Marinated Cranberry Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

(I will edit this post to add pictures as soon as my computer that has all of my lovely images on it is functional again. In the meantime, use your imagination.)


I'm on a bit of a healthier eating kick lately.  Watching my calorie intake and all that jazz to shed a few unwanted pounds that have snuck their way on to my hips.  You know what?  It works.  I'm not a dieter.  Never have been.  But being aware of what I'm putting in to my mouth has really helped me cut out the junk.  I was mildly appalled the first few days I tracked and realized how often I walk by the pantry and snag a treat in passing.  I don't believe in giving up good food - just working on portion control.  Tonight I roasted a pork tenderloin, served with a side of these lovely crispy roasted potatoes and a simple salad of mixed greens, oranges, strawberries and easy (lowfat) citrus poppyseed dressing.  Total calories for my plate were around 700 for the meal and it was delicious and filling.

You'll need to plan ahead a couple of hours to allow the meat to marinate, but otherwise the hands on prep time is pretty short - less than 20 minutes.  Butterflying and pounding the tenderloin, then browning it before finishing it off in the oven yielded very tender results.  I fully intended on putting a diced pear in the stuffing but got distracted and forgot...feel free to add it yourself :).

Marinated Cranberry Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Two pork tenderloins, around 1 pound apiece (mine came packaged together, and they are each about the size and length of a woman's forearm)

Marinade:
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 red wine vinegar
1 t. kosher salt
1 T. raw sugar (or brown sugar)
1" of fresh ginger root, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
several grinds of pepper

Mix all ingredients in a gallon ziplock bag, then place the tenderloins in, squeeze the excess air out, flip it over a few times until the meat is well coated and place in the refrigerator.  Marinate for at least an hour, preferably a few hours.

Stuffing:
1/2 cup minced purple onion
1 T. olive oil
1 cup day old sourdough bread crumbs (I pulsed three slices in my food processor)
2 T. julienned fresh sage leaves
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup craisins
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Sautee the onion in olive oil until it begins to soften.  Stir in the bread crumbs, craisins and sage leaves, and just enough broth to moisten it.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Prepare the tenderloins by butterflying each one lengthwise.  Lay a piece of saran wrap on top then pound with a meat mallet until it reaches an even 1/2" thickness.  Grind some pepper over the exposed surface of each piece, then divide the stuffing in half and spoon it down the middle.  Fold the meat over the filling and secure with toothpicks.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a large skillet, heat 2 T. olive oil.  Sprinkle a little more kosher salt and pepper over each tenderloin, then brown the top and bottom of each in the oil, cooking for about 2 minutes per side.  Place the tenderloins on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, until an instant read meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Remove from the oven and loosely tent with foil for about 10 minutes before slicing to allow the juices to settle.  Lightly drizzle a tablespoon of real maple syrup over each tenderloin, then slice into 1" thick slices to serve.

This was the perfect dinner for a cold and dreary spring day.  Enjoy!

Super Simple Sugar Glazed Pork Ribs

I have a 9 year old son that dearly loves ribs.  He has begged for them repeatedly in the last few weeks, ignoring my protestations that it's too darn cold to grill them outside.  Not to mention that it's dark at 4:30 p.m.  He went grocery shopping with me on Saturday night, a really exciting kid date to be sure, and steered me toward the ribs when we got to the meat section.  OK, OK, I can take a hint.  He likes bone in, but I don't, so I exercised my mom-veto powers and went for the boneless country style pork ribs. 

One of my chief complaints about meat in general is that it can easily wind up tough and chewy.  I put my trusty crock pot to use for this recipe, and finished it off with the broiler and wound up with perfect ribs.  They didn't fall apart like I was afraid, but were tender, moist, and had a nicely caramelized glaze on the outside.  I neglected to take a picture before my ravenous kids dug in, and after very enthusiastic reviews, I hurried and snapped this one of the lone ranger still left on the pan.  It wasn't even the best looking one of the bunch, but it's better than no picture at all.  My 3 year old ate two whole ribs herself, and every person at the table enthusiastically cleaned their plates.  I served it with a side of gouda and garlic infused mashed potatoes and buttery sweet corn.  It's definitely staying on the favorites list.

Super Simple Sugar Glazed Pork Ribs

2 pounds boneless country style pork ribs
1 cup barbecue sauce of your choice (we like Jack Daniel's Honey Smokehouse)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Place your ribs in an appropriately sized crock pot (I used my standard round that I'm guessing is 2-3 quarts).  Pour the sauce over them and toss to coat evenly.  Cook on high for 4 hours.  Line a baking pan with foil and use tongs to pull the ribs out of the crock pot and space them evenly on the baking sheet.  Sprinkle brown sugar generously over each rib and heat under the broiler for 3-4 minutes, until the sugar is bubbly and golden.  Use tongs to flip the ribs over and sprinkle the newly exposed bottom with more brown sugar.  Broil again for 3-4 minutes.  Serve promptly with additional barbecue sauce.  (This will serve 4-6 people, depending on how big appetites are.)

