Sage Cubed

Another brined pork recipe that was amazing! And sage makes an appearance in all three dishes! We have the leftover Pumpkin Sage Alfredo Pasta form last night, roasted maple-sage root veggies, and a sage brined pork chop. All were amazing. I was a little worried about the sauce but it turned out to be a delicious combination, don't skip it!

Pork Chops with Squash and Sage

(adapted from the Food Network)

Ingredients:

Kosher salt
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
12 fresh sage leaves
4 bone-in pork loin chops (3/4 to 1 inch thick)
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise (I added some turnip too)

2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Directions:
1. Combine 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 4 sage leaves in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add 5 cups cold water. Submerge the pork chops in the brine and refrigerate for a couple hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Chop 3 sage leaves; set aside. Toss the remaining 5 sage leaves with the squash, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and sprinkle of salt. Spread on a baking sheet and roast until tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the pork and pat dry. Add to the skillet and cook until a meat thermometer inserted sideways into the center registers 140 degrees F, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Divide among 4 plates.
5. Add the chicken broth and the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar to the skillet; simmer, stirring, until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, the reserved chopped sage, and salt to taste. Drizzle the pork with the sauce and serve with the squash.

A Must Make Dinner!

Instead of new recipes today we have two must try repeats!

Maple-Rosemary Brined Pork Chops

Maple Roasted Root Veggies & Squash

The pork delicious, amazing, and oh so tender! Mr. Lawyer started the brining process this morning, if you've never brined anything before give it a try! I highly recommend this recipe because the flavor is so amazing. It is divine! It was the perfect recipe to break in our new cast iron skillet.

For the roasted veggies I diced up a combination of butternut squash, carrots, and turnips for the veggies. There is nothing like roasted veggies! I love the little caramelized bits around the edges. The colors were very vibrant and candy corn themed.

Our fall themed tablescape featuring the cool hues of Plum and Lapis, fall leaf inspired napkins, and a beautiful centerpiece made with leftover wedding flowers.

I love my gurgle pot. It doubles as a great vase. So cute!

MAKE THE BRINED PORK!

Apple & Maple Pork Chops!

Due to some overzealous pick your own apple shenanigans we have an overabundance of apples (although the pie did put a nice dent in them). I was flipping through my fall magazines when I saw this gem: Pork Chops with Maple Apples. I had two pork chops, an abundance of apples, and I love maple...what could go wrong? Absolutely nothing!

This recipe was divine. The sweetness of the apples with the onions and pork was amazing. While I was cooking I panicked that one pork chop wasn't going to be enough for the manly Mr. Lawyer so I threw a couple of frozen hash browns into another pan. In my wedding addled brain (we were yelling back and forth about tux pick ups over the sizzling of the pans) I rationalized "pork and potatoes, latkes and applesauce, soooo apple pork chops and hashbrowns!". It was completely random but totally delicious. This is definitely a make again recipe. It was so good that I started eating it before I got a decent picture.

A weird but delicious combination!

I swear there are pork chops under the apples!

Sizzling away.

Pork Chops with Maple Apples

(adapted from Better Homes & Gardens Magazine)

Ingredients:
2 boneless pork chops, 3/4" inches
Salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 apple, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, cut into thin wedges
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light whipping cream
2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons snipped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Directions:
1. Trim excess fat from chops. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pork chops. Cook for 8 to 12 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking. Remove from skillet. Cover with foil. Let stand 3 minutes.
2. Add apples, onion, and garlic to skillet. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

3. Add apple juice. Cook about 4 minutes more or until most liquid has evaporated and apples are crisp-tender. Put pork chops back in pan with apple mixture. 

4. Stir together whipping cream, maple syrup, and thyme. Pour over pork and apples in skillet. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through and sauce starts to thicken. 

