Dinner lately ...

My, how time flies!  I hope life has been good lately.  I'm nestling into fall and in this sometimes crazy world that we live in, I find comfort and a little insulation in a good book and, of course, in the kitchen - by cooking meals to enjoy with my family.  

Recently, I've been trying some new things on the savory side.  I'm still baking but leaning on the treasure trove of great recipes I've already discovered from the past 6 years of blogging.  Since I wanted to pop in here and say "hello", I thought I'd indulge in a little dinner "show-and-tell" today. No specific recipes per se (in most cases, I took ideas from several recipes at a time) but just a little walk through of dinner lately around here...please pardon the hodgepodge of different-quality photos; many of them are my casual Instagram snaps, taken when lighting is not at its best around dinnertime.  

First up, there was my stuffed peppers project.

When we went to Charleston, we had a lovely dinner at Magnolia's where I had the most amazing vegetarian dish.  I wasn't exactly sure what would arrive but it turned out to be stuffed peppers, filled with the chewiest rice and topped with pepperjack cheese and a sweet tomato chutney.

It inspired me to make my own at home.  While the version I came up with was quite different from the amazing restaurant dish, it had similarities and I was very happy with dinner that night!  I filled my peppers with jasmine rice (cooked in chicken stock and some saffron), onions and corn sautéed with a touch of curry powder, garlic, and herbs, diced tomatoes, and some ground turkey.  The pepperjack cheese adds just the right touch of richness, making them all the more satisfying.

One-pot cider pork chops

The weather here (in New Jersey) has taken a decided turn.  We've pulled the comforter out and I've got my fuzzy slippers on standby.  I've been nesting a little bit, finding a lot of comfort in cooking and baking up old-favorites, recipes I've discovered thanks to this little blog.

This past Sunday, happy that the rain and stormy weather had stopped (luckily, it hadn't been too bad for us to begin with), I thought I'd try something new.  I pulled out a recipe I'd saved from a magazine for a very easy one pot meal for dinner.  Who can resist a one-pot meal?  

And I'd saved it for now because it calls for apple cider.  Since apple and apple-picking season is in full swing here, it's good timing because it isn't hard to get your hands on some apple cider right now.  My husband loves cider so I had him in mind, while my little one loves pork chops/meat.  However, I failed to remember how much the little guy does not like apple cider so he wasn't a fan of the potatoes, which had absorbed much of that sweetness from the cider.  All in all, it was still a nice change worth trying.  Just make sure you and your family like apple cider!

This meal takes little effort - not much beyond gathering the groceries for it. Everything - layers of thinly sliced potatoes and onions, 2 cups of apple cider, then the pork chops - literally gets placed in the pan with some herbs on top.  It bakes in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  Check on the pork chops and remove them by the time they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees.  By that time, the vegetables should be tender.  Then, just slice, plate, and serve.

Admittedly, the dish does come out rather anemic-looking but I think it's a fair trade since you don't have to turn on the stovetop to brown anything.  It's not exactly a rich dish but it made a hearty, satisfying dinner with very little hands-on work.  I've been craving my husband's grilled pork chops that we enjoyed so much during the summer and while this may not be those smoky pork chops seared on the grill, it still hit the spot on a chilly Fall night.