Stuffed Pork Loin

Speaking of leftover stuffing, I ran out of time to make my soup today, so, I quickly threw together this delicious pork loin. It used up a managery of items I had left over from my Thanksgiving cooking. (Can you tell I only have pork left in the freeze yet...I can't wait to go to Publix for chicken this weekend!!!)

1 pork loin
1 box stuffing
1/4c dried cranberries, rough chop
(* you can use whatever you have- dried cherries, fresh apples, etc...)
2 T walnuts, chopped (optional)
* toasting your nuts will add another level of flavor, just don't burn
1/4 onion (I sauteed to add flavor)

1. Cook stuffing according to directions. While  cooking butterfly your roast. This is a fancy way of saying slice the meat in half without slicing all the way through the meat, You want to be ab;e to open it up like a book. I then pound mine a bit, but that is totally your choice.

2. Once stuffing is complete, stir in the fruit, nuts and onion. Spread onto your opened meat. Then, roll the meat up and secure the seam with toothpicks or a long skewer.

3. Brown your roast in a little butter or olive oil. Then, bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes per pound. (This will cook your roast...we don't serve any pink pork in this family no matter how safe the Food Network insists it is.)

4. Please wait 10 minues before carving up this beauty, otherwise all those wonderful juices in your meat will run right out. No one wants dry pork!


***This can also be done with thick cut (bone -in or -out) porkchops.

Glazed Butts and Fried Toes

Another change in the menu...no chicken equals more pork. I was at Sweetbay a few weeks back and they had some really nice (smaller) pork butts on sale for between $2-3 bucks! I couldn't pass them up so we bought like 6 of them. Hence, tonight we are having...

Glazed Butts (Honey Glazed Pork Roast)

Season Rub: Onion powder, Black pepper, Salt, Red pepper flakes (I was out of Cayenne), Paprika

1. Rub Roast generously with your seasoning rub. Turn on oven to 350 degrees
2. In an oven ready pan, melt 3T butter along with 2T honey (or maple syrup) and 1T garlic. Once butter is melted, add Roast. Brown all the sides.
3. Cover pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven. Cook 15-20 minutes per pound. Turn the Roast half way through. (This can also be placed in the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours)

Fried Toes (Potato Croquettes)

Mashed Potatoes (1 tub or about 1 lb)
Garlic, minced/crushed
2 eggs
bread crumbs

1. Season your potatoes if not already and mix in the garlic. Next, lightly beat 1 egg and then combine with the potatoes.
2. Roll the potatoes into 2 inch logs that are about the thickness of a quarter. (if you have cubed cheese, it is super yummy to slide a cube in the center of the potato roll before coating)
3. In a new bowl, lightly beat the other egg. In a separate bowl, add the bread crumbs. (I like to spice things up a bit add a bit of Tabasco in with the egg)
4. Roll each potato roll (or croquette) in egg and then in breadcrumbs. Fry or bake until crispy. Serve with sour cream.

Cooking from the Couch: Carnitas and Pork Tacos

Carnitas are really easy and husband friendly. We had a family sized pack of boneless pork ribs to use up this week, but you can really use just about any cut of pork...although I don't recommend thin pork chops! Once defrosted, I have my hubbie put all the pork in a big zip lock bag with about half a jar of Mojo sauce (found in Mexican food section at your local grocery store). We let this marinate over night, then, my hubbie dumped it in the crock pot in the morning (sauce and all) and cooked on low for 6 hours.

I had the luxury of smelling this delicious pork cooking all day...it was almost too much to handle. When my hubbie got home, we whipped up a batch cornbread and a salad.

Cornbread:
We have this mix made ready to use. It is 4 c flour, 1 T salt, 1 c sugar, 1/4 c baking powder, 1 c lard, 4 c cornmeal. It makes about 10 cups of total mix. I just throw everything into the stand up mixed with the whisk attachment and let it do the work of mixing. Then, put in and airtight container and in the fridge it goes.

