Breaded pork chops, roast potatoes with garlic and rosemary, and glazed carrots

For Christmas I got The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. The majority of the recipes in it are desserts but there are a few non-dessert recipes so tonight's meal consisted of three of them. Luckily for tonight's dinner I actually had the majority of the ingredients so I didn't have to spend a lot at the store. I'll put each recipe as they would correspond to their individual parts and in the order you should cook them based on how long it takes to cook.

Review: This meal was fairly quick to make. The potatoes were scrumptious and definitely added a little extra flavor to what would otherwise be just regular roast potatoes/french fries. The pork chops were delicious as the recipe calls for them but the flavor also could be more pronounced with a few extra spices added to the breading. Finally there isn't much that needs to be changed about the recipe but I increased the amount of potatoes a bit because we have three people in our family and the carrots can be whatever type you want. I had leftover shredded carrots from the previous night's dinner so I just used those. For the breading, you also could use about half of the flour, eggs and bread crumbs that the recipe calls for. I used what it said and had to throw most of it away when I was finished.

Recipe: Roast potatoes with garlic and rosemary

• 6 red potatoes (about 2 pounds), scrubbed and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the potatoes with the oil, salt, rosemary, garlic and black pepper. Make sure to coat the potatoes thoroughly and evenly (I put everything in a bowl and used my hands to mix it all together). After everything is mixed, spread the potatoes in a large, shallow roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet. Roast the potatoes for about 45 minutes until they are slightly crisp around the edges and soft in the middle. Halfway through baking, remove the pan briefly to toss the potatoes again then put it back in the oven to finish cooking (I found the potatoes stuck to the baking sheet a little, which is no big deal, but I suppose you could spray the baking sheet with cooking spray so they do not stick).

Recipe: Breaded pork chops

• 4 6-ounce pork chops (I used boneless pork chops but you can use bone-in or even pork loins if you want)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs, whisked
• 2 cups seasoned bread crumbs (I used Italian)
• vegetable oil as needed

While the recipe in the book mentions this part a little later in the cooking steps, I'm going to mention it first because it will take a little while for the oil to heat. Fill a heavy skillet with enough oil to reach a depth of about 1/4 inch and heat to 350 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer to check the temperature, watch for the oil to begin dancing in the pan. Once that happens, sprinkle a pinch of bread crumbs into the oil and if they sizzle the oil is ready. If the oil is smoking, it is too hot. If that happens, remove the pan from the heat and let it cook until the smoking stops then return the pan to the heat.

While the oil is heating, remove the pork chops from the package and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Get three bowls: one for the flour, one for the eggs and one for the bread crumbs. First, place the pork chops in the bowl with the flour and coat evenly. Next put the pork chops in the bowl with the beaten eggs and make sure they, again, are coated evenly but make sure you let the excess egg drain back into the bowl. Finally, put the pork chops in the bowl with the bread crumbs and coat evenly.

Once the oil is hot enough (it took mine about 10 minutes or so) carefully add the breaded pork chops to the oil. Cook about four to five minutes on each side and use tongs to turn them. It might take a little more or less time to thoroughly cook the meat, but you also want to make sure the breading gets fried but not too burnt. When they are cooked to your liking, remove the chops to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.

Recipe: glazed carrots

• 6 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick slices on the bias (again I just used the shredded carrots I had left over and you could use baby carrots so it's whatever you want)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup, maple syrup or corn syrup (I used maple)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine the carrots, water, syrup, salt and cinnamon in a skillet and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat and simmer the carrots, uncovered, for about 5 minutes until the carrots are somewhat softened but not yet tender. Increase the heat and boil until all the liquid evaporates. As the liquid starts to reduce, begin stirring more frequently. Keep cooking until the glaze starts to turn brown, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and serve immediately. I actually didn't cook it until all the liquid evaporated that way it had a little "juice" to it.

Because these are three different recipes with three different cooking times you'll want to plan accordingly and cook them at a time that would let them finish around the same time. The potatoes take about 45 minutes so about the time you pull them out to toss halfway through you should probably start frying the pork chops (meaning you'll want to prep them not too long after you put the potatoes in the oven). The carrots should be started within a couple minutes of starting the pork chops. All these recipes make about four servings so you can use that as a gauge on if you want to increase the amount of ingredients for more people or meals.