Thank Goodness for Leftovers Soup

This week, I visited my local butcher who had some fabulous looking pork ribs for sale.  The woman helping me advised 3 pork ribs for a "very hungry man".  I guess I didn't trust her so I bought 7 pork ribs for the four of us because it's so hard to tell how large they are in the case.  It turns out that one pork rib would have sufficed per person, but that also meant I had leftovers!  I used the three extra cooked pork ribs to put together this quick soup.  I'm sending this over to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her weekly Souper Sunday round-up!

Joie's Thank Goodness for Leftovers Soup or (Red Lentil, Spinach and Pork Rib Soup) by Joie de vivre

Ingredients:

1/4 c. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

5 small carrots, peeled and chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 quarts of chicken or beef broth (I used a combination because that's what I had!)

2 c. red lentils

3 leftover country style pork ribs (or any kind of meat), chopped into bite sized pieces

10 oz. spinach leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat.

2.  Add the olive oil.  Saute the onions and the carrots in the olive oil for about 5 minutes, until the onion starts to brown.

3.  Add the minced garlic and saute for 30 seconds until fragrant.

4.  Add the chicken or beef broth and bring to a boil.

5.  Stir in the red lentils, lower the heat to create a gentle simmer, partially cover the soup pot and cook until the lentils are soft, about 25 minutes.

6.  Stir in the cooked meat and cook for 5 minutes.

7.  Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, another 5-10 minutes.

8.  Adjust the seasonings and serve!

Healthy Family Lunch

In my quest to be more French, I have been making a big Sunday lunch so, as a family, we can eat leisurely, spend time together, have fuller bellies, and then enjoy a small dinner later on.  However, Sundays are the earliest day of the week for me as I need to prep my Sunday school classroom and have choir practice all before our 8:30 am church service.  That means if I want to have a nice lunch prepared, I need to pull out my trusty crock pot.  This past Sunday I made Apple-Cranberry Pork Roast that I adapted from my new favorite cookbook, Fix it and Forget it:  Big Cookbook.  I threw everything in the crock pot at 6:30 am, right before I ate breakfast, and it was ready to go for lunch at 12:30 pm!  Right before serving, I quickly sauteed some spinach and garlic for a healthy side dish.  I am sending this recipe over to Michelle at What's Cooking for her Healthy Family Dinners which is the January theme for Monthly Mingle.  Isn't the picture pretty too?  Another one of my hubby's.  Enjoy!

Apple-Cranberry Pork Roast with Homemade Apple-Cranberry Sauce by Joie de vivre.  Adapted from Fix it and Forget it:  Big Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 lbs. pork tenderloin

2 Tbls. olive oil

3 c. low sugar apple juice

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped, or just chopped if you like a more rustic applesauce with the peels

1 c. frozen cranberries

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

1.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil and brown the pork tenderloin on all sides.

2.