Garlic n' Gouda Spuds
6 large redskin potatoes, peeled if desired, and diced into 1/2" chunks
water
1 T. salt
~~~
4 T. butter
1/2 cup shredded gouda cheese, preferably aged gouda for more flavor
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper
1 t. garlic powder (not garlic salt!)

Boil the potatoes in enough water to cover them completely with the salt added to the cook water until they are fork tender.  Drain the water, add the butter, and mash until fluffy.  Mash in the cheese, pepper and garlic powder last, and serve immediately.

Ethan's Sweet Pork Sliders

My kids are off track, so I am taking advantage of the opportunity to let them spend some time in the kitchen.  I handed Ethan a stack of my cooking magazines and told him to select our menu for last night.  He settled on Sweet Pork Sandwiches that he found in an old issue of Taste of Home, with S'more Bars for dessert.  Later in the day we were driving past a restaurant that advertised sliders, and Ethan declared that we had to make small rolls.  The kids had fun helping me form the rolls, and the meat was delicious.  I modified a few little things, so I am posting it the way I made it.  Quite sweet, but tasty.  This recipe requires a substantial amount of cooking time, so plan accordingly.

Ethan's Sweet Pork Sliders

1 boneless pork shoulder butt roast (2 1/2 - 3 pounds)
1 medium sweet vidalia onion, chopped
1 T. butter
1 can (15 ounces) tomato puree
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. molasses
1/2 t. salt
Rolls of your choice

Place pork on a rack in a roasting pan and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 2 hours or until tender.  (I simply used a cooling rack placed inside a 10x15 jelly roll pan, and I tried out convection mode on my oven, still at 350 degrees.  It came out great at the 2 hour mark.  This roast was packaged encased in a mesh sleeve to keep all the little pieces together.  Leave the mesh in place until the cooking is through.)  Once you remove the roast from the oven, allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing to let the juices settle.  Slice it into very thin pieces or shred it.

Meanwhile, in a dutch oven or other sturdy pot, saute onion in butter until tender.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.  Stir the pork into the sauce and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.  Serve on buns.

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It just so happens that since the pork takes 2 1/2 hours to get ready, that's the perfect amount of time to make your own rolls.  Any of you that have been in my kitchen know that I knead by hand (no mixer, thankyouverymuch, and plus I like it that way), and that I rarely measure anything that goes into my bread doughs.  I've gotten quite comfortable with the approximate ratios that work, and yeast and I are on very good terms.  This is frustrating for people that want to know how I made whatever roll I served to them, because most of the time I really can't remember.  I am giving you the basic principal here.  The only measurement that is going to be really approximate is the flour, and that's something that varies from batch to batch depending on the humidity, how packed your flour is, what type you use, etc.  That's why kneading by hand is so great - I can tell when I've got just enough by how the dough behaves.  Any of you local readers are welcome in my kitchen for fun times with bread dough.  It's such a satisfying skill to learn.  I keep telling my kids that they are royally spoiled because I make yeast dough of some sort several times a week.  I made rolls last night for dinner, and have overnight cinnamon rolls rising in the fridge.  Anyway, let's get on with the recipe.

Rolls of the Wednesday Sort

2 cups warm water (warm to touch, but not so hot that you have to withdraw your finger)
1 T. yeast
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil (you may also substitute melted butter)
1 t. kosher salt
2 cups whole grain flour (I prefer a mixture of white wheat and semolina)
3-4ish cups unbleached all purpose flour

Soften the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl for a few minutes.  Add in the honey, oil, salt, and whole grain flour and stir to combine.  Stir in the all purpose flour cup by cup until the dough gets difficult to stir by hand.  At this point, sprinkle a fairly generous layer of flour on top of the dough glob, and begin kneading by hand.  Add in a handful of flour at a time until your dough glob works it's way into a lovely smooth ball that feels springy but not too stiff.  It is tempting to add a LOT of flour so that it won't stick, and this is where finesse comes in.  I always have a bit of dough clinging to my hand, but not a freakishly thick layer.  I add just a light layer each time and work it until it starts to get sticky, then add a little bit more.  Total hand kneading time is 5-7 minutes, depending on how efficient you are.

