Day 15: Ranch House Pork Chops & Beer Braised Brussels Sprouts

As you can imagine, after 3 days of buffalo sauce, I needed a break from spicy. Before I made the last two buffalo recipes we ate buffalo wings at Buffalo Reef, our favorite wing joint in Ft. Walton Beach. I knew I had a busy day planned so I opted for something I could toss in the crock-pot and forget about it. I chose Ranch House Pork Chops, which had the recipe paired with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes but instead of making mashed potatoes I took the easy way out and bought the Country Crock, Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I felt like we needed a good side dish to go with our meal but I'm tired of the same ole sides I've been cooking lately (salads and rotating between asparagus, green beans, zucchini and squash) so I found a recipe I had pinned for Beer Braised Brussels Sprouts. My husband claims he has never liked Brussels Spouts so this was only the second time I have made them in the TEN YEARS we've been together. As odd as it sounds, I've always like them even as a child. Both times I've made them, he's liked them and this time he LOVED them!!! 

We'll start with the Ranch House Pork Chops. They have only three (3) ingredients!!! This recipe was so easy to make and was very good. We both loved it and it was amazing with my store bought garlic mashed potatoes. It came from a blog called, Real Mom Kitchen ,which is a cute blog whose motto is "Keeping it real in the kitchen".  I liked this blog because most their recipes use few ingredients and/or simple methods and that is perfect for us busy moms!

Ranch House Pork Chops

6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup

Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours. Serve over mashed potatoes.

Note: The blogger said she used two cans of soup and two packs of dressing to make more gravy. I was only feeding 2 so I kept it the same but only used two thick cut pork chops, which was plenty gravy for us.


Next, the amazing Beer Braised Brussels Sprouts which is a new favorite in our household! Seriously, this is THE way to cook Brussels Sprouts. They were amazing and will go into my rotation of vegetable side dishes. I found them on a lovely blog called, A Spicy Perspective. There are some incredible looking recipes on there... definitely a keeper in my favorites!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Beer

Ingredients:

2 lbs Brussels Sprouts
6 oz. thick cut bacon, chopped
1 shallot, peeled and sliced
12 oz. bottle beer, something light and crisp
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Pinch crushed red pepper

Directions:

Trim the ends of each Brussels Sprout, removing excess leaves. Cut the sprouts in half, leaving the smallest sprouts whole.
Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and saute until crisp.
Add the sliced shallot. Saute another 2-3 minutes to soften. Then add the Brussels Sprouts. Stir and sear the sides of the sprouts for 4-5 minutes.
Pour the bottle of beer into the skillet. Add the salt an both peppers. Bring to a simmer and lower the heat a little. Stir and simmer until the beer has reduced to a glaze and the sprouts are cooked through--12-15 minutes.

Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we did. Be sure to check out our the above links for more great recipes from these bloggers.