Tag Archives: pork

Crock-Pot Favorites

I’m back from Hawaii where I was able to gorge on my mom’s homemade meals. Fresh fish, tropical fruits and awesome ethnic favorites made their way into my mouth in large quantities. Now, it’s back to reality: Freezing cold temperatures, brutal wind chills and my overworked crock-pot. My slow cooker works overtime during the winter months, and while I long for my favorite Island-inspired dishes, I must say, my crock-pot delivers some tasty dishes with little help on my part. I love being able to cut up ingredients, stick them into the crock-pot, get on with the day, and return … Continue reading →

Light Done Right For the New Year

For many, the New Year brings with it a litany of resolutions, chief among them—-weight loss. If you are looking to shed a few pounds in 2010 by revamping your eating habits, then make room on your table for the following dishes. They are low fat and simple to make, but more importantly, they are so incredibly delicious you’ll have a hard time believing that they’re good for you. MUSTARD CRUSTED PORK Ingredients: 3 tablespoons dry Coleman’s English Mustard 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon garlic salt 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 3 pounds pork loin roast 1 large onion, … Continue reading →

Rockin’ New Year’s Party Dishes

Ring in 2010 with a meal to remember. Whether it’s prime rib, a huge lobster dripping with butter or a succulent turkey, menu choices for New Year’s celebrations should be opulent and delicious. Fortunately, fancy doesn’t have to mean hard. The following recipes prove that. The Tenderloin with Bordelaise Sauce and Holiday Pork Roast don’t require professional chef skills to make. Still, the end results make stunning additions to your first dinner of the New Year. BEEF TENDERLOIN WITH BORDELAISE SAUCE Ingredients: 12-inch center cut beef tenderloin Kosher salt Fresh ground pepper 3 cloves garlic, minced, divided 4 tablespoons butter … Continue reading →

Easy Easter Recipes

Easter is less than a week away. Do you know what you’ll be making to celebrate? If you prefer sticking with traditional Easter dishes, then the following simple yet delicious recipes should come in very handy. To save time in the kitchen look for short cuts. For example, with the ham recipe, consider purchasing a fully cooked ham and dressing it up with the glaze listed below. In addition, for the Easter Petit Fours you can cut down on prep time by using store-bought pound cake. EASTER HAM Ingredients: Whole ham 1/2 cup peach or apricot preserves 1/2 cup honey … Continue reading →

Winning Recipes for Pork and Chicken

My young daughter loathes sauce. If her meat, potatoes, rice, bread, or vegetables get anywhere near gravy or any other type of sauce, you’ll know about it instantaneously (so will the neighbors across the street). Still, I’m not giving up. I refuse to allow her idiosyncrasies compromise my saucy pork and chicken recipes. The following recipes are some of my favorites, and they just so happen to be enhanced by wonderful fruit-flavored sauces. If you have picky eaters like I do, then you might opt to serve the sauce on the side. Otherwise, these dishes are excellent options for diners … Continue reading →

Autumn-Inspired Recipes: Pairing Apples with Pork

Sixteen pounds and counting. And I’m not referring to my waist. That’s about how many pounds of fresh apples I have left after picking a bushel of them at our local orchard a couple weeks ago. Needless to say, the task of creating mouthwatering dishes my family will happily devour is becoming more of a chore than a pleasure. But, I digress. If you too are looking for ways to incorporate fresh apples into your daily menu you might consider the following recipes I whipped up a few days ago… when I was still excited about cooking with apples. PORK … Continue reading →

Autumn Recipes: R is for Roasts

It’s hard to go an entire autumn season without making at least one roast. Whether it’s a melt-in-your-mouth pot roast or a succulent pork roast, the simple dish (that yields a ton of welcome leftovers) not only warms up your home on a crisp fall night, but it’s also one of the most versatile dishes out there. The first two recipes I’ve included pair hearty pork roasts with seasonal apples. Both recipes are extremely simple to prepare (one cooks in a crock pot, which makes it even easier). The third recipe is for a Classic Pot Roast, which is also … Continue reading →

Autumn Recipes: P is for Pork

Pork Chops and applesauce. It’s classic comfort food that’s often served up this time of year when the apples are as crisp as the air. As we work our way through this culinary alphabet I am only too happy to turn the spotlight on one of my favorite meats—-pork. If you watch the Food Network then you know that you can’t discuss pig products without celebrity chef Paula Deen’s name coming up. Her recipe for Fried Pork Chops is extremely popular in my home. In fact, if you were to stick a wooden skewer in one of her plump and … Continue reading →

Shakin’ & Bakin’ with Bacon

When Oscar Mayer introduced its Ready to Serve bacon a few years back you could have gotten a sunburn from the megawatt smile my bacon loving mom flashed each time she picked up a package from the grocery store. Heck, if it were not for my mom’s obsession with bacon my preschooler wouldn’t be walking around telling people that her grandma puts bagels on her salad. (She means Bac-Os.) With the weekend fast approaching I’m sure home cooks the world over are planning to fry up a pretty pound of the pork product to go along with their pancakes and … Continue reading →

Classic Chinese Cooking—Marvelous Mu Shu

Even if you can’t make it to Beijing for the Summer Olympic Games you can still get a taste of China in your own home. Dishes, like mu shu, are extremely popular in Chinese restaurants and are not hard to replicate at home. Mu shu pork is one of the most popular Chinese recipes in the west. The dish is comprised of either deep-fried or stir-fried pork combined with fresh vegetables. Mu shu originated in northern China and was given the name as a tribute to flower blossoms from the cassia tree. But, not everyone agrees with that origin. Some … Continue reading →