Either drizzle a little oil in the bowl or mist the dough and bowl with PAM, turning to coat.  Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes, or until doubled.  Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and cut or pull off equal globs of dough.  To make the mini rolls, the globs were about walnut size.  For more normal dinner rolls, a generous plum size. 

It's difficult to explain how to form rolls properly, but I found this good tutorial.  And again, I'd be happy to demonstrate it to any of you willing to come hang out in my kitchen.  This same principal applies to how I form my round rustic loaves of bread.

Place the formed rolls on a 10x15 baking sheet that has been misted with cooking spray, cover with a towel, and allow to rise again for 30-60 minutes or until almost doubled.  Preheat your oven to 375 (or 350 in convection mode).  If you like a glossy top, beat an egg with a fork, then paint the egg wash over the top of each roll.  You can also brush on milk or melted butter.

Bake for 10-15 minutes for tiny rolls, and 15-20 minutes for larger rolls.  They are done when uniformly golden across the top and they spring back when touched.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Dutch Oven Heaven - Ribs, Potatoes and Apple Crisp

We went camping this weekend with my hubby's family.  Perfect time to bust out the dutch ovens.  We have one much loved and well used Lodge 12" oven, and I finally opened the box of a Cabela's brand 12" oven that his parents gave us for Christmas a couple of years ago.  While Lodge has always been the go-to brand of choice for me, I was very impressed by the quality of the Cabela's oven.  It has the awesome bonus feature of the lid being shaped nicely on the inside so that it can be used as a griddle.  My point with this rambling is that it is worth it to spend good money on a solid oven.  If you see a no-name brand one for sale for 20 bucks, run the other way.  It will drive you crazy and not yield the results you hope for.

I am not a scientific dutch ovener.  I have a few cookbooks that I've been given over the years in which the authors expound on the number of coals on top and bottom to achieve the right cooking temperature, rotating the lid every twenty minutes, knocking the ash off, using only a particular brand of coals...blah blah blah.  That takes the fun out if it, in my opinion!  Just like the way I cook at home, I especially do dutch oven by the seat of my pants and 90% of the time it works just fine.  The other 10% of the time it still tastes good because something about being outside = extra hungry.

I would like to bring up a couple of basic points for success, though.  Work in a well ventilated area.  We had a deep concrete fire pit at this camp site that we didn't use because the air flow would have been poor and taken the coals longer to heat up.  We simply laid down a square of heavy duty foil and heaped half a big bag of match light coals up.  Purists wouldn't use match light, but I'm not a purist :).  They work just fine and are far easier to get going than plain briquets.  I had the men fire up the coals while I prepped the food, and by the time the food was ready to go, the coals were too.  Perfect.

You need to make sure you have a pair of heavy duty leather gloves and some tongs to move coals around.  I have a lid lifter tool as well, which I think is on the "really nice to have but you can get by without it" list.  The tongs I use are my favorite el-cheapo stainless steel all purpose kitchen tongs.

In general, you will need more coals on top than on bottom since there is dead air space to heat between the top and the food.  For the things I cook, I just put as many coals as I can fit on top and bottom, evenly spaced.  Especially at higher altitudes, you need as many as you can get.  I don't have experience cooking dutch oven below 4,500 feet, so I can't give advice on the number of coals needed for you lowlanders.

If you're doing a few pots at once, stack them.  I check the food every 20-30 minutes and change the stack position if necessary.

Boneless Pork Ribs

5 pounds boneless pork ribs

1 large sweet vidalia onion

2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce (we love Jack Daniel's Honey Smokehouse and Sweet Baby Ray's)

Cut the onion into thick slices, then quarter the circles so that you are left with good size chunks.  Place the ribs and onion slices into a 12" dutch oven and douse them in sauce.  Stir it around until everything is thoroughly coated.  Put the lid on, place it over a bed of coals, cover the lid with coals and let it cook merrily away.  Stir it after 45 or so minutes, then check it every 20 minutes or so thereafter and stir if needed.  Cook time will be 1 - 1.5 hours, depending on how hot your coals are.  You want them to be fork tender, so the longer they simmer, the more tender they'll be.

Awesome Potatoes

2 bags frozen O'brien style potatoes

2 cups carrot "pennies"

1 sweet vidalia onion, diced

1 pound bacon

2-3 T. butter or oil

salt and pepper

2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese

Heat a 12" dutch oven over a bed of coals and toss the bacon in.  Cook until browned, then remove to dice.  Dump in the potatoes, carrots and onion and stir around until evenly coated with bacon grease.  If there wasn't enough grease left over, add another 2-3 T. butter or oil as needed and stir well.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, stir in the diced bacon and put the lid on.  Cover the lid with coals and let cook for 30 minutes.  Stir, and cook for another 20 minutes.  The vegetables should be tender at this point and lightly golden.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top in an even layer and put the lid back on for another 10-15 minutes.

