I cooked a pork roast

 I don't like to cook things like roast chickens or turkeys, or beef or pork roasts because I have convinced myself I can't do and I will ruin them if I try.  And a few times over the years I certainly haven't done a good job on a roast and that just cements the idea further that I should stay away from this sort of cooking.

The store recently had a 2 for 1 sale on some pork roasts and I couldn't pass up that deal.  I had planned on cutting the roasts into slices or cubes for cooking but then I thought - what if I tried again?  How bad could it be?  And yay, the answer is - This time, not bad at all!

I used this Ultimate Garlic Pork Loin Roast recipe and it came out perfectly.  The plate of sliced roast is not the star of the photo below, but thankfully I got the photo while it was still partially in the shot.

 

sweet and sour pork

There is no parenting task that brings me less joy than cooking for my kids.

They are terrible, miserable little beasts that dislike pretty much everything I cook.  

Sometimes the complaining starts in the kitchen when they come in to see what I'm making.  

Sometimes it's when the plates hit the tables that the faces and the "What is THAT"  "I'm not eating it!" start.

Occasionally they will have a few bites, tell me how good it is, and then when I'm relaxed and smiling they do a 180 and declare they don't really like it after all, it's pretty gross.

 

I wasn't sure how this one would go over since there is no reasoning behind what they like and/or dislike but - they liked it!  And honestly I would have thought they were even more insane than usual if they hadn't like this.  So good.

 

I made 1 1/2 times the sauce since I like things saucy.  This is a good, easy dish to make that hopefully everyone in your house will enjoy.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Pork Belly Two Ways

On a recent trip to Costco we came across some pork belly strips in the meat department.  I think I had pork belly once in my life as part of a tasting menu at a restaurant?  Or maybe not?  It is one of those ingredients that seems too exotic for the likes of us.

The Grandpa, who has fond memories of pork belly from a tasting menu at a restaurant (hey that sounds familiar.....) decided we should buy it and have it for a Sunday dinner.

Much debate about cooking methods and techniques and styles and seasonings and sauces was discussed over the next few weekends (the pack of belly was safe in the freezer) and finally we decided on Honey Glazed Crispy Pork Belly.

It was easy and delicious and we all loved it, especially The Boy, which was a bit of a surprise.

The pack of pork was huge and we froze the cooked leftovers and a while later we turned a couple more of the strips into Pork Belly Hash with some potatos, onions, bell peppers, garlic and paprika, with eggs on the side.  

So good.

We've got a few more stashed away to be used up and I'm thinking a stir fry, or better yet - 

FRIED RICE!!!!!!  Now that sounds perfect!

Sunday Dinner - Crock Pot Kahlua Pig

I bought a two pack of port butts at Costco so I could make some pulled pork this summer.  I immediately thought of the Kalua Pig we made years ago, but surprisingly I no longer have Hawaiian salt in the cupboard or banana leaves in the freezer.  Instead I used this spectacular recipe for crock pot Kalua Pig from Nom Nom Paleo.  Truly delicious.

I have used both butts up now with that recipe, one for a Sunday Dinner and one when we had some family in town to visit.  I don't recall if we added the optional garlic cloves the first time, but we did the second time.  Can't say for sure if it added anything extra, but garlic never hurts.

Everything about this recipe is super.  Give it a try this summer.

Recipes I've made - no photos

I am always on the lookout for new pancake recipes and this one was a real winner. Light and fluffy and a hit with the kids. I froze the leftovers and they reheated quite nicely. Pete's Scratch Pancakes

I made these ham quiche cups for a Sunday dinner and they were easy and tasty.  The leftovers were delicious for breakfast.

Another Sunday dinner was this very very delicious slow cooker creamy beef stroganoff which was amazing!  Of course the kids didn't like it, but the adults did.

For dessert one night I made these peanut butter and jelly bars which were good but very very rich.  But good.

I have made this Asian peanut butter pork three times since finding the recipe.  Delicious tender pork with a killer sauce.

My end result looked nothing like the photo in the recipe- I either over cooked  my squash or over mixed it, so it lost the  individual strands, but the flavor of this yakisoba spaghetti squash was really great.

