Pork and Carrots, Take 2, only much better

So my leftover pork and carrots needed to be used, and this time I am much, much happier with the results. This time I decided on stuffed pork chops with apple and raisin filling. The carrots come in later, for a little spicy Moroccan dip.

First, assembling the filling:
1 peeled and chopped apple
1 small diced onion
ground sage
1 cup white bread cubes
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp butter
salt & pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
Several small pork chops (I pounded out mine)

Sautee the apple, onion and sage in olive oil until onion is translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the bread, egg, butter, salt & pepper, then as much chicken broth as the mixture will soak up.

Lay out your pork chops on a lined baking sheet, and fill them to your hearts content!

Roll the pork chop over a bit to get it to stay pretty well closed. I didn't put in the energy of tying them up or skewering them and it was fine. Also, I put the extra filling between the chops on the sheet to cook it up, because I didn't want to leave any deliciousness behind. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, it probably depends on the thickness of your chops, you may need more time. Pork should be cooked to at least 160 degrees.

Plate up and enjoy the amazingness! This was so so good that I can't recommend it highly enough... go... make them now! (Despite the kind of obscene color and texture of the pork, ignore that, I promise, no regrets)

Also, the small bowl of orange on the plate is this Morrocan-Style Spicy Carrot Dip, and it was also very very good. WAY better than yesterday's mash. Definitely choose this over that.

Successes and Failures, know your cauliflower limits

I tried to take on Whole30, and failed, but I still got some good things out of it. Meal planning is a super smart thing to do. It makes shopping and cooking much easier. I, however, very much require dairy and sugar. And "paleo" baked goods are disgusting, but cauliflower makes a good replacement for some things like rice and grains. I am going to continue to strive for a close-to-Whole30 30 days, but I have pretty much broken every rule in the 2 weeks up to now. According to the creators I am not doing it right, but it is still eating better so screw the rules!

So that leads to last night's meal. I decided to make all new things: breaded pork tenders with mint cashew pesto and carrot cauliflower mash. Spoiler alert... the pork tenders were the only really good part.

It all looks good right? Well, the pesto was way too salty and the mash had very little flavor. The pork tenders however were quite good. I just chopped some slices off a pork loin, dredged them in flour with salt and pepper, dipped that in beaten egg, and dipped that in a mixture of panko and parmesan (not at all Whole30). Popped it in a pan until brown and they came out moist and tender. Perfect!

I think part of my pesto problem was that I didn't have enough of the ingredients to adjust my flavors. I think it could be good. It is just spinach, mint, cashews, salt, pepper and olive oil blended together. I couldn't get it well blended because there was so little, and once it was too salty, I was out of spinach and mint to try and fix it. Not sure if I will try again or not.

The carrot cauliflower mash I had high expectations for because the ingredients were so good!

Even just in the pans it looks so good! For some reason my carrots never steamed. How does that happen? I boiled water under the steamer...? I am still confused by it. The onions were delicious on their own, I should have just eaten them: chopped onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme and olive oil. I steamed some grated cauliflower from another recipe in the microwave and then added it all to the blender.

I think I might try this again without the cauliflower. I had used cauliflower in so many recipes lately that I think I wore myself out on it. With salt and pepper it was edible, but I didn't eat much of it. Mostly I just ate the peppers out from underneath with the little bits of mash I didn't flick off. Also, maybe I just don't like mashed things... I am not sure about that, but it could be part of it. I am going to try another version of carrot mash, to be used as a dip, so maybe that will provide some more insight!

Quick Cassoulet

We call this dish "meat stew" 'round our house because that's basically what it is.  Pork, sausage, bacon (when I have it) and tomatoes and beans and some red wine all combine to make a warm and earthy stew.  It's perfect for the rainy, 40ish degree weather we've been having.  I like mine with a fresh from the oven baguette and lots of butter.  I like the La Brea Take & Bake baguettes in the bakery section of the grocery store.  

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds pork chops, cubed

1 medium onion, diced

1 tsp Italian seasoning

12 oz smoked turkey sausage, sliced

3/4 cup red wine

2 cans Great Northern beans, drained

1 can diced tomatoes with basil and garlic

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Brown the pork with onion, salt and pepper and Italian seasoning, stirring until pork is no longer pink.  Stir in the sausage and cook for a couple of minutes.  Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the wine.  Simmer for 4 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes and simmer for another 3 minutes.  Stir in the beans, let simmer another minute or so.  Serve with warm baguette.

Adapted from Family Circle

Five Meat Soup/Pork Marinade

The last 2 weeks have been full of excitement, mainly the awful kind. I was sick with strep and some terrible sinus something for all last week, then it snowed about a foot twice within a week. Spending an entire week at home because of snow and sickness was supposed to create an opportunity for wondrous new dishes, but instead it created an inability to go to the store.

I did a bit of planning ahead when I was invited to see Nick Offerman (Ron! Swanson!) live with some friends. In his honor I decided on a many meat soup! Sadly my infirmity prevented me from seeing the show (saddest face ever) but I went ahead with the meal.

I settled on five meats:
Crawfish Boudin
Pork Carnitas
Pancetta
Sway Fish
Grilled Chicken

I sauteed the boudin and the pancetta, and the pork was pre-cooked and just needed to be shredded. I made a dark roux, threw in some onions and a few cups of stock, the meats and some frozen artichoke hearts and asparagus.

The result was kind of gumbo-like... partially because I did put some file and creole spices in too.

It was pretty good at first. WARNING: this soup may become toxic after 3-4 days. I ate it on Thursday, and both Si and I ate it on Saturday and we were fine, but then he had a bowl on Sunday morning and his stomach started making terrible noises. I felt pretty bad, but I have no idea what happened. I don't know if one of the ingredients deteriorated quickly or there was some weird chemical reaction and the chicken tried to reanimate or what.

So that was traumatic.

Today I wanted to do something with the rest of the pork carnitas and made an impromptu marinade from orange juice, brown sugar, chipotle powder, a tiny bit of molasses and chicken stock. It was delicious! However, I didn't take any pictures, so instead, here is some snow!