Fathers' Day 2014: Recipes

As promised, here are the recipes I used for our Fathers' Day Extravaganza! 

First, I started the cheesy potatoes before we went to church. I found the recipe here. The best part of this recipe is that they're made in the crock pot!

Directions

Prep Time: 10 minutes (it took me 20-25)

Cook Time: 4 hours  (I cooked them a little longer--4 hours 15 minutes maybe?)

Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes  (4 hours 40 minutes [max])

Yield: 8 servings 

Ingredients:

1 can--cream of chicken soup

1 c. sour cream

1 T onion flakes*

1/4 c butter, melted

1/4 t salt*

1/4 t pepper*

1 (32 oz) frozen, cubed hash browns, thawed*

2 c. sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

Combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, onion and butter in a large bowl. Add hash browns and 1 1/2 c. cheese and stir until combined. Pour into 4 qt slow cooker, cover.*

Cook for 4-5 hours on low or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over potatoes and continue to cook 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*My Modifications

I used real onion. It made the preparation more time consuming, but it provided more flavor. I used approx. 1/4 onion, diced.

Instead of using 1/4 t salt and pepper, I added a dash of fresh ground salt and pepper so that my guests could add more to personal preference during the meal.

Because we only had the shredded hash browns, I diced up red potatoes. There were probably 5-7 potatoes in the crockpot. I will use at least one potato per serving next time so that they don't end up too runny.

The original instructions say to combine in a large bowl, but I didn't want to dirty more dishes before company came over. So I combined everything in the crockpot. Since I used a liner it was a tad more difficult, but definitely doable.

Next, the pork chop marinade. I tried this recipe out on some friends a few days prior and we loved it. Here is where I found the original recipe.

Directions:

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Inactive Time: 1 hour*

Cook: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 c honey

2 T vegetable oil*

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 t ground cumin

1/2 t red pepper flakes

8 (1/2 inch) bone-in pork chops *

Salt & Pepper--freshly ground

Instructions:

Marinade: In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, oil, vinegar, cumin and red pepper flakes. 

Sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper and place in a re-sealable plastic bag with the marinade. Let rest on the counter for 1 hour. That's easy.

Heat a grill or grill pan over medium heat. Remove the pork chops from the bag and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook until the pork chop releases from the grill, about 4 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for another 3 minutes.*

*My Modifications

For the ingredients--I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil and instead of 8 pork chops per recipe, I used 4 chops. Since I used 8 chops for Fathers' Day, I doubled the rest of the recipe.

The inactive time for these chops was right around 18 hours (yes...overnight). 

Even though the instructions say to grill the pork chops around 7ish minutes, make sure the internal temperature is 145° and give the chops a 3 minute rest period.

Well...that was our big meal for Fathers' Day. Fortunately both of our dads love pork chops. It was a hit and we are fortunate enough to have them here.

What are some of your favorite recipes?