5. Remove from heat and serve!

Big Kid Dinner

Before I ran off to the shore for the week I made Mr. Lawyer a real dinner with sides and everything! The delicious Modenese Pork Chops made an appearance along with my favorite Farmer's Market Squash Saute. For something on the starchy side I tried a new potato recipe. "Crash Hot Potatoes" involve boiling the little spuds first, followed by smashing them, and finally baking them. You have the freedom to season them with whatever herbs you have on hand which is a bonus. I liked them because you get fluffy baked potato bits but you also get these nice crunchy bits. I see more of these little spuds in our future!

A little "Mise en place" going on.

 Modenese Pork Chops...who doesn't love a recipe that calls for opening a bottle of wine?

 Crispy bits and fluffy bits all at once!

Big kid dinner plate!

Crash Hot Potatoes

(from the Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:
12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Kosher Salt To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste
Directions:
1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.
2. On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
3. With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
4. Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)
5.Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown

Creole Pulled Pork

I do love a good crock pot recipe that will feed you for days. I combined this crock pot love with my current obsession with creole seasoning and boom! Not cooking for at least three more days. I went with a five pound piece of meat and let it cook a smidgen longer. I swapped out the mix of paprika/salt/pepper for Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and added a lot more than the recipe called for both before the cooking and after the meat shredding. It's not a saucy bbq but that's good because you can have it plain with the creole spices or customize it by added the desired amount of bbq sauce to your sandwich. I topped it off with asiago cheese and some spicy sriracha coleslaw (just add the desired amount of sriracha to mayo and throw in the shredded veggies). It's been a big hit and I haven't heard Mr. Lawyer complain about being hungry all weekend.

Creole Seasoned Pulled Pork

(from the Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon molasses
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons paprika (or replace spices with creole seasoning)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 3-to-4-pound boneless pork shoulder
2 links andouille sausage
1/3 cup mayonnaise
8 soft sesame buns
Pickle slices and potato chips, for serving
Directions:
1. Whisk 1.5 cups water, the vinegar, ketchup, 1/4 cup mustard, the molasses and 1 tablespoon brown sugar in a 7-to-8-quart slow cooker.
2. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar, the paprika, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl or use an equal amount of creole seasoning. Rub all over the pork, then add to the slow cooker along with the sausage. Cover and cook on low, 8 hours.
3. Remove the pork and sausage and set aside to cool slightly. Skim off the excess fat from the cooking liquid, then strain into a large skillet and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by one-third, about 15 minutes.
4. Shred the pork with a fork and coarsely chop the sausage. Toss the pork and sausage with enough of the reduced cooking liquid to moisten; season with salt or add more creole seasoning (I think I added in between 1 to 2 tablespoons).
5. Whisk the mayonnaise and the remaining 2 tablespoons mustard in a small bowl; spread on the buns. Fill with the pulled pork and pickle slices. Serve with potato chips.

Yummy Dino Ribs!

Yummm....to die for rib sandwich. Love it. The other month I picked up a bunch of country-style (boneless) ribs for super cheap, almost two pounds for 3 bucks! I decided that the crockpot was the best bet and I don't regret it  at all. I used Dinosaur Roasted Garlic Honey BBQ Sauce, nothing like a taste of home! I pulled the ribs from the crockpot and did a rough shred, more of a chunking actually, before piling it on an Amoroso's roll and drizzling more sauce over it. I topped it all off with some homemade coleslaw that was requested by Mr. Lawyer. It was a hit. The cool crunch of the coleslaw was amazing with the hot pork. I just had a leftover sandwich and it was still amazing. I want more!

Crockpot Barbecue Pork Ribs

(adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker)

Ingredients:

2 pounds country-style pork ribs

1 small yellow onion, sliced

1 cup favorite bbq sauce

Directions:

1. Layer the ribs, onions, and sauce in the crockpot.

2. Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours.

3. Remove and shred if desired, drizzle with more sauce.

Kitchen Fail!

