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| The cooler weather is bringing out my urge to cook more comfort foods. When it’s damp, rainy and cold outside, like it happens to be today, a salad just isn’t going to cut it! I’m sharing with you two of a very long list of dinners that bring me comfort. Neither take too long to cook, so both would be great for a mid week meal as well as for the weekend. |
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| Boneless Pork Chops in a Creamy Mustard Thyme Sauce with Mushrooms and Caramelized Shallots. Sound fancy or complicated? It’s really not, providing you have some caramelized shallots or onions done ahead of time. Season your chops with salt and pepper then brown them in a drizzle of olive oil.*** Remove chops, do the same with the mushrooms, then set aside as well.*** De glaze your pan with chicken stock enough to cover the bottom and let it bubble.*** Add two heaping tablespoons of grainy mustard, some fresh thyme and a cup or so of cream or half and half, whisking until smooth.*** Place the chops back in along with the mushrooms and simmer until meat is cooked through.*** Garnish with the caramelized shallots. |
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| You’ll need to have something green on the side so, how about a little broccoli rabe? It goes very well with both the pork and the chicken. Here’s how I make it. |
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| And speaking of chicken, I love making this Ricotta Stuffed Chicken. You’ll need a butterflied chicken, which means you need to remove the rib, back and breast bone of your chicken then flatten it out like a butterfly. I’ve tried to do it myself but it’s never a pretty site so I just let my butcher at Whole Foods do it for me, it takes him 2 seconds and it comes out perfect every time! |
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| Gently loosen the skin all around the chicken with your fingers, be careful not to rip into it. Saute in a small pan, 3 chopped green onions and 1 minced garlic clove.*** After it cools, place into a bowl along with 2 cups of drained ricotta cheese,*** 1/2 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil,***1/2 cup of grated romano cheese,*** the zest of 1 lemon,*** chopped fresh basil and parsley,*** salt and pepper. Mix it all together. Take a spoon and shove the mixture all over underneath the skin that you loosened. Rub the outside of your chicken with olive oil and fresh herbs and roast in a 375 degree oven until internal temperature reaches 180.Get your sweater on and start cooking! |
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
I am trying the chicken tonight! Looks great. I actually butterflied a turkey for Thanksgiving……cooked it on a large cookie sheet and it was delicious. The big factor for me was time, as it cooked in about an hour, but another benefit was the crispiness.
Great, I hope you enjoy it Debra! I’ve always wanted to do that with a turkey for Thanksgiving, but my family would probably complain!
OMG on that chicken! Served it last night and loved it. Tried the Pork Chops and Rabe , too. Delicious! Looking forward to trying your Baked Cod with Blood Orange, Fennel, and Olive next week. Keep the recipes coming, Marie! They’re inspiring.
So glad you liked it Colleen! You made my day!
I can’t wait to try both of these recipes. I use kitchen shears to butterfly my chicken, it is easy peasy just takes a few seconds.
Marie the meals look wonderful ricotta stuff chicken yes ma’am I will be making that. I’m flipping out over the twisted handle dutch oven the chops are in. Where did you get that pot? Oh I love it I sure would love to have one.
Tracey I got it a thrift store, you never know what you find there!
Wow what an expert and professional cook in our own hometown. Marie you could be on the food network show for sure. Do you have cooking classes in your home?
Hi Jane, not at this time, where do you live? city or suburbs?
I live in the suburbs, Plainfield. My friend told me about you during the summer. At that time you had an invite to come out and see you and that sounded wonderful. I want to be a chef. I am a spa owner and I cook for my customers healthy spa appetizers and smoothies and I have been asked for cooking classes….. wondering how to set that up. Your pictures looked like there was a group cooking around your beautiful island unless that was family….
This chicken is AMAZING!!! It is delicious and all of the flavors work so well together. This is my second time making it and I can’t wait ’til it comes out of the oven. I know the title says cozy fall dinner, but I couldn’t resist this amazing comfort food, even in the blazing summer!
made these yummy pork chops last week – amazing!! thinking i will try the marsala version next! I work for a strawberry farmer here in Watsonville (California Giant) – next time you want to try a berry recipe, let me know and i will see if we can get some berries sent your way
Sounds good to me Cindy, I would love that, I’m missing my berries right now as I’m looking at snow coming down while I write this!
