Pork Pie

Pork Pies

In keeping with my current obsession with The Great British Bake Off, I decided Pork Pies were needed for dinner, tonight. They're not exactly a traditional British recipe, but I'm not exactly British, either. I guess they were more along the lines of my interpretation of a British Pork Pie.

It's been fun, because British cuisine is not something I have ever really studied. I've been to London and I've eaten some really excellent pub food, and I've made some excellent Christmas puddings, but other than an occasional something here or there, that's about it.

When I bought the ale for the Steak and Ale pies the other day, I bought a 4-pack, so I have British ale in the house. I'm no longer much of a beer drinker, so a few cans of British ale means I should be cooking something with it.

I'm up for the challenge.

I decided to go with a potato topping instead of a pastry crust because we also had little pies this week made with the leftover filling and pastry from the steak and ale pies. The filling was made with stuff in the house - my favorite kind of cooking.

Not Exactly British Pork Pies

For filling

  • 6 oz pork chop, diced
  • 4 oz ham, diced
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 4 oz mushrooms, chopped
  • 4 oz peas
  • 8 oz British Ale
  • 8 oz chicken broth
  • thyme
  • salt
  • pepper

For topping

  • 1 potato, peeled and boiled
  • 1 pat butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 oz grated parmesan cheese
  • garlic powder
  • salt and pepper

Dredge pork chunks in flour. Saute in batches in a medium sauce pan until browned. Set aside.

Add onion and celery to pot and cook until onion begins to get translucent. Add garlic and cook another minute.

Add a bit of the ale to loosen up the fond on the bottom of the pan. Add the rest of the ale, the carrots and mushrooms. Add the diced ham.

Add the seasonings and just enough broth to make sure everything is covered.

Bring to a boil, cover, and then place in a 300°F oven for 2 hours.

At the end of 2 hours, remove from oven and stir in peas.

Place in individual casserole dishes or in a single oven-proof casserole dish.

Make topping.

Mash or rice the potatoes and then add butter, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and mix well. Add egg yolk and mix well. Stir in cheese and - you guessed it - mix well.

Pipe or spread on top of filling and place in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes or until browned.

They came out pretty good - lots of rich flavor and they didn't need any additional thickening.

And I still have two 475ml cans of ale...

I wonder what will be next.....

 

 

 

 

 


Pork Chops

Pork Chops

The rains have finally subsided. Flood Watches and River Flood Watches are still in effect, but nothing is falling from the sky, right now.

We survived another one - just some minor leakage in the basement. Not as bad as it has been or can be. A few years ago we actually lost part of our foundation and the waters poured into the basement. We had close to 6" of muddy water down there - with no pumps, no drains, no nothin'. It was a lot of buckets up the stairs getting rid of it - not to mention fixing the foundation. Ever since then, I get a bit worried when we have days of torrential rains.

But... we dodged another one and all is swell.

I had to go to Phoenixville this morning and drove through Valley Forge Park at a crawl coming home - the road was a mess with near-blinding rain and storm drains that just couldn't handle the flow. The Jerk-in-Chief wants billions to build a wall. We could use a few of those bucks to build proper storm drains - especially since rains like this have become the new normal.

But I digress...

I hadn't thought about dinner before I left, so when I got home I just grabbed a couple of pork chops out of the freezer. What I wasn't thinking was how big these pork chops are. They didn't seem very big in their frozen vacuum-packed packages. Note to self: One package is enough for both of us for dinner.

Blanche, of course, would disagree. We each ate half and the rest is set aside for her. Our dog is only slightly spoiled.

I liberally coated the chops with Penzey's Mural of Flavor spice blend, seared them in a hot skillet, and then finished them in the oven. The sweet potato was baked, peeled and then drizzled with just a bit of maple syrup. The baby zucchini were sautéed with a bit of garlic. Salt and pepper was added to everything at some point.

Really simple flavors, but filling and satisfying.

Tomorrow, I'm attempting something I've never made before.

Stay tuned.