Country Style Pork Ribs

I'd bought some assorted pork cuts from the University meat store in the Spring, and there were still a few odds and ends packages in the freezer that I wasn't sure what to do with.  One was country style pork ribs which I have never cooked before.  

I followed the first recipe that came up in my google search, and it was easy and delicious.

The only flaw was my own - I took them out of the oven and set them aside so I could turn up the heat and get the potatoes cooked faster, and then put them back in to reheat before serving.  They were starting to dry out by that time.  I should have just left them out covered with foil.

But should I get my hands on some country style ribs again this will be the recipe I choose.

Recipe: Country Style Pork Ribs

Pork Mu Shu Stir Fry

I'm continuing on my cabbage kick.  Right now Napa cabbage is my thing.  Loving it.

This was inspired by a Rachael Ray recipe I saw - a pork burger with a warm slaw topping.

I wasn't really interested, but the flavors used stayed with me, so I decided to make it into a stir fry instead of a burger.

SO GOOD.

Pork Mu Shu Stir Fry

1 tb oil

6 garlic cloves, minced, divided in half

 3 green onions, minced

1 small to medium head Napa cabbage, outer leaves removed, cored, and shredded

3 tb hoisin sauce

1 tb oil

12 or so mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 lb ground pork

1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

3 tb soy sauce

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large pan.  Add half the garlic and the green onions.  Cook until soft and the garlic is just starting to color.  Add the cabbage, and cook, stirring often, until the cabbage is soft.  Stir in the hoisin sauce.  Taste, correct seasoning.  Transfer to a bowl; cover and keep warm. 

Heat the second TB of oil in the same pan.  Cook the mushrooms, stirring often, until they start to color.  Add the second half of the garlic and the pork.  Stir and break up pork.  Add the 5 spice and ginger.  Cook until the pork is cooked through and nicely browned.  Stir in the soy, cook one minute.

Remove from heat.

Stir the cabbage to redistribute the yummy juices.  Place a scoop of cabbage on each plate, top with a scoop of the pork mixture.

Drizzle with extra soy sauce or hoisin if desired.

Delicious pork from a favorite website

One of my long, long, long time favorite food sites is The Cookbook Junkie.  I always loved her style and especially her recipes. 
It's been just over a year since the site was updated.  I will never lose hope that one day Paula will return to blogging, and until that day (hopefully) happens, I will keep lurking and finding fantastic recipes in the archives.

Follow this link for the recipe - Pork Medallions with Sherry Mushroom Sauce.

This was a HUGE hit at the dinner table.  It was simple, fast, tasty.  Everyone loved it, even the finicky kid.

I also made a baked rice dish that night, and I could see pretty much the moment I started assembling the ingredients that it wasn't going to go well.  The recipe just made no sense!  And how had I not noticed before? 
I spent some extra time tweaking it, adding, removing, adjusting.  I still wasn't super happy with it until it came out of the oven.  It smelled amazing and looked pretty nice.  AND!  It tasted much better than I expected. 
I snuck the leftovers to work so no one else could have them and I ate them for breakfast for the next 3 days.  Yum!  I am going to keep working on the recipe.

Bites 10

If I was asked today what my top restaurants in the city are, Indian Aroma would be at the top of the list. On New Years Eve I picked up the Dinner Combo #1 - with pakoras, butter chicken, vegetable korma, salad, naan and rice. I also ordered a side of papri chaat. It was delicious and nice to not have to cook that night. These guys rock.

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We took our visiting nephew to the Amsterdam Restaurant for breakfast before Christmas.  Pax had a super cute Clown Pancake.  I had Eggs Benny.

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I found some ground pork in the freezer and turned them into crock pot meatballs.

Sweet and sour crock pot meatballs

Mix together 1 lb ground pork, 1 egg, 1/4 cup bread crumbs, 1/4 cup finely chopped onion.

Mix well, form into meatballs (I got about 20 total), and cook in a pan with a bit of oil until cooked through.

In your crock pot mix together 1/3 cup ketchup, 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 2 TB soy sauce, and 1/3 cup cider vinegar.

