For me, there are some days I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and others when I’ll more than happily spend half a day in there working on a single meal or dish that results in a mountain of dishes. What I love about Risotto is that it’s truly a labor or love. While it requires a bit of babying, the payoff in flavor is worth it, and this Wild Mushroom Risotto with Parmesan and Scallops is no different.

When you think of enchiladas, you probably think of the skinny, sauce laden covered tortillas that you get at most Mexi-merican restaurants. But at the house of the Would-Be Chef, enchilada night is decidedly more filling.

I love pork chops, but every now and then I get tired of having them grilled with different spices. This recipe provides a twist to the traditional porky preparation by bringing some Southern soul to your skillet. It’s incredibly quick and the pan sauce couldn’t be any easier to prepare, so long as you use a light flouring on your chops before you do your initial searing of the pork. I guarantee you have almost all of the ingredients you need to pull off this meal sitting in your house and you can get this piggy to the plate in under 30 minutes.

It’s already feeling quite cool for a typical fall in Michigan, which is why our house (particularly Dr. Wife), has developed our natural cravings for warm and filling soups a little earlier than we normally would. My wife is a big fan of mushrooms and had something similar to the Creamy Brie and Mushroom soup recipe at work. I added some kick to it with some cayenne pepper and some fresh thyme. The result is a very creamy, very earthy and incredibly warming autumn treat that goes fabulously with a cool crisp salad or the Asiago crutons you see here.

With a wife working 80 hour weeks and a lengthy commute that begins around 6 p.m. each evening, it can be 7 or 7:30 before I’m even able to pre-heat a pan, which is why I adore quick recipes like this Chipotle Turkey Cutlets with Charred Corn Salsa. It’s 15 minutes or less from the time I light my burners to the time this smokey and spicy meal hits the plate. And since turkey cutlets and frozen corn are reasonably priced, this quick meal is also really great for families minding their budget.

Jagerschnitzel is traditionally breaded pork, but we used chicken as an alternative to this traditional German favorite. Having spent some time in Germany in my younger years I’ve had the traditional preparation a number of times and I’m of the opinion that this was just as good as anything I had overseas. The recipe below is modified from this recipe from a Guy Fieri show that I caught on Food Network.

To make it more friendly for my wife, we substituted chicken breast and turkey bacon instead of using pork. It turned out to be a phenominal meal and matches well with the Spätzle With Parmesan And Parsley that was featured in the same episode.