Feed the thundering herd of hungry people, and chances are good that this is all you'll have left over.  The quantities in these recipes fed a crowd of 13, with 4 of those people being little kids that didn't eat much. 

Apple Crisp

6 large apples of assorted varieties (jonagold, golden delicious, gala, granny smith, etc.)
3 T. flour
1 T. cinnamon
4 T. butter, cubed
Cloves, nutmeg, ginger as desired

Topping:
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup whole wheat or all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 T. cinnamon

Stir together the topping ingredients except for the butter until well combined, then cut in the butter.  I often do this part with my hands to make sure that the butter gets evenly distributed.  I also usually make the topping in advance to make prep easier at the campsite.

Thinly slice the apples.  In a small bowl, stir together the flour and spices.  Sprinkle over the apple slices and toss gently to coat.  Dot butter over the apples, then layer the topping evenly over all of it.

Lay on a bed of coals and place a layer on top as well.  Cook for 30 minutes, then check apple tenderness.  Cook for up to an additional 20 minutes until the topping is nicely crisp and brown and the apples are fork tender.  Serve warm with ice cream.

Seared Pink Peppercorn and Rosemary Pork Tenderloin

I went to Colorado last week with my kids for a quick trip to see my family.  I made time for a trip to the Savory Spice Shop, and just like the first time I went there, it was very very worth it (pssst...they do flat rate shipping).  I came away with a sack full of culinary inspiration.  The flavors of freshly ground spices will absolutely knock your socks off and flood you with desire to whip up something delicious in the kitchen.  I am particularly partial to their True Ceylon Cinnamon, which is sweet and so cinnamony it almost seems fake.  This time, I also purchased a bottle of their Vietnamese cinnamon, which they told me is their absolute top seller.  It's also very cinnamony but the sweetness is tempered with a firey kick.  Cardamom, achiote paste, California bay leaves, a microplane grater with some whole spices included, a moroccan blend called Ras El Hanout, crystallized ginger and some pink peppercorns rounded out my purchase.  I've already used almost all of them.  The achiote goes into my Puerco Pibil.  I tossed a bay leaf into my pot of "cream of whatever's in the fridge" soup.  I made a chicken and apricot recipe with the Ras El Hanout, and I added cardamom and crystalized ginger along with hunks of dark chocolate to my gingersnap recipe with awesome results.  I'm all about tweaking old recipes to make them better.

So let's talk about the pink peppercorns.  I wouldn't have even tried them if the guy at the store hadn't made me.  They're not hot peppery like you'd expect.  More like a blast of pine flavor with a little zip at the end.  I knew immediately that they'd be most excellent paired with pork and rosemary with a fruity finish, and I was right.  You could absolutely substitute coarsely ground fresh pepper in this recipe, but if you can ever get your hands on the pink ones, give them a try for sure!  It turns out that they're not actually peppercorns at all, but are related to cashews.  Who'da thunk it?  Here's my creation:

Seared Pink Peppercorn and Rosemary Pork Tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin (generally around 2 pounds)

2-3 T. olive oil

kosher salt

1 T. pink peppercorns (or 1/2 T. freshly ground pepper)

2 large sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped

High quality cherry or apricot preserves (Bonne Maman is my personal favorite)

In a large, oven proof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat for a few minutes.  Sprinkle the tenderloin with salt, peppercorns and rosemary, and sear on all four sides  for 2-3 minutes each, rotating with tongs.  Pop the skillet into an oven heated to 400 degrees and cook for an additional 30-40 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 155-160 degrees.  (I have found that with a lower rimmed skillet, the cooking time will be shorter than this, and with a high rimmed pot that's more like a dutch oven, the cook time can be as high as 50 minutes, so definitely go off the meat temperature).  Remove from the oven and roll the meat around just a bit in the drippings to soak up all the flavor.  Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.  Fruit preserves are an excellent accompaniment, and if you are so inclined, the pan drippings would make an excellent gravy.  I recommend serving this with a side of roasted root vegetables.

Chile Verde, Take 1

My buddy Emily pointed me toward a blog that one of her chef friends started recently as a way to test drive his recipes before he publishes them in a cook book.  The recipe that immediately caught my eye is this one for Chile Verde.  Emily made it and gave me a few modification tips.  Since I don't use alcohol in my cooking, the beer had to go.  I also left out the orange peel/juice and used lime juice instead at Alan's request.  When I went to the store to buy peppers, there were no Poblanos in sight, so I had to settle for Pasillas.  I left out the Maggi, an optional ingredient.  I did find that at the store and in reading the label found that it's basically just MSG, something I avoid if possible.  It wasn't spicy enough for Alan's taste, so I added a bit of cayenne and chipotle flakes at the end. 