I couldn't figure out what was wrong with this recipe it seemed so promising but the flavor wasn't there. Don't get me wrong, it was perfectly fine to eat but it just didn't pop. Then I looked over the list again and realized I forgot to put in the brown sugar. Whomp whomp. Being that we're on this whole clean eating kick and significantly reducing our sugar and unhealthy processed food consumption, Mr. Lawyer wouldn't let me add the sugar in at the end. So we just added some Dinosaur BBQ sauce to fix it up a bit....not that much more healthy right? I have a feeling that if done correctly this would be a good recipe...if you choose to leave the brown sugar out it's merely "meh".

So this whole healthy eating kick makes for boring blogging. We've been eating a lot of meals we know are healthy (like the veggie soup) and repeats (tonight: leftover pork with a side of roasted chickpeas!). Snooze. On the plus side I'm not craving a ton of sugar which means no baking and consuming an entire batch of cookies....but again boring blogging, my apologies. I'm hoping to experiment with some healthy carbs and more veggie dishes once I get organized. Actually I just want to eat refried beans and roasted chickpeas all week but that's also boring.

Bourbon BBQ Crock Pot Pulled Pork

(Pinterest!)

Ingredients
2 lb. pork shoulder
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup bourbon
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 large onion, sliced
Directions:
1. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Brown the pork on all sides and place in slow cooker. Add onions.
2. Mix the dark brown sugar, bourbon, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, and ketchup. Pour over the pork and onion mixture.
3. Set the slow cooker to low and cook the pork mixture for 8 hours. At the end of 8 hours, remove the pork let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
4. Using an immersion blender, blend the onions and the sauce to a smooth mixture.
5. Shred the pork and mix some of the sauce with the shredded pork. Serve with extra sauce if requested.

Maple-Brined Pork

Tonight was my turn to say "mmmm...I'll keep you!" Mr. Lawyer made an amazing maple-brined pork loin and it was well worth the wait! We had never brined anything before and it was amazing. So soft, tender, and moist. The flavors were amazing: rosemary, sweet maple, dijon. Yum. Definitely a keeper recipe! I also recommend deglazing the bottom of the pan and adding that yummy dijon-maple glaze to your finished dish.

Maple-Brined Pork Loin

(from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 quart cold water
1/4 cup salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (2 1/2 pound) boneless pork loin roast
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Directions:
1. Mix water, salt, 1/3 cup maple syrup, garlic, ginger, rosemary, black pepper, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Place pork loin in brine mixture and refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours.
2. Remove pork from brine, pat dry, and season all sides with salt and black pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
4. Heat vegetable oil in an oven-proof skillet over high heat. Cook pork, turning to brown each side, about 10 minutes total.
5. Transfer skillet to the oven and roast until pork is browned, about 40 minutes.
6. Mix 2 tablespoons maple syrup and Dijon mustard together in a small bowl.
7. Remove pork roast from the oven and spread maple syrup mixture on all sides. Cook for an additional 15 minutes, until the pork is no longer pink in the center. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 145 degrees F (63 degrees C)

Grad School Staple

Um. Where did the city sky line go? Poor Mr. Lawyer was coming home just as the skies opened up but luckily he grabbed a cab and walked right into a nice warm dinner! This recipe is from one of my Syracuse roommates from when we lived on Buckingham Ave, hence the name. She was always cooking pork chops in various bbq sauces and dressings. It always smelled divine! Plus the minimal ingredients was perfect for a couple of broke grad school girls.  I steamed the carrots and drizzled maple syrup over them just like my dad use to. The perfect hot meal for a rainy stormy evening!

Buckingham Pork Chops

(from the kitchen of Jessie)

Ingredients:

4 pork chops

1/2 cup bbq sauce (I used a brown sugar one)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place pork chops in a oven safe dish, coat with sauce (tops and bottoms!)

3. Bake for 30 minutes covered and then 15 minutes uncovered. If you have thin pork chops reduce the time so they don't get dried out!