To make tonight's, cornbread, I used 2 1/2 cups of the homemade cornbread mix with 1 beaten egg and 1-1/4 cups milk. Mix just until dry ingredients and then pour in a drained can of corn. Mix well. Pour everything into a greased  8" square pan and bake at 425 degrees for 15-25 minutes. Super easy and extra yummy!


Pork Tacos (with leftovers)

We turned the oven on to slowly heat up the leftover pork some pimentos (or cooked green and red peppers). We let this heat up slowly in a covered dish at abut 300 degrees for 20 minutes. (or,microwave it)

While it was heating I had my hubbie make a batch of brown rice and white beans. The rice cooked on its own. Then, for the beans he put a can of white northern beans in a small pot with a little olive oil, 1 t cumin and 1 t cayenne pepper. Just let this heat up on low.

Then, once everything was hot are ready to go we had soft flour tortillas, the pork with peppers, some sour cream and cheddar cheese with the white beans and brown rice on the side. Super simple and a great use for the left over pork.

Meatloaf, Meatloaf, everywhere!!!

Who doesn't love a meatloaf every once in awhile..plus leftover meatloaf sammies are da bomb! My hubbie was raised on meatloaf with the cooked egg in the center, which I love, but he hates eggs. Meatloaf is not his favorite, but he will tolerate it ever so often. Plus, he HATES to touch/mix the meat. So, I had him dump everything in a big bowl and I mixed from the couch.

Here is how to throw it all together:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef ( I use a mix of pork and beef)
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
Salt and black pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs

Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar. In a big bowl, mix remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the ketchup. Bake at 350 degrees for 1- 1.5 hour or until juices are clear. Flip over and serve.

Pork and Sauerkraut Bake

For this recipe you can use almost any type of pork. I bought pork ribs on sale, so, that is what we are having for dinner. I had my hubbie brown them in the pot. This was funny because he kept bringing the pot over to the couch to show me...is this right? Are they done yet?

Anywho...the next part can be done in the slow cooker if you want to have for dinner and are not going to be home all day. This is how we did it because otherwise we would have eaten dinner at 9pm. Usually, I would mix everything and place in a Pyrex dish, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 2-3 hours or until meat is soft.

So, here is how you put it together...

Drain the sauerkraut, but do not rinse! Put 1/2 bag of sauerkraut in the bottom of the slow cooker. Then, place the browned pork on top. Put the remaining kraut on top. Then, season generously with salt, pepper and paprika. Fill the dish with water, pan should be about half full with water. Turn on high and cook for 3 hours. Voila dinner is served!

Tuesday's Greek Night

Opah! Although I live in a predominantly Greek town, I do and eat very little Greek. My husband is not a super fan especially of citrus in our food. Totally bummer I know! But, sometimes he just has to go with the flow...Tuesday night will be one of those nights!

I had a Pork Roast in the freezer, so, I pulled it out to defrost in the fridge on Sunday. Then, Tuesday morning I will put it the marinade before cooking. Here is my plan:

Pork Roast:
Marinade: 1- 1.5 cups lemon juice ( I will use 1 cup and save some lemon slices), 3/4 c olive oil, 1- 1.5 T minced garlic, 3T minced rosemary and oregano, Salt and Pepper.

Marinade meat for 3-5 hours. Place in a roasting pan covered with a few lemon slices and bake at 325 degrees for 2-3 hours (depending on the poundage).

Roasted Potatoes:
1lb. little  red potatoes, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 T olive oil, 1/2 T minced garlic, 1 t oregano, Salt and Pepper,
1/2 cup water, Feta cheese

Cut up potatoes. Then, mix up sauce of lemon, oil, garlic and oregano. Cover baking sheet with aluminum foil and potatoes. Cover potatoes with lemon sauce and season with salt and pepper. Add water to the pan and bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Sprinkle with Feta before serving.


