Pork Carnitas

I love it when I find a meal to make where I can utilize my Dutch Oven.  You know it's gonna be good if you break out the Dutch Oven.

Give yourself a little time to make this meal, you won't be sorry.  The meat just falls apart and is SO flavorful.

This was my first attempt at making Pork Carnitas but I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Luckily I found the recipe with enough to get dinner on the table, but that was pure luck.  Allow yourself about 3.5 hours from start to finish.  There aren't a lot of steps and it's very easy to put together.  That slow cooking time is essential for tender meat.

My husband loved this one!

Pork Carnitas

Recipe from My Kitchen Escapades

Ingredients

• 4 pounds boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 whole onion, peeled and halved
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 cups water
• 1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves

Directions

1. preheat the oven to 300º, adjust your oven racks so your Dutch Oven will fit in the lower half. 
2. In a Dutch Oven, add all of the ingredients including the used orange halves. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat with the cover off. 
3. Put the cover on and place in the oven for about 2 hours or until the meat is falls apart when you pull at it with a fork. 
4. Remove from the oven and turn the broiler on. 
5. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and place on a foil lined jelly roll pan or a cookie sheet with sides. 
6. Discard everything else that was in the Dutch Oven except for the cooking liquid. 
7. Return the Dutch Oven and the cooking liquid to the stove top and boil on high heat until the liquid thickens and you have about 1 cup of it. 
8. Meanwhile, use two forks to pull eat meat chunk into three pieces.  Place under the broiler and cook until the edges begin to get crisp, then flip the pieces over and follow the same process until that side has begun to crisp as well. 
9. Once the meat has crisped up and the liquid has reduced you can combine them together and serve. 
10. I served mine over brown rice. It is more traditional to serve in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings. 

Top 5 of 2014

#5 Ruth's Chris New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp came in at number 5 for the year.  Hard to go wrong with this recipe, if you are a shrimp lover this is a great recipe to try. 

#4  Homemade Jerky Marinade.  I seriously make this recipe all the time!  It's unusual for me to make the same recipe over and over again and not change anything but this is one that I don't mess with. Great flavor without being too spicy. 

#3  S'mores Cookie Bars are a favorite for so many people.  The bar itself is perfectly chewy and with the addition of the chocolate and marshmallows on top you just can't go wrong.

#2  Crock-Pot Pork Chops are so easy to throw together and let your slow cooker do the work.  The meat comes out so tender and delicious.

#1  Lemon Velvet Cake is just scrumptious.  Perfectly lemony and perfect for the summer.


Thanks for all your support these past years!  I am looking forward to seeing what the New Year brings.

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese

How is your week going so far? Mine is busy but I'm very happy to get out and enjoy the nice fall weather. The leaves are just starting to turn and the nights are cool.  It makes me happy.

Time to start breaking out some of the recipes I've been wanting to try.  This one is also compliant with my diet so it's a win win.

I've tried spaghetti squash in the past and just didn't like it that much, but this time I really enjoyed it.  I'm glad I tried it again.  My husband is a big squash eater and he ranked this one up there with his favorite butternut squash.

Spaghetti squash is sort of a pain to cut in half.  I wish I could give you some ideas about how to make it easier but I struggled with it myself.  Luckily you only have to cut this one in half lengthwise and then you're done. I especially loved the bolognese.  Full of big flavors that melded together perfectly.  Great, healthy dinner that feels like you're splurging.  Definitely a keeper.

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese
Recipe from Practical Paleo page 280

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash
• sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp bacon fat or butter
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 large carrot, finely diced
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
• 3 oz (half a small can) tomato paste
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
• sea salt and black pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375º
2. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and clean out the seeds from the middle.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and lay face down on a baking sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes.  It's done when the the flesh can easily be pulled away from the skin. Place the cooked spaghetti squash in a bowl and set aside until the bolognese is done. 
3. While the squash is cooking, start the bolognese. 
4. In a large skillet, add the bacon fat or butter to the pan, then add the diced onion, carrots and celery.  Cook until the vegetables are slightly translucent and beginning to become tender.  Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. 
5. Add the beef, pork and bacon and cook until browned. 
6. Add the coconut milk and tomato paste (and white wine if using). 
7. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes.  Taste and then add salt and pepper as needed. 
8. To serve, add some spaghetti squash "noodles" to a dish and top with the bolognese. 

