On Tuesday morning I was thumbing through one of my new cook books, Taste of Home Book's "Best Church Supper Recipes" and all of a sudden I was in love. Right smack dab in the middle of the cook book is a recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Bread. This recipe was submitted to Taste of Home Books by Karen Dougherty of Freeport, Illinois, and I have to tell you she is a genius. However I did make a couple small adjustments to it and it is even more delicious then you can imagine.
So if you want your kitchen to smell sweet and springy delicious, then try this recipe. This is my rendition of her recipe.
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
1 Pillsbury White Cake Mix (15.3oz)
1 Package (3.4 ounces) instant lemon pudding mix
1/4 cup of flour
1/8 cup sugar
4 Eggs
1 Lemon
Slightly less then 1 Cup Warm Water
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
4 teaspoons poppy seeds
In a mixing bowl, combine the mixes, flour, sugar, eggs, and oil. Grate lemon zest off lemon and a then slice lemon in half and squeeze juice in to a bowl. Filter out seeds, and place fresh lemon juice in 1 cup measuring cup and add warm water to make a full 1cup measurement. Add lemon juice/water combination to the mixes, eggs, oil, and lemon zest. Beat well until well mixed in. Fold in poppy seeds.
Pour into two greased 9in x 5in x 3in loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until bread tests done. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to completely cool.
Yields: 2 loaves
Now my cooking wasn't done for the day, my honey had not seen me much as I had been away at a conference the week before, so I decided to make a nice dinner which included Pan Seared Boneless Pork Chops, Stir Fried Fresh Green Beans with Red Bell Peppers and Garlic, and Fried Potatoes with Jalapeno, Onion, and Garlic, and Cheddar Cheese.
Pan Seared Pork Chops
3-4 Boneless Pork Chops
2 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Place olive oil in pan, place pork in pan, and sprinkle generously with garlic powder and cracked fresh pepper. Flip, and do the same to the other side. Cook on low - medium heat till done (no pink inside). The key to having juicy tender pork chops is to cook low and slow.
Stir Fried Green Beans with Garlic & Red Bell Pepper
1 Large Handful of Fresh Green Beans for every person dining with you!
1 Large Red Bell Pepper
1 large heaping teaspoon of Fresh Chopped Garlic
Sea Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
2 Teaspoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Place large frying pan or stir fry pan on the stove and add Olive oil. Snip ends off your green beans (and any bad spots) and discard snippits. Then add prepared green beans to the frying pan. Split Red Bell Pepper in half, clean out seeds and etc and discard. Slice cleaned pepper in to thin strips, and then cut in to one inch chunks and add to frying pan. Add 1 heaping teaspoon of chopped fresh Garlic to the frying pan, then sprinkle two pinches of sea salt, and add fresh cracked pepper to taste. Stir fry on medium, stirring frequently till the peppers begin to soften.
For an added touch, you can add a 1/8 cup of sliced almonds about a minute or two before removing from the heat.
Country Fried Potatoes
8-12 Fresh Potatoes (White Potatoes work best)
1 Heaping Teaspoon Fresh Chopped Garlic
1 Medium Onion, peeled and diced in to small bits.
1 Large Chopped Jalapeno
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1-2 tsp Paprika
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Salt
2-3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups Shredded Cheese of choice ( I use Cheddar, Monterey Jack and often toss in some Mozzarella if I have any).
Clean and peel all potatoes, washing and drying (use paper towels) them off after. Place frying pan on stove, and add Olive Oil. Slice potatoes in to the frying pan. Add Fresh Chopped Garlic, 1 medium onion diced in to small bits, 1 large jalapeno chopped up fine (we add the seeds for a bit more spice, but you can discard the seeds if you don't like really spicy food). Add 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper, 1-2 tsp Paprika, season with Fresh Cracked Pepper and Salt as you like. Stir really well, and then begin cooking on medium heat, once the potatoes begin to brown reduce heat to low-medium, stirring often till potatoes are tender (fork goes through easily). When potatoes are cooked, place shredded cheese on top and melt. Serve with your favorite meat, and veggie.
As you can see, garlic is a main staple in our house. We only use vegetable oil for baking now, extra virgin oil is used if we are going to fry something. And recently we have been adding more fresh vegetables to our menu.