My Village Greek Salad:
1 Cucumber, peeled and chunked;  2-3 Roma tomatoes, cut into wedges; ½ Cup Kalamata olives (optional for us since we don't eat olives); 1 Roasted red pepper, sliced; 1 bell pepper, chunked; 8 oz Feta cheese
Dressing: ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar, ½ cup olive oil; Fresh oregano; Salt & pepper to taste

Combine all veggies and dressing. Can be served over Romain lettuce or with potato salad, but ours will be plain!
 
 
Do you think I over did it with all the garlic and lemons? Hmm...we shall see!

Book Review: Art of the Slow Cooker by Andrew Schloss

I order this book last week from the library and was really excited to get started. I honestly hate buying cookbooks unless I have had a chance to preview it because my family has very traditional eatting habits and I often find that the recipes in the books are great but not practical. So, I thought this would be great! I mean slow cookers are a great time saver and mine does not get enough use. I will go a month of using it weekly and then I get bored with it.

My criteria for a good cookbook is simple...I am looking for simple straightforward ingredients and easy to fix meals. I do not mind buying a few specialty items, but I shouldn't have to for every recipe! The point is to be economical! Plus, in my household green things in food (ie herbs) are a big faux pas! So, I either cook them whole and remove them or I strip the recipe down! So, enough blabbing...

Overall, the cookbook was ok...maybe a B. The book itself is beautifully made with nice pictures, heavy pages and great directions...but remember criteria number one...simple ingredients and simple directions...Not here! The recipes could be simplified, but this is not your gramma's frugal cookbook! The other thing I did not like is the recipes require a lot of prep prior to being placed in the slow cooker. So, these are not speedy recipes although they are tasty!

I set out to make 4 recipes this week: Chicken Teriyaki, Beef Carbonnade, Pork and Beans and Chicken dinner.


Chicken Teriyaki
1 T veggie oil
4lbs. skinless chicken thighs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1T finely grated ginger
1/4c water
1/3 c soy sauce (I used low sodium)
1/4c sherry or Apple juice (I used the apple)
1 T rice wine vinegar (if you don't have use apple cider vinegar)
2T molasses
3T honey
2 t cornstarch
2 scallion, trimmed and sliced thin

1. Brown the chicken thighs in veggie oil over high heat. Cook about 3 minutes per side then place in the slow cooker.
2. Add the garlic and Ginger to the pan and cook over mediu heat about 30 seconds. Add water to deglaze (meaning let the water loosen all those brown stuck on bits). Add soy sauce, apple juice, vinegar, molasses and honey. Stir to blend. Pour over chicken and cook on high for 2-3 hours.
3. Preheat your oven to broil. Remove chicken from the slow cooker and place in the broiler for 2 minutes per side. While the chicken broils, remove the sauce and place in a sauce pan with a mix of 2t cornstarch and 1.5 T water. Allow to thicken about 1 minute.  Then, drizzle over chicken.

***This was super yummy! Not the easiest recipe with the final steps of broiling and thickening the sauce. Too many dirt dishes if you ask me! Instead, I put the cornstarch mix and sauce in a glass measuring cup and microwaved  in 30 second intervals until you achieve the desired thickness. I did broil the chicken, but you can skip this step...it is not essential. I served over brown rice, but would also be really yummy with rice noodles. We used the left over sauce on chicken wings the next day...they were delish!


Beef Carbonnade
1/4 c flour
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
3 lb beef cubes, cut into 1/4" cubes
3 T olive oil
5 large onions, halved and sliced thin
2 sliced salt pork or bacon, finely diced (I used bacon)
1 T herbs or 1/2 t each thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, and basil (I used whole rosemary, basil and oregano...it's what I had and I removed the evidence from the pot before serving)
2 t brown sugar
1 bottle ale or lager beer (I used Newcastle)
2 bay leaves
Boiled noodles or potatoes (optional)

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper. Dredge beef. Heat oil in a large skillet (I used a cast iron) over meduim-high heat and brown in batches, 3-4 minutes per side.
2. Reduce heat to meduim-low, add onions and cook until tender (about 10 minutes). Transfer to slow cooker and place beef on top of onions.
3. Add bacon to skillet and cook through, but not crisp. Add herbs and reserved seasoned flour. Cook until flour browns (Watch your flour closely so it does not burn, you can skip this step if you want) Pour the sauce over the beef. Bury the bay leaf. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 8-10 hours (but who has that time).