Add the meatballs, cover, and cook on low 2-3 hours.

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I called this my Sunday Night Steak - guess why?  It was so good!  We haven't eaten much steak lately and I wanted to jazz them up.  I marinated them all (Sunday) afternoon.  When I mixed the sauce up I set some aside for drizzling on the plate at dinner time.  A wise move.  I just threw stuff in  - a few TB of hoisin, a splash of water to keep it thin, a few more TB of soy sauce, a squirt each of bbq sauce and honey, some garlic and ginger.  All good stuff.

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We found ourselves out at dinner time recently, and conveniently very close to Sushi Plus, a newish restaurant in Aberdeen.

No photos, but we tried some miso soup, tempura, yam sushi, beef udon soup, and the katsu don (pork rice bowl).  Sadly, they like so many other Kamloops sushi restaurants, are not open on Sunday.

Sushi Plus 

Stir Fried Pork in Lettuce Cups

I like to think that I eat a large variety of foods, but that's not totally true. 

 There is a lot of seafood that I don't like. Salmon, oysters, mussels, clams.  Tuna, unless it's mixed with mayo.

 I don't eat lamb, or goose or veal, or duck. 

 So when I found a Gordon Ramsay recipe for duck wraps, I thought it sounded great, as long as it wasn't made with duck.

Stir Fried Pork in Lettuce Cups

 altered from a Gordon Ramsay recipe

 1 head iceberg lettuce

 1 large pork tenderloin

 1/4 - 1/2 tsp roasted Szechuan pepper and salt, or salt and pepper mixed together

 1/2—1 tsp five-spice powder

 1 Tb oil

 1 cucumber

 2 green onions

 5—6 tbsp hoisin sauce

 For the lettuce cups, remove the outer layers from the lettuce until you get 6-8 nice lettuce "cups". 

Trim the pork and slice into thin strips. Toss the pork with the salt, pepper, 5 spice, and oil. 

Slice the onions thinly, and cut the cucumber into thin half moons, or small strips.

Heat at pan over medium high heat.  When hot, add the pork, and cook, stirring, until the pork is cooked through.  Stir in the green onions and hoisin sauce, and cook until  heated through.  

Spoon the pork mixture into the lettuce cups.  Top with the cucumber and serve.

December food

It's January 9, and I have cooked only two interesting meals so far this year. The other night I made a Spanish Tortilla - link here, and served it with sliced tomatos and a quick guacamole. It was delicious. 

 I also made the dish that I wanted to make on New Years Day. It got scrapped when I came down with a cold and ended up in bed. 

Our first dinner of 2013 was a frozen lasagne that was not good. But this dish was worth the wait.  Post on that soon. Here's a few dishes I made in December that were excellent:

From one of my favorite books that never lets me down, How To Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman -  Broad rice noodles with chiles pork and basil.  So good.

Nigella's meatballs and sauce

 

Sauteed medallions of pork with lemon and parsley, another great one from Mark Bittman. 

Cacio e Pepe, from Gwyneth Paltrow. Delicious. 

Chicken Milanese, also from Gwyneth. I wanted to make the tomato and avocado salad to go with it, but my avocados had gone rotten. So it was just chopped tomato. 

Recipes lately

I have either not been taking pictures or taking bad pictures with my phone.  Here's some stuff I've made recently:

Portobello prosciutto burgers  I LOVE portobello sandwiches.  The basil mayo in this was a super addition.

Spanish Tortilla  I made one a few months ago that was just a little better, but this is a good recipe, and it gives you nutritional information, which I love.

Meatzza  I follow Nigella Lawson on Twitter, and I was happy to see she has a new book coming out next year.  She linked to this recipe which was fun and delicious.  I used some marble cheese instead of the fresh mozza, and added fresh basil in the 'za.

Spiced shredded pork  I have mentioned this one before, very delicious.

Chinese Pork Chops Very, VERY delicious.

Gyoza stir fry This was fun and I got to use up some odds and ends in the freezer and fridge.

