Pork Roast with Apples & Onions and Wild Rice

I came across this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's blog.  It's different from anything we normally cook, so I figured I'd give it a try.  I never cook with apples so I thought we'd try something new! 

We really liked the flavor of the pork roast and it was so easy to make.  I would definitely make it again.  I tried the apples but I just wasn't crazy about hot, mushy apples with my pork.    To me, just the pork alone was great.  A word of warning about the recipe, if you print it from her blog.....it calls for beef broth, but no where in the instructions does she say to add the beef broth.  I nearly forgot and then my hubby said "what's this in the microwave?" right before it was going in the oven.  (I had heated a cup of water w/a beef boullion cube to make broth).  This is not the first time I've run into this issue with her recipes (even in the cook book), so I try to remember to read through before I really get going.  (also, she does not say anything about rosemary and thyme in the list of ingredients....but when you get to the bottom of the recipe, she says add them if you have them...just FYI.)  I added these things to the recipe below.

Now, about the wild rice.  I have never made wild rice.  I can't even think of the last time I even ate it.  We were not crazy about it and if I make the pork again, I will do a different side.  She says to boil until all the water boils out...but she doesn't specify how long this will take.  It took FOR-EV-ER!!  Seriously....like an hour and a half!  I don't know if that is a function of the wild rice or what.  Never had this issue with regular rice.  We kept checking it and checking it and checking it.......all the while the roast itself is no longer hot and we are starving!  It was not worth the wait for us.  But, if you like wild rice, just be sure you start it with PLENTY of time left (the roast cooks for 3 hours).  Or maybe we did something wrong?!

And, Darby pointed out to me the other day that PW has her 2nd cookbook coming out in the spring!  Can't wait!!!  Has anyone watched her cooking show on the Food Network?  I wish she'd done some never-before-seen recipes, but I really enjoyed it anyway.  If you don't follow her blog much and haven't been through the cookbook, then I guess the recipes would be new.  I really just enjoyed watching her with her family!

Ok, here's the link and recipe....

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/11/pork-roast-with-apples-and-onions/

Pork Roast with Apples & Onions and Wild Rice:

Ingredients

PORK:
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole Pork Shoulder Roast (also Called Pork Butt)
Salt And Pepper, to taste
4 cups Apple Juice
1 cup Beef Stock
3 whole Apples, Cored And Cut Into Wedges
3 whole Medium Onions, Sliced
1 whole Bay Leaf
fresh thyme and/or rosemary (optional)

WILD RICE:
2-1/2 cups Wild Rice
4 cups Water
3 cups Chicken Stock
1/2 stick 4 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Chopped Pecans

Preparation Instructions

OPTIONAL: Saute onions until brown. (Or you may just add them raw to the roast.)

To make the pork roast, heat olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Salt and pepper pork roast, then sear on all sides to give it some color. Reduce heat to low. Add apple juice, apple slices, beef broth, onions, and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 3 hours. (Or you may place in a 300 degree oven if you prefer.)

Toward the end of the cooking time, make the rice: melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add pecans and saute for a couple of minutes. Add wild rice and liquid, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until all liquid is cooked out.

When the roast is done, remove the roast, apples, and onions to a platter. Raise heat to medium-high (to high) and boil liquid, reducing it until thick and rich.

Spoon thick sauce over the roast, then cut the roast into slices. Serve with apples, onions, and wild rice.

(Note: add fresh thyme or rosemary to the roast before cooking if you have it on hand!)

Southwestern Sausage Quiche

I had a delima the other night with what to fix for dinner.  Everything required something to be thawed and more work than I wanted to exert!  So, I searched the web for sausage quiche because I had a half a pound of sausage left over from pizza we had made.  But it had to be pretty basic because I didn't have much else in my fridge because we'd just gotten back from Thanksgiving travels and hadn't gone to the store yet.

This recipe seemed to fit the bill because I had everything and it sounded yummy!

My hubby LOVED it, he couldn't get enough of it actually.  I thought it was ok but not GREAT!  I would make it again in a pinch but probably not plan for it much to Daniel's dismay!!:)

We don't have Ranch in our house so I doubled the sour cream.

