Grilled Pork Ribs

I just love to grill in the summer.  It does have its downsides being in Phoenix and standing outside in the roasting heat over a hot grill, but it creates significantly less dirty dishes and doesn't heat up my kitchen by using the oven.  Plus we have a pool, so a lot of times whomever is grilling will take pool breaks or just hang out in the pool while dinner cooks.  It's a pretty sweet system.

I've always been a fan of boneless ribs.  Gnawing on ribs with the bones in them has always seemed gross and honestly a little barbaric to me.  although for a lot of years I wouldn't even eat meat with bones in it because it reminded me that it once was walking around.  Can you tell I lived with vegetarians in college?  I don't think I had my first buffalo wing until I was in my mid-20s.  I've gotten over it now, but I still won't eat bone-in ribs.  Recently boneless ribs were on sale for a super good price, so I bought a package of them planning on grilling them.  I wasn't really sure how to grill them, if I just threw them on there or what, so a little Googling directed me to a brine recipe, and I ran with it.  My uncle makes really fantastic grilled ribs, but I knew I'd need ingredients I didn't have, and I try to limit grocery store trips in the summer since I have to drag both kids with me.  This was also my first attempt at a brine, so I was pretty excited to try it out.

Grilled Boneless Pork Ribs

1 cup water
1/4 salt
1 T. sugar
3 pounds boneless country style pork ribs

In a gallon Ziploc bag, combine water, salt, and sugar.  Add in ribs, squeeze out excess air, and let sit for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Preheat your grill for indirect heat grilling (is that the right phrase?).  My grill has four burners, I turned on all four to heat it up, then reduced the middle two super low.  Lay ribs in the middle of the grill and cook for 10 minutes.  Flip them over and grill another 10.  Their internal temperature should be 145 degrees.  Remove from grill and serve with your favorite barbecue sauce (or make your own if you're an overachiever like me).

*****

I really had no idea how this was going to turn out.  I'll be honest--I had visions of dried out, tough, inedible ribs, and I was working on a back up dinner plan in the back of my head the whole time.  My original plan had been to only cook about half the package of ribs, but Boy #2 was helping me make dinner, and he said we should do all of them so there'd be leftovers.  Thankfully he's a lot more optimistic than his mama because I didn't know if we should plan on leftovers in case they were awful.

These turned out AMAZING.  I don't know why I doubted myself.  Normally my go-to method of cooking boneless ribs is throwing them in the crockpot with a sweet and sour barbecue sauce that's my great aunt's recipe, but this may very well be my new go to.  It was a huge hit with my family.  There were leftovers but not many.  They were good on their own, they were good with the barbecue sauce (although my kids preferred them without the sauce, the husband and I were torn on which was better).  This was an all around winner!!

 My grill could maybe use a cleaning.

 I tried to make this one a little scenic.  See my failing garden in the background?  Those green things are my sad basil plants that are the only remnant of what I had hoped to be a successful summer garden.

Spicy Sweet and Sour Pork

My Wine Pie post was the swift kick in the pants I needed to get back to my blog. I really have quite a few things to share that I've made recently, so hopefully now I can get back on track and make my ol' blog here a priority again. I mean, right now I should be cleaning up my kitchen and putting a load of towels into the washer, but I'm sacrificing those things to write this. Ha! Like that was a tough decision.

I've been trying to have the husband help me meal plan some each week, and this was one of his choices a couple weeks ago. I pulled up some recipes I'd saved on Pinterest and had him flip through them and see what looked good. This is one he chose. I'm always down for a stir fry, and my kids love sweet and sour anything, so I figured this would be a good choice.

Spicy Sweet and Sour Pork
Source: adapted from Cooking Light

1 pound boneless pork chops, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 (8-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoons Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped green bell pepper

Combine pork, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce; toss well to coat. Drain pineapple in a sieve over a bowl, reserving juice. Combine juice, remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch, remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, vinegar, and next 3 ingredients (through Sriracha), stirring with a whisk.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork to pan; sauté 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 1 cup onion, ginger, and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in pineapple and bell pepper; sauté 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in vinegar mixture; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Serve.

*****

The original recipe called for pork tenderloin, but I had pork chops on hand. Although, instead of grabbing two packages of pork chops from my freezer, I accidentally grabbed a package of pork chops and a package of chicken breasts. Oops. So ours was a pork/chicken combo. It worked out okay, and my kids thought it was kind of fun to try and figure out which pieces were pork and which were chicken. Anyway, it also called for more Sriracha, but I cut back on it since my kids don't like spicy food.

This was a total winner of a dinner! Everyone in my family loved it. Boy #1 even wanted to take leftovers to school for lunch the next day!! What?! I believe he rated this a "triple A+, 100" which is pretty freakin' good. I'll definitely make it again since my whole family enjoyed it!

Green Chile Pork Stew

There's quite a back story on this recipe. Well, maybe not. That makes it sound a lot more dramatic than it actually is. When Boy #1 was six months old I joined a local chapter of MOMS Club. I'm sure I've talked about it before. It was a huge lifesaver for me for many reasons. I was definitely a workaholic before he was born and then quit to be a stay at home mom when my maternity leave was done. We had moved to a different part of Phoenix when I was pregnant, so all of my friends with kids lived at least 30 minutes away, and everyone else I knew worked. It was a rough transition A friend on the east coast suggested I look into finding a MOMS Club chapter near me to meet other mamas. So I did. And I found one. There were several other women with babies around Boy #1's age, plus a lot of moms with older kids who gave great advice and knew exactly what I was going through. I had a lot of my identity in my career and what I had done, so it was a HUGE change to not have that define me anymore.

This is a lot more deep than I intended to get...sorry about that. The whole point was that one of the monthly activities was a cooking club, where the coordinator would pick a theme and everyone would bring a dish that fit the theme. There was a sandwich one, one to bring something with apples, cookies, and a soup one. I know there were more, but those are the ones that stick out. My friend Aimee brought a delicious green chile pork stew to the soup cooking club, and I've thought about it ever since then. Keep in mind the boy was maybe seven or eight months old at this point, and he'll be seven this coming February. I'm not lying when I say I've thought about it for years. I don't know why I never made it. Then recently I found pork stew meat on sale for super cheap...and of course I couldn't find the recipe. So I posted on her Facebook wall. Our mutual friend Mary saw it and found the recipe and sent it to me (God bless her!). I happened to have some roasted Hatch chilies in my freezer that I wanted to be using, so obviously all signs pointed towards me making this stew.

