Roast Loin of Pork with Baked Stuffed Apples and Cider Gravy

My wife's parents were up for the weekend, and brought with them a big pork loin roast...so I thought I'd find something new and give it a go, and here we are. Making the gravy from apple cider, rather then, say, chicken stock really gives the entire roasted dish a new personality. Naturally to continue the theme the stuffed apples are honestly for looks and showing off a little, but it takes the whole platter to a "little more special" level. We also had braised brussels sprouts with maple syrup and thyme (yes again, I love these things now) and simple mashed potatoes with parsley.

After that, we played board games (Settlers of Catan) for hours...the whole day was disgustingly wholesome.

Moroccan Chicken Soup

I've never, in years, gone so long without making anything truly new. I need a kick in the ass or something. If you know me, and there's something you like I've never made, send me an e-mail. I'll try it just for the novelty if nothing else.

Onto the food. Strongly flavored, spicy, warming, and bold, it was a great soup for a very very cold night.

1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp butter
1 pound raw chicken cut into strips or cubes, I used chicken thigh
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp flour
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp harissa (or hot curry paste if you're insanely lazy, I guess)
4 cups chicken stock
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas (drained, rinsed)
salt and pepper to taste (don't be stingy, flavor is good)
finely chopped fresh parsley / cilantro mix for garnish
lemon wedges if you're cool

In a hot non-stick pan, add olive oil and then butter. Have chicken ready to immediately add to save the butter from scorching. Cook the chicken for several minutes, until it starts to brown. Remove and set aside, leaving as much of the oil/butter in the pan as possible.

Add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan, cook for several minutes until softened but not brown. Stir in the flour and cook for 3-4 minutes until now things begin to brown a little. Add the spices and the harissa and cook for a minute. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes. Toss in the chicken, and the chickpeas.

Cover and cook for 20 minutes or so, on low heat. Season with salt and pepper as you sample. Serve and garnish with your chopped green stuff. Use more then I did, I hardly had any left. :P

Pork Meatballs

For the past few years I've largely been making a "meat sauce" with beef, as per my wife's liking. This time I went for something a little different, making my own meatballs...actually for the first time I think. Hi Kelly. You can stop making fun of me now.

Ingredients

1 cup (250 mL) fresh white breadcrumbs
1/4 cup (50 mL) milk or cream
2 tbsp (25 mL) grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh garlic
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1 tsp (5 mL) freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp (10 mL) dried oregano
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 lb (500 g) ground pork
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil



Cooking Instructions

In a mixing bowl, combine breadcrumbs, milk, cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and egg. Mash to a paste and add pork; mix thoroughly. Form into walnut-size balls.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add meatballs and cook until no trace of pink remains and browned evenly, about 15 minutes. Or, cook in oven on a greased baking sheet at 325°F (160°C) for about 20 minutes.

(Healthy) Shepard's Pie

Not fancy, not really photogenic, and usually pretty boring stuff. But I've never made one before, so it was neat to finally crank one out. It was really good, and this is a healthy version so it was even pretty decent for ya. Recipe cribbed from here. Karen's mom positively loathes Shepard's Pie in all it's forms, so it's sort of like forbidden fruit around here.

Beer Braised BBQ Pork Butt

In pork terms, butt means "shoulder" so get over yourself. Anyway, good news / bad news. Good news is, this is fantastic. It really is one of the best meals I've made in months. Bad news is, I took a terrible photograph and I'm not even using it. I'll update this with a new photo when I make it again (and I will).

Recipe courtesy Dave Lieberman
Show:	Good Deal with Dave Lieberman

For the dry rub:
2 tablespoons salt
About 40 grinds black pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground mustard seed

12 ounces good ale or dark beer, such as Bass
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 5-pound pork butt (shoulder of the animal)

Combine rub ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Rub all over pork butt. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour and as long as overnight.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Unwrap pork and place in a roasting pan with sides about 2 inches high. Cook 45 minutes until dark browned and even blackening in places. Remove from oven. Lower oven to 325 degrees F. Pour beer over the top and add chopped garlic around the pork. Cover tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil or twice with regular foil. Poke about 10 holes all over the top of the foil. Cook pork butt 2 1/2 hours longer until so tender that it comes away very easily from center bone.