Here is the recipe.

½ pounds Sausage
2 whole Eggs
¼ cups Ranch Dressing
¼ cups Sour Cream
⅓ cups Milk
1-½ cup Cheddar Cheese, Grated
1 can (10 Oz. Can) Diced Tomatoes And Green Chiles (Ro*Tel), Drained
1 whole Unbaked 9-inch Deep Dish Pie Shell

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large skillet, cook sausage until well browned, stirring frequently. Drain off grease and set aside. Whisk together eggs, ranch dressing, sour cream and milk. Add sausage, cheese and Rotel. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into prepared pie crust.
Bake 1 hour. Allow quiche to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Here is the recipe I used for the pie crust.

It's a keeper.  Anything I don't have to roll out is a winner!:)

 1 cup Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
⅓ cups Vegetable Oil
2-½ Tablespoons Milk

Assemble ingredients in a pie pan and mix thoroughly with a fork. It should come together in a semi-crumbly fashion. Once all ingredients are incorporated together, press with your fingers into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan. Chill before filling, if you wish—no need to bake before making your actual pie!

Chiken Stew

Let me start off by saying I grew up on chicken stew!  My grandma makes the best chicken stew ever!  Chicken stew was also the best lunch day at school....it wasn't served often because the ladies actually made it from scratch but it was always exciting to see it on the menu!

My hubby had never had chicken stew until he met me and he now loves it just as much as I do.  He  said he'd never even heard of it but he's technically not from the south (which I'm assuming chicken stew is) so I guess that's why.

Anyways, I digress, I have Christy Jordan's Southern Plate cookbook and saw her chicken stew in there and wondered if it would be as good or maybe even better than my grandmas so I decided to give it a go the other day.  I will say it was good but I will not make it again just because I like my grandma's recipe better.  They are mostly similar but just a few things are different.  But please do give it a try if you've never had the wonderful pleasure of eating chicken stew.

I will say that I like her method of doing the chicken and I will do that the next time I make it but I would leave out the sugar for sure.  Oh, and I knew 45 minutes of simmering would not be long enough at all because my grams lets her stew go all day just about so I let mine simmer about 2.5 hours.

We always eat with crackers and some slices of block cheddar cheese. 

You can find the recipe here as well as pictures!

Ingredients

• 1 chicken
• 2 lg onions, chopped
• 7 cups water
• 4 cups canned tomatoes
• 6 med.potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups frozen or canned whole kernel corn
• 2 Tablespoon butter
• 5 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper

Instructions

1. Cook chicken until done in water. Remove chicken from broth and discard skin. Separate meat from bones and shred meat.
2. Dip off as much fat from the broth as possible.
3. Simmer potatoes in 1 cup of broth in covered saucepan until done, do not drain. Mash potatoes slightly, keeping them lumpy.
4. Add corn, onions, tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper to broth.
5. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add potatoes and chicken and simmer slowly with lid off for at least 45 minutes.
7. Right before serving, stir in butter and let it melt. Best if made a day ahead and reheated to serve.

Brown Sugar and Balsalmic Glazed Pork Loin

I am always looking for good slow cooker recipes because with two kids 2 and under - it's a chore to get dinner on the table!  Heck, it was a chore with just one!  :-)
This is a recipe I "pinned" on the best site ever, Pinterest!

I was actually a little skeptical when I was putting this together because I just knew it was going to dry out.  But, I was pleasantly surprised and completely wrong!  It was actually very tender and not dry at all...and I didn't even add any additional liquid to it.  I thought it was very good and the hubby said he liked it but did not rave about it.  But, if I'm being honest, he (ok, both of us) have pretty high expectations for food and it is especially hard for me to find slow cooker recipes that he really likes.  It is kinda hard to find really good ones that don't involve "cream of something" soup.  Anyway!  It's not the best meal I've ever made but it was tasty enough (and very easy) that I would definitely make it again!  Give it a try!


*picture borrowed from the website the recipe came from...b/c my picture did not do it any justice!