Souper Spaghetti It cooled down here for a week and I made this during that time.  So comforting and homey.  PS- Paula, you have not posted in 2 months.  Please come back.

Vegetarian chili with fries I have made this before as well.  OMG, so good.

Beef noodle salad bowl I added sauteed onions, pepper and zucchini to this.  I would make it, my way, again.

Salted peanut butter chocolate chip cookies Yes.

Cooking Book 5

I was planning on giving you an exhaustive list of all the recipes in my Book 5 - what I'm going to cook, what I've already cooked, what I'm skipping.

Meh. Do any of us care that much? No, I didn't think so.

I've still got quite a list of recipes to try. So far this has been fun and I'm glad I'm doing it.

Here we go:

Zucchini Tart with Bacon, adapted from The Best Recipes In The World

I don't know how much this differs from the original but hot damn this was good. This was GOOD.

Pizza dough (I use my new favorite from Canadian Living's Vegetarian Cookbook)

3-4 small zucchini, shredded

3-4 slices bacon, chopped

3 cloves garlic

brie cheese (or other as desired)

Fry the bacon in a pan over medium heat until cooked but not too well done. Saute the zucchini and garlic in the bacon fat until golden.

Prebake the pizza dough until firm but not done. Top with the zucchini and bacon and sprinkle lightly with cheese. Bake until the crust is brown and cheese is melted.

Red Beans with Cheese, Martha Stewart

This was a fast, tasty dinner. Versatile too; I spooned the beans over half a baked potato. Scott rolled his in a tortilla with lettuce and tomato. The baby smeared his into his hair. Recipe here.

Black Bean and Corn Tacos, Vegetarian Times

Another keeper. Recipe here.

This was a not very good sweet and sour chicken recipe.  Enough said.

Vegetable Linguine, Vegetarian Times

This was pretty gross.  Asparagus and zucchini sliced with a vegetable peeler and cut into "noodles".  Which is good!  The problem is the recipe tells you to cook them in boiling water for 2 minutes, which is at least 1 minute too long.  These were mushy and unappetizing.  We fed them to the baby.

Spiced Shredded Pork, Martha Stewart

I think one of the best things about this project is rediscovering Martha. I've made some pretty kick ass MS recipes from this book. This one was super good. Recipe here. This is a good make ahead one too, I cooked and shredded the pork, then refrigerated it with the butter and oil and salt and pepper mixed in. The next night all I had to do was broil the pork while I cut the veggies. So fast.

Spicy Pork and Tofu Soup

We were in Vancouver in the Spring and ate at a little noodle shop, the name of which I forgot to write down, unfortunately. I had spicy tofu and noodle soup, which had pork and corn and green onions in it and it was so wonderful. I think about it fondly.

I had to come up with my own version because who knows if or when I'll ever get back to that little shop again. This version, my first version, I left out the corn and replaced the noodles with rice. It was really delicious and satisfied my craving perfectly, although I think I'll still try to make one or two more variations.

2 tb vegetable oil

1 tb finely chopped fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic finely chopped

250 grams ground pork

1 tb (or more or less to taste) chili garlic paste

4 cups chicken stock

2 tb soy sauce

3 green onions, finely sliced plus more for garnish

1 pkg soft tofu, chopped or squished into small bits with your fingers

cooked rice

Heat the oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant and softening. Add the pork and cook until no longer pink. Stir in the chili garlic sauce and cook for 1 minute.

Add the stock and soy sauce, turn heat to high and bring to the boil. Add the green onions and the tofu. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup into bowls and spoon some rice into each bowl. Sprinkle with more green onion.

Hawaiian Christmas Dinner - Kalua Pig

We had to have Kalua Pig as part of our Hawaiian Christmas dinner.  Fortunately I found a recipe that didn't require us to dig a pit in the backyard to cook it.

The recipe came from Ono Kine Grindz. Basically you take a pork butt (also known as shoulder), rub it with salt and liquid smoke, wrap it in banana or ti leaves and cook it in the oven or crock pot.

The dish turned out perfectly. The pork was so tender it fell apart when we looked at it. The only thing I would do differently is season it more aggressively with salt. The recipe calls for salt to taste and I went too light.