I loved it that way - he still says it's missing that elusive "something".  He spent two years down on the border of Texas and Mexico and has strong opinions about the perfect batch of chile verde.  He deemed it very good, just not exactly what he had in mind.  I have to say that I loved it even more the second day after the flavors had mingled in the fridge.  I melted some cheese in it and scooped it up with chips.  Sloppy chip dip, but utterly delicious :), and the texture was great.  I am posting this recipe the way I made it, which deviates somewhat from BDL's posted recipe, so if you're a purist, look at both of them and make your own variation.  I can foresee more batches in our future, and I plan on planting tomatillos in our garden this year.

Chile Verde, Take 1

3 pounds pork, cut into 1 inch cubes, taken from the shoulder, butt or country ribs (I used boneless ribs)
1 T. salt
1 T. black pepper
6 T. flour
6 T. vegetable oil
2 onions, cut in large dice
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds tomatillos, husks, stems and cores removed and cut in quarters (about 8-10 tomatillos)
1 T. ground cumin
1 T. dried Mexian oregano
1 cinnamon stick
3 cups chicken stock
3 Anaheim chiles, seeded, de-veined and cut into 1/2" squares
3 Pasilla or Poblano peppers, seeded, de-veined and cut into 1/2" squares
1/2 a yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2" squares
1-2 jalapenos, seeded, de-veined and minced
1/2-3/4 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Additional spices added to taste at the end:  salt, fresh cracked pepper, chipotle flakes, cayenne pepper, cumin and cinnamon.

Put the flour, salt and pepper in a bag.  Flour the pork in three batches by shaking until well coated.  Preheat a braising pan over medium high heat (I used an oval magnalite pot that has about an 8 quart capacity).  Add 4 T. oil and heat it up until the air above it appears to shimmer.  Add as much pork as you can fit without the pan being overcrowded, and brown it well on all sides, then remove and reserve on a plate until all of the pork is done.  Add more oil as necessary.  Then add the onions and cook until translucent, add the garlic and cook for another minute.

(This is where I deviated, totally by accident - not paying attention - to his prep instructions).  Add the peppers into the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until they begin to soften, then add the chicken stock, and stir well, scraping any lovely brown bits off the bottom of the pan.  Add the tomatillos, cumin, oregano, cinnamonstick, and pork and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to bring it to a simmer, cover, and allow to cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

I prefer my sauce without big chunks other than the meat, so at this point, I fished out the pork chunks with a slotted spoon, then used an immersion blender to loosely puree the peppers, tomatillos and onions.  Add the pork back in, taste the seasoning and correct as needed, add the cilantro and lime juice, and simmer uncovered for another 30-45 minutes.  We had guests that arrived later in the evening, so I left it on the stovetop at a low simmer for another 2 hours, and the texture and flavor were even better.

We ate this with a side of black beans (seasoned with a splash of lemon juice and a dash of cumin), cilantro lime rice, shredded cheese, and hunks of tortilla to scoop it up.  Alan has informed me that real Mexicans use tortillas instead of forks.  The texture of this sauce would be fabulous as an enchilada sauce or to smother burritos, and I imagine that it would freeze quite well.  I can see this being a big batch thing to do in the summer when I have oodles of produce and freezing it for a special winter treat.

Boneless Pork Ribs = A Happy Husband

This recipe came from Leigh Anne. I made it the first time as a belated Father's Day dinner, but managed to be multitasking a little too much and charred one side of them. Delicious if you cut the black off, but ya know. Had to try it again. This time they came out absolutely perfect! They were a hit with everyone in the family, even the baby. Rachel asked me if they came from "the Panda place" (Panda Express), and when I told her that I made it and asked if that was ok, she informed that they were soooo good. The best part is that they are so easy. Make sure you choose a really great sauce, because otherwise all your effort is for naught. We prefer Jack Daniel's Original No. 7 Barbeque Sauce or Jack Daniel's Honey Smokehouse Barbeque Sauce.

Boneless pork ribs (ours come in foam trays of 2-3 pounds)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
Barbeque sauce

Boil the ribs in a large pot of water with the vinegar added in for an hour. Remove with tongs, coat with a light layer of sauce, and grill on each side for 2-3 minutes until you see nice grill marks and the sauce is caramelized but not burnt. Brush a heavier layer of sauce on right at the end of cooking and voila - perfect ribs.