 

Brown Sugar and Balsalmic Glazed Pork Loin

 

 

Ingredients:

1 (2 pound) boneless pork tenderloin (or regular pork loin)

1 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup water

Glaze

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions:

Combine sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 1 hour before roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze in small sauce pan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

Pan Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle Orange Glaze ~ page 239

This recipe was good, but probably not as good as the Mustard Maple glazed one that is right before it in the cookbook! I loved that one. This one did have good flavor though, just didn't knock my socks off. It was very easy flavorful, and easy to make. I do really like their technique they use for cooking tenderloins. --Carissa

Southwestern-Style Salmon Cakes ~ page 253

These were super yummy!!! Adam ate 5 1/2 of them and had to hold himself back from eating more. I have always used canned salmon for salmon cakes....I think I will always want to use fresh salmon from now on. The texture was so much better, not mushy. The only change I would do next time is to reduce the amount of corn a little, that would probably help them stick together a bit more, they were a little delicate. The recipe says to make 4 large patties....That is way to big I think. I made 11 patties that were 3 inches across and I thought that was perfect! I served steamed broccoli on the aide to offset the oil that the patties were cooked in. Now did it pass the 30 minute test? NO, it did not, but then again I doubt that the Cooks Illustrated test chefs had to deal with 3 kids climbing on them while they cooked dinner! --Carissa

Jambalaya ~ page 132

After reading Morgan's review, I decided to give this a try. I used the option for regular rice instead of instant rice, so it took a lit longer than the original recipe. It was good...I would make it again. My only complaint would be that it was a little gummy and squishy...I might have put a little too much liquid in though, or maybe I let the kiddos over stir it. As I was slicing my sausage I kept thinking that Andouille didn't have a very appetizing smell, but I had never used it before, so I kept slicing...then finally I decided it just smelled down right bad. After pulling the package wrapper out of the trash, I noticed that it had expired a couple weeks earlier! I had just bought it 1 day ago! Don't you hate that?! So...plan B was the leftover rotisserie chicken from the night before. I think the sausage would have added more flavor than the chicken did, but oh well...at least it was lower in fat! Here is my pile of chicken...
I have a new spice that I have been sprinkling on top of all sorts of things...Aleppo Pepper! It added a great amount of heat to the dish. If any of you aren't familiar with Penzey's Spice shop...you need to check it out. It is a store that only carries spices...and boy do they have any and every spice you would ever want, and at reasonable prices too. It is located in the Heights...would be a fun place to check out if you had the time one day. Next time I make this I will add the sausage in. Yum...I just ate a bowl of leftovers for lunch as I was typing this! --Carissa

Easy Enchiladas ~ page 256

These were very yummy. One trick that they have you do is to add some refried beans to the filling mixture. This is to make it all stick together and make a neater enchilada. Usually you add alot of cheese to make it all stick together, but then once it cooks, all the cheese oozes out and you are left with a flat greasy enchilada. I really liked the refried bean idea, it worked for me. I don't know if I could have really had them on the table in 30 minutes. I prepped mine and assembled them ahead of time, and that alone too 30 minutes. The corn tortillas got a little too soft...I think if I had made them all at the last minute, they would not have gotten too soft...mine just sat in the sauce for 6 hours absorbing all the moisture. I didn't have canned sauce, so I made my own using their recipe. It was a great sauce. I'd make these again. --Carissa

Skillet Vermicelli with Chorizo Sausage and Black Beans ~ page 150

I agree with Darby,...this was very delicious. I think the main intriguing thing about this recipe is that it is different...it is not like something I have made before. New taste and texture combos that I don't usually put together...spaghetti and black beans? That just sounds odd together...but trust me it works. I couldn't find chorizo in a link, only made fresh in the deli part of HEB. But I'm glad I found it that way because I think I really liked it and it was cheap. See photo below...my sausage came wrapped in butcher paper and looked like a hunk of ground beef!
I think the name of this dish is all wrong...first of all it is way too long. No recipe should have 8 words in the title! I like the title of the recipe that they got adapted it from..."Sopa Seca"...now that is just fun to say! I actually googled it...it is a Mexican pasta dish, our new name for it is Mexican spaghetti! It gets right to the point. I will definitely make this again...the kids gobbled it up even though I was a little heavy handed with the minced chipotles! Even though it looks like my pan was too big, when you dump all that pasta in you need the tall sides to stir it all together so that it doesn't all end up on the stove top. I think this might even be a great travel dish, if you had to take dinner to someone who maybe just had a baby or was sick. Loved it! --Carissa