Wow, that was a really long explanation for a pretty simple soup recipe!

Green Chile Pork Stew
Source: Adapted from my friend Aimee

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 pound pork loin -- cut into 1/2-inch chunks and remove all visible fat
3 small garlic cloves -- finely minced
1 red onion -- finely chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons flour -- preferably masa flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons water
28 oz. New Mexican chiles -- roasted, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons chopped jalapeno pepper -- optional and preferably fresh
1 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
2-3/4 cup chicken broth
2 large fresh tomatoes -- pureed (or peeled and chopped)

In dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute pork until all pink is gone (about 5 minutes). Move meat aside and add garlic and onion. As soon as garlic sizzles, stir together with pork.

In a small bowl, make thickener by adding water to flour and cornstarch. (Add another tablespoon of cornstarch and a tablespoon of water if you prefer a thicker sauce, but wait until later in the cooking to decide if the texture is what you want, or you may accidentally make it too thick.) Add mixture to dutch oven.

Add chiles, spices, chicken broth to pot. Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and add tomatoes. (puree the tomatoes if you like a very smooth sauce; peel and chop 'em if you like more texture). Simmer on very low heat, covered, for at least 1 hour.

(Makes 4 good-sized servings) Freezes very well.

*****

The original recipe called for using the crockpot, but I think I ran out of time to do it...or figured if I was already dirtying pans, why dirty the crockpot too. The husband and I thought this was fantastic. I didn't bother having my kids try it because it was really spicy, and I knew they wouldn't like it. This was really easy to throw together, especially since I had pork stew meat, so I didn't even have to cut up the meat. I would definitely make this again for the husband and me to eat!

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder

I am finally, FINALLY done with P90X!! There has been much rejoicing from me today, let me tell you. I need to have the husband take after pics of me so I can compare with the before pics to see how I improved. I'll post them on my fitness/weight loss blog once I have them. So now my afternoons are free to do things around the house (I'm fairly certain I've accomplished more in the hour Boy #2 has been napping than I have on most days total while doing P90X) and update my blog. Again, much rejoicing!

In one of my many recent catch-up posts, I once again professed my love for the Meal Planning 101 blog. As I was scouring it for recipes at one point I saw this one for a pork shoulder. Conveniently soon there after I found a pork shoulder on sale, so I figured I'd buy it and try this out. I had never been steered wrong from there before...don't you love finding blogs like that?!

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder
Source: Meal Planner 101 blog

4 to 5 pound pork shoulder, bone-in
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onions, peeled and cut into wedges
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 12 oz beer (use chicken stock or water here if you prefer, but we used a brown ale and it was perfect)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

If the pork shoulder has any thick layers of fat you want to trim that off. Mix together the cumin, paprika, brown sugar, salt and pepper and rub it all over the pork shoulder. Let it rest with the spice mixture on for about 30 minutes.

Once the pork has rested, heat up a dutch oven with the olive oil over medium high heat. Place the pork inside and brown on all sides. Once it has a nice brown crust all over, remove from the pot and add the onions, garlic, tomatoes and beer. This is the part where you scrape up all the delicious bits off the bottom. Place the pork back in the dutch oven, cover and slow roast for 3 1/2 to 4 hours until the pork is extremely tender and pulls apart with a fork.

Remove the pork roast from the dutch oven to a cutting board. Using two forks, shred the meat and place on a platter. Remove any bits of fat. Serve the pork with mashed potatoes and steamed carrots and spoon the delicious sauce over the top. You can also puree the beer/tomato/onion mixture to get rid of any big chunks...it becomes a beautiful thick gravy that is just delicious. Enjoy every bite of this incredible roast.

*****

I had never cooked a pork shoulder before, so I was a little excited to try something new. This was super easy to put together, too. Mix rub, rub on meat, walk away and do something else. Heat oil, throw in roast, put away some dishes, turn roast in pot, put away some more dishes, turn roast in pot, put dirty dishes in dishwasher, turn roast in pot, finish loading dishwasher, finish roast steps. I'm all about multitasking.

This smelled AMAZING while it was cooking, I could not wait for dinner. And, folks, let me tell you, this did not disappoint. Oh man...it was so good! We all really loved it. It yielded quite a lot of meat, too, so we had pulled pork sandwiches with it later in the week. The meat was so tender from the slow roasting, it literally just fell apart once I started shredding it.

One of my local grocery stores had these on sale recently so I picked up another and can't wait to have this again, although the husband just got a smoker and wants to smoke it, which I would probably be okay with too. He can have part of it, and I'll slow roast the other.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops with Pears

Have I mentioned how done I am with P90X?! I'm tired of my precious afternoon quiet time being taken up with stupid Tony Horton. I like the workouts, but I'm just annoyed I have to spend Boy #2's naptime every day doing them. You've probably noticed I haven't updated the ol' blog here in almost a month. The husband has been helping me meal plan, so we've had some tasty dinners, I just haven't had a chance to update anything. Sigh. I made a list this morning of posts I want to write, and the total was 17! SEVENTEEN!! Thankfully the husband took today off work and took Boy #2 out for some quality daddy time so I could work on my blog. God bless him!

So, get ready for some massive updating!

This was originally going to be a family dinner, but I suggested to the husband we have a date night dinner instead a few nights before Boy #2 turned three back on the 19th. I wasn't sure how excited my kids would be about it. This was in last month's Cooking Light, which I haven't read yet. The husband and I were meal planning and I just looked through the index to get some ideas. It sounded tasty, and I had blue cheese and an abundance of pears. I had a Costco trip planned, and I love their pork chops, so it was a pretty easy decision to add it to our meal plan.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops with Pears
Source: Cooking Light, October 2011


4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops, trimmed
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons butter
1 ripe pear, cored and cut into 16 wedges

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each pork chop to form a pocket. Stuff 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese into each pocket. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper evenly over both sides of pork. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork to pan; sauté for 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove pork from pan, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Melt butter in pan; swirl to coat. Add pear; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Serve with pork.