Puerco Pibil with Caramelized Peppers

Alan had this a couple of years ago and has been telling me ever since how great it is. The recipe his coworker gave him got lost somewhere in the shuffle, but I found this one online that closely approximated it. One of the ingredients is annato seeds (or achiote paste, depending on which you can find), and he stumbled across some in the Mexican food area at a grocery store a few weeks ago. Score! We finally got around to making this over the weekend and it was very good. He says it wasn't quite exactly how he remembered it, but that was due in part to us using a much leaner cut of meat, and also struggling a bit with getting the annato crushed finely enough and then winding up fishing out about half of it because the chunks were too large. So read my notes at the end before you try your batch and hopefully it'll be easier for you. I am posting this the way we made it, which is modified from the original recipe because we didn't have whole spices for some of them, and we also added sugar and used limes instead of lemons. The flavors were a bit different from my standard mexican seasoning blend, and the caramelized peppers (a last minute addition) turned out to be an excellent flavor counterpoint.

Puerco Pibil

4-5 pounds of pork butt, cut into 2 inch cubes (we used 4 pounds of lean pork loin because that's what we had on hand, and it was oodles and oodles of meat - enough to feed a dozen adults)
5 T. annato seeds (or achiote paste)
2 t. cumin seeds (or 1 1/2 t. ground cumin)
1 T. whole black pepper (or 2 t. freshly ground pepper)
1/2 t. whole cloves (or 1/2 t. ground cloves)
8 whole allspice berries (or 1/4 t. ground allspice)
2 habanero peppers, fresh or dried, minced (optional!!) - we substituted 1/2 t. chipotle chili powder instead
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
8 garlic cloves
1 T. salt
5 lemons or limes, juiced (we used limes, which seemed to be favored by most of the people reviewing the recipe)
1/2 cup brown sugar

Grind the dry spices together in a mortar and pestle if you have one. Otherwise, add them to the garlic cloves in a small food processor and pulse several times until the spices are ground into a relatively smooth paste. Add the liquids and brown sugar and pulse a few more times until everything is well combined. Place the pork cubes into a large ziploc bag and pour the marinade over the meat. Rotate several times until all of the meat is well covered, then refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

In the morning, pour the pork into a large crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. One hour before serving, break up the cubes with a fork. It should just fall apart. If the liquid doesn't readily absorb into the shredded meat, you can slurp the excess out with a turkey baster and simmer it down on the stove until it is reduced by about 50% then add it back in.

Caramelized Peppers and Shallots

1 large yellow, red or orange bell pepper
1 large green bell pepper
3 large shallots
2-3 T. olive oil
2-3 T. coarse raw sugar
dash of salt

Slice the peppers into strips that are about 1/4" by 1 1/2". Peel and slice the shallots into 1/4" rings. Heat a large lidded non stick frying pan over medium heat, then add the olive oil. Toss the veggies into the pan and stir to coat. Put the lid on and reduce the heat to medium low, and let it cook for 15 or so minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the vegetables are very soft, sprinkle the sugar and salt on and stir again. Take the lid off and continue to cook over medium low heat for a few more minutes until the veggies are all nicely caramelized.

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Serving suggestion: set out the puerco pibil with the caramelized peppers and shallots, fresh diced tomatoes, fresh guacamole or avocado slices with lime drizzled over them, freshly minced cilantro, shredded pepper jack and cheddar cheese, sour cream, black beans and warmed tortillas. Everyone can assemble theirs to suit their taste. Heaven!

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Other thoughts. Alan actually has a molcajete (Mexican mortar and pestle), but we didn't dig it out for this. I wish we would have. We thought that the spices were pretty well ground up in the garlic paste, but were unpleasantly surprised when we dumped the marinade in to the meat to find many remaining chunks. A basic flavor principle is that you will always get way more bang for your buck from freshly ground spices, and you can even mash pre-ground spices to give them a little nudge. Crock potting tends to mellow flavors out substantially, so this is one recipe that can really benefit from whole, freshly ground spices, or you can add a little bit more seasoning at the end of the cook time. Again, this is one recipe that you ought to use the fattier cut of meat with. I look forward to trying it again with pork butt, or even chicken thighs.

Slow Simmered Green Chili and Pork Stew

This was entirely experimental, but turned out pretty darn good. I was in the mood for something chili verde-esque, but with a bit more substance to it. I simmered it all afternoon, but really it would have been fine at the 3 hour point.

