Pork Roast

This is a easy, yummy way to make a roast. It's great served with potatoes and carrots like your traditional pot roast. I almost always use it a little differently though. I'll describe what I do with it later in this post.

What you need:
1 pork roast, I used a loin roast, but you can use whatever you want. I used to go for picnic roasts, but decided that I didn't want to pay for that much fat and bone, even if they are cheaper per pound.
1 pkg onion soup mix
What to do:
Place a sheet of tin foil big enough to wrap around your roast in a large baking pan (I used a 9x13 cake pan). Place your roast on the foil in the pan and rub the onion soup mix all over the outside of your roast.
Wrap your roast tightly in the tinfoil, using another piece if you feel like you need it. Put the roast in your oven (which should be preheated to 325) and bake for 20 minutes per pound, or until a thermometer stuck in the middle reads 155 degrees (If you use a thermometer, be sure it isn't touching any bones in your roast).
At this point, if you're going to eat this as a roast, then take the meat drippings from the bottom of your pan and make a gravy and enjoy your yummy meal.
Like I said, I almost never gobble mine up at this point. Instead, I wait for it to cool down enough for me to handle the meat, then chop it up into smallish pieces. I divide these into roughly 1 pound piles and put them in ziplock sandwich baggies. I also divide all the pan drippings between the bags.
Why do this? I freeze these bags of meat and then I have really yummy already cooked meat for use in a bunch of different meals. All I have to do is pull a bag out of the freezer and add it to whatever I decided to make that night. It's quick and easy and it's cheaper than ground beef and gives us a little variety. My next couple of posts will be some of the different meals I make with my pork meat.

Chicken Pot Pie

What you Need:
10 oz. frozen peas and carrots (I use frozen peas and then just chop up a fresh carrot or two)
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 1/2 to 3 cups cut-up cooked chicken or turkey
Pastry for a two-crust pie

What to Do:
Rinse frozen veggies in cold water to separate; drain.
In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken and veggies; remove from heat.
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Make pastry. Roll two-thirds of the pastry dough into 13 inch square. Ease into ungreased 9 inch square pan. Pour chicken mixture into pastry-lined pan.
Roll remaining pastry into 11 inch square. Place square over chicken mixtrue. Turn edges of pastry under and pinch to seal. Use a sharp knife to cut vents in the top of the crust.
Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

White Chocolate Parfaits

I made these on Valentine's Day to finish off our dinner. They were actually the only part of the meal that I made from scratch, so I won't post the rest of the stuff we ate. They are super yummy and pretty easy to make. The recipe will make four parfaits, we only made two and then ate the leftover custard in crepes the next morning for breakfast. YUMMY!!!
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp corn starch
2 egg yolks
4 squares (1 oz each) white baking chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups whipped topping
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (I used strawberries instead)
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
Sliced strawberries and additional whipped topping for garnish, if desired.

What to do:
In a saucepan, heat the cream just to a boil. In a bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch; stir in yolks until combined. Stir a small amount of hot cream into yolk mixture; return all to pan. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until mixture reaches 160 degrees and is thickened. Stir in chocolate until melted; add vanilla. Cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
Fold in whipped topping. Place 1/4 cupr each in four parfait glasses. Combine berries; place 1/4 cup in each glass. Repeat layers of chocolate mixture and berries twice. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Garnish with strawberries and whipped topping if desired.

Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

I know, I know...same picture as the Salisbury Steak, but I was lazy.

Before you think "Ew...Oatmeal in rolls"...these turn out fantastic, they don't taste like oatmeal, and they are so easy and fluffy and healthier than normal white rolls.

Ingredients:

2 c. water

1 c. quick cooking oats

3 T butter or margarine

1 pkg active dry yeast

1/3 c. warm water

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

1 T. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

4 3/4 - 5 1/4 c. all purpose flour

Instructions:

1. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil.