Crock-Pot Pork Chops

If you like garlic you're going to love this recipe.  If not, you can always cut back or exclude the garlic altogether.  I love crock-pot recipes because you basically can set it in the morning and then just eat when you're ready in the evening.

The sauce is always my favorite part of a recipe.  I like something on everything, It's hard for me to eat a plain piece of chicken.  Cooking in a crack-pot also helps with the moistness of the meat.  I don't eat very many pork chops because they all end up to dry for me when cooked traditionally.  Not true in a crock-pot though, very moist and the meat just falls right off the bone.

There was plenty of leftover sauce so if you serve this one up with some egg noodles, rice or some bread it would be delicious!

Crock-Pot Pork Chops

Recipe from Key Ingredient

Ingredients

• 7-8 pork chops, bone-in, frozen
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/3 cup honey

Cooking Directions

1. Sprinkle the pork chops with some dry rub or some Chicken Montreal Seasoning. Place in the crock-pot.
2. Mix the other ingredients together in a small bowl and then pour over the pork chops.
3. Cook on high for 3 hours, then low for the last hour.
4. The last 15 minutes of cooking time, mix together 2 Tbsp of corn starch into 1/2 cup of cold water. Remove the pork chops to a plate and then pour in the cornstarch mixture, stir and then add the pork chops back in. The sauce will thicken.

Balsamic Pork Chops

I can't believe it's Monday already.  It's hard to come back from a four day weekend, am I right? We had a relaxing 4th.  Barbecue's, fireworks, friends and rain....well not constant rain but definitely more then I've ever seen in July here before. But between all that rain we had fun!

My husband was actually home for the 4th this year so that was very nice.

The only thing I'm not quite sure about is when the fireworks actually stop being set off.  I mean, it's a given that they'll be out in full force on the night of the 4th and perhaps even the next night but I've been hearing them each night since.  Just wondering.

I made these pork chops last week before the holiday and they were delicious.

The balsamic isn't overpowering so if you're not a fan you should still give these a try.  It just added a nice little background flavor. You can never have enough background flavor if you ask me.  Great meal for a busy weeknight. We didn't bother with the rice and just had some veggies on the side but I'm sure the rice would be a great way to soak up all that glorious sauce! I'll try that next time.

Balsamic Pork Chops

Recipe from MyRecipes

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 6 boneless pork chops
• 2 Tbsp butter or margarine
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 1 (14.5 oz can) chicken broth
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. In a medium bowl combine the flour, rosemary, salt and pepper. 
2. Dredge the pork chops in the flour mixture. 
3. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and melt the butter and olive oil. 
4. Add the garlic and sauté briefly, then add the pork chops. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown (they do not need to be fully cooked at this point). 
5. Remove the pork chops and add the broth and vinegar.  Reduce by half. 
6. Add the pork chops back into the pan and cook until done, about 5 minutes. 
7. Serve over rice and garnish with rosemary if desired.

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork Shoulder

Happy Monday!  

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Our weekend was pretty laid back and relaxed.  I didn't even bake anything!  That's shocking for me.  I am trying to gear up for the upcoming big game however and in doing so I found this recipe for Pork Shoulder that I hadn't published yet.  

I've been saving it for this week, just in case you are looking for some good game food. 

I have to tell you, I gobbled this up.  I'm a huge vinegar fan and this pork shoulder is marinated in vinegar overnight so it's infused with that wonderful flavor.  Serve it with or without your favorite barbecue sauce because it's so full of flavor that it isn't really necessary. 

Make sure to give yourself a day ahead of time for prepping since this does require an overnight soak in vinegar and water.  

I loved how the meat just fell apart, I didn't have to do much "pulling".  I also loved the vinegar flavor but if you would rather tone it down a bit you might want to do 50/50 water and vinegar. This pulled pork was the perfect flavor for a pulled pork sandwich in my opinion and the leftovers didn't last long in our house.  
 