Skillet Tuna Noodle Casserole ~ page 144

I made this while Adam was out of town knowing that he wouldn't be crazy about it....When he was a little lad, his mom made meatloaf and tuna casserole way too often and burned him out, so I never get to make those recipes. I saved him the trauma and made it when it was just us Robertson girls last weekend. I thought it was good. I'd make it again, especially since it was so fast, I think it was more like 20 minutes...although I forgot to buy mushrooms, and that probably saved a bit of time since I left them out. As you can see in the pic below, the 5 year old cleaned her bowl and gave it 2 thumbs up! --Carissa

Creamy Skillet Penne with Mushrooms and Asparagus ~ page 143

Morgan and I were thinking the same in our cooking....but Morgan's picture looked better I think! I added the simple sauted chicken diced up into mine so Adam thought he was getting a heartier meal. I thought this was good, I'd make it again. It was super easy, mine took a touch longer to make, but I was also sauteing chicken breasts (I'll put those in a separate post)

The only think Adam said was, that it sure had alot of asparagus...I had to get him to clarify if that was a good thing or bad thing...I was under the impression that you could never have too much asparagus. :) He thought differently. So other than that, comment, the family gobbled it up! Lillian the 5 year old especially gobbled it up. I didn't have the exact mushrooms the recipe called for, so I used these...they did just fine. Here is a pic in case some of you aren't familiar with dried mushrooms. --Carissa

Kung Pao-Style Shrimp with Ramen ~ page 151

This was quite yummy! I do believe that it came together in 30 minutes also. My kids loved the noodles and we all fought over the leftovers the next day. The sauce had a great flavor. Our only complaint was that it seemed to need something else chunky....It felt like alot of noodles with some shrimp on top. I do think I'll make this again and when I do I think I'll add asparagus pieces or sugar snap peas or snow peas. It just needed a bit more bulk. Very tasty and easy to make. --Carissa

Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Broccoli ~ page 164

I used this as a side dish. It kinda just tasted like spaghetti with garlic and broccoli which I suppose is all it claimed it would taste like! I think it would be boring without the broccoli which one version had you doing. I'll admit it tasted better the next day and even better the day after. I don't think I'd make it again, but don't let that discourage you from trying it yourself. It didn't taste bad, it just didn't knock my socks off. Don't skimp and do less that the 12 cloves of garlic that it calls for. I left a couple cloves out for the kiddos sake, and I think it needed it. --Carissa

Curry in a Hurry ~ page 257

I made this with my leftovers from the pork tenderloin a few days before. I know the picture doesn't make it look that great...it looked better in real life. It was good, I don't know if I'd say it was super great. It just isn't very saucy..I like my curry dishes to have alot of sauce for the rice to absorb. The flavor was good, and it certainly was done in 30 minutes. Everyone at the table cleaned their bowls except for the 3 year old...but she doesn't count since she is a picky eater! If I made it again, I would add some coconut milk to it to make it creamy and saucy. Overall though, it was a nice mild dish that was tasty. --Carissa

Pan-Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Mustard-Maple Glaze

This was very yummy and so easy! It was easily done in 30 minutes. I didn't have a full 1/2 cup of maple syrup, so I subbed in half honey with great results. I would make this again, my kids gobbled this up. I used the leftovers in a curry recipe in the back of the book...I'll keep you on pins and needles on how that turned out till I get that recipe blogged! :) --Carissa

Un-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Dijon, Ham, and Gruyere (p.227)

WOW! All I can say about this recipe is SO delicious but SO bad for your waist line! It was a huge hit at our house. I had to really restrain myself. I didn't change anything from the recipe at all. I have to say the Dijon mustard really added a lot of flavor to the chicken.
I even got our son to help in making this dish. He had a lot of fun breaking up the Ritz crackers for me.
The dish going into the oven. I used all the sauce in the skillet, but I think you can use as much as you like. I am glad I did because the finishing sauce was a perfect way to bring the meal together.
The final product

A couple of things I will do different next time:
* I used very thick chicken breast and I believe thinner breasts would be a better fit. The chicken was still great, but a lot of it. We had enough left over for dinner tonight.
*Instead of using regular Ritz crackers, I will use reduced fast or whole wheat instead.
*Finally I would replace the heavy whipping cream with fat-free half and half.