 


Pork Tenderloin

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

I was busy, today, working on a little project for my siblings... I have a lot of stuff that once belonged to my mom and other relatives that we've used over the years, but are unlikely to keep using a lot in the future. I've been thinking that they - or their kids - might be able to use it, so today I started taking pictures of things and set up a web page where they can see the stuff and decide if they want it. There's nothing of great value, but there are some really nice platters, bowls, serving dishes, and even a 1930s GE Mixer that belonged to my great aunt - and it still works.

I was planning on making a pork tenderloin-something for dinner, but Victor decided he'd create dinner and let me finish getting things together.

He came walking into the office with a jar of artichoke pesto I had bought from Eataly back in October and asked me if I had any plans for it. I said, no, he smiled, and said he now did. I could keep on working - dinner was going to be taken care of.

It's great being married to a man who knows how to cook.

He took the pork loin and butterflied it, and then added the artichoke pesto, proscuitto, sun-dried tomatoes in oil, bread crumbs, and cheese, tied it all together, and then baked it in a hot oven for 40 minutes. He put mini potatoes along side to bake in the pork fat and juices.

Dinner was stellar!

The pork was moist and tender, the stuffing rich and flavorful, the potatoes perfectly cooked.

I have said many times that food can put a big smile on my face - and I'm grinning from ear-to-ear as I type this. It really was good.

The project was completed and now it's off to a couple of Great British Bake Off shows.

Life is good.


Maple Syrup and Whiskey

Maple Syrup and Whiskey

At the grocery store, today, there were bone-in spiral-cut hams on sale for $1.19/lb. I probably wouldn't have even noticed them, but I was looking for ham hocks for Victor to make lentil soup. There weren't any around, so I thought I'd get a small ham and cook it, save the bone... I picked up the smallest one I could find - 10 pounds - and added it to the ever-growing cart. A few minutes later, I spied an employee, so I asked him about ham hocks. It took him a while, but he had them. I went to put the ham back, and then decided, screw it. It's cheap. I'm buying a ham, too.

I'm not a huge fan of spiral-cut hams, but at that price, I figured I'd get over it. A 10-pound ham is going to do a lot of meals around here - and cheaply. I'll definitely get half a dozen meals at the minimum. It's a commitment - but I do have my FoodSaver. We don't have to eat them all this week.

I put it in a pan with about a quarter-cup of Jameson's, covered it well, and warmed it in a 275°F oven for about an hour and a half. I mixed more Jameson's with some maple syrup and made a glaze - brushed it all over and put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I cut up and boiled a sweet potato. When it was done, I drained it and added a pat of butter, maple syrup, and a capful of Jameson's. I figured what the hell.

Steamed asparagus on the side.

I have to admit it was a pretty good meal. More than I could eat, so Blanche got lots of leftovers.

Speaking of leftovers... I just portioned and vacuum-packed. We have nine more meals from this - including the bone for soup.

HamNot bad for 11 bucks.


Pork and Apple Stew

Pork Stew with Apples

Brrrr... it's cold, outside. It's that biting cold that seems to go right through ya. And there's rumor of a bit of snow on the way, too. Nothing major - 2"-3" - but I'm sure it's enough to send the crazies out for milk, bread, and eggs. I am sooooo glad I don't have to deal with that, anymore!

There's something about snow that really does send some people right over the top, around here. The panic buying has just never made sense to me. People shop like they're going to be stranded for weeks. In the 18 years we have lived back here, I can count on one hand the amount of times we've been stuck in the house for 24 hours. Even the years I lived at Lake Tahoe - where it really snows - I never saw the panic buying I've see here.  Add the Philadelphia Eagles Playoff Game tomorrow into the equation, and I'm really glad I'm retired!

It boggles the mind...

So... cold outside means warm inside. Warm inside means a nice stew. My original thought was to make a posole, but I saw a recipe for a Peruvian pork and apple stew that really sounded interesting. Interesting won.

The recipe I saw came from Mark Bitman at the NY Times. As is typical, I used it as a starting off point, but didn't actually make his recipe. If you subscribe to the NY Times Cooking, here's his recipe: Pork Stew with Chiles, Lime, and Apples.