Slamming Schnitzel

Mr. Lawyer has been wanting to cook more but we're never home! Today we were finally home alone for the whole entire day. That means someone made a mess in my kitchen! But it was delicious. The pork was tender inside and crispy outside. The mushroom sauce was heavenly. Definitely a keeper. It was good without the sauce so you could omit that to be a bit healthier, maybe top it with some kind of apple slaw/chutney thing. 

Butter Schnitzel

(from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
6 boneless pork loin chops, 3/4 inch thick
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 pound butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
olive oil as needed
Directions:
1. Pound the pork chops with a spiked meat mallet until 1/4 inch thick; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley flakes, salt, and pepper. Press the pork into the crumbs to bread thoroughly; set aside.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the wine and sliced mushrooms. Allow to simmer and cook until the mushrooms have softened, about 10 minutes. Stir together the cornstarch and water, then add to the mushroom sauce. Simmer until the sauce has thickened, then remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the pork cutlets a few at a time until golden brown and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Serve with reserved mushroom sauce.

Holy Rack of Ribs!

Of course I would feel inspired to create meal in which all three dishes required the oven on the hottest day ever. What? It's a "hundred you're gonna die degrees"? Oh no biggie. Just let me make this cornbread, some baked beans, and these ribs that need to be bake for 2.5 hours. Sweet. But it was worth it (well, maybe not the cornbread...). The original recipe called for chipotle sauce which I find to be overpowering in large quantities. We had some Dinosaur BBQ Wango Tango in the cupboard so I used that instead. It's a fiery habanero sauce which oddly enough I don't find overpowering. It paired very well with the spicy rub (for which I used Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, also deliciously fiery). The spiciness was off set by the sweetness of the baked beans. The meat was so soft and fell right off the bone. Very easy to make as long as you have the time to leave it in the oven for a couple of hours.

Smoky Baby Back Ribs

(Adapted from Everyday Food)

Ingredients:
**Makes a double batch of rub, I'd halve this**
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 cup cajun seasoning (I used Tony Chachere's)
3 tablespoons smoked or sweet paprika
1.5 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1.5 teaspoons ground mustard
2 racks baby back pork ribs (2.5 pounds total)
Chipotle Sauce (I used Dinosaur BBQ)
Directions:
1. Depending on how the butcher has trimmed the ribs, there may be a tough, rubbery membrane on the underside. If so, score the meat between the bones and pull membrane away.
2. Combine brown sugar, salt, pepper, cajun seasoning, paprika, cayenne and mustard. Working with one rack at a time, lay a large piece of parchment-lined foil on a work surface, place rack on parchment and liberally coat both sides with rub.
3. Fold tin foil and parchment around ribs, crimping the edges together to form a packet (of the hobo variety!!)
4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place rib packets on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until a knife can pierce meat with no resistance, 2 to 2.5 hours.
5. Remove ribs from oven. Heat broiler. Unwrap ribs, place on sheet, and brush with sauce.
6. Broil until sauce is bubbling and ribs are lightly charred, about 5 minutes, brushing with more sauce if desired.

Holy Rib Monstrosity!

Vietnamese Hoagies

Wow. You may not change one thing about this recipe. Unless you can't find a daikon radish in which case a regular one would suffice. I am madly in love with this dish. I was so excited when I saw this and it didn't disappoint. It's a Vietnamese Banh Mi which is basically a hoagie. Um, two of my favorite things combined?! I love a good sandwich hoagie (which is why Danny's Market is my favorite place back home) and I have a soft spot for almost any type of Asian cuisine. 

Anyway, don't be intimidated by the list of ingredients! It's really not a lot and it's totally work it. I was skeptical of pickling the veggies but they added a nice sweetness to the sandwich to balance out the spicy mayo and jalapenos. Plus it was super easy: pickle veggies, leave for work, come home and bam! We all know I'm a sucker for Sriracha mayo and it was perfect for this dish. The meatballs were divine and reminded me of the filling from some dumplings I've had. Good flavor and sauteing them in the sesame oil adds a little something special.