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork Shoulder

Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 3 lb pork shoulder
• 4 cups water, warm (110 degree's F)
• 8 cups white vinegar
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp dry mustard
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 12 cup brown sugar, packed

Cooking Directions

1. In the ceramic bowl of your slow cooker, add the pork and the vinegar and water. Cover the pork completely. If these measurements don't cover your roast just keep adding water and vinegar in the 2 to 1 ratio until it is covered.
2. Place the lid on the dish and put it in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.
3. Remove from the refrigerator and drain off enough liquid so that there is about 1/2 inch of meat uncovered.
4. Mix the seasonings and brown sugar together in a bowl and then pour it over the exposed meat.
5. Turn your slow cooker on high and cook for 8-10 hours.
6. Remove from the slow cooker, shred and throw away any obvious fat.
7. Serve with your favorite bbq sauce, or not.

Country-Style Pork Medallions

My husband picked this recipe out of one of my new cookbooks so you can thank him for the reprieve from sugar.  We're both trying to eat healthier these days which is not an easy task when we're all surrounded by Girl Scout Cookies!  I have a bag of them in my freezer right now that I somehow get into every night.  I can't help it.  It would be rude of me not to eat them right? For the children's sake that is.  Poor little Girl Scouts....see I can convince myself of anything if I really try.

But I digress.  My husband and I both really enjoyed this recipe.  He enjoyed it for the pork and I enjoyed the rest of it.  We're a good team in that regard.  Just like when we eat pizza, I just throw my crusts on his plate and he takes care of them for me.  Isn't that nice?

Why can't I focus?

OK, let's try this again. 

This recipe is pretty simple to make and can be ready pretty quickly.  Perfect for a busy week night meal. I didn't pound out the pork like it instructs below.  I'm a rebel like that.

See all that cream sauce in the picture?  Yeah, we didn't use even a 1/4 of that.  The sauce is good, don't get me wrong.  I just didn't think this recipe needed to be swimming in it.

Your call though.

Country-Style Pork Medallions
Taste of Home "Contest Winning Annual Recipes 2011" page 133


2 pork tenderloins (1 pound each)
6 Tbsp butter, divided
2 small onions, sliced and separated into rings
3/4 pound small fresh mushrooms
2 small apples, cored and cut into rings

Apple Cream Sauce: (I recommend cutting this recipe in half, below is the full recipe)
1 cup apple cider or juice
1 pkg (8 ounces) cream cheese
1/4 cup apple brandy or additional apple cider
1 tsp dried basil

Cut the pork into 1/2 inch slices and then flatten to 1/4 inch thickness. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook pork in batches in 2 Tbsp butter until juices run clear. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
Continue with the remaining pork.

In the same skillet, saute the onions and mushrooms in 2 Tbsp butter until they begin to get tender. Add the apples and saute for another 3-5 minutes or until the apples are tender. Arrange over the pork.

In a saucepan add the cider and cream cheese and cook over medium heat, whisking until smooth. Stir in the brandy or apple cider/juice and basil; heat through. Serve alongside the pork and vegetables.

Baked Pork Chops

I'm always on the lookout for a new pork chop recipe.  Mostly because I'm not a huge pork chop fan, I like them OK but it goes back to my general dislike for white meat (which I'm trying to overcome).  If I'm going to have white meat I need it to be buried in some sort of gravy or chopped into really small pieces. I know, I'm weird.

I found this recipe at allrecipes.com and I'm a fan already.  I love the creamy sauce and the fact that it uses a little bit of wine for a special flavor.  The recipe calls for 6 pork chops but I only used two and I didn't decrease the sauce at all.  It was yummy, I'll be making it again.

Baked Pork Chops
recipe from AllRecipes.com here

6 pork chops (I used 2)

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 2 egg, beaten (I used 1 egg)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used a couple of Tbsp's)
• 2 cups Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs (I used 1 cup)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil (I used 2)
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup white wine

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Season the pork chops on both sides with the garlic powder and seasoning salt.  In a small dish add the egg, in a separate dish put the flour and in a third dish put the bread crumbs.  

In a large skillet add the oil and heat over medium heat.  Take the pork chop and dip in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs and place in the skillet. Cook for for about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to a baking dish (I used an 8x8) but for six chops use a 9x13 and cover with foil. 
Bake for 1 hour.  I baked my two chops for 45 minutes and they were perfect. 

Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl add the soup, milk and wine.  Whisk until smooth.  Set aside. 

Halfway through cooking the chops, take out and pour the sauce over the top then replace the foil and cook for the remaining time.   

Apricot-Glazed Ham Loaf

I'm sick of Turkey.  I now realize why I usually only have a full turkey once a year.  First of all I can clearly not judge how big of a turkey to make for 4 adults.  An 18.5 pound turkey might have been a bit more than we needed.  On the bright side, I have frozen enough to last me all year so maybe that's why I made so much.

Either way, bring on ANY other kind of meat.  I just bought a new cooking "magazine" from the store.  It's from Better Homes and Gardens and it's all about Holiday cooking.  I was surprised to see this Ham Loaf recipe in there.  To be honest I don't even know what a ham loaf is, what I do know is that it's not turkey and so I'm on board with it.

This recipe seemed pretty straight forward.  I was a little leery of the apricots being used not only in the loaf but also in the glaze on top of it but now that I've had it I wouldn't want it any other way.  The apricots really bring out the flavors of the ham and add a nice little variation in texture that I loved.  My husband loved it, my daughter wouldn't touch it.  Don't go by her, she won't touch anything.

You start out with some pre-cooked ham, cut up into pieces.

Use a food processor to grind it up into small pieces.  While your food processor is out, just go ahead and chop the bread for the soft bread crumbs (I used two slices) the apricots (after I'd cut them into pieces), and the onion so my hands wouldn't smell.

In a large bowl add all of the ingredients and mix together with your hands until well combined.

Shape the mixture into a loaf about 9x5 inches.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45-60 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Brush several times with the apricot glaze during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Great flavors!  I'm so glad I tried it and I'll be making it again for a nice change up to regular meatloaf.

Recipe from "Better Homes and Gardens" Holiday Recipes 2011

Apricot-Glazed Ham Loaf:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
3 Tbsp unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound ground fully cooked ham
1 pound ground pork
2/3 cup snipped dried apricots
1 recipe Apricot Glaze

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups apricot preserves
3 Tbsp unsweetened pineapple juice
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients and mix well with your hands.  Shape the mixture into a 9x5 loaf in a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Make the glaze by combining all the ingredients into a small bowl and mix together well.  Cook on medium low heat until bubbly.  Divide the mixture in half and use one half to glaze with and the other half to serve with the loaf.  During the last 10 minutes of cooking, brush the reserved half of the glaze over the top several times. 

Polynesian Pork Chops

My husband loves pork chops, me not so much. It's not that I don't like pork chops it's just that I'm not that fond of white meat in general. It always seems dry no matter what. But, since I can't keep my family from eating white meat I need to find ways to prepare it that make me happy also. This usually includes a gravy of sorts and that makes my hubby VERY happy since he could pretty much eat anything with gravy on it. I found two thick cut bone-in pork chops, seasoned them with salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides and browned them in a skillet with some olive oil.



I think I browned them for about 5 minutes on each side. Oh, and pre-heat your oven to 350 please although this entire dish can be done in the skillet. While those brown, cut up one medium onion. Cut them however you like, I did those half moon cuts. Once the pork chops are brown on both sides, move them to a dish and add the onions to the skillet. Cook the onions until translucent.



Now mix together the all the other ingredients excluding the rice.



Put the pork chops in an oven proof dish, or leave in your skillet if it's oven proof. Add the onions on top, then the sauce mixture on top of that. Cook for 30 minutes.



While the chops are in the oven, cook your rice or noodles, or mashed potatoes, all of these would be yummy with these chops. I was very happy with how these pork chops turned out. They were juicy and since this recipe is really meant for four pork chops we had plenty of gravy to mix in with the rice. I hope you'll give this a try.

This is a Campbell's Soup Recipe that I modified slightly, below is the actual recipe:

4 boneless pork chops 3/4" thick
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp veg. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can Golden Mushroom Soup
1/4 c. water
1 can pineapple chunks (I used tidbits cause that's what I had)
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 c. cooked rice
Sliced green onions for garnish (optional)