Fall is here!

I'm loving this weather.  But after experiencing such a brutal Summer, I’m in disbelief over the cooler temps as evidenced by my son’s attire this week.  He was the only one in “school” in shorts, and because I did not dress him accordingly, I found him donning a hooded starter jacket from the clothes closet when I picked him up.  Oops!

With the turning of the seasons we'll be dining alfresco. 

Colin couldn't be more excited about it!

This Fall weather calls for Fall recipes, so I'll be taking advantage of the following VIC Specials...

• Center Cut Boneless Pork Chops - $2.99/lb (regularly $5.29/lb)
• Split Chicken Breasts - $0.99/lb (regularly $1.99/lb)
• Pork Loin - $1.99 (regularly $3.99/lb)
• Prosciutto - $3.99 (regularly $6.99)

to use in these meals...

Monday - Fastest Prosciutto Pasta 

Mondays are always a little frenzied, so a fast pasta dish is right up my alley. This one comes from Kimberly Mize, co-creator of the famed Make it Easy.  Looks delish and uses many ingredients we already have on hand. 

• 5 slices prosciutto
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 T. butter
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 c. bread crumbs
• 1/2 t. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 box spaghetti, cooked and drained (HT brand is BOGO)
• Parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Saute chopped prosciutto in skillet with olive oil, butter and garlic for 2 -3 minutes.  Add bread crumbs and chili flakes to taste.  Serve over cooked and drained pasta with chopped parsley.  

Tuesday - Plantation Barbecued Chicken

I love this chicken.  I found it in Take the Tour for a Taste of Colonial Edenton.  It takes no time to make the sauce and then bakes in the oven for 2 hours.  If you'd prefer, you can transfer to the grill after an hour of cooking.  I'm not sure exactly how long it needs to stay on the grill...the first time I made it, I forgot to cover it in the oven so it didn't stay on the grill for too long.  Maybe 15 or 20 minutes???  We were doing a lot of testing with the fork.

• 3 lbs chicken pieces (I'll be using the split chicken breasts)
• salt and pepper
• 6 T. ketchup
• 4 T. vinegar
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 4 T. Worcestershire
• 6 T. brown sugar
• 3 T. water
• 2 T. margarine
• 2 t. salt
• 2 t. prepared mustard
• 1 t. paprika.

Preheat oven to 350.  Salt and pepper chicken; place in casserole. Combine remaining ingredients in saucepan over medium heat. Thoroughly blend and simmer to boiling.  Pour sauce over chicken and bake, covered, for 2 hours.  Can be grilled after one hour of baking. 

Another note -- when I made this the second time, we opted to cook it in the oven for the full two hours rather than throw it on the grill after the first hour.  I checked on it after it had been in the oven for an hour and 10 minutes, and it was done!  You may want to do the same.

Wednesday - Pork Chop Casserole

I've been waiting for cooler weather to try this.  It will be easy to make the night before so all I'll need to do on Wednesday is throw it in the oven once I get home.  It is another Make it Easy recipe and was submitted by Martha Seaman.

•  4 - 6 pork chops
• Red or white potatoes
• Onions
• Cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325.  Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper.  Put in 9 x 13-inch casserole.  Slice potatoes and layer over chops.  Slice onion and layer over potatoes.  Cover with soup.  Cover dish with foil and cook for 1 1 /2 hours.  

Thursday - Pork Loin with Wine

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe years ago.  Colin and I were trying to think of something to make one weekend night, and she suggested this.  We had to try it after Colin's dad said, "It's so good it will make you cry."  

• 1 pork loin, about 6 lbs. 
• 1 t. pepper
• 1 t. dried thyme
• 3 t. salt
• 2 onions, quartered
• 4 - 6 carrots, peeled and cut into medium pieces
• Potatoes (optional)
• Garlic cloves, several
• Fresh parsley to taste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 c. white wine (I've also used red)
• 1 c. beef bouillon

Preheat oven to 450.  Mix together pepper, thyme and salt and rub evenly all over pork.  Place in large roasting pan.  Surround pork with onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic, parsley, bay leaves, white wine and beef bouillon.  Cook uncovered for 20 minutes.  Turn oven down to 350. Take out and cover tightly with aluminum foil.  Bake for 20 minutes a pound (including the first 20 minutes).  Serve with rice to soak up the "so good it will make you cry" broth.

You may want to check on it the beginning of the last 20 minutes to see how much more it needs to cook.  I overcooked ours the last time.

Thursday - I think we'll be having pork loin leftovers for a while...