Nutritional Information
Amount per serving
Calories: 246
Fat: 13g
Saturated fat: 5.5g
Monounsaturated fat: 1g
Polyunsaturated fat: 4.8g
Protein: 24.4g
Carbohydrate: 7.3g
Fiber: 1.4g
Cholesterol: 81mg
Iron: 0.8mg
Sodium: 493mg
Calcium: 98mg

*****

The magazine had this pictures with some roasted Brussels sprouts, which we love, so I figured that was an easy side dish. When we saw the magazine, the husband and I both thought this sounded tasty, but it really blew us away with just how awesome it was. I got a perfect sear on the pork chops, so the outside was a little crunchy and the inside was perfectly cooked. The creamy, tangy blue cheese was awesome with the sweet pears. At first, before tasting it, I was wishing I had made some kind of pan sauce to go with these, but after taking my first bite I realized they really didn't need it. There was a lot of ooh-ing and aah-ing as we took bites of our dinner. Even better, it was SO EASY to make. If you've never bought pork chops at Costco, let me tell you that they're huge. Each one was around eight ounces. I asked the husband if he'd want me to slice them in half to get to the recommended four ounce portion size, but we figured at just 246 calories, it was fine to leave them big. Plus for just 500 calories this was really filling and tasty.

Did I mention these were tasty and awesome? Just in case you missed it above I wanted to reiterate. We will definitely have these again!

I love the sight of ooey, gooey cheese dripping out of meat!

Grilled Pork Cutlets

This is completely unrelated to anything having to do with food, but have you discovered Spotify yet? Oh man...I'm so in love with it. It's similar to Pandora except if you search on a song or artist or album, you get to choose what you want to listen to instead of getting a mix based on that. Oh man...it's freakin' fantastic! Right now I'm listening to one of the Glee soundtracks. The only problem is that I get overwhelmed with music choices thinking of everything I could possibly listen to. The other day I listened to the entire Annie soundtrack. Oh how I love Annie, you have no idea. Then Boy #1 came downstairs when his afternoon quiet time was done and said, "Mom, what are you listening to? Turn it off, this isn't good." He's five. Sheesh.

Anyway, I've tried to stick with most of our dinners coming from the grill or crockpot. I remembered a Cook's Illustrated magazine I bought a couple summers ago that is aptly named Summer Grilling. They're clever folks there at Cook's Illustrated when it comes to naming things. I couldn't remember ever having grilled pork before, so I wanted to give this a try. Plus I had just about everything on hand for it which is always a plus.

Grilled Pork Cutlets
Source: Cook's Illustrated Summer Grilling 2009 magazine

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
3/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
12 thin-cut boneless pork chops (about 2 pounds), trimmed of excess fat and pounded into 1/4-inch thick cutlets

Combine vinegar, oil, garlic, thyme, sugar, salt, and pepper in large zipper lock plastic bag. Transfer chops to bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to two hours.

Turn all burners on gas grill to high and heat grill with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Scrape grate clean with grill brush. Dip wad of paper towels in oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate.

Remove cutlets from bag and discard marinade. Grill cutlets with lid down until bottoms begin to turn opaque around edges, about 2 minutes. Flip cutlets and grill until just cooked through, about 30 seconds. Transfer to platter, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve with Spicy Fruit Salsa.

Spicy Fruit Salsa
Spicy Fruit Salsa:
1 jalapeno chile, seeded and minced (don't seed if you want it spicy)
1 shallot, minced
2 tsp cider vinegar
2 tsp honey
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 ripe peaches, pitted and chopped fine
2 ripe plums, pitted and chopped fine
1 Tbsp finely chopped basil leaves
Table salt

Whisk jalapeno, shallot, vinegar, honey, and oil in small bowl. Let sit until flavors combine, about 15 minutes.

Combine peaches and plums in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup of fruit to bowl with jalapeno mixture and mash with potato masher until smooth. Add mashed fruit mixture and basil to bowl with cut fruit and stir until combined. Season with salt and let sit until flavors combine, about 15 minutes.

*****

Let me tell you...I mashed and mashed my fruit and never got it smooth, so I finally gave up and kept it chunky. I know a lot of people don't dig on meat with a sweet accompaniment, but some combinations don't bother me. Like this one. The fruit salsa was so tasty with the jalapeno and the bite it gave the salsa, mixed with sweet peaches and plums. Yum! I don't think I read the recipe for the salsa all the way through before starting dinner, so I didn't let it sit as long as was recommended, but it was still tasty. Boy #1 didn't want any of the "sauce" on his meat, but Boy #2 had it and loved it. The husband and I loved it, so I call it a success! If you plan ahead enough for the fruit salsa, this really comes together fast. We had it with some steamed broccoli and super tasty Rick Bayless Barbecue Baked Beans. This was a great tasty summer dinner! There were actually two variations included in the magazine, too. One used rosemary and red wine vinegar for the marinade, and the other called for cumin, cilantro, and lime juice. I may have to try one of those at some point too!

(Sadly my camera was upstairs, and instead of making my family wait to eat while I went to grab it, I took a picture with my phone.)

Grilled Mac and Cheese with Pulled Pork Panini

I know, crazy huh?! I've mentioned my love of the Panini Happy blog before. Awhile back I was at the grocery store and saw the Food Network magazine at the checkout stand. On the cover was a panini with macaroni and cheese and pulled pork. Holy yummy, Batman!! I made a mental note to look up the recipe online. Then a couple days later I got an email from the Panini Happy blog that this recipe was her latest post!! It was meant to be. Recently pork loin roasts were on sale, so I grabbed one with the sole intention of making this sandwich for the husband and me to try. We had pulled pork for dinner on a Thursday, Friday night I made Pioneer Woman's mac and cheese for my kiddos then after they went to bed the husband and I had these sandwiches. Efficient use of food, huh?

Grilled Mac and Cheese with Pulled Pork Panini
Source: Food Network magazine and PaniniHappy.com

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 cups prepared macaroni and cheese, warmed
2 onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup barbecue sauce
2 cups prepared pulled pork
8 slices sourdough bread
12 slices sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)

Spread the macaroni and cheese in an 8-inch-square baking dish to about 3/4 inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 45 minutes. Cut the macaroni and cheese into squares that are slightly smaller than the bread slices.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine the barbecue sauce and pulled pork in a saucepan over low heat and cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes.

