Peaches, Pork and Sage with Gravy

Did you know Sage is a perennial plant?  It prefers cool weather and thrives but will survive even in Texas hot summers.  It is one of my favorite herbs.   The flowers make beautiful cut flowers in the summer time.

I was at the Farmers Market yesterday and there were fresh peaches everywhere and the scent was heavy in the air.  I picked up some to work on a few new Jam recipes but couldn’t resist them this morning.  They had made my kitchen fragrant.

We slept in so I was late getting started with preparing food to eat.  I decided this would be the main meal of the day.

Boneless pork chops were already thawed in the fridge, peaches were fragrant and I was looking at the rain revived sage in my garden out the window.

Ingredients:

4 Boneless pork chops
½ cup of cooking oil (your preference)
1 cup of flour
2 cup of milk
1 ½ tablespoon of fresh chopped sage (optional, you can use C & J Farms dried Sage instead)
Sage Square
2 tablespoon of C & J Farms Scarborough Fair (Sage, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme) a bit extra as you go.
1 ripe peach
1 tablespoon C & J Farms Salt & Black Pepper mix

pork peaches sage 1

Put 1 cup milk in a bowl for dredging the pork chops.
Put 1 cup of flour in a bowl for dredging .  Add one 1 tablespoon of C & J Farms Scarborough Fair seasoning to the flour and stir it in.
Seasoning the pork chops on both sides with C & J Farms Salt & Pepper then add more Scarborough Fair on top of the chops. Now put each pork chop in the milk then in the seasoned flour. Set aside.

pork peaches sage 3

Put the oil in the skillet and get the oil hot at a medium high.  Once the oil is hot put the pork chops in and let them get a good crispy brown.  Approx. 2 minutes before turning. (You don’t want to over cook because the chops will get tough.) Then turn again another 2 to 3 minutes. Check for browning and doneness. Remove the chops cover and keep warm.

pork peaches sage 5

Once done set aside some of the oil from cooking the chops (about 1 to 2 teaspoons) in a small skillet.

While the chops are browning, slice up your peaches. Set aside.
pork peaches sage 6

Now the Sage Gravy:

In the oil the chops were cooked in (should be about 2 tablespoons in the pan, if not add some oil).  Begin to whisk in the seasoned flour mixture (you want this to still have Scarborough Fair seasoning in it) from the pork chop dredge, approx. 2 tablespoons. Add 2 cups of milk. 1 cup from the dredge and add one more cup.  Whisk the gravy and cook until thickened adding the fresh cut sage and a little salt and pepper (to taste) at the end. Remove from heat. Cover and keep warm.

Now sauté the sliced peaches in the skillet with the oil from the pork chops adding a bit more fresh chopped sage when they are soft. Once done, (this only takes about 1 to 2 minutes) add them on top of the pork chops.

pork peaches sage 7

Scramble the eggs in the same skillet.  Plate everything up and enjoy.

Advertisements

Blueberry Lavender Honey Smoothie

This is my favorite flavor combination; our lavender honey and fresh for fresh frozen blueberries.  I enjoy this often and thought you might too.

1 cup of blueberries
1/3 cup of vanilla yogurt
2 heaping teaspoons of C & J Farms Lavender Honey
1 cup of 2 % milk (use whatever your favorite milk is)
Blend and enjoy. This makes enough for one serving.

 

Stir Fry Sweet Orange & Herb Style

I wanted to wait to post this but it was sooooo good, I had to let you know.  So a couple of days ago I posted a recipe Sweet Orange Baked Pork Chops. Well, I had a couple of pork chops left over and I wanted something quick and easy tonight.

This stir fry was delicious, so here is how to make it.
Ingredients:
1/2 medium onion
1/2 orange bell pepper ( any kind will do)
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
1 large clove of garlic
2 left over Sweet Orange Baked Pork Chops
2 clementine tangerines (it’s what I had and orange will do) 1 juiced, 1 segmented
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tsp corn starch
1 1/2 tsp C & J Farms Sweet Orange and Herb

I chopped all of the veggies and heated the skillet with 1/2 cup of olive oil.
stir fry 1
Then I added the veggies (bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, garlic) to the heated skillet, sprinkled the veggies with the C & J Farms Sweet Orange & Herb.
stir fry 3
Next, I sliced up the left over pork chops and put into the skillet.
stir fry 4
I added the corn starch and let things simmer for a couple of minutes in the skillet for the veggies to become al dente.
Now I add the Soy Sauce and the orange juice and the orange segments. Stir until sauce thickens (just about 1 minute) heat through.  It’s ready to serve.  Serve with cooked rice, noodles, riced cauliflower.
I didn’t make enough. We cleaned our plates. 🙂
stir fry 6

Enjoy!!!

