stuffed pork chops

i just love these.  use a really sharp cheddar and a slightly sour apple.  from cooks.com.

ingredients

3 thick sliced pork chops
2 slices bread
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. thyme
1-2 tbsp. raisins
1/2 med. apple, cored and chopped
1/8 c. or less shredded cheddar cheese
1-2 tbsp. orange juice, apple juice, or cranberry juice
Salt and black pepper to taste
Pam or other spray vegetable oil

 

directions 

Cut a pocket into pork chops; trim off fat. Salt and pepper inside pocket. Cube the bread into small pieces and put in baking dish. Add butter. Place in preheating oven until butter is melted. Toss bread and butter; pour into small bowl. Sprinkle with nutmeg and thyme. Add raisins, chopped apple, cheese and juice; toss together. Stuff pork chops, place in baking pan. Spray with vegetable cooking oil. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour. Serves 2 adults and 2 children.

a different kind of meatloaf

in all our nine years of marriage i have never once made meatloaf because i remember him telling me when we were engaged that he didn't care for it.  this version, however, gained his and my children's approval.  

you can make it with pork or turkey.  i used turkey and substituted the fresh parsley, salt and italian seasoning with harry and david's turkey rub.  it's from everyday food magazine.

ingredients

1 1/2 lb ground pork or turkey
2 C thawed frozen hash browns
1 large carrot, shredded
1 small onion, shredded
1/4 C parsley, roughly chopped
2 large egg whites
2 t coarse salt
3/4 t pepper
2 t italian seasoning

directions

mix everything together.  transfer to a parchment-lined loaf pan and form into a loaf.  bake @ 350 until golden brown, about 1 hour.  serve with your favorite gravy.

spicy mustard and honey pork chops

i love this recipe because it's so fast, easy and delicious! dinner in 30 minutes.

preheat oven to 375. spray the bottom of your baking dish with cooking spray. arrange pork chops in the dish. brush spicy brown mustard over the meat (be generous). then sprinkle with dried onions. then drizzle with honey. bake for about 30 minutes or so.

3 for 1 Meal Meat

As distasteful as the title sounds, this is actually awesome for future fast dinners. Make pulled pork sandwiches, enchiladas, and chili burros from 1 roast. (This can be done from a pork or beef roast.)

Start by making pulled pork sandwiches:

1 rump roast or shoulder roast - 5-8 lbs
1 bottle of BBQ or seasoning sauce (I used Lawry's baja chipotle marinade)
1 8-oz can of tomato sauce

Trim the fat from the roast. Put it in the slow cooker for 7 hours, along with most of the bottle of marinade. After 7 hours take the roast out, and cut it off the bone if necessary (my bone just fell out, the meat was so tender) and use 2 forks to shred the meat. You can also trim/remove any fatty bits at this time. Return it all to the slow cooker, add the tomato sauce to thicken the juices a bit. Cook it 30-60 minutes more.

Serve as pulled pork sandwiches by slicing ciabatta or rolls in half, and slathering with the meat.

Then freeze any meat that you don't want to use as pulled pork sandwich leftovers. Before freezing divide it into 2-3 containers for easy thaw out.

For enchiladas:

1 can of enchilada sauce
-or-
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup flour
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
oregano
cumin
garlic
diced onion or dried onion
salt
pepper
1 container frozen meat left over from pulled pork sandwiches
corn tortillas
grated cheese

Heat a saucepan to medium. Add the olive oil. When the olive oil is warm, add the chili powder. Toast the chili powder in the oil, but don't burn it. You should be able to smell a difference between untoasted and toasted, it will become more savory and rich. When it smells toasted, add the flour (this prevents it from burning). Mix it all together, and then dump in the tomato sauce. Fill the can with water and add, twice. Then add the seasonings. I usually put several shakes of each into the sauce. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. The sauce will thicken. After stirring during the boil for 2 minutes, turn it down and let it simmer for 20 minutes with the lid partially on.

To compile you can either do 2 things: add 1/2 cup olive oil to a frying pan and soft-fry the tortillas for easy roll up, or make a casserole. To soft fry the tortillas, put them in hot oil for about a minute (not long enough to turn hard like tostadas) and transfer to a dish with 1/4 cup sauce on the bottom. Add a spoonful of meat, a spoonful of sauce, some cheese, and roll. Continue until the pan is full or you are out of meat. Cover the tops with sauce, cheese, and green onion if you like. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered at 325.