Preheat the panini grill to medium-high heat.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and brush on one side of each bread slice. Flip over half of the bread slices; layer 1 slice of cheddar, 1 macaroni-and-cheese square and another slice of cheddar on each. Top each with one-quarter of the pulled pork and caramelized onions and another slice of cheddar. Top with the remaining bread slices, buttered-side up.
Working in batches, cook the sandwiches until the cheese melts and the bread is golden, about 5 minutes.

*****

This sandwich was FILLING. I couldn't even eat half of mine. My only complaint was that my pork could have been saucier, but that was my fault, not the recipe's. This was awesome cheesy yummy goodness. A diet buster for sure, but awesome. If you make it, make sure you use a sturdy bread because this is a monster sandwich. And it's not for the carb-shy. Decadent for sure. Mmmm...now I want to make it again saucier and see if it really does make a difference.

I could only fit one on my panini press at a time.

Look at that gooey cheesy macaroni goodness spilling out...

See, definitely needs more sauce.

Cuban Sandwiches

Hello, dear blog. I've missed you so. I really have no excuse for why I've stayed away so long. Well, I kind of do but it's not a very good one. I wrote out a list of blog posts I want to do and there are seven on the list and two maybes. Yikes. That's a lot of catching up to do. Conveniently I feel like doing no sort of household chores today, other than what I've already accomplished, so that works out pretty well. Plus someone from church is swinging by at some point, so I don't want to be in the middle of, say, giving the dog a bath when she gets here.

Quite awhile ago the husband and I went on a date night to a local Cuban restaurant. My mom had bought a Groupon for it but wasn't going to be able to use it, so she generously gave it to us. Woo hoo! I love a date night, but a free date night is even better! Actually I think we ended up spending more than the amount of the Groupon because (here's a little known fact about me) I cannot resist a good, fresh mojito...the kind with real mint leaves in the bottom of the glass. Lordy mama, am I ever a sucker for a good mojito. It's actually kind of a sickness because whenever I smell fresh mint all I can think of are mojitos.

Anyway...

We went to this Cuban restaurant for dinner and decided to share two entrees. I seriously could not decide. We knew we wanted a Cuban sandwich and honestly I would have eaten anything else on the menu. We ended up getting some kind of pulled pork that was really good, but the Cuban sandwich was AMAZING. I've always been a fan of Cuban sandwiches...pork, ham, swiss cheese, mustard, pickles. What's not to love?! After having a very tasty sandwich there the husband and I decided we needed to have them again soon. So we had them for a date night dinner one Friday after the kiddos went to bed. I just kind of winged the recipe.

Cuban Sandwiches

4 slices deli ham
4 slices roasted pork
2 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices dill pickles
Mustard
2 crusty rolls or 4 pieces french bread

Split open rolls and spread both sides with mustard. use as much or little mustard as you like. On bottom half of roll, layer 2 slices ham, 2 slices pork, 1 slice Swiss cheese, and 2 pickle slices. Top with top half of roll.

Using a panini press (or whatever you like to use for a pressed sandwich), grill sandwich until cheese is melted and the bread is toasted.

*****

Pretty easy. For the pork component I used a one pound pork loin roast that I had cooked in the crockpot. I used my friend Jen's method for cooking a pork roast...throw the roast, a can of beer, some salt and pepper in the crockpot and let it cook. It was pretty awesome pork and I think my new go to method for cooking pork when I just need the meat for something.

These weren't quite as good as the ones we had at Havana Cafe, but I think that was due to the bread. I didn't have access to special Cuban bread, and I really think that would make a big difference. The husband and I both liked them, and it was a pretty easy dinner to throw together, so I'm sure we'll have them again.

Stir-Fried Pork and Napa Cabbage with Ginger Sauce

In case you're not a follower of my weight loss blog, you may not know that I'm going to be running the Disneyland Half Marathon in September. Are you saying, "I had no idea Claire was a runner"? Yeah...I'm not. Or I wasn't at least. I guess I'm becoming a runner. I decided to do the Couch to 5K program at the start of 2011. I have never been a runner. NEVER. My friend Jess reminded me that I used to tell people I only ran if being chased. It's true, I did say that. And now I can run 30 minutes straight without any real problems. Except for the voice in my head reminding me how much I hate running. But I'm learning to tune out that voice. Thinking about how much I hate it isn't going to get me running 13.1 miles.

Anyway, I'm running the race with my friend Jen, and last night was our first training session. I didn't want a super heavy meal knowing I'd be heading out the door to go running approximately an hour after we ate, so I thought this stir fry would be a good meal to have. The husband only chose the cookbook for the week, not the recipes. I had some pork chops in the freezer I needed to be using, so I thought this would work well.

Sadly I couldn't find it online anywhere, so I have to type out the whole thing. Lame.

Stir-Fried Pork and Napa Cabbage with Ginger Sauce
Source: The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, copyright 2010

Pork:
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese rice cooking wine or dry sherry
1 12-ounce pork tenderloin, sliced into thin strips

Stir-Fry:
3 scallions, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
4 tsp canola oil
2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into matchsticks
1/2 head napa cabbage, cored and shredded into 1-inch wide pieces
1 recipe Ginger Sauce (recipe below)

For the Pork: combine the sesame oil, cornstarch, flour, soy sauce, and rice wine in a bowl, stir in the pork, and marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour.

For the stir-fry: combine the scallions, garlic, ginger, and 1 teaspoon of the canola oil in a bowl.

Heat 1 teaspoon more canola oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add the pork, break up any clumps, and cook until lightly browned on all sides but not fully cooked, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 teaspoons canola oil to the skillet and return to high heat until shimmering. Add the carrots and bell pepper and cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and cook, tossing constantly, until it is slightly wilted and crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.

Clear the center of the skillet, add the garlic mixture, and cook, mashing the mixture into the pan, untril fragrant, 15 to 30 seconds. Stir it into the vegetables.

Return the pork, with any accumulated juice, to the skillet. Whisk the sauce to recombine, then add to the skillet. Simmer, tossing constantly, until the pork is cooked through and the sauce has thickened, 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Serve.

Per 1-1/4 cup serving: 300 calories, 15g fat, 2g sat fat, 55mg cholesterol, 20g carbohydrates, 22g protein, 2g fiber, 780mg sodium

Ginger Sauce
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp Chinese rice cooking wine or dry sherry
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl and use as directed in stir-fry recipes.

