 1 can cranberry jelly (not the whole fruit kind) 1 pint whipping cream Method 1. Bring the cran-raz juice to a boil. 2. Dissovle the raspberry gelatin in the hot cran-raz juice. 3. Add the cranberry jelly and mash and mix it in. It doesn...

Another addition to the Holiday cooking guide: Gravy has to be the best part of the Thanksgiving meal. I mean, you can pour it on the meat, the mashed potatoes, the dressing, or sop it up with a roll. I have never really tried to describe how to make gravy before so I have put a lot of thought into this. Have you heard of a roux before? That is a fancy French cooking term for cooking flour with fat that becomes the binder for gravies and sauces. Basically, to make roux-based gravy, there is a magic ratio of 1 Tablespoon fat (butter, oil, pan drippings) mixed with 1 Tablespoon flour and thinned with 1 cup of liquid (stock, broth, or milk). You can make sauce using other thickeners like corn starch or egg. But if you are looking for a certain texture, the way to go is probably using a flour roux. I have read lots of cookbooks and lots of websites and lots more cookbooks. I have been cooking since I was little kid, so gravy was one of the first things I learned. It's really easy, ...