Sweet Orange Baked Pork Chops

Our Sweet Orange and Herb seasoning is fresh and simple but has a huge flavor.  Just add to your pork chops prior to cooking for a very new flavor.  We also enjoy our combined Black Pepper and Sea Salt.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. These pork chops are center cut 1/2 thick chops.

pork sweet orange 1
Lightly rub some olive oil (or any oil you like) on the pork chops.  Sprinkle liberally both sides of the chops with the  C & J Farms Sea Salt and Black Pepper and the C & J Farms Sweet Orange and Herb.

pork sweet orange 2

Cover with foil and place in the hot oven for about 1 hour.  After 1 hour remove the foil and place back in the oven to brown the chops.

pork sweet orange 3

After the chops are cooked I put some of the juice from the chops over the chops and serve.

pork sweet orange 4

Yum, Sweet Orange!

Greek Eggs

This morning it was C & J Farms Greek Seasoning for breakfast.  Chop up 1/2 cup of bell pepper (I used yellow), 1/2 cup of red onion and 1/2 up of tomatoes.  Get your eggs ready. I show four eggs but actually used 5 so my husband and I could share. Grab the Greek Seasoning and some Feta cheese.Greek eggs 1I put all of this in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter and simmer until soft.  GARLIC – I almost forgot the garlic.  Chop up 1 large clove and add to veggies simmering.

Greek eggs 5

Mix your eggs and add 1/4 teaspoon of the Greek Seasoning to your eggs. You can add more go by your taste.

Greek eggs 2

Greek eggs 3

Once the veggies are soft add in the eggs to the skillet and stir until cooked through.  Add a little bit of Feta right before the eggs finish. Then plate.

Greek eggs 6Finish by adding Feta cheese, chopped tomatoes and some C & J Farms fresh dried parsley.

Enjoy!!

Lavender – Spiced Nuts

Lavender – Spiced Nuts
by Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Publications

This is too delicious not to share.

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray
4 tsp. dried lavender buds
1 tsp. dried rosemary
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 egg white
1 tbsp. water
4 cups walnut or pecan halves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a 15 x 10 in. baking pan with foil. Coat foil with cooking spray.
In a clean coffee grinder or small food processor grind lavender and rosemary to a fine powder. Transfer mixture to a small bowl. Stir in sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
In a large bowl beat egg white and the water with a mixer on medium to high until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Add nuts; toss to coat.  Sprinkle sugar mixture over nuts; toss to coat.
Spread nuts in the prepared baking pan. Bake 10 minutes.  Stir nuts, separating any that stick together.  Bake 10 minutes more. Transfer foil with the nuts to a wire rack; cool.
Makes 14 servings 1/3 cup each.
Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks or freeze for longer storage.

lavender spice pecans

Lavender Brownies

Thank you to StudioBotanica.com for this recipe. These brownies turned out so delicious! Everyone enjoyed them.  The trick is lavender infused butter.  Such brilliance! Infusing butter with any herb opens the door to so many new flavors.
lavender infused butter

Melt the butter over low heat, put in the lavender and let infuse in the warm butter for 10 minutes or longer, strain the lavender out. Voila!

lavender brownie 3
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
  1. 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  2. 1 tsp baking powder
  3. 1/2 tsp sea salt
  4. 1 cup unsalted butter
  5. 3 tsp Lavender flowers (dried)
  6. 1 cup cocoa powder
  7. 2 cups sugar
  8. 4 eggs
  9. 1.5 tsp vanilla
  10. Optional 1 cup chopped nuts
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F
  2. Either line bottom and sides of 8×8 baking pan with parchment or
  3. Grease small muffin tins with coconut oil or a little butter
  4. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside
  5. Melt the butter in a small pot over very low heat.
  6. When melted, add the Lavender flowers. Stir gently to cover all flowers.
  7. On very low heat, allow the flowers to impart their flavor into the butter.
  8. After about 8 minutes, remove the pot from the heat. Strain the butter into a medium sized bowl.
  9. Stir in the cocoa. Blend in the sugar, eggs and vanilla.
  10. Add the dry ingredients
  11. Blend all together and spoon into the muffin tins (or the 8×8 pan)
  12. Bake in the oven for 30 to 50 minutes depending on your oven.  Begin to check for doneness in 30 minutes.