**I served over egg noodles with a spinach salad. It was a nice, easy recipe...we did it onion free because my hubbies hates them. It was only half as good, but that one I can't get past him! It was basically an onion sauce..so I would use vidalia onions.


 Barbeque Pork and Beans
1 c dried beans- white beans, pinto, kidney, or a mixture (I used white beans)
2 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cut into cubes
3 T Southwest Spice rub- 1 T salt, 2T paprika, 1/4 c brown sugar, 2 t chili powder, 1/2t cumin, 1/2t pepper
2 slices bacon, chopped finely
1 medium onion (I grated half an onion)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
1 t cuin
1 T flour
3c chicken broth
1/2 c BBQ sauce- 1/3c ketchup, 3T brown mustard, 3T cider vinegar, 3T brown sugar, 1T tabasco, 1/2t pepper
1 (15oz) can diced tomotoes (I used petite diced)

1. Put the beans in a bowl, cover with water and leave overnight. OR, put in a saucepan cover with about 3" water and boil for 3 minutes, then soak for 1 hour (this method is what I did one because I had beans leftover from making bean bags and because it helps limit the noise later int he evening). If I didn't already have the beans I would have skipped whis altogether and just used canned beans.
2. While the beans are cooking rub the pork cubes with 2t of the Southwest rub, wrap well and refridge.
3. In a large skillet, brown the bacon; remove. Turn the heat up to medium-high and brwon the pork cubes. Transfer to the slow cooker, add the beans and bacon. Toss to combine.
4. Add the onion and carrots to the skillet and saute until tender and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in the cumin, any remaining rub, and the flour. Stir. Add the chicken broth and simmer until slightly thickened. Stir in the BBQ and tomotoes and pour into the slow cooker. Cook 8-10 hours on low (or 3-4 hours if using can beans).
***This was a very easy recipe and great with corn on the cob. We will defiitely make this again...we are big pork and bean eaters here...not alway together, esp. not like this! :)


Chicken Dinner
1/3c flour
1/4c All Purpose Spice Rub- 1T brown sugar, 1T salt, 1t paprika, 1t dry mustard, 1t dried sage, 1t dried thyme, 1/2t dried rosemary, 1/2t garlic powder, 1/2t pepper (I used a bit of Italian seasoning, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder and pepper)
1 roasting chicken- about 7 lbs (I bought the already cut up one..a bit more expensive, but much easier to work with unless you are skilled with cutting up a chicken)
1 1/2lbs. red potatoes (or any potatoes)
2T veggie oil
1 onion, chunked
24 baby carrots
1/2c white wine
2c chicken broth
2T mashed potatoes

1. Mix the flour and spice rub in a mixing bowl. Cut up the chicken and remove the skin. Dredge in flour mix.
2. Boil the potatoes until cooked and then  place in the bottom of the clow cooker.
3. Heat half the oil over medium high heat. Brown the chicken on both sides, about 4 minutes. Set aside. Add the remaining oil  to the skillet along with carrots and onion. Saute until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the left over flour along with wine and bring to a boil. Add the chicken broth and simmer until thick; pour into the cooker. Put the veggies on the bottom, then arrange the chicken in the pot with dark meat on the bottom. Cover and cook 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.
4. Remove the chicken to a serving platter and surround with veggies. Turn the cooker on high and stir in the mashed potatoe flakes. Allow to thicken about 3 minutes. Spoon over the chicken.

***This was easy and yummy spin on roasted chicken. I still prefer a traditional baked/roasted whole chicken, but I did have plenty of leftovers which were awesome in soup (or chicken tacos, empanadas, chicken salad...) Since I am not much for processed foods, I skipped the potato flakes and used cornstarch instead. I served with a nice garden salad.