If/when I find a pork butt on sale I'm going to cook it the same way but without the leaves (which sadly I am out of now), and serve it with some good homemade bbq sauce, coleslaw, buns and beans.

Hawaiian Christmas Dinner 2010

Project Notebook - Book 5

So I've been feeling down lately. Real down. Down, down down.

I figured I needed a hobby, or a project to keep my mind a little more busy. But hobbies are darn near impossible when you've got a crawling little guy that gets into everything. And potentially expensive. So I decided to make it cooking oriented, since I have to cook anyways.

I thought about heading to the used book store and finding a new cookbook, maybe try the ole "cooking through the book" thing again. But why spend money on a book when I've got a bookshelf full? But I couldn't find one that I thought I could, or wanted to, make a dent in. And then I realized I had the perfect project. All my notebooks. I'm up to 14 or 15 now, I think.  They are all recipes that I chose to keep, that for one reason or another I wanted to make. So why not start cooking through all these recipes I've been saving for years?

I call it "Project Notebook", for lack of a more imaginative/better name.

I have given myself a few rules. I can make any changes I want to or need to. If I have previously made a recipe I don't have to make it again, unless I want to. And if there's anything I want to skip, I will.

I am starting with Book 5, because that's the first one I grabbed off the shelf. I've been working on this project for a while now (month? month and a half?) and I no longer remember what order I've made these in, but I do remember this one was first.

Tomato Tartar with Tomato Water Sauce, Jacques Pepin

This was definitely the way to get this project started.  This was AWESOME.

Diced tomato, onion and bread with a tomato juice and olive oil vinaigrette.  I made this 3 times in as many weeks and can't wait until tomato season next year to make it again and again.  Just super.

I found the recipe online, slightly changed from what I have written down.  The tartar in my notebook has 3 tb of olive oil in it, and there are no herbs in the tomato water.  Recipe.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage, Rachael Ray

Easy to make breakfast sausage with not bad flavor.

Recipe

Pasta all Checca, Canyon Ranch

I made this after our Davison Farms visit in September, with their yellow tomatos.  I liked that it was no cook and had tons of flavor. 

Recipe

Grilled Steak and Mashed Potato Wrap, Rachael Ray

I found a little steak in the freezer and had wraps and potatos, this project has actually been very helpful in using up food I have in the freezer and cupboard.  This reminds me of a restaurant I went to years ago with my friend Simon in Calgary, they did all sorts of wraps and soups.  I loved it because they had wraps I had never imagined, like steak and potatos, or turkey and cranberry.  It was a good restaurant.

Orzo with Ham and Goat Cheese, Gourmet

It turns out we have made this before. It's really good.

Beef Hoisin Mini Meatballs, Rachael Ray

I do love me a good meatball, and these were ok.  Kind of a soft texture.  Hoisin and garlic and green onions in the meatballs, browned and simmered in a sauce of hoisin, red current jelly, garlic, ginger and water.  I made these because I had some red current jelly I wanted to use up.

6 recipes down!

Can you cook Rachael Ray recipes in 30 minutes? Recipe 1 - Ham Burger

The first recipe I made for this project is Ham Burger.

Stopwatch started and go.

Right off the bat I break my first rule - no panicking. I feel like I'm in a race - I'm running around, grabbing what I need, hurrying. I make a mistake early on, I misread the recipe in my haste and add too much seasoning. Not the end of the world, but that makes me stop, take a breath and start moving at a more regular pace.

These burgers are very straightforward - mix the patty ingredients, form them, grill them and the pineapple and assemble.

We end up with this -


First off, this burger needs a new name, like the Super Awesome Burger, because it is. The pork and ham and maple syrup make a terrific patty. And I love anything with pineapple in it.
The patties are too big. There is 1 3/4 pounds of meat for 4 burgers. That is WAY too much meat for 4 people. I did make just 4 patties, but if I made these again I would either scale back the amounts, or make at least 6 patties.

I left off the chutney because the cheapest jar of mango chutney I could find was $5. The burgers didn't need it anyway.

