pork

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

Did you know that for your money, the most nutritious thing you could buy in the grocery store is the sweet potato?

Sweet potatoes are one of Stuart’s favorite foods. If a restaurant offers sweet potato fries as a side option, he’ll be paying the extra $0.99 for them. If mashed sweet potatoes are suggested as a side dish to you-name-the-protein, he’ll pick that entrée. However, unless it’s for Sweet Potato Casserole, I find myself rarely cooking with sweet potatoes.

I spotted a recipe for Loaded Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes and thought, that’s a good idea! And while my photograph isn’t as beautiful or as appealing as Brandi’s (I have to admit, I became very frustrated with trying to capture this dish) the stuffing flavors complimented the baked sweet potato beautifully – no extra toppings needed. Additionally stuffed potatoes make for a surprisingly filling dinner.

Because our Publix is still so new, they don’t yet carry Chorizo – although someone from the Meat Department did promise us that they will. I decided to buy ground pork and add chorizo spices while cooking the meat. I also used (half) my recipe for black beans instead of using refried black beans.

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 lb ground pork
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/8 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • pinch ground cloves
  • pinch ground coriander
  • 1/2 recipe of black beans {click for recipe}
  • 1/2 C shredded Mexican cheese

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and dry potatoes. Poke with a fork and wrap in foil. Bake 1 hour.
  2. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat brown pork in olive oil. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add remaining seasonings and cook, break up the meat, until cooked through. Drain if needed.
  3. In a bowl combine cooked pork and beans.
  4. When potatoes are cooked through allow them to cool enough to handle. Cut a canoe-shaped cavity and stuff with the pork and beans. Top with shredded cheese.
  5. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake 5-7 minutes, until the cheese on top is melted.

Image

Banana Pepper Pork and Pasta

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

I can’t believe it took me over 5 months of blogging to post my absolute favorite meal!

In our first year of marriage this recipe was one of my go-tos. I am a carbo-holic and love just about any pasta and pork is my favorite meat. This recipe by Sunny Anderson is a hit!

I made this meal recently when we had company. It’s always great to make something you know will earn you compliments! 😉

The marinade used for the pork is reserved (pre-contamination) for use in the creamy pasta sauce which creates a perfect compliment of flavors between the main protein and the side dish. A bright salad is the perfect compliment to the meal as it cuts through the richness of the pasta sauce.

Banana Pepper Pork and Pasta

Ingredients:

  • 4 pork chops
  • 3/4 C jarred banana peppers
  • 1/2 C Dijon mustard
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 1 lb pasta
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 C heavy cream
  • 1/4 C Parmesan cheese

Steps:

  1. In a blender, combine banana peppers, mustard, and honey. Reserve 1/4 C for the pasta sauce.
  2. Season pork with S+P and marinate at least two hours.
  3. Grill pork 4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.
  4. Cook pasta in boiling salted water.
  5. In a skillet, saute onions in olive oil until translucent. Add in the garlic and cook another minute. Stir in the reserved marinade and heavy cream. Cook until reduced slightly, about 8 minutes. Stir in cheese and pasta. Serve with grilled pork.

Pork and Pasta

Cuban Inspired Pork Tenderloin

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Even though I’m not Cuban, this meal was very comforting to me. The flavors of Cuba are very similar to those of the Dominican Republic and I jumped on the opportunity to serve a very Latin meal.

With the pork in the slow cooker, I was able to better multi-task. I made black beans to go atop rice and fried up sliced plantains to serve on the side.

I fed a crowd with this recipe, if you’re making this for a gathering of four halve the recipe.

Cuban Inspired Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

  • 4 lb pork tenderloin
  • 1 1/4 C orange juice
  • juice of 6 limes
  • 1 C chicken broth
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 10 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • S+P
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 6 tbsp flour

Steps:

  1. Place tenderloin in slow cooker.
  2. In bowl combine OJ, lime juice, broth, soy sauce, garlic, oregano, and S+P. Pour over tenderloin.
  3. Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.
  4. Remove pork. Strain 4 C of the sauce into a sauce pan. Whisk in flour and butter. Cook until reduced to desired consistency, at least 5 minutes.
  5. Slice pork and serve.

* This recipe is adapted from Jo at http://www.jocooks.com/healthy-eating/crockpot-cuban-style-pork-tenderloin/*

Pork Tenderloin 1 Pork Tenderloin 2

This blog post also comes with a bonus recipe for fried plantains!

Fried Plantains

Ingredients:

  • plantains (2 for 3 people), peeled
  • olive oil, for shallow frying
  • salt

Steps:

  1. Slice plantains.
  2. Fry for 5 minutes, flipping halfway through.
  3. Set on paper towel lined plate to absorb the extra grease and sprinkle with salt.