Pork Meatball Banh Mi

(From Bon Appetit)

Ingredients:
Hot Chili Mayo
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)
Meatballs
1 pound ground pork
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Pickled Veggies
2 cups coarsely grated carrots
2 cups coarsely grated peeled daikon radish (or other radish)
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Sandwiches
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
4 10-inch-long individual baguettes
Thinly sliced jalapeño chiles
16 large fresh cilantro sprigs
Directions:

1. Pickle your veggies an hour in advance. Mix together rice vinegar and sugar. Pour over the carrots and daikon. I kept mine separate so the daikon didn't turn orange. Let them sit at least an hour and then drain the juice.

2. Make your hot chili mayo by combining mayo, hot chili sauce, and green onions. Season with salt to taste.
3. Meatball time! Gently mix all meatball ingredients together, do not over mix! Roll mixture into small one inch meatballs (about a tablespoon of meat), set aside on a tray. These can be made one day ahead and refrigerated.
4. Heat sesame oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Saute meatballs until brown and cooked through, turning often, about 10-15 minutes. You may have to make them in batches depending on the size of your pan.
5. Slice each baguette and pull out some bread from each half. Spread chili mayo on each side. Add jalapenos and cilantro to bottom half. Fill will desired amount of meatballs and top with pickled veggies. Press down the baguette tops and enjoy!

The Condiments!

Spicy Mayo, Daikon, Carrot, Jalapeno, and Cilantro

Spicy Sauce Leftovers!

What's a girl to do with a giant vat of delicious Spicy Hot Tomato Oil?! Why simmer some pork chops in it of course! Mr. Lawyer says he'll keep me. Ha.

Spicy Hot Tomato Pork Chops!

(created in my kitchen)

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless pork chops (mine were thing)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
1-2 cups of spicy tomato oil
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large pan. Meanwhile, season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic.
2. Brown pork chops until just cooked, a few minutes on each side.
3. Add in spicy tomato oil and simmer, simmer, simmer! At least 15-20 minutes. I just left mine go until the boy got home.

Crockpot Thai

Yet another pinterest find! Luckily this recipe came out decently because it started off as a small disaster! I'm getting ready to make it an hour before I leave for work and I thought I had teriyaki sauce. When I went to the cupboard I discovered it was hoisin sauce! Okay fine, I'll make my own. I have a Tyler Florence recipe that is good but it requires 2 oranges. Ah well, we have some orange juice I'll use. NOPE. Someone finished the OJ and didn't tell me. *sighs* Panic! Eh, let's see if these cutie clementines will work. And so my morning went. My afternoon was just as good. Without any time to run to the cheap big grocery store I went to the corner market for tortillas because there was a lot of sauce with this dish and I figured it needed something sturdy. Package of tortillas $5, head of lettuce $1.50. Needless to say I went with lettuce wraps (and rice).

The crockpot all ready to go!

Overall it was pretty good. Mr. Lawyer chowed down a ton! I thought there was a bitter after taste but he didn't think so. I had that happen one other time in Syracuse when I did a slow cooker chipotle lime turkey breast recipe. Weird. The peanut sauce was not overpowering but had a nice kick to it. I halved the meat but kept the sauce the same. The official rating was good but I'm not sold on it being a keeper so the recipe of the week goes to the Cashew Chicken!

Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce

(adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker)

Ingredients:
One (2 pound) boneless pork loin, fat trimmed and cut into 4 pieces
2 red bell peppers, cut into strips
1/2 cup prepared teriyaki sauce (I made my own)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic
2-3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Toppings:
chopped green onions
roasted chop peanuts
lime slices
Directions:
1. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Place all ingredients except for peanut butter and garnishes in the slow cooker.
2. Cook on low for 8-9 hours.
3. Before serving, remove pork and cut up. Mix peanut butter with sauce in slow cooker until peanut butter dissolves.
4. Toss pork back in slow cooker and coat with sauce. Serve over rice with garnishes!

Our garnishes!