Place the meat on a plate and pour the pan juice (there will be plenty) into a saucepan. To the pan juices add:

1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
1/3 cup dark brown sugar

Bring to a simmer until reduced by half and thick, about 20 minutes.

While the sauce is boiling down, pull apart the pork with 2 forks. Pour the sauce over the pulled pork and work through until fully absorbed.

Greek Vegetable Skewers with Feta Olive Drizzle

It's been a while since I've had anything of note to put here, with spring arrival I've done either a lot of re-visiting of my earlier BBQ-friendly foods from earlier items here already, or some generic hot dog / burger stuff like everyone else. This, however, was finally something I've not done before, odd since I really love Greek takeout-style food, and these turned out great, I was really pleased with them. Easy too.



Serves 4

4 bamboo Skewers
2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice
12 medium mushrooms
8 slices (about 1-inch thick) zucchini
8 chunks (1 1/2-inch pieces) red bell pepper
8 chunks (1 1/2-inch pieces) yellow bell pepper
8 chunks (1 1/2-inch pieces) red onion
Salt and pepper to taste

Feta Olive Drizzle
1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped (optional)
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tsp oregano

Soak skewers in white wine and lemon juice for 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the Feta Olive Drizzle ingredients together in a blender and combine. Once the skewers are soaked, pour the wine and lemon juice into the drizzle also.

Place all the vegetables, except for the red onion (it'll come apart) into a large bowl with the drizzle and toss to coat.

Thread onto each skewer the mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, red onion. Just before pushing a chunk of red onion onto the skewer, dip it by hand into the drizzle.

Lightly brush skewers on each side with olive or salad oil and season to taste with more salt and pepper.

Place on a preheated medium-high grill and cook until vegetables are cooked crisp/tender, about 4 to 5 minutes per side.

To serve: Drizzle with Feta Olive Drizzle, serve with rice and tzatziki.

Baked Beans

I used to hate baked brown beans. HATE them. From the can? Hate them. The ones my grandfather made? Hated them. Much like my broccoli re-awakening (going from boiled-to-death-and-covered-with-packaged-cheese-sauce of childhood to discovering that one could actually leave them a bit firm, bright green, and enjoy them on their own) it took a single alternative meal to reverse my feelings on the bean subject.

The memory is a little fuzzy now, but it was one of my earlier meals in Almonte, courtesy of Michael Dunn. When I learned that baked beans were a featured part of the meal, I had to prepare myself for some pretending-that-I-liked them acting. No need, they were great. I mean, really great. It turns out, canned beans and my grandfathers were sort of "UK style" based on tomato sauce, with not much sugar, and no tanginess at all, and made with mushy white "Navy" or haricot beans. These were more southern US + a dash of Quebec style, which means firm black turtle beans, and aforementioned tang from the addition of yellow mustard and ketchup (which has vinegar), and much sweeter (molasses, brown sugar, maple syrup). Wow, just so different, so good, so dark, such a different texture.

Karen's parents latched onto this recipe also, and as far as I know, have made no other one since.

3 cups black turtle beans
1/4 lb. slab bacon or salt pork
1 can (28 oz.) tomatoes
2 cups chopped onions
3/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Dark maple syrup to taste '


Rinse beans and sort, if necessary, discarding any blemished ones and any grit.

In large Dutch oven or stockpot, cover beans with 3 times their volume of water. Bring to boil; boil gently for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain, discarding liquid.

Return soaked beans to pot along with 3 times their volume of fresh water. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 to 45 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving 2 cups cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, dice bacon and it set aside. In bowl, and using potato masher, mash tomatoes in their juice.

In bean pot or 16-cup casserole, combine beans, reserved cooking liquid, bacon, tomatoes, onions, ketchup, molasses, mustard, salt and pepper.

Bake, covered, in 300°F. oven for 2.5 hours. Uncover and bake for 1 - 1.5 hours longer or until sauce is thickened and coats beans well.