*****

I love how fast stir fries come together for a dinner. I got the pork marinating and then worked on prepping everything else. If you aren't used to making stir fries, having everything ready to go is a pretty crucial step since the ingredients usually cook super fast.

This was something my whole family really enjoyed. Boy #1 thought it looked gross when he saw the picture in the cookbook, but he ate just about every bite on his plate. I served it over some brown rice (I needed some carbs for my run!), and the husband and I each had an egg roll with ours. This is definitely something I'd make again. I think you could easily substitute chicken for the pork as well.

The picture isn't the greatest. I forgot to take a pic after I had plated, but when I thought of it my plate was kind of a mess, so I took a picture of what was left in the pan. I also keep forgetting to put the Speedlite back on my camera, so the lighting is pretty horrible.

Asian Pork Loin

My friend Michele is a very talented photographer. We were supposed to meet up on Tuesday afternoon to take some one year pics of the baby (a month late, but whatever). I was meeting her at 4:00 about half an hour from our house, so I wanted something in the crockpot for dinner since I figured we'd get home around dinner time. I pulled out at Southern Living slow cooker cookbook that I rarely use and flipped through. I had just bought a pork loin roast, so when I saw this recipe I thought it would be a good choice. Plus I had almost all the ingredients on hand.

Asian Pork Loin

1 2-pound lean boneless center-cut pork loin roast
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water

Trim fat from roast. Combine orange juice and next six ingredients in a large zipper top plastic bag. Add pork, seal bag, and marinate in refrigerator 8-24 hours.

Place pork and marinade in slow cooker. Cover with lid; cook on high heat for one hour. Reduce to low heat setting and cook 7 hours.

Remove pork from cooker; let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Pour cooking liquid into a 4-cup glass measuring cup or bowl. Let stand 5 minutes Skim fat from surface of liquid. Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl; stir until well blended. Add cornstarch mixture to cooking liquid and stir well. Microwave on high 3 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring halfway through cooking time.

Slice pork, serve with sauce.

*****

I was glad I looked at this recipe on Sunday and saw how long it needed to marinate because I would have been mad had I gone to throw everything into the crockpot Tuesdasy morning and saw that. I had some oranges I got from a local produce co-op, and I'm not a real big fan of oranges (except Cuties...I love Cuties!!), so I used them for the juice called for in the recipe. Brilliant, eh. I cut back on the red pepper because the boy doesn't like spicy.

*****

We ended up having to cancel pictures because we had a random thunderstorm in Phoenix yesterday. I know, of all days, right?! But it was still nice to have dinner in the crockpot and not have to worry about it at all. I had even bought Minute Rice so dinner would be ready super fast when we got home. Oh well! Anyway, I don't think this is a keeper. All we could taste was heat, not flavor. I expected the sauce to be sweeter but it was super spicy. Normally I dig some spice in my food, but this was over the top. It was really the sauce that did it, the meat itself wasn't that spicy. I was glad I hadn't put any sauce on the kids' meat. I had mine in the crockpot for six hours on low, and it was pretty dried out. I think with less heat it might be okay, but I don't know if it's worth making again.

Basil Pork Chops

I just got an angry phone call from my friend Jen B. yelling at me for not updating my blog in so long. She's right--I've been a total slacker. I'm thinking I don't like the new format I was going to try. I figure it's better to just post and then go back and add the picture in when (okay, if...) I take one. So I'm going back to my old way, then I'm guaranteed to update more often.

I have a couple entries to go back and post about, but I figured I'd start with what we're having tonight and then at some point go back and fill you all in on what you've missed. Or rather what I can remember that I've made over the last couple weeks.

I had planned on doing a pork crockpot recipe tonight, but then I realized I didn't have a very necessary ingredient, so I needed to come up with something else. I was going to make gnocchi with pesto, chicken, and mozzarella, but I remembered I used the last of my pine nuts last night. The only other nuts I have on hand are pecans which might be kind of weird. Jen called asking about our friend Danielle's pork chop recipe that I've made a few times, and since I had already thought about doing something with pork I figured I'd just go ahead and make that too.

Danielle's Basil Pork Chops

I don't have any mushrooms on hand, so I'm skipping that part of the recipe. This is so yummy and really easy. Last time we had it the husband said it was probably his favorite pork chop recipe, so I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that's what's on the menu for tonight. I have two butternut squash I need to be using soon, so I think I'm going to make Barefoot Contessa's Caramelized Butternut Squash as a side dish and then maybe some broccoli or green beans to go with it.

Strangely the boy has gone back to napping after not doing so for months, so I've been having lovely quiet afternoons while both my kids nap at the same time. If I can convince him to nap again tomorrow I'll make sure I put "update blog" on my to-do list for the afternoon!

Basil Pork Chops

Sorry for another hiatus! This summer has been absolutely crazy, and really it's not letting up anytime soon (even though summer is almost done). My mom did a staycation this past week at a resort in Scottsdale, so we spent some time up there with her. My friend Jen B. went with us last Wednesday and we hung out at the pool and had lunch. I didn't make dinner because I was still full from the yummy bacon burger I had for lunch--a total indulgence for me! Thursday the boy spent the night with my mom, so the husband, baby, and I went out to dinner at Los Dos Molinos, a Mexican restaurant near us that I'd wanted to try for a long time. Then Friday the husband, baby, and I headed up to the resort for the weekend. It was a great time, although it got off to a really rocky start. We witnessed a horrific car accident. Not a fun way to start our fun weekend--especially since I initially thought the husband had been hit by the car that ran a red light. Oh man...sucky, let me tell you! Anyway, we came home yesterday, but after a big breakfast we weren't really hungry for dinner. So now today it's back to it, but only for a few days. I think next year I'm making no travel plans!!

I had originally slated a new recipe for tonight from the Meal Planning 101 blog that I like so much, but after looking at the recipe again today I decided I didn't want to have to go get ingredients for it. I thought I had more of what it called for, but when I realized I'd need about five things for it I figured it wasn't worth it. Plus I couldn't have made it to the store anyway as the boy napped until 4:15 and the baby is still sleeping! I remembered this recipe that I had made awhile ago and really liked. The mushrooms in it stuck out and is how I remembered it. My mom gave me some mushrooms she wasn't going to use, and they really need to be used up today, so I thought this was perfect for tonight.