For the casserole: Use a pizza cutter to slice the corn tortillas, straight out of the package, into 1.5 inch strips. Put some sauce in the bottom of your dish, and layer the tortilla slices on top of it. Then repeat layers of sauce, meat, cheese, tortilla until the dish is full or you are out of meat. Make sure the top has sauce, cheese, and chopped green onion if desired. Bake, covered, at 325 for 40 minutes.

For chili burros:

1 container frozen meat left over from pulled pork sandwiches
flour tortillas
grated cheese,
can diced tomato
chopped onion
chopped bellpepper
can of green chilies

Heat the meat, tomato, onion, bellpepper, and green chilies up together on the stove. If you think it needs thickening, add some tomato sauce. When it is all hot and mixed together compile the burros:
On an open tortilla put a spoonful of the mixture down the middle. Sprinkle with cheese. Roll up.

Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole on top.

Potato Flakes Recipe 2: Crispy Potato Flakes Pork Chops

2/3 cup potato flakes, instant
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoon milk
4 medium pork chops
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray pan with nonstick spray.

Wash pork chops; set aside.

Beat egg and milk together. Place potato flakes in shakable container. Dip pork chops in egg mixture, then into potato flakes. Lay in pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle paprika on top to brown. Bake approximately 45 minutes or until done.

**Cover for first 1/2 of baking time and then take the cover off. Leaving it on the whole time will make it too soggy; leaving it uncovered the whole time will make the meat tough.

Delicious Pot Roast

Ingredients:
1. pot roast, pork or beef variety
2. dijon mustard.


Smear the mustard (about 4 tablespoons) across the top and bottom of the pot roast. Place the pot roast in a pan that does not lose moisture. Put tin foil across the pan under the lid if necessary. Place in oven and cook for 5 hours at 250 degrees. If desired add vegetables for last 2 and 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and let stand 20 minutes. Serve.

(I made this today and just left the oven on while we went to church. It turned out great and was ready to eat as soon as we got home. Wondeful.)

ribs, barley pilaf and spiced red cabbage

tonight we had yummy dinner. i thought i'd share.

OVEN-BARBECUED RIBS
this is a recipe i got out of a book my mother-in-law gave me when we got married. i haven't tried this recipe before. i've had better sauce, but this was still tasty enough. p.s. don't actually eat the lemon, it's just for added flavor.

3-4 lbs spare ribs in pieces
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced

salt ribs; place in shallow roasting pan, meaty side up. roast @ 450 about 30 min. Drain excess fat. top each piece of ribs with a slice of lemon and onion.

basting sauce

1 C ketchup
1/3 C wor. sauce
1 tsp salt
2 dashes tabasco sauce
1 1/2 C water

bring sauce to a boil and pour over ribs. lower temp to 350 and bake til well done, basting every 15 min, about 1 1/2 hours.

BARLEY MUSHROOM PILAF
i got this recipe from barleyfoods.org i added some pieces of steamed asparagus--i thought steamed spinach would have been good, too--and some great northern beans as well. hearty. i might experiment with it next time to spice it up a bit, but it was still yummy. p.s. i would saute the green onions on their own and add them after the barley is cooked.

1/2 cup sliced fresh button mushrooms
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup pearl barley
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in saucepan; add mushrooms and sauté until limp. Add barley, broth, green onion and rosemary. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 45 minutes or until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over pilaf and serve. Makes 4 servings.

SPICED RED CABBAGE
this is from rachel ray. i really like this recipe. i've mixed it up in the past by also adding a bit of brown sugar and some golden raisins. it's good either way.

1 small or 1/2 large head red cabbage, shredded
2 tablespoons EVOO
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 teaspoons paprika
1 cup apple cider or juice
1/4 cup grainy mustard

Heat a large skillet with 2 tablespoons oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add cabbage, caraway, paprika, salt and pepper, cook stirring occasionally 2 to 5 minutes, until tender. Stir the apple cider or juice together with mustard and pour over red cabbage. Stir to combine 1 minute then turn off heat.

what did YOU have for dinner?