Some Of My Favorite Recipes - Part 1...

As I've mentioned before, since I've chosen to transition I have taken to doing most of the cooking.  I don't think one necessarily has to do with the other, that's just how it worked out.  The vast majority of what I cook comes from Pinterest - come pretty much "as-is", other recipes modified a little or in some cases a lot.  Below are some of the ones I've done recently, they all range from "very good" to "exceptional" - although tastes may vary.  I've included the original links, any modifications I've made, and some thoughts on each.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

The original recipe that I got came from HERE.

I'll be honest, this one surprised me more than any other recipe I've made in a long time.  I'm not a real fan of pork in general, much less done in a crock pot; but this is an exceptional recipe.  The modifications I've made to the recipe are:

Recipe Modifications:

• In lieu of regular salt, I used a 50/50 mix of salt and seasoned salt.  I more or less do this with everything I make.
• I do use 3 onions halved under the pork instead of 1, as I'm using a large crock pot.
• I cook it closer to 12 hours.  

Thoughts:

The last bullet point is the biggest thing - the pork really seems to change around the 8 hour mark and while it's good then, I've found that by leaving it for 10-12 hours does make it better.  If you are pinched for time, 8 hours will be fine, but for us, the extra few hours is worth it.  J and M usually will put some BBQ sauce on theirs, but I personally eat mine as-is - it's that good.  We've eaten it several ways:

• As-is on the plate.
• On buns as sandwiches.
• On nachos.
• As taco and quesadilla filling.
• This last time I used it in lieu of chicken in the "White Chicken Enchilada" recipe.

Of all the things I've made the last couple of years this is quite possibly the best of the bunch.

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

The original recipe that I got came from HERE.

Again, as I've said above I'm not a fan of pork, but these are good.  Additionally, for a "Food Network" recipe, it was remarkably simple.  The modifications I've made to the recipe are:

Recipe Modifications:

• I usually use the thin boneless pork chops as everybody prefers those to the traditional "bone-in" chops - but I have used those at times and they work just as well.

Thoughts:

Not much to say here, recipe is very simple and fairly quick.  I ate a lot of pork chops as a child as I spent a lot of time at my Grandparents and they had them often.  I never really cared for them, but these have pretty much changed my mind.

Kentucky Biscuits

The original recipe that I got came from HERE.

Recipe Modifications:

No recipe modifications for this, although see the note below.

Thoughts:

As I said above, I did NOT modify the recipe itself.  However, what I do tend to do is to melt about a half stick of butter in the microwave.  I then stir in a little honey - I do a bit at a time until I get a nice consistency.  Once the bread is done and I remove it from the oven, I then pour the honey butter over the top of it and let it run down into the pan.  We've had these both with and without the honey butter and all three of us (J, M, and myself) all prefer it with the honey butter.

Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies

The original recipe that I got came form HERE.

J, M, and I went to Red Lobster a few weeks ago for their "Endless Shrimp".  M ended up ordering dessert and got their "Warm Chocolate Chip Lava Cookie".  Looking at it, I decided that it was something I could make and a quick search turned up the above recipe.

Recipe Modifications:

No recipe modifications for this, although see the note below.

Thoughts:

I did not modify this recipe itself, but instead of using a regular muffin pan and making 12, I used a large muffin pan and made 6 so that they would be closer in size to the one from Red Lobster.  I did make the mistake of not letting them cool enough before trying to remove them and a couple of them fell a part.  Next time I need to let them cool further and then warm them up before serving if desired.  But despite their appearance, they were exceptional.



With that I'll wrap this post up.  As I said above, tastes differ, but I would have no qualms recommending any of these recipes as they are all exceptional.  Since I don't have pictures of any of these items from when I've made them - I did but I lost them when the SD card in my phone corrupted - I'll close with a photo I ran across while we were doing the great phone swap around a couple of weeks ago.  It's from June of this year, we were out to lunch with M and I think it's a nice picture of J and I. :)

- M