Pork and Apple Stew

  • 1 1/2 pounds pork stew meat cut into 2" chunks
  • 2 apples, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 tbsp ancho chili powder
  • pinch cloves
  • 1 very hot pepper, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can diced green chiles
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 1/4 cup key lime juice
  • salt & pepper, to taste

Brown pork in an oven-proof pan. Add  onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add chili powder, cloves, and minced pepper and cook a moment to get rid of the raw flavor.

Add the canned chiles, broth, and lime juice. Bring to a boil.

Stir in apples.

Cover, remove from heat, and place in a 275°F oven for about 3 hours.

Serve with rice.

This really did come out good. I used a really hot chili pepper and it was perfectly balanced with the apple and the lime. the pork was fall-apart tender, and the apples just sorta melted into everything.

The rice was out of a box - Goya Rice and Black Beans. Sometimes ya want something easy, ya know?!?

There's leftovers for tomorrow's lunch if we want - it would be good wrapped in a tortilla while watching the snow fall.

Stay warm. We are.


Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers

I picked up a couple of red peppers at the store the other day while doing the shopping, and when we were putting things away, Victor said he thought they would make great stuffed peppers.

I smiled and said go for it! No matter how much I may enjoy cooking, I also enjoy being cooked for - especially by someone who knows how to cook!

Last night, I asked him if he wanted to use beef or pork for the filling - we had both in the freezer. He laughed and said I guess I'm making stuffed peppers, tomorrow. I smiled back and replied what a great idea! 

Great minds do think alike!

He chose the pork. It was a good choice! A trick he used was to brush the inside of the peppers with a bit of olive oil and then add in bread crumbs to help absorb some of the juices as they cooked. Measurements are determined by size of peppers and how many you're making, but a bit of a rule of thumb is equal amounts of meat to all the other filling.

Another thing he added - totally non-traditional - was about a good half-cup of the fruit I made for the lamb dish we had on New Year's Eve. It added that excellent agrodolce flavor we both love so much. I think it's something I want to have in the 'fridge on a regular basis. It has a ridiculously long shelf life - not that we'll ever keep it that long!

Stuffed Peppers

  • ground pork
  • rice, cooked
  • carrots, chopped
  • celery, chopped
  • shallots, chopped
  • green onion, chopped
  • garlic, minced
  • hot pepper, minced
  • salt and pepper
  • oregano
  • parsley
  • pecorino, grated
  • breadcrumbs
  • tomato sauce
  • mixed dried fruit

Sauté the vegetables in a bit of olive oil until they soften. Add the pork and continue cooking until it is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Remove from pan into a large bowl.

Add rice and mix well. Add a bit of tomato sauce and stir in pecorino, salt, pepper, parsley, and oregano, to taste. Add a few bread crumbs if filling seems too loose.

Brush the inside of the peppers with a bit of oil and sprinkle liberally with bread crumbs. Fill with pork and tomato stuffing.

Place in an oiled casserole with a bit of tomato sauce on the bottom. Top with more bread crumbs, cover, and bake at 350°F for an hour. Uncover during the last 15 minutes and add shredded cheese, if desired.

They were perfection on a plate! A little bit of heat from the hot pepper, the sweetness from the fruit, the tenderness of the pepper...  The pork was lighter than the beef would have been, allowing all of the different flavors to all shine!

It really did come together as a perfect dish.

 


Pork and Polenta

Pork and Polenta

The weather has been pretty unseasonably warm around here, so I thought I'd take advantage of it and grill a pork chop, tonight. As most of you know, weather usually doesn't stop me from grilling if I'm of a mind to - the grill is in a covered area away from the elements. It rained all night and most of the day, but my grilling area was just fine. It may get cold out there, but it's always dry.

The chop was done really simply - I liberally doused it with Penzey's Mural of Flavor spice blend. It's odd... I always considered myself a non-spice blend person, hence the 9 million different herbs and spices in the cupboard. Of course, I didn't count poultry seasoning, Italian seasoning, French herbs, herbes d'provence, Za'atar, Berbere, Chinese five spice, jerk seasoning... you get the picture... I'm not a spice blend person except for the dozen or so spice blends I use. Penzey's has made me rethink some of that with their samples and freebies and discounted prices - and liberal politics.