1 pound pork - I used two boneless chops, but any cut is fine

1 vidalia onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. cumin

1 t. chili powder

1/2 t. chipotle chili powder

2 t. coriander

1 t. salt

2-3 T. olive oil

3 cans green chilis

3 cans chicken broth

5-6 medium red skin potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

1 can great northern beans

1/2 cup flour

sour cream, shredded cheese, lime wedges, diced tomatoes, chips

Heat up the olive oil in a stock pot and toss in the pork (I stuck mine in whole and cut them up later after they'd been cooking for a copule hours). Sprinkle the top with the mixture of spices. Sear the bottom for 3 or 4 minutes, then flip them over and sear the other side the same way. Add the onions and garlic, and put the lid on for a few minutes and let them sweat. Give it a good stir so that the onions and garlic get coated with the spices, then stir in the green chilis and chicken broth. Turn to low and let it simmer for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.

Add in the potatoes and let it simmer for another hour. Add in the great northern beans. If you haven't already, pull the pork out and cut into 1 inch chunks and replace in the pot. Then mix the flour with enough water to form a smooth, pourable paste, and gradually stir it into the soup until it's the desired consistency. The soup is ready to eat when the potatoes are soft and rounded around the edges, and the pork is tender and falls apart easily.

Serve with quesadillas or chips as well as the listed toppings above.

Perfect Pork Taco Meat

No picture on this post. Simply didn't think of it. This was a hit - I took it in to a family in the ward, and fed my own family plus a few extras and still had leftovers. The way I'll post it is for the amount I'd normally make, rather than the 3x batch I made yesterday. This is very flavorful, tender and not spicy. If you'd like to crank up the heat, add more chipotle chili powder to taste once it's done cooking. I find that with slow cooker recipes, all the flavors mellow substantially and often need to be revived just before serving.

2 1/2 - 3 pound boneless pork loin roast
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 T. brown sugar
1 t. each cumin, coriander, chili powder
1/2 t. each salt, chipotle chili powder, garlic powder

Lightly mist your crock pot with cooking spray, then lay the pork roast in the bottom. Pour the vinegar over it, then sprinkle the sugar and seasonings evenly over the top. Set it to low and walk away for 8 hours. It's ready when you stick a fork in it and it just falls apart. Shred it and let it soak up the juices for 20 minutes or so before serving, and adjust the spiciness according to your taste.

Serve on warm tortillas with:
Lime cilantro rice (rice cooked with a pat of butter and a dash of salt, then minced cilantro and lime juice stirred in at the end)
Black beans (seasoned with a dash of cumin and a splash of lemon juice if desired)
Cheese (of course!)
Tomatoes
Avocados
Sour cream
Salsa

So delicious, and a wonderful meal to take in to other people since they can assemble it the way the want. And it beats the pants off another pan o' casserole.

Simple sweet pork sandwiches

I made these for dinner last night when I stumbled across some pork loin roasts that were priced decently. Of course, I didn't get home from the store until 4:00 p.m. Usually I do pork in my slow cooker for 6-8 hours, but I remembered finding a recipe in Everyday Food that only required a couple hours of cook time in the oven. I gave it a try, and the results were great! One of those two thumbs up from everyone around the table kind of nights, which is definitely a happy mom moment.

2 1/2-3 pound boneless pork loin roast

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4-1 t. cayenne pepper (I used 1/4 teaspoon in deference to my kids, but I think I could have gotten away with more)

coarsely ground salt and pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

Barbeque sauce of your choice. We really like the kind pictured above - Jack Daniels Original Recipe #7 or else Jack Daniels Honey Smokehouse.

Mix together the sugar, peppers and salt. Spray a dutch oven or other covered baking dish with cooking spray, then lay the roast in the bottom. You may cut it into 3 or 4 chunks to help it cook a little faster. Rub the sugar mixture over the top and sides. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, vinegar and water, and pour most of it in the pan around the roast then drizzle the remaining amount over the top. Cover and bake at 350 for 2-2 1/2 hours, or until it shreds apart easily with a fork. Mix in any remaining juices as needed, then serve on rolls with the barbeque sauce of your choice. We added a slice of provolone cheese with it.

This came out very sweet with just a mild tang. The vinegar smell during cooking was quite strong, so I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't taste that way. I've had some pulled pork that is very vinegary and I really don't like it prepared that way.