Loco Moco

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Loco Moco is the number one comfort food on the Big Island. Rumor has it that it originated in Hilo. The story according to our travel guide, Lonely Planet Hawaii: The Big Island (Regional Travel Guide), September 2008 is as follows:

A group of teenage boys hung out at a local restaurant to play pinball and chow down on cheap food. A football player nicknamed “Crazy” was nominated to request a new dish. A large bowl of rice topped with hambuger and gravy. When the group relocated their hangout two over-easy fried eggs were added to the dish, creating Loco Moco as it is today.

Traditionally Loco Moco uses a hamburger patty as the choice of protein, but variations include pork, spam, etc. I made mine with leftover shredded pork. When we ate our Loco Moco in Hawaii Stuart said it needed one more egg, so I made three! Breaking into the yolk and combining the rice with the yolk and gravy is the best way to eat it.

Fried Egg Pork & Gravy

Loco Moco

Ingredients:

  • 3 C cooked rice
  • 3/4 lb cooked shredded pork
  • 1 can beef broth
  • flour for thickening
  • 1 tbsp butter, plus more for eggs
  • 3 eggs

Steps:

  1. In a saucepan, reduce beef broth. Stir in 1-2 tbsp of flour to thicken. Let reduce to desired consistency. Season with S+P. Stir in 1 tbsp butter. Warm shredded pork in the gravy.
  2. Melt a little butter in a small skillet. Crack eggs (I did mine one at a time) into skillet. Cook for only a couple of minutes before flipping. The yolk will still be runny.
  3. Assemble loco moco: spoon rice on a large plate, cover with the gravy and pork mixture, and top with the over-easy fried eggs.

Loco Moco 1

Loco Moco 2

Fall Off the Bone Baby Back Ribs

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

I love baby back ribs. There, I said it. But I also hate baby back ribs. What?? There is one place back home (Rib City) that has the best, hands down, ribs ever. I’ve tried ribs in the South, and they’re awful. Okay, they’re clearly not awful because everyone else seems to love them. So here’s what I’ve learned about my bi-polar opinion. If the ribs aren’t cooked in sauce, then I’m not going to like them. I used to think it was smoking – I don’t like the Liquid Smoke that is really popular in the South and find my taste buds to be very sensitive to it.  I think if the ribs are coated in sauce while being baked/grilled, then it softens the harsh smoke flavor. Disclaimer: I’m no BBQ Pit Master, the above statements are my personal opinion.

The first time I made ribs at home I did them in a slow cooker. The meat was cooked perfectly, but the recipe I followed seriously messed with my head. I tried Asian ribs. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t right! Every time I took I bite I was expecting the sweet, tang of barbecue sauce.

I promised myself that the next time I made baby back ribs, I’d do it right. I made a very simple dry rub and used the Neely’s recipe for barbecue sauce.Fall Off the Bone Baby Back Ribs 1

These babies looked like restaurant quality when I pulled them out of the slow cooker – I actually didn’t want to cover them up in sauce! (But I did eat them that way!)

Stuart said this meal was his second favorite, almost edging out Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas.

Fall Off the Bone Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients:

  • 3 lb baby back ribs
  • 2 tbsp paprika
  • 2 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp pepper
  • 2 1/2 C BBQ sauce, plus extra for serving

Steps

  1. Make dry rub with paprika, salt, and pepper.
  2. Cut rack of ribs into mini-slabs of 3 ribs each. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Rub all sides of ribs with the dry rub from Step 1.
  3. Place ribs in slow cooker so the the meaty side is facing the sides of the slow cooker, but not touching them. Pour barbecue sauce around the ribs. Cook on LOW for 6 hours. Flip the ribs halfway through the cooking time.

Fall Off the Bone Baby Back Ribs 2

This blog post also comes with a bonus recipe for my Smokey Sweet Potato Fries.

Ingredients:

  • 2 small sweet potatoes, cut into fries
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1 C panko bread crumbs
  • 1 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until it looks like soapy dish water.
  3. Combine panko, paprika, salt, pepper, and cayenne.
  4. Dredge potatoes in egg white and then the panko mixture.
  5. Bake potatoes for 25-30 minutes.

Update July 2016: These ribs are definitely one of my favorite meals and whenever they’re on sale at the grocery store I stock up! Every time I made them I said I needed to take a new picture, but I’d get so excited and completely forget about the camera, the blog, and the internet, and before I knew it I’d have a plate of empty bones and a little bit of barbecue sauce. But not this time! This time I snapped some pictures. I’m not sure how happy I am with the results, but they are better than those originals up there. I guess I’ll have to continue making these ribs and trying to photograph them again. Darn.

Fall Off the Bone Baby Back Ribs | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com