Basil Pork Chops

I think on the side we're going to have something similar to a potato recipe I made awhile back from Cook's Illustrated:

Skillet Roasted Potatoes with Chili and Cumin

The chili and cumin is a variation on the original recipe, I'm just going to skillet roast them with the olive oil and salt. When we were at Trader Joe's lately the boy picked up a bag of red, white, and blue potatoes (which is funny since he doesn't like potatoes), so I'm going to use those for it. Not sure on a veggie yet, maybe carrots or green beans because I know I have both of those in the pantry.

Pork Katsu Donburi

I'm so excited for dinner tonight. I was feeling kind of ho-hum earlier today about what we were eating this week, but then I looked at my meal plan again and wondered why exactly I felt like that because there are some tasty things slated for every night! I've been thinking about this dinner for a few weeks now, how we haven't had it in so long. I don't know why I haven't made it more recently (apparently St. Patrick's Day was the last time...yikes).

Pork Katsu Donburi

Yum, yum, yum! I cannot wait for dinner. I went to Trader Joe's today (the boy's preschool is a mile away from TJ's...that may end up being detrimental to my grocery budget) and got some egg rolls, so we'll have those along with this.

Hoisin & Ginger Pork Wraps with Cruncy Peanut Slaw

Alright, I'm back on track and ready get back into the swing of my blog! The boy started swim lessons yesterday morning, and yesterday and today have both been crazy busy. The next two days aren't looking a whole lot better either. I really should be cleaning a bathroom or doing laundry or something equally as exciting, but I miss my blog. Plus neither my dirty bathroom nor the huge pile of towels that need to be washed are going anywhere. They can wait a few more minutes while I update here.

One of my most favorite blogs is Meal Planning 101. Everything I've tried from her blog is awesomely amazing. I saw this when she posted it and thought it looked fantastic. I heart just about anything with hoisin sauce. It was funny, shortly after I had seen this recipe Jen B. sent me an email with a link to this saying something along the lines of "This looks fantastic!" I had already slated it for dinner one night this week. The recipe calls for meat from a cooked pork shoulder, but I'm just going to cook some pork chops and shred the meat and call it good. Costco had a smokin' deal on pork chops when I was there last week, so I have quite a stockpile of them now. I can't wait for dinner tonight!

Hoisin & Ginger Pork Wraps with Cruncy Peanut Slaw

Hoisin-Ginger Pork:
2 cups shredded pork
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 inches of ginger, grated
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (or more as needed to cover the pork)

In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tsp oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir until fragrant about 30-60 seconds. Then add the pork and hoisin sauce. Turn heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 5 minutes until heated through and all the flavors have combined.

Crunchy Peanut Slaw:
1/2 medium head green cabbage, outer leaves removed (or 1 bag of angel hair coleslaw)
3/4 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup light oil, like canola
1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp sugar (or more, to taste)
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce (or more, to taste)

Slice the cabbage as fine as you possibly can, so you have little threads of cabbage (I just bought a bag of angel hair coleslaw where this was already done for me). Toss in the peanuts, green onions, and cilantro. Place the oil, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and soy sauce in a resealable jar and shake. Pour over cabbage mixture and toss until coated.

Serve the hoisin-ginger pork along with the crunchy peanut slaw with whole wheat tortilla wraps. Place both inside of a tortilla and roll up.

*****

Mmmmmm...I can't wait! I need to get my pork defrosting so we eat on time since I still have to cook it. I don't think I have peanuts, but I do have some cashews left from when I made Stir Fried Cashew Pork recently. Plus I like cashews better than peanuts anyway. I also bought a bag of coleslaw mix because it was on sale for $1, and I figured that was just easier than having to slice my own cabbage. I still have no idea what we're going to have as a side dish with this. Maybe just some kind of vegetable and a salad and skip having a starch.

*****

These. Were. Awesome. Oh man...the slaw was amazing. The boy helped me mix it up, and he and I kept taking bites after it was all mixed up. I didn't have cilantro (well, I did but half of it had turned to mush), but it was fine without it, although I will definitely add it next time. The pork was super tasty, and the combination of the pork with the slaw was fantastic!! We all really liked this, and it's something I will definitely make again!

Stir Fried Cashew Pork

Two weekends ago Jen B. and I went to Sprouts for a grocery trip. It's a natural market that has amazing prices on produce and meats, and they have all sorts of yummy stuff you can't find in normal stores--and a huge bulk food section (where the stuff is in bins). I sooooo wish we had one closer to us. While we were checking out we spotted Cook's Illustrated magazine. Jen and I were both pretty excited. She grabbed one to buy, and I was going to but then I spotted a magazine under it that looked good. It was America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers. So we decided Jen would get Cook's Illustrated and I'd get that one then we'd get to trade and see both of them. There are some tasty looking recipes in the one I got--I can't wait to see Jen's! I may actually get a subscription to Cook's Illustrated because there's a card in mine to get it for $20 a year which is pretty reasonable, and I really like the magazine.

Anyway, I needed something for dinner tonight, so I was flipping through the magazine to see what I could find. There were two recipes that sounded good, and I had all but one ingredient for both. I asked the husband which sounded better, and he chose this one. I think I'll slate the other one for one night next week because it sounds really good, and I'll have everything on hand for it.

Stir Fried Cashew Pork
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pork tenderloin (3/4 to 1 pound), cut into 1/4-inch strips
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbso grated fresh ginger
1 cup roasted unsalted cashews, half coarsely chopped, half left whole
1/4 cup cilantro leaves

Combine hoisin sauce, 1/3 cup water, soy sauce, and pepper flakes in medium bowl. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of pork and cook until no longer pink, about 2 minutes; transfer to plate. Repeat with additional 2 teaspoons oil and remaining pork.

Add remaining oil to empty skillet and heat until shimmering. Cook garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add hoisin mixture, cashews, pork, and any accumulated juices to pan and cook until thickened, about 1 minute. SPrinkle with cilantro. Serve.

*****

I bought cashews (from the bulk section!!) at Sprouts to make Cashew Chicken, but since we had chicken last night I didn't want it two nights in a row. I'll make some brown rice to go with this, and I have a bag of frozen Asian-style veggies in the freezer, as well as some egg rolls. Yum--should be a good dinner!