2. Add oats and butter. Cook and stir for 1 minute.

3. Remove from heat; cool to lukewarm (~115 degrees).

4. While oatmeal is cooling, dissolve yeast in warm water in a medium to large mixing bowl.

5. Add the oat mixture, sugars, salt and 4 cups of flour to the yeast water. Beat until smooth.

6. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. (I added too much flour in step 5 by accident, so I added almost 1/4 cup of water to make the dough).

7. Turn onto a floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.

8. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top of dough ball.

9. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

10. Punch dough down and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

11. Shape into 18 balls. Place in 2 greased 9-inch baking pans.

12. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

13. Bake @ 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Salisbury Steak

This was a fantastic recipe! We LOVED it. It was super easy and it only took 1/2 a pound of ground beef to make two large "steaks". And....it's super super cheap. Yummy in my tummy and in my piggy bank!

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. dry bread crumbs

1 envelope brown gravy mix, divided

1 tsp dried minced onion (I think I might have put in 1 T by accident now that I think about it)

1/2 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup water

1 T mustard

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, whisk the egg and milk.

2. Mix in bread crumbs, 1 T gravy mix, and onion.

3. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.

4. Shape into two patties about 3/4 in. thick.

5. Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for about 6-7 minutes on each side or until meat is no longer pink.

6. While the patties are broiling, place the remaining gravy mix in a small saucepan; stir in the water and mustard. Bring to a boil and cook and stir until thickened. Serve over patties.

Pasta all' Amatriciana

This is a recipe I got from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals cook book. She calls it Bucatini all'Amatriciana, but I didn't use bucatini pasta so it seemed silly to call it that. I didn't have all the ingredients originally called for in her recipe so I kind of adapted it to work with what I had and to suit our taste. I will list all the ingredients as she originally had them, and then in parenthesis note the changes I made. If there's nothing in paranthesis, that means I didn't change that ingredient.

2 TBS extra virgin olive oil (vegetable oil)

1/4 lb pancetta, chopped (1/2 lb bacon, chopped)

1 med. onion, chopped

4-6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes (a generous sprinkle of red chili powder)

1 can, 28 oz, crushed tomatoes (2 cans, 14 oz, petite diced tomatoes + 1 can tomato sauce)

2 TBS chopped fresh parsley (1 TBS dried parsley flakes)

salt and pepper

1 lb bucatini pasta (spaghetti)

grated parmesan (I also added some shredded mozzarella)

(I wanted creamier sauce, so I added two large spoonfuls of sour cream)

Method:

Put a large pot of salty water on to boil for your pasta. Put the past in as soon as your water's boiling. Cook pasta to al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and pancetta(bacon). Cook for 2-3 minutes, and then add the onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes(chili powder). Cook until the onions are translucent, 7-8 minutes. Add tomatoes and parsley. Season with salt and pepper(this is where I added the sour cream). Simmer over low heat until your pasta is done cooking and you are ready to serve.

When your pasta is done, drain it well, but don't rinse it, and toss it in the sauce. Sprinkle with the cheeses and enjoy.

Tangy Tenderloin of Pork

1 TBS cooking oil

1 lb pork tenderloin, cut in 1/2 in. slices

Sprinkle of lemon pepper

1/3 cup apple juice

1 1/2 TBS lemon juice

1 TBS water

1 tsp Worchestershire sauce

Chopped fresh parsley (optional) I used dried parsley flakes

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat cooking oil in large frying pan on medium-high heat. Add pork. Sprinkle with lemon pepper. Brown for about 2 minutes. Turn over. Sprinkle with lemon pepper. Brown for about 2 minutes again. Transfer to a baking or casserole dish (anything you can fit the meat into that can go into the oven to keep your meat hot and finish cooking it) and put it in the oven.

Add the next 4 ingredients to the same frying pan you used for the meat. Heat and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan to add to the flavor. Heat until simmering. Pour over pork.

Sprinkle with parsley just before serving.