Peachy Pork

Good old Martha never lets me down when it counts. I had to find a new recipe for my dinner party because all of my go to recipes had already been sampled by the parental units! I know you're not suppose to try a new recipe when having a party but Mr. Lawyer vetoed all my other meal choices. Luckily this one came out pretty well! The dried peaches added a nice punch of flavor but the glaze was essential for pouring over the individual pieces. I had never stuffed meat before and thought the directions were a bit confusing so I just looked up a video on youtube. It was easier than I thought: just slice carefully and flatten a bit with a rolling pin.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the process but I had too many things going on. Mastering this simple skills really opens up a lot of yummy looking recipes! I will definitely be keeping this recipe but between buying a 2.4 pound pork loin and the dried peaches ($5!!) it will only be a special occasion meal.

Peach-Stuffed Pork Loin

(from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups water
9 peaches, dried, or 6 ounces store-bought dried peaches
1 boneless pork loin (2 1/2 pounds), trimmed
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pinch of ground cloves
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup peach jam
2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Coarsely chop store-bought dried peaches if using. Add peaches to water; return to a boil. Remove from heat; let stand for 20 minutes. Remove peaches using a slotted spoon, and squeeze; reserve liquid.
2. Meanwhile, butterfly pork loin: Starting 3/4 inch from top of loin, make a horizontal cut into side, slicing through meat in short strokes and leaving about 1 inch intact at outer edge. Unfold meat (as if opening a book). Cut a vertical slit 3/4-inch deep at seam, and repeat to make a horizontal cut in the opposite direction. Pound to an even thickness with a meat mallet if needed.
3. Stir together a seasoning mixture of salt, pepper, and the cloves; sprinkle some over pork. Spread drained peaches over pork, leaving a 1-inch border on 1 short end. Roll up pork from short end to enclose filling. Tie together with kitchen twine to shape and hold in filling. Sprinkle with seasoning mixture; dust with flour. Place in a roasting pan, seam side down.
4. Bring reserved soaking liquid, the jam, and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat; simmer for 1 minute.
5. Roast pork for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reaches 138 degrees, about 25 minutes more. Brush with glaze, and roast for 5 minutes more. Transfer pork to a platter; reserve juices in roasting pan. Let rest for 10 minutes. Brush with glaze again.
6. Pour accumulated pan juices into pot with glaze. Set roasting pan across 2 burners, and add remaining 1/4 cup water. Cook over medium-high heat, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan. Add liquid and bits to glaze. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer sauce for 1 minute. Stir in lemon juice.
Untie pork; cut into 1-inch-thick slices. Serve with sauce.

Birthday Breakfast and Dinner!

My awesome sweet boyfriend made me Polly's Pancakes for breakfast and cooked me up a yummy Dinosaur BBQ dinner. Best birthday pampering ever!

Mr. Lawyer whipping up breakfast.

 He brought out another part of his Dinosaur BBQ Christmas Gift: Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub!

The collard greens were okay but we weren't impressed. The pork chops on the other hand....delicious!

Dinosaur Pork Chops!

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops (they were thin ones)

Dinosaur spice rub

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Season pork chops with spice run and back for 25-30 minutes until done.

BBQ Lefties

I'll start with a disclaimer: due to my weird teaching schedule I normally skip breakfast (horrible!) and eat a heavier brunch. Today I had the genius idea of putting the leftover bbq pork and beans on a tortilla instead of a roll and it was so much better. To start with all the flavors are more prominent without all the bread (although I'm sure some of the flavors melted together after sitting in the fridge overnight). As an added bonus it is slightly more healthy! The tortilla had 110 calories where your average hard roll has 190. There was about 10 less carbs as well. Not a huge deal, especially when you're dumping bbq pork on it, but it's a small thing that makes me feel better. I know tortillas are one of those things I should upgrade to whole wheat but I still have texture issues with that but I suppose it's something to work towards.

I find that tortillas freeze well (very useful when there is a sale!). This helps feed my quesadilla addiction. I pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds with a damp paper towel over them. 