How long did it take?

29 minutes.

Most of the time was spent waiting for the burgers to cook; they were super thick. But as I said, easy and delicious. I would make these again for sure.

Tomorrow, we make pasta!

Maple Leaf Prime Pork Recipe Contest

Now here's something I've never done before - enter a recipe contest! The very nice people at Maple Leaf are holding a contest for Western Canada bloggers and food lovers and you (the people) are the judges!

Starting August 11, visit Maple Leaf's Prime Pork Facebook page here to see all the recipes using Maple Leaf Prime Pork. You can vote once a day between now and October 15. And voters in Western Canada will be eligible to receive a 50% off coupon for Maple Leaf Prime Pork! So vote, and vote often for me for your favorite.


Pork Skewers with Almond Butter Satay Sauce and Coconut Pineapple Rice

Serves 4-6

I made this sauce with almond butter for those who can't have peanuts. If you prefer, use peanut butter in place of the almond butter.

1 (Maple Leaf Prime) pork tenderloin

Marinade
1 tb finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp soy sauce
3 tb brown sugar
1/2 tsp hot chile flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tb vegetable oil

Almond Butter Satay Sauce
1/2 cup almond butter
2 tb soy sauce
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tb brown sugar
2 tb hot water
1 1/2 tsp Sriracha sauce (chile garlic sauce)
1 tb lemon juice

Coconut Pineapple Rice
1 1/2 cups long grain rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 1/4 cups water
2 tb chopped chives (or finely chopped green onions)
1/2 cup diced pineapple

Cut the tenderloin into slices 1/2 inch thick. Flatten slightly with a meat mallet. Stir together all marinade ingredients in a large bowl, add the pork and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Mix together all the satay sauce ingredients. Thin with additional water if necessary. Set aside.

Make the rice: combine the rice, coconut milk and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the chives and pineapple, cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

While the rice is cooking preheat a grill or broiler. Thread pork onto skewers if desired. Grill or broil on both sides until just cooked through.

Serve pork skewers on top of coconut rice with satay sauce on the side.

homemade sausage rolls - so easy

All right, now none of these photos are pretty, but you should be used to that on this here blog by now.

I used to have a weakness for sausage rolls - at a previous job there was a deli in the bottom of our building and a co-worker and I would split one every couple of months or so. Side of mustard, please.

After I left that job I never really gave them much thought, but a few months ago I was rummaging in the freezer for something and found a pack of ground pork I'd bought while pregnant expressly for the purpose of making sausage rolls. I found my Jamie Oliver recipe and got to work.

Now the recipe calls for sausage meat and I had pork, so I just jeujed it up a little more. Then I did a piss poor job of rolling out the dough, and laid the filling down the middle.


Rolled them up and cut into lengths. Brushed them with egg wash.


And bake until golden and cooked through.


These are DELICIOUS, probably the best sausage roll I've ever had. Give 'em a try.

Ma Po Tofu

This is by far my favorite recipe I've tried so far out of my new Mark Bittman cookbook. I've made it 3 times since getting the book last month. Dishes like these keep me happy enough to almost forget that I've had Vietnamese food only once in the past 2+ years. Almost.

I love this because it's simple, fast and delicious. You don't really need to measure the ingredients, just eyeball and add to taste. The recipe in the book calls for 1/4 lb of ground pork (the recipe in the link below calls for 1/4-1/2) and I've never made it with that little amount - Scott could eat 1/4 lb of meat by himself easily. I made it again 2 nights ago with a full pound of meat and have been enjoying leftovers for lunch ever since.

I've been trying to work on my time management skills, meaning that when the baby naps instead of collapsing into a heap in front of the tv or computer, I try to get cleaning or laundry or cooking done. I started this in the afternoon while the baby was sleeping but only got to adding the green onions and water before he woke up, but it was actually a perfect place to make ahead to. That night when the rice was almost done, all I had to do was bring the pork back to a simmer and add the tofu and soy sauce. I also like to add a little bit of hoisin to my bowl, but I am addicted to that stuff.


Recipe: Mark Bittman's Ma Po Tofu