Hi: Your blog looks divine. I am interested in finding out how big a chicken you use to make the ricotta stuffed chicken. Also you put it under the skin on the whole chicken or just the leg area. Do I just ask the butcher to “butterfly” a whole roasting chicken? Was wondering if I could also just use individual skinned breasts in case I can’t get a whole one butterflied?
Nancy, I’ve used a 3-4 lb chicken, and yes I loosen the skin all around the breasts and legs. The butcher will be happy to butterfly the chicken for you if you ask I usually have no problem at all. If you just want to use skinned breasts that will work just as well, I do that quite often myself. Hope this helps.
What kind of herbs would be good to rub over chicken? I’ve never roasted a chicken.
Lucy I love rosemary, garlic and thyme, you could use oregano also
The pork chop recipe was killer! My husband and I absolutely loved it!! I’m a big fan of yours instantly!
http://www.mynewlywedcookingadventures.com/2013/01/proud-italian-cooks-boneless-pork-chops.html
Each of these autumn recipes would bring so much comfort to my family! Gorgeous photos Marie!
Just checking back to let you know…I had some leftover sauce after we ate these chops and so far I used it two ways– as a sauce for steamed broccoli, and today, I tossed the last of it into an impromptu pot of chicken soup I made with stock and sauteed mushrooms, red pepper, and carrot along with a small container of marinara I made with fresh tomatoes. It is leftover soup of the highest order but it tastes glorious.
Don’t feel bad Shieldmaiden, as a young bride and mother I use to make Hamburger Helper!
lol, glad you enjoyed it!
Marie
Marie I made the pork chops tonight and they are fantastic. I can’t believe I inflicted Shake n Bake on perfectly good chops for so many years.
This is comfort food for sure! Love different recipes for roast chicken. Love your blog and would love to have you stop by and visit mine…The Italian Next Door.And please leave a comment there if you do. I just started it last month and am enjoying finding new friends in the blogging world. Keep up the great job bringing all these delicious recipes!
Hurray for comfort food! I share your love of Autumn foods. Nothing better…
Delicious! Love the mushrooms especially!
I was honored to have brunch at the home of the Proud Italian Cook yesterday and it would be an understatement to say the food she prepared was fantastic!
If anyone out there is as honored as I was to be invited to the Proud Italian Cook’s home for a meal—–run,don’t walk to her door! Angie DeSimone
We made these last night – delicious! Can’t wait to try the ricotta stuffed chicken.
I’ve been hoping you would write a cookbook since the first time I read your blog, Marie! You always have the best ideas!
We are commenting in the office how the “Ricotta stuffed chicken” is probably worth a Nobel Prize 🙂 You just made the season much more interesting, hahaha.
My oh My My My!! Those dishes all look so tempting…where should I start to cook them all?!?!? You had me at Creamy Mustard Thyme Sauce….can’t wait to try these.
Susan
Pork Chops tomorrow… and broccoli rabe if I can find it.
Oh, my, I love both of these recipes. And your photos to boot!
I never think about making a mustard sauce – and I’m just drooling over the thought of ricotta stuffed chicken.
Your family eats very well!
These dishes are stunning and beautiful for fall. Love it.
Velva
Both recipes look wonderful. It’s hard to improve on a roast chicken, but WOW that looks like it’s to die for. Love those pork chops too. I can’t resist Caramelized onions/shallots.
Wow! I didn’t know they could butterfly a chicken like that! I wonder if the butcher at my supermarket would do this. Ricotta stuffed? YUM!
Those pork chops will be on my table soon Marie – and that chicken too. You have the best ideas and mouth-watering photos. I agree with the comment about writing a cookbook.
I’d like to try the chicken!! Looks delicious.
Lucia, Maybe about 1 hour and 15 minutes or so depending on how big your chicken is, I would check it with a meat thermometer, 180 internal temp.
When my Florida magic time (winter) arrives, I will be cooking these dishes!
Can’t wait to try the chicken. How long does it take to cook?
Love both recipes, but the chicken one will be tried this weekend – have never thought of using ricotta [which I love] as a very moist under-skin stuffing: can taste it now 🙂 !
I am wrapped in a warm blanket browsing the net so the thought of either of these dishes is very comforting.
Oh Marie, one dish better than the next, now I am craving all of it! Need to check a whole chicken and some broccoli rabe and a nice pork chop! xo
Those pork chops look divine! It was 80F today, still not fall, but I made a chestnut risotto w/ brussels sprouts anyway! xo
That all looks AMAZING. When are you going to write a cookbook?