The other white meat

So I've started to branch out. I'm not a beef girl, and I can say quite truthfully that in the 9 1/2 years we've been married, I've never cooked beef. Up until a year or so ago, I hadn't cooked pork other than bacon or sausage either, but I'm finding that I like a good boneless roast every now and then. My kids love it too. Any time I make it, it's bound to get rave reviews from the peanut gallery. I happened to buy a tray of several boneless pork chops at Sam's Club a few weeks ago and wasn't really sure what to do with them. I improvised. It came out pretty darn good. Slightly overcooked since Alan got home a half an hour late and my baby was screaming at the top of her lungs because of her sore ears, but that's easy enough to overcome. If I hadn't had said screaming baby attached to my hip at serving time, I would have loosened up the pan drippings with a bit of apple juice to serve over the meat as a sauce. Then it would have been perfect. I did serve cinnamon apples on the side, which are not pictured, and they were a great accompaniment. Use your imagination and follow the recipe. First, I lightly rubbed the inside of my dutch oven with vegetable oil and turned my oven on to 325 to preheat. Next, chop up the following veggies and make the yummy marinade.

1 large yam, peeled and cut into chunks
5-6 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch long chunks
5-6 shallots, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled

3 T. apple cider vinegar
3 T. honey
2 T. brown sugar
3 T. oil (olive or vegetable)
several grinds each of sea salt and pepper

Pour about 3/4 of the marinade over the veggies and toss them to coat. Scooch the veggies into a ring to make a nice little spot in the middle for two boneless pork chops. The ones I used were just over an inch thick. Lay them down and pour the remaining marinade over the top. Lay a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme on top of it all and shut the lid.

Looks so artistic, doesn't it? Mmm, dinner. Bake for 70-90 minutes, then flip the chops over so that they can caramelize on the bottom and bake for another 15 or so minutes. I took the cover off for the last part of cooking, and I think that was a mistake. It would have retained moisture better if I'd left it covered. While your chops are finishing up, slice two large apples thinly. I used Jonagolds, one of my favorite apples. Melt 2 T. of butter in a large nonstick skillet, add 2 T. brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon, and stir in the apples. Simmer them over medium low heat until they are nice and soft

The finished product. All the parts of the veggies that were against the bottom had a lovely caramelized finish - my very favorite part. Like I said at the beginning, the apples on the side were perfect, and using a 1/3 cup or so of apple juice to loosen up the yummy bits on the bottom (after you take the veggies and meat out) would be a great sauce to finish this off. Next time! The chops were tender (one of my big complaints with prior experiences with pork and beef), and we wound up butterflying the chops to split between all of us. We're not huge meat eaters, so the portion sizes suit us well. The kids were happy and so was Alan. Two thumbs up from us.

Sweet Pork Salsa Enchiladas

I managed to snag this picture before Alan swiped the last one out of the pan. My kids aren't ever very big fans of enchiladas in general (I usually make green chile chicken ones), but they both gave this recipe 2 thumbs up and even ate the leftover pork in quesadillas and dippped in BBQ sauce the next day. Plan ahead so that the meat has plenty of time to slow cook.

2-2 1/2 pound boneless pork roast

3 cups mild or medium salsa, divided (I used mild in deference to young taste buds)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

8 soft taco size flour tortillas

Spray a crock pot with PAM and toss the roast in. Mix 2 cups of salsa with the sugar and pour over the roast. Cook on low for 4-5 hours, shred with forks and replace in the crockpot for another 30-60 minutes so that the flavor is fully absorbed from the salsa.

Spray a 9x13 pan with PAM and lay out the tortillas. Sprinkle 1/4 of cheese, a couple tablespoons of beans and 1/2 cup of pork down the middle of each one and roll up. Lay in the pan seam side down, then lightly mist with PAM. Spread the remaining cup of salsa down the middle of the enchiladas, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Serve with diced avocado, fresh tomato, sprigs of cilantro and sour cream if desired.

Slow cooker Pork Roast

I'm new to cooking pork, and I have a very limited repertoire of crock pot recipes so I was pleasantly surprised at how well this came out. My kids both loved it, too, which is double bonus points for me. Anything I can make that the whole family will eat without complaining, well, that's just a happy day.

2-3 shallots, sliced into 1/4 thick rings (may substitute a small mild onion)
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 handfuls of baby carrots
3 redskin potatoes, cut into 2 inch chunks
1 yam, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
2.5-3 pound boneless pork loin roast
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
1 long sprig fresh rosemary
1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour

Spray the crockpot with cooking spray (makes cleanup so much easier!!) and layer the vegetables in the bottom. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper and about half the rosemary leaves. Lay the pork roast on top, sprinkle it with salt, pepper and brown sugar and put the remaining rosemary leaves on top. Cook on low for 6 hours or until done. Use a turkey baster to slurp out the cooking juices. In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour to form a thick paste. Gradually stir in the cooking juices and simmer until thickened. You may add more water, salt and pepper depending on your personal gravy preferences. This roast just fell apart as I was cutting it because it was so tender...yummy!