I always like to try a new recipe as it is written, but if I know it is a dish I will be cooking again (like this one) and it isn't necessarily the best for you, then I like to make changes that I can to help make it healthier but not take away dish.

A very special thank you to my amazing husband who helped me a lot with this dish. He is an incredible cook and I couldn't ask for a better person to help me out in the kitchen. Thanks Byron!
- Michelle

Skillet Tamale Pie (page 119)

This was a very good dish, lots of flavor! I did add more cilantro than what it calls for because my husband really likes cilantro. I also choose to use 93/7 ground beef instead of the 90 and I used fat free sour cream as well. I will be making this dish again for my family. I think next time I make this dish I am going to try it using fat-free shredded cheese and maybe top with Panko bread crumbs and see how that works.

I did choose to go ahead and mince the onions and garlic ahead of time. I find doing that for any recipes that call for them just seems to help with the cooking process. This was my first recipe from the new cookbook, and if the rest are this easy and tasty, I will be a happy cook!

Trying another dish tonight for dinner. :) - Michelle

Crispy Chicken Fingers ~ page 200

These were very good, just not very good for you! :) The coating was very crispy! I think if you were really rushing around you could maybe make these in 30 minutes, but it would be tight! But you know what?...the cleanup took 30 minutes! Seriously...I had 3 different containers for the flour, egg and breadcrumb dipping stations, plus flour and breadcrumbs everywhere, granted some of this is from having kids helping me, but then I had a raw chicken container, then a greasy cooked chicken baking sheet, plus the skillet, and that is only half the mess...I had to scrub the splattered grease off the stove top and other burners! Guess I need to get a grease splatter screen! All that to say, they were good, but alot of trouble. It took 3 batches of frying to get them all done. (this is a great way to season a cast iron skillet!)

I think I would make them again, just not right away. My house needs to air out...I woke up to a greasy smelling house this morning. Next time I will season the breadcrumbs and flour...the recipe just says to season the raw chicken pieces, I thought it needed a bit more. The recipe does say that you can freeze the extra cooked strips and microwave them for one minute for a quick snack. I tried this at lunch today and it actually was really convenient! They were even crispy when they came out of the microwave. I have to go finish my lunch....--Carissa

Skillet Penne with Sausage and Spinach ~ page 142

I had my doubts that you could put sausage, chicken broth, and dry pasta in a pan and come out with something good, but this was delicious! I have made this 2 times actually because it was so fast and easy. The turkey sausage adds so much flavor to this dish. As you can see below, I used a skillet with sides that were a couple inches tall. The recipe calls for a 12 inch non-stick skillet. I just could see no way that that would work...all that liquid and dry pasta and all that spinach in that little skillet, and why do you need non stick? So, I chickened out at the last minute and puled out the bigger stainless pan...it worked like a charm. I polled my friends that were over eating this and we all agreed that it needed less salt...the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon...I would leave it all out, the sausage is plenty salty. The other change that someone mentioned that I agreed with was to add a little more spinach. Oh, and I chopped my spinach a little so it wasn't long strings hanging out of our mouths at the table. This is a recipe that I will work into my regular rotation because of it'e ease. It also heats up very well the next day too. --Carissa

Broiled Maple-Soy Glazed Salmon Fillets with Toasted Sesame Seeds ~ page 240

This was outstanding! I would highly recommend making this! It was indeed done in under 30 minutes and was so moist on the inside while being caramelized and almost crisp on the outside. You broil it, so it goes fast. Loved it, and wouldn't change anything about it. I didn't have a broiler pan, so I just used a cookie cooking rack as you can see in the pic below. It worked great, I just had to scrub it several times to make sure my cookies wont taste like salmon next time I bake! --Carissa