Pioneer Woman's Sticky Cherry Cake

This was a good cake, easy to make, and I didn't make very many changes to this.  We all gave it an 8, so it was a solid like at our house, and again, this was really easy.  I added some almond extract to the recipe, and I didn't get enough syrup from the cherries so I added some water to make the required amount of syrup.  Each slice of cake, 1/12 of it, with the whipped cream, was 342.  Here's what to do:

15 oz canned cherries in syrup, drained and syrup removed
1 c sugar
2 T butter, softened
1 egg
1 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c hazelnuts, finely chopped
1/2 t almond extract

1 c reserved juice from the cherries
1 c sugar
1 T flour
1 T butter
1/2 t vanilla

Unsweetened whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 325.  Beat together the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg and almond extract.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then alternate adding the dry ingredients with the milk in three separate batches until the batter just comes together.  Add in the cherries and the hazelnuts, then mix until barely combined.  Grease a square baking pan, then spread the batter in the pan and bake for at least 40 minutes (mine went much longer).  To make the syrup, whisk the reserved syrup (or syrup and water) with the sugar and flour.  Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the syrup is thick.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and the vanilla.  Remove the cooked cake from the oven and spread the syrup all over the cake, then serve the warm cake on a plate with the whipped cream.  Yummy!

Oatmeal Pie

This was such a fun experiment!  Oatmeal pie sounds weird, but it really tastes good.  It is kind of like pecan pie, but I like it better because it doesn't have nearly as many nuts, and is a little less sweet, which is a good thing ;).  The calories are around 300 for 1/16 of the pie, and we gave it a 9.  It's almost healthy enough to have for breakfast :).  I found the recipe here, and made only two changes, but here's how I did it.

3 whole Eggs
½ cups Granulated Sugar
½ cups Dark Brown Sugar
¾ cups Light Corn Syrup
½ cups Butter, Melted And Cooled Slightly
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
¾ cups Old Fashioned Oats (uncooked)
½ cups flake Coconut
2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
½ cups hazelnuts, chopped
1 whole Unbaked 9 Inch Pie Crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Mix well. Add the corn syrup, butter and vanilla. Mix well. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine the oats, coconut and flour. Add the oat mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until blended. Pour into a prepared un-baked pie crust. Top with chopped pecans and bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees F. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 30 – 35 minutes. Bake until the center is set. Test by touching the pie center lightly to see if it is almost firm. Do not over bake.
Cool completely on a wire rack. Store leftovers tightly sealed in the refrigerator.  

Pork Milanese

This has been a pork week because I bought big pork loins when they were on sale, and didn't cut them into family sized portions like I usually do, so we have been eating a lot of pork to use up the big pork loin.  The recipes have been really good though, and I'm glad that I have convinced Aaron pork can be good :).  This one was probably his favorite of the pork recipes this week, he gave it a perfect 10, as did Noah, I gave it a 9, and Owen gave it a 6.5 because he said it was too crispy.  Silly kid.  We all gave the salad only a 7 because the escarole was too bitter for us, but it was nice and fresh, and even though the pork was fried, it was still a light meal.  Soooo good :).  The recipe for Pork Milanese was found in Anne Burrell's cookbook Cook Like A Rock Star.  We have really enjoyed everything that has come out of this book, it's a definite one to try.  The calories for the pork chop are approximately 359, but it's hard to know since I can never exactly figure out how much the frying oil adds to the chop.  The salad was huge, so we didn't eat all of it, but it came out to approximately 117/serving for 10 servings.  Here's the recipe with the amounts I used:

For the Onions:
3/4 c red wine vinegar
1 T kosher salt
1 1/2 t sugar
2-3 shots of Tabasco (I didn't use this, I didn't have any, I used some cayenne pepper, they would've been better with the Tabasco :))
1 red onion, sliced very thinly

For the Pork:
1/4 c flour
1 large egg beaten with 1/2 T water
1/2 c Panko
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan
4 boneless pork chops, pounded lightly
Kosher Salt
Oil (Anne says olive oil, I used canola) for frying

For the Salad:
1/2 c Romano cheese
1/2 c toasted hazelnuts
2 T parsley
1 head escarole, cut into bite-size pieces
Pickled Onions
Extra-Virgin Olive oil (I used about 2 T)

In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar with 1/2 c cold water.  Add the salt, sugar, and Tabasco and stir.  Add the sliced onions and let sit for at least 1 hour.
Set up your breading procedure, 1 bowl for flour, 1 bowl for egg and water, and 1 bowl for Panko and Parmesan.
Salt the pork, then dredge pork in flour, then egg, then Panko mixture.  Place on a dish to sit in the fridge for an hour.
Pour 1/2 inch of oil in a big sauté pan.  cook the pork on both sides until cooked through and crispy and brown on the outside.
Put the Romano cheese, the hazelnuts, and the parsley in a food processor and blend until coarsely chopped.
Combine the escarole, the hazelnut mix, and the pickled red onions.  Dress this with the olive oil and some of the pickling liquid.  Serve with the pork.

I was so surprised how well breading an hour before cooking worked for these pork chops.  The breading stayed on the pork better than I've ever seen, and it was so crispy and even.  We really liked this.