*****

This was pretty good. I think I like the Cashew Chicken I made better, but this was tasty. I didn't have as much pork as I thought, so I only used two pork chops cut up. I ended up mixing the bag of stir fry vegetables in with the pork and sauce to make it a little more substantial.

I took a picture on my new phone, I just have to figure out how to get it on the computer.

Mu Shu Pork Pockets

I don't really like Rachael Ray. There, I've said it. She's okay and occasionally has a show I'll watch, but I find a lot of her recipes to be weird. And her personality really grates on me if I watch her show. I used to like her, not sure when that all changed. I have quite a few of her cookbooks, but all of them except her first one are in a pile to get rid of because I just never use them and need the space on my cookbook shelf.

That being said, this is one of her recipes that I really, really like. I don't remember when the first time was I made this, but the husband and I love mu shu and this is a great, easy way to make it at home. He's been asking for it for weeks now, but I didn't want to buy the stuff for it because ground pork was never on sale. Finally this week I figured I'd make it regardless because he's been so patiently waiting and I'm such a good wife. ;) No, I really like this, too, so I was glad when he suggested it.

Moo Shu Pork Pockets
1-1/2 pound ground pork
1 can sliced water chestnuts, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 gingersnap cookies, ground in food processor
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 egg
1 cup hoisin sauce
6 large (12-inch) flour tortillas

Toppings:
Shred up a pile of your favorite raw vegetables or
2 cups shredded cabbage
Shredded carrots
Fresh bean sprouts
Thinly sliced scallions

Combine the pork and next five ingredients in a bowl. Form mixture into patties. Heat a large, nonstick skillet or grill pan over medium high heat. Grill patties approximately five minutes per side.

Heat tortillas on a nonstick surface over high heat for 30 seconds on each side. Paint the tortillas with hoisin sauce, leaving a 1-inch rim from edge. Pile shredded mixed veggies in center of tortilla and top with cooked pork patty. Fold the tortilla up on all four sides and wrap burger in a square package. Invert pork pocket and cut on diagonal.

*****

I'm not sure what all I have for the "toppings" but I think I'll do some green onions, carrots, and maybe some cilantro if I have it. I think we'll have some type of frozen vegetable on the side with this, but I'm not sure what yet. I'm really excited for dinner tonight--according to the blog we haven't had this since July. Dinner can't get here soon enough!

Carnitas

We ended up not having dinner last night because we were still so full from lunch. Well, the boy had chicken nuggets, but the husband and I weren't hungry. We went on a hike in the morning with some friends and then came back to our house and got Mexican take-out for lunch from Carolina's. Lordy mama, was it ever good. Definitely some of the best Mexican food I've ever had. Their tortillas have won awards for being the best in Phoenix. Were they ever!! I wanted to wrap myself up in them. I was glad I had the husband pick up a dozen, although it took a lot of self control on our parts to not chow down on all of them yesterday.

I had planned on trying a new risotto recipe tonight, but I wanted to use the tortillas for something other than just snacking. I recently checked out a make your own take out cookbook from the library, so I checked the Mexican section of that for ideas. I saw a recipe for carnitas and went, "That's it!" The recipe for them in that cookbook sounded weird, so I started Googling. I wanted something I could do in the crockpot, and I found a basic recipe to follow and then decided I'd change it up a bit. I love carnitas, so I'm really excited and hope this turns out well. The recipe below is how I'm doing them.

Crockpot Carnitas
1.5 pounds boneless pork ribs
4 cloves garlic, each cut into four pieces
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1 small can diced green chilies
1 bottle beer
Tortillas
Burrito fixings (tomatoes, cheese, olives, onions, lettuce, cilantro, guacamole, sour cream, etc.)

With a knife, cut several small slits into the ribs. Insert pieces of garlic cloves in roast. Place pork in slow cooker. Sprinkle cumin, coriander, and chili powder over pork. Sprinkle cilantro and chilies over pork. Pour beer into crockpot. Cover. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until pork is done. Once pork is cooked through, remove from slow cooker and shred with two forks. Add in some of the cooking liquid. Serve with warm tortillas and burrito fixings of your choice.

*****

I'm totally excited for this, and I'm excited to smell them cooking all day. This will be a great way to use up the remaining tortillas from yesterday's feast. I think I might make some of Jen B's pinto beans to put in the burritos, too. I found a recipe on RecipeZaar.com for carnitas where you cooked beans with the pork, but I don't have any dried pinto beans, and I really wanted to make this today. So I figured I'd make Jen's beans instead. I seriously cannot wait for dinner tonight--I don't know what I'm more excited for, the carnitas or having more of these tortillas!

*****

My review of this is tricky because I woke up with a nasty cold and have no sense of taste. To me they tasted like they could have used some more flavor or spice, but they may have been right on. I think I read somewhere that when using dried spices in the crockpot you should use more because of the long cooking time? Or maybe that was for fresh. Hmmm. Either way, I think jacking up the spices some more would help and maybe adding some fresh cilantro to the shredded meat as well as putting it in the crockpot. I'm always looking for a new way to use boneless ribs, so I'll probably try this again. Jen's pinto beans were really yummy in the burritos with the carnitas.

Verde Pork Enchiladas

One of the blogs I follow, Gumbo Ya Ya, had a really good sounding recipe posted recently for Pork Chili Verde. You might remember me mentioning last week a recipe I had planned to make but was missing a main ingredient...that was this. That day as I was thinking about this recipe I thought, "Why couldn't you do it in the crockpot?" So I decide to change it up a bit and do it that way. Because I live on the edge like that and am such a non-conformist. Yeah right. I used most of the same ingredients called for in the original recipe, just changed up the method a bit.

Verde Pork Enchiladas
1 1-lb pork loin roast
1 28 ounce can green enchilada sauce
1 small can diced green chilies
whole wheat enchiladas
shredded Mexican blend cheese

Place pork roast in slow cooker and pour green chilies and enchilada sauce over roast. Cover crockpot, cook on high three hours or until pork roast is cooked through. Remove roast and shred meat with two forks. Mix in a few ladels of sauce from the crockpot.

Coat an 11x7 baking dish with cooking spray. Cover bottom of dish with some of the sauce from the crockpot. Spoon some pork down the middle of a tortilla, top with cheddar cheese, and roll the enchilada. Place seam side down in baking dish. Repeat until all the pork is gone. Pour sauce over the enchiladas (however much you want) and then cover with cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 for 25 minutes.

