Country Cooking

Sometimes you just need a good home-cooked meal... country cooking as people around Oklahoma call it. Our meal last night fit this category; however, instead of the eight side dishes you usually find on dining room tables around here, I only made two. We're trying to watch portion sizes and highlight foods which means simplify in my book. It may not seem like a very healthy dinner but I did use olive oil and Smart Balance - and considerably less than in the past!

I took pictures while still cooking so here's our illustrated menu:

Pork Chops: These were yummy! I'm not much of a pork person and I'm particular about my chops. I like them with the bone in and pan fried. Salt, pepper & garlic - that's all you need.



Fried Okra: ...or a mess of Okra as we Okies say. We grew a garden this year but I didn't plant okra. I actually haven't seen any fresh okra in the market or heard of anyone whose okra made good this year. So sadly, this was frozen okra which I floured and spiced before tossing it in hot olive oil. It was still delicious. Like the pork chops, this okra isn't done yet. It was nice and crunchy in the end.



Apples Deuce in Cinnamon Brown Butter: A duo of Golden & Red Delicious Apples cooked to perfection with a lovely sprinkling of sugar and Saigon cinnamon. The butter was really Smart Balance, but that isn't quite as appetizing as a moniker.



We also had tomatoes fresh out of our garden. Actually, I had tomatoes. Randy isn't a fan of fresh tomatoes - only cooked. He's CRAZY!!! Of course, we drank Iced Tea. Dessert was served much later and consisted of Chocolate Chunk Brownies.

I'm heading into the kitchen to make dinner now. Tonight it's tilapia. I made fresh salsa yesterday so dinner could take on a Latin flair... maybe fish tacos?