Lavender brownie 2

Beef B.B.Q Soup

Leave a comment

This time of the year I use the crock pot for a lot of my cooking.  It allows me to prepare a decent meal while carrying a busy work schedule.  This meal began a couple of days in advance.  I had cooked some beef  in the crock pot all day. (I used T bone steaks. It’s not a crime to use T bone’s in the crock pot. :).    I put the T bone’s whole in the crook pot with 1/2 of a large onion and Bentley’s Batch 5 Sweet Barbecue Sauce, half a jar or about 1 1/2 cups. (check the sauce out at this link, http://bentleysbatch5.com/products/sweet/).

The meat was tender and had a great barbecue flavor. It had been cooked in advance and saved in the refrigerator along with the cooked juices and sauce.

Now it was time for a quick soup dinner on our first cold evening of the year.

I chopped up 1/2 of large white onion, red bell pepper and1 cup of chopped carrots put in a large soup pan with some oil and let them saute’.  While this was cooking I added 1 teaspoon of Red Steak Seasoning.

red stk

Once the veggies were a bit soft I added 4 cups of beef stock and two cups of water.  I added two bay leaves and 1 14.5oz can of Diced tomatoes.  I added the meat and the juices and another 1/2 cup of Barbecue sauce.

BBQ soup 3

Then I let all of this simmer on the stove top for about one hour till all of the flavors came together.  While I was waiting I made a batch of cornbread.

We were delighted with the warm sweet flavor of this Barbecue soup.

BBQ soup 4

Added a special addition of Jalapeno Honey on the side.

Enjoy!

Spicy Pork Hash

This turned out so delicious I wanted to share.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1 poblano chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp C &  J Farms Habanero Lime Seasoning (use less and it’s still yummy just not so hot)
1 tbsp C & J Farms dried minced garlic or 1 clove minced
3 tbsp lime juice
1 lb baby gold or red potatoes (mix is ok) halved or quartered
1/2 tsp C & J Farms Sea Salt
1/2 tsp C & J Farms Black Pepper
4 eggs
1 tbsp butter

In a large bowl combine the first three ingredients,  then add pork and lime juice and gently combine and let sit for the flavors to blend, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the potato’s in boiling salted water just till tender.

In a large skillet cook pork mixture until pork begins to brown.  Stir in potato’s, add salt and pepper. Cook 5 to 7 minutes more until pork is cooked through and potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

Cook sunny side up eggs in butter and serve on top of the hash.

Enjoy!

spicy-pork-hash-2.jpg

Habanero Lime

Chicken Nuggets, Yes but..

I have had many requests for this recipe.  It is simple, quick and delicious. This is one way to dress up dinner with C & J Farms fresh seasonings.

Ingredients:

1 package of chicken tenders (chicken pieces of your choice)
1/2 package of Panko Breadcrumbs unseasoned
2 to 3 tablespoons of C & J Farms seasoning Scarborough Fair
1 teaspoon of salt (C & J Farms has sea salt)
1/2 stick of butter
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water

Options: Parmesan Cheese, Monterrey Jack or …

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Cut the chicken into small 1 inch pieces.  Make an egg wash by whisking eggs in a bowl and add water.  Mix the Panko breadcrumbs, Scarborough Fair and salt all together.  Adjust this to taste, more or less seasoning if you like.  Option goes here if you choose, add cheese.

Dip the chicken nuggets in the egg wash then into the Panko mix.  Lay on a cookie sheet or oven safe pan. Once all of the nuggets are in the pan melt the butter.  Drizzle the butter over the chicken nuggets.  Make sure each nugget has a bit of butter.  Adjust your butter as needed.

Then pop in the oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.  I serve these with C & J Farms Jalapeno Honey as a dip.

I don’t measure exactly when I prepare these so adjust as you see necessary.  Sorry about that.  You can change this recipe up a lot. For a spicier nugget use our Olive Oil Dipping Blend with some Parmesan cheese.  Or our Habanero Lime with lime juice in the butter before drizzling over nuggets.  Use what you love.

When you take them out of the oven they are hot, crispy and delicious. Enjoy!

chicken nuggets