*****

I ended up having enough pork to make seven enchiladas which fit perfectly in my dish. You could, of course, use a bigger pork roast and fill a 9x13 pan with the enchiladas, I just happened to have a one pound roast in the freezer.

This was SUPER TASTY. We all really liked it. It was so easy to do the meat in the slow cooker, too, although next time I'd probably put some seasoning on the meat first to give it a little oomph--maybe some onion powder, garlic powder, and maybe a little chipotle chili powder for some added spice and heat. This is something I will definitely make again. I put the roast in my crockpot in the morning and then assembled the enchiladas during naptime and stuck the pan in the fridge. it made dinner super easy!!

Crisp Baked Pork Chops

I was thinking earlier today about the dinner I had planned for tonight (a new recipe that I was really looking forward to trying), and I thought that I could modify it a bit and do it in the crockpot instead. After I fed the baby I went to the pantry and discovered that I was missing one of the main ingredients. I could have sworn I had some of it (I'm being vague because I'll make this next week and don't want to give anything away...because it's so important that I keep it a secret...please note the sarcastic tone in that last statement), so I was really surprised to find I didn't have it after all. One of the main reasons I was going to make it was that I had everything on hand except one small thing. Oh well. Better to find that out at 2:00 instead of 5:00!

So I looked through a couple cookbooks and couldn't really find anything that sounded good, which of course meant I turned to RecipeZaar.com. I wanted something with pork chops, so I entered in a bunch of search parameters (I LOVE the search feature on there!) and found this that sounded simple and tasty.

Crisp Baked Pork Chops
Recipe #40082 By: Dancer^

2/3 cup cornflake crumbs
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 egg white, lightly beaten
4 (4 ounce) boneless center cut pork chops (1 pound)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine cornflake crumbs, flour, paprika, thyme, garlic powder, cumin, salt, pepper and sugar in a large resealable plastic bag. Brush egg white over both surfaces of each chop. Place them, 1 or 2 at a time, in bag with mix, and shake bag to thoroughly coat pork.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the pork is cooked through to an internal temperature of 145 degrees.

*****

Sounds easy, and I have everything on hand for them. I think I'll keep the side dishes simple--baked potatoes and some kind of vegetable.

*****

These were REALLY good. For some reason when I was putting everything together I thought they were going to turn out gross, but I don't know why. I ended up putting the pork chops on a baking rack on the cookie sheet so they wouldn't get soggy on the bottom. I also flipped them over halfway through the cooking time. The boy helped me mix up the coating--he crushed the cornflakes and then helped add in the spices. I love that he loves to help in the kitchen. He always wants to taste everything we're putting in, too, which I think is very cool. One of the comments on the recipe said they had spread mayonnaise over the pork chops instead of using eggs, so that's what I did because I was feeling lazy. It was really yummy. The coating stayed crunchy, and the flavor was really good. I'd definitely make these again.

(Sorry...I forgot to take a picture of the finished product!)

Pork Katsu Donburi

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!! May the luck o' the Irish be with you today! Did you know that the husband is Irish (well, Irish and Cajun)? He is. We actually went to Ireland in 2005 with my in-laws and the husband's sister and her family. It was a fantastic trip. My FIL even met up with some cousins he didn't know about until he did some family tree research once we were there. It was amazing. In fact, to celebrate today, here's a picture of me kissing the Blarney Stone!



And the husband and I having our first pints of Guinness in Ireland. It tastes so much better over there than it does here!



So to celebrate, we're having...Japanese for dinner. I know, I know, but I couldn't come up with anything Irish that sounded good. I was originally going to do this on Thursday night, but I moved it to tonight. I don't remember why, but I'm excited for it. We've had this once before, about two months ago, and we all really liked it. It's from the Meal Planning 101 blog that I follow and love. Jen B. made it first, and they really liked it, then of course I followed in her footsteps because I'm completely co-dependent on her. With her? I don't know the right phrasing. I bought some pork chops last week when they were on sale for super cheap ($1.66/pound for BONELESS!!), so I'm going to bust out those for this.

Pork Katsu Donburi
2-4 pork loin chops
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs (try not to substitute or the result will not be the same)
1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken broth
6 shitake mushrooms, sliced into strips (you can substitute regular button mushrooms)
1 carrot, julienned (I am using a frozen Asian Veggie Blend with carrots instead)
2 tbsp white sugar
4 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped green onions
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups cooked rice

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Cover the pieces of pork in plastic wrap and using a meat tenderizer, bash the meat until the piece is about 1/4 inch thick. Make sure you flip it over and do the other side as well. Do this to all your pieces. Then cut pork into cutlet sized portions, if needed. Now that your pieces of pork are cut and tenderized, season both sides with salt and pepper. In three separate bowls put flour in the first, beaten eggs in the second and Panko breadcrumbs in the third. Dredge each piece of pork in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, and place on a baking sheet with a baking rack on it. Drizzle lightly with oil and place in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, flip the pork, drizzle the other side lightly with oil and then place back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

While pork is cooking chop veggies (or follow stir fry directions for cooking frozen veggies). In a large frying pan set to medium-high heat saute the onion in oil for 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and carrot and stir-fry a couple more minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, sugar, soy sauce and salt and let simmer for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle in half of the green onions, stirring gently.

When pork comes out of the oven, cut into strips.

Turn the heat down to medium-low for the veggies and pour beaten eggs over the mixture, stirring a bit to incorporate the sauce and egg. Gently add the pork over the top and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked. You may need to add a lid for part of the cooking time to get the eggs to cook through on top.

To serve, scoop rice into four bowls. Divide pork and veggie mixture into four, and place on top of rice. Garnish with a little more chopped green onion. Serve immediately!

*****

I'm only modifying it a little. Jen mentioned she had used some chili paste in her egg wash, so I bought some at the store today to mix in because I thought the last time I made it, the pork could usse a little more flavor. I'm skipping the mushrooms and carrots and just using a frozen stir fry blend. I think last time I microwaved the veggies, and they were a bit soggy, so this time I'll stir fry them so they stay crisp and yummy. Oh, and I didn't add the pork back in because I thought it might get too soggy. I don't think I'll make any side dishes with this since there's rice and veggies in it already.