Chop on the grill. Basic as it gets.

The polenta was a bit different. I roasted a sweet potato, riced it, and mixed it in with the simmering polenta! I used to pretty much always make polenta with milk and add a bunch of cheese. I'm back to making it with water, and the sweet potato added the creaminess I like without all of that dairy. A bit of garlic powder, salt, and pepper were the only seasonings.

In the middle of it all was arugula and leeks. I thinly sliced a leek and sautéed it in a pat of butter. I added some white wine, and when it completely reduced, I added the arugula, salt, pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder, as well. I cooked it until it was completely wilted, and then made a ring of the polenta, placed the arugula in the center, and the sliced pork chop on top.

Layers of goodness!

Neither of us cleaned our plates. We're almost starting to get the hang of this!

Almost.


Pork Loin

A Whole Pork Loin

My impulse buy of the day, today, was a whole pork loin for $1.49 a pound. We're not pork-and-sauerkraut-for-New-Years folks, but I'll definitely take advantage of a good price. A bit over 10 pounds for $15.51 was not bad.

I cut 12 11 ounce chops and the rest went to stew meat. Fifteen meals, fifteen dollars. Not bad. I cut 11 ounce chops figuring that is more than enough for the two of us. I can cut them to make them thin chops, stuff 'em, grill 'em, whatever. After cutting, I vacuum-packed them with the FoodSaver and into the freezer. We've had that FoodSaver for years. I love it. I also did a family pack of ground beef and a family pack of chicken breasts. We're set for a while.

Tonight, I took one chop and used it to clean out the refrigerator. I sliced it into strips and cooked it off with a small chopped onion and garlic. Into the pan went some cooked beets from the other night, chopped tomatoes from pizza-making on Sunday, and a peeled and cut sweet potato. I added the necessary salt, pepper, some herbs d'Provence, and a splash of broth to beep it all moist, and then covered it and placed it into a 350°F oven for 45 minutes.

Simple, filling, and nothing wasted.

The holidays are officially over around here, so it's back to trying to be a bit more reasonable. I still have the thought of buying smaller-sized clothes, this year!

 


Pork and Cauliflower

Pork and Cauliflower

Tonight's dinner is brought to you by purple cauliflower from the Lancaster Farmer's Market.

I went down to the fish store today to buy some dungeness crab for Christmas Eve. We'll be making Crab Cioppino for dinner that night - La Vigilia, or the Feast of the Seven Fish. It's sold frozen 3000 miles from the west coast, so buying it today was a lot better than waiting until the week before Christmas when the fish store is packed with people. I've been making room in the freezer.

Driving home, I passed by the farmer's market so I decided to stop by and see what was there. I don't shop there often because things can be rather expensive. However, I wanted to see if they had a celery root to make a chicken dish our friend Ann sent to us a few days ago since the local grocery store didn't have any. They did. And while I was there, I picked up some golden beets, some candied peel for cookies, and a purple cauliflower. And roasted sweet potatoes for Nonna - she really likes their sweet potatoes since they're roasted on a rotisserie with chickens and get dripped in chicken fat as they spin around and around. What's not to like?!?

Twenty-five dollars later, I left with my small bags and headed home.

I thought I needed to do something with the cauliflower other than steam it, since the color pretty much leaves it once it hits water. Roasting sounded better. I saw a recipe on the NY Times cooking site that looked interesting, so I thought I'd take a stab at making something similar since I didn't have all of the ingredients they were calling for. As I've said many times, recipes are guidelines and, if nothing else, are there to inspire creativity.

The pork is the same - a recipe that I switched around to suit my needs.

Cauliflower and Almonds

  • 1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1/4 cup cup roughly chopped almonds
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheese
  • 1/4 cup olive tapenade
  • 2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
  • pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  • salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425.

Drizzle cauliflower with olive oil and sprinkle with red pepper flakes and a bit of salt and pepper. Place on a sheet pan and roast until done - about 25-30 minutes.