Evidently I'm Awesome

"The beans are awesome. The pork is awesome. You are awesome." The follow up to that statement was "but you know what this meal is going to do to me right?" Lovely. And so goes the third installment of my "Yearning for Home" series. First we recreated the delicious cheese platter and beef sandwiches of Clark's, our favorite Syracuse hangout. Then we grilled up some coneys to pretend we were at Heid's. Tonight we ventured back to our favorite pig-out place: Dinosaur BBQ!

I was pretty happy with our imitation bbq. Of course, it's all due to the sauce which Mr. Lawyer received for Christmas. The original recipe called for pork tenderloin which we all know is a pretty outrageous cut of meat to use for crockpot bbq, any cheaper cut would work just fine. It cooked in root beer, I'm not sure it made a huge difference once the sauce was added in but the final product was delicious so I wouldn't change a thing! I also used enough root beer to cover the meat instead of just one can. The beans were a last minute addition but they were delicious!

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin (or any hunk of pork)
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer (I used enough to cover all the meat)
1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
8 rolls
Directions:
1. Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours.

2. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce and cook on low for 1 hour.

3. Serve it up!

Baked Beans

(adapted from bushbeans.com)

Ingredients:
2 (15 ounce) cans baked beans with pork
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
2 slices bacon (we omitted the bacon)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a 9x9 inch baking dish, combine the pork and beans, brown sugar, onion, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with the bacon slices.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until sauce is thickened and bacon is cooked.

Sad Piggy

I found this Pineapple Grilled Pork Chop recipe which is extremely similar to my very favorite Pineapple Chicken Recipe and had excellent reviews. We also had two sad lonely pork chops in our freezer so I decided to give it a go even though my cute little grill is up in NY. One reviewer had baked them in the oven and it came out fine and others had not marinated the chops overnight and they were still flavorful. But not my little pork chops. The oven baking was fine although I'm sure it was missing some yummy grill flavor. However, it was severely lacking in the pineapple-soy flavor. I couldn't even tell it had marinated for 4 hours. We both resorted to some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce. My chicken recipe is always flavorful even when not marinated the whole time. So does chicken soak up marinade better than pork? Was the basting on the grill super critical? All I know is next time, I'll have to make Mr. Lawyer's favorite Modenese Pork Chops to make up for these flavorless pork chops. 

Pineapple Grilled Pork Chops

(adapted from allrecipes)

Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) can pineapple rings, juice drained and reserved
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 pork chops
1 pinch ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Mix together the drained pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and garlic powder together in a large plastic zipper bag, and smush the bag a few times with your hands to mix the marinade and dissolve the sugar. Place the pork chops into the marinade, squeeze out any air in the bag, seal it, and refrigerate overnight. Reserve the pineapple rings.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil the grate.
3. Remove the chops from the marinade, shaking off excess, and grill until browned, the meat is no longer pink inside, and the meat shows good grill marks, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Brush several times with marinade and let the marinade cook onto the surface of the meat. Discard excess marinade. While the meat is grilling, place 4 pineapple rings onto the grill, and allow to cook until hot and the slices show grill marks; serve the chops topped with the grilled pineapple rings

Bacon on Bacon

The running joke while we were shopping at the Dewitt Wegmans this weekend was "how many pork products can we get in our cart?" The answer is three. How many did we cook with tonight? Two. This was a staple in high school that Dad made all the time and I'm not quite sure why the Dork and I haven't keeled over from a heart attack yet. And for those of you that keep track of these things (Grandma Nancy!), I did use the reduced sodium bacon and serve it up with some Farmer's Market Squash Saute!

Dad's Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

(from the kitchen of Papa Peterson)

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin
4-5 strips of bacon, cut in half
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
Directions:
1. Sprinkle on the desired amount of salt, pepper and garlic powder.
2. Wrap the tenderloin in bacon. I just use half strips and tuck it underneath.
3. Cook for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

I'm pretty sure I heard some declarations of undying love in between the very manly sounds of shoveling pork products into one's mouth.