Amy’s Cheesy Potatoes

On a recent night, I came home from work and told Dennis I wanted potato skins for dinner -  something easy, cheesy and crisp. I was already salivating about it in my mind’s eye.

But Dennis informed me that “real” potato skins are no easy deal. They are baked for an hour, scooped, deep fried, then broiled with toppings. Boy, that sounded like a lot more work than I was up for. Wasn’t there an easier way to do it? This is what we came up with…

First, clean the potatoes (we used large red skinned potatoes) and massage some olive oil, salt and pepper into the skins. Be sure to prick them with a fork so they don’t explode. Then toss them in the oven at about 350 degrees and forget about them for a while (45 mins- hour). When they’re soft and cooled a bit, halve them and scoop the insides into a bowl. Mash it up with cheddar cheese, parmigiana cheese, a little cream or milk, a little butter and some herbs (imagine cheesy mashed potatoes). Spoon the filling back into the skins and bake for about 10 minutes more. Serve with something leafy and green.

Don’t count on having leftovers!

Pork Chops with Broccoli Rabe

Tonight was sticky, humid and almost too hot to cook. So we took off down the streets of South Philly to catch a little breeze, dip our feet in the stream of an opened fire hydrant and enjoy the city sights.

Then we came back and Dennis whipped up a knock-out improvisation of pork chops with lemon butter sauce, broccoli rabe and lemon pepper rice. He pulled it together so quickly, I think I need to learn how to adjust the shutter speed on my camera for action shots, pronto!

Each piece of this dish is actually pretty simple, but they make a fabulous combination together. We started with julienned onions, sweet red peppers and garlic.

Those got tossed into a hot pan with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and then Dennis had a chance to show off a few of his awesome chef skills.

Meanwhile, he blanched the broccoli rabe and added it to the veggie mixture. It was seasoned with red pepper flakes and finished with a few more minutes on the stove.

He cooked up a small pot of white rice, then mixed in a bit of lemon zest and pepper to give it some real zing.

Meanwhile, two pork chops were getting all good and flavorful in a rub of salt, pepper and paprika.

Those good looking chops only got better when they were tossed into a hot oiled pan and seared brown on both sides. When they were cooked, he deglazed the pan with dry vermouth (white wine would work in a pinch), melted in about 1 tbls of butter and added the juice of half a lemon. Yum!

Everything went together so well, you’d think he spent all week planning the menu! The only thing missing was a good cold beer for a hot night…

Berry Brilliant

A shot of some delectable berries on their way to becoming a pie (which was devoured at last week’s bruch). Amy picked the blueberries at a lovely vineyard and orchard in the New York Finger Lakes region…they were as delicious as they look!

Rainbow chard with white beans

Our kitchen holds just about two people. If we’re careful to dodge out of each other’s way, that is.

But that isn’t stopping us from cooking up a few tasty morsels, or sharpening our photo snapping skills. That’s why we’re launching This Little Kitchen!

We are Amy and Dennis, a creative couple who loves cooking, writing and eating. Dennis brings his experience as a sous chef from a four-star restuarant in Eastern Pennsylvania, and Amy brings a love for anything baked, browned, crisped, tossed, fried, smoked, steamed – and especially – topped with cheese.

This recipe for Rainbow Chard with White Beans comes straight from the gardens of Germantown, Philadelphia, and is a perfect pick for summertime when all the veggies are in season.

First, we started with a load of fresh heirloom tomotoes, just-picked rainbow chard and healthy doses of red onion, garlic and basil. The tomatoes really made the meal – they lent a sweet, citrusy flavor that brightened up the bitter greens.

We sauteed the onion and garlic in extra virgin olive oil, just until they started to release their aroma. Then we tossed in the tomatoes and a can of white beans and cooked them down until the juices began to release from the tomatoes.

We seasoned with some salt and pepper, and then tossed in the rainbow chard. We clamped the lid down and let it cook away until the chard started to wilt, adding the fresh basil just at the end.

We cooked for another two or three minutes without the lid, added a dash of lemon and voilá!