Remove from oven and stir in chopped almonds, cheese, and parsley.

Can be served hot or at room temperature.

The pork was equally easy to do. Make a simple spice rub and then fry the individual cutlets in a smoking hot cast iron pan or grill over high heat just a couple of minutes per side.

Pork Spice Rub

  • 1 pork tenderloin, in half-inch slices
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients and liberally apply to pork slices.

Grill or fry over high heat 1-2 minutes per side, until cooked to desired doneness. Because the pork is in small pieces, you really don't want to over-cook them, so watch them!

It really came out good - rich flavor and just the right amount of heat. The flavors really went well, together.

The star of the plate, though, was the cauliflower. It's amazing how a little olive tapenade can so totally change a dish. The original recipe called for adding green olives, but the tapenade worked much better, in my not so humble opinion.

Tomorrow starts the cookie-baking! We're completely changing things around this year - making only biscotti - lots and lots of different biscotti. The first one will be the newly-created Justin Trudeau.

Details, tomorrow...

 

 

 

 


Pork Scaloppine

Pork Scaloppine

I broke with tradition, a bit, tonight - I cooked a reasonably traditional dinner! It's been a while since I did an actual meat/starch/vegetable meal - I figured it was time.

Truth be told, though, is I had fresh peas and mushrooms to use up and a couple of potatoes that were starting to go soft on me. I don't buy food to throw it away - although I often (usually?!?) buy food with no idea what I'm going to use it for.

The pork tenderloin just tied it all together.

It was a pretty simple meal - I cut the tenderloin into a dozen pieces and then pounded them with a mallet. I dredged them in flour seasoned with garlic powder, sage, and a bit of S&P. Into a skillet to brown.

I pulled them out, sautéed the mushrooms, added white wine and then some chicken stock. Put the pork back in and thickened it all with the leftover seasoned flour.

Yumlicious!

And this afternoon, Victor made a batch of butternut squash soup and a batch of butternut squash gnocchi. The soup is in the 'fridge and the gnocchi is in the freezer.

We do eat well around here...

 

 

 


Pork Tenderloin

Braised Pork Tenderloin

Sometimes, the simplest meals are the tastiest - and this was definitely simple!

I cut a pork tenderloin into 1-inch scallops and lightly browned them in a braising pan. Out they came, and into the pan went

  • chopped onion
  • sliced shallots
  • a chopped leek
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 minced hot pepper,
  • 2 red potatoes that had been partially steamed
  • 1 diced apple
  • 1 can diced green chiles
  • cumin
  • salt and pepper

The pork went back in, the lid went on, and it all simmered for about 20 minutes.

Tons of flavor and minimal work.


Apples and Beets

Golden Beets and Apples

Victor started liking beets when he first had roasted golden beets. They were totally different than the canned pickled beets of his youth - they had flavor without vinegar. Golden beets aren't in the market very often - even though they have a long summer-through-fall season - so I grab a couple whenever I see them.

I roasted them in the oven - pan wrapped in foil - for about an hour, and then peeled them. That's pretty much my standard start. From there, anything is possible!

Today, it was cubing them along with an apple and a couple stalks of celery.

I sauteed them in a bit of olive oil, then added some Calvados and put a lid on to steam. Seasoning-wise, I used Penzey's Florida Pepper - their spin on St Augustine spice blend.

I marinated a pork tenderloin in the same spice and Calvados - and then grilled it.

To round out the plate, Victor made a tomato salad - fresh tomatoes, olive oil, basil, garlic, salt & pepper.

The apples and beets really complimented each other - and the celery added a nice texture to balance them. And you just can't get any better than fresh tomatoes from your own yard. They are the highlight of summer!

Since the rains stopped, the tomatoes have been coming in at a rapid pace. I'll be doing another harvest tomorrow. And peppers. We have peppers! I'm leaving the majority of them out there to turn red. I'm making another batch of hot sauce! I do pull in a dozen or so every few days to fry. We have fried peppers on everything!

Another good day at the gym...

Life is good...