Maple & Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin

I made this the other night when Carolyn and the kids were here.  The sauce turns out yummy.  I served it with oven-roasted potatoes, which were also good with a little of the sauce dribbled on.

• 2 pork tenderloins, about 1 pound each
• salt and pepper
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard or country-style
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• (I used Champagne Orange vinegar)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or Maple Sugar Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cold water

Wash and trim the pork and pat dry; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place pork in the slow cooker. Combine garlic, mustard, honey, brown sugar, vinegar, thyme and maple syrup; pour over the pork. Turn pork to coat thoroughly. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours, or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours.

Remove pork to a plate, cover with foil, and keep warm. Pour the juices into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until reduced by about one-third. Combine the cornstarch and cold water; whisk into the reduced juices and cook for 1 minute longer. Serve pork sliced with the thickened juices

Feta Dip

Awesome super easy no-cook appetizer, always a hit.  This is that ONE recipe that always gets asked for.  And it’s ridiculously, embarrassingly easy. Here’s what you need:

• olive oil
• 1 block (1#) of feta cheese
• tomatoes (any kind)…I use about 3 Roma’s
• 1 bunch of green onions
• 1 baguette
• Greek Seasoning
• 1 large platter

Wet the platter generously with olive oil.  Dice the green onions and tomatoes.. Throw them on the olive oil. Crumble the feta cheese and throw that on the platter.. Sprinkle the Greek Seasoning on top. (use about 3 tsp.)

(If you can't find greek seasoning, you can sub with oregano and a little pepper and some salt to taste.). Mix it gently all together until it looks like this.

Slice the baguette.  A special word about the bread…it MAKES the dip.  I have found that the best bread is FRESH, bakery kind….the kind that comes in the long skinny paper bag.   You want it bite-sized and you want to cut it thin  because this is how people will “dip”.  Or you can include a spoon if the people you hang around with are super polite.

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole Bake

I found this recipe on a southern cooking blog and it looked really good. I'll try to post a picture of the finished product. The cook who made it types just like she must talk, and it's really a cute blog called "Deep South Dish." There were enough other fun things on that blog that I might poke around for more. Anyway, the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups of cooked chicken (or 3 to 5 pieces of raw chicken) I'll bet you could also use leftover turkey
• 2 cups chicken stock/broth 
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of unsalted butter
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup

Instructions: Use precooked chicken or poach raw chicken in the chicken broth or stock in a medium sized saucepan. Cook on a low simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is mostly done. It will finish cooking in the oven. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool but reserve the stock.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a Pyrex measuring cup, melt 1/2 stick of butter in the microwave and pour that into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Shred the chicken and spread it on top of the butter.  In that same Pyrex cup, whisk together the milk and the flour and slowly pour that over the chicken taking care not to disturb the chicken too much. Don't stir it up!  Strain the chicken stock through a colander into the same Pyrex cup (now you know why I wanted ya to melt that butter in it!) and whisk in the cream of chicken soup. Very carefully pour that over the flour and milk mixture and again, don't stir it up!  Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes, or until top is light golden brown.

Lasagna Soup

for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
3 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 T. tomato paste
1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
6 c. chicken stock
8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the cheesy yum:

8 oz. ricotta or cottage cheese

1/2 c. fresh grated Parmesan cheese

pinch of freshly ground pepper

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy. Stir in basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

Servings:  8

Source:  adapted from 300 Sensational Soups by Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds, as seen in the February-April 2011 edition of At Home with Kowalski’s magazine

Mom Smith’s Cinnamon Rolls

Combine the following ingredients:
1 can evaporate milk
1 can hot tap water
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. salt
5 eggs
1/2 cup oil

Dissolve 4 tablespoons yeast in 1 cup warm water and add to above mixture.

Add flour until it "looks right" (my mom's words...haha) I never have measured it, but today I had a 5 lb bag of flour and I used roughly half the bag.

Add raisins (as many as you want)

Let rise in bowl; roll out and spread with melted butter and cinnamon & sugar. After cinnamon rolls are on pan, let rise again.

Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes. Frost while still warm.

Pulled Pork

1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled

1 pickled jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons of Chipotle chile powder

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

3/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon paprika

1/3 cup ketchup

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup light brown sugar

Salt

3 lbs of pork butt shoulder roast, trimmed of excess fat

Purée all of the sauce ingredients. Put sauce and pork into a large pot and add 1 quart of water. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, covered, turning frequently, for 2 hours or until the meat pulls apart easily with a fork. Remove from heat and cool pork in the sauce. When cool, remove the pork from the sauce and shred into small pieces. Set aside. Reduce the sauce by two thirds. Add the pork back to the sauce. Salt to taste. Serve hot on hamburger buns or ciabatta rolls.

Serves 6 to 8.

Orange Rolls

I haven't tried these but I stumbled upon the recipe and it looks really good.  If I don't post it here I won't remember where I saw it, so here it is.

 

1/3 cup warm water
2 Tb yeast
3 eggs
1 tsp orange extract
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
5 1/2 – 7 cups flour, divided
1 cup butter, softened, divided
1 1/3 cup sugar, divided
zest of 2 oranges

Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup very warm water. Add eggs and beat. Add orange extract, 1 cup warm water, salt, 1/3 cup sugar, oil, and 4 1/2 cups flour. Beat. Add 1/2 to 1 cup flour and knead for several minutes. Place dough in greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Put in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled.

Knead dough 5 or 6 times. Divide in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half out into a narrow and long rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Spread with softened butter, remaining sugar, and orange zest. Roll up lengthwise and pinch to seal edge of dough. Cut rolls about 1 1/2 inches thick. Place in a greased pan fairly close together and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour in warm place. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 17 minutes. Don’t overbake. Let cool slightly, then ice with orange cream cheese icing.

Orange Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 package of cream cheese (4 oz.), at room temperature
1 Tb butter, softened
1/2 package of powdered sugar (about 3 cups)
2 Tb orange juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 – 1 tsp orange extract, to taste

Beat all ingredients together. Add more orange juice, if necessary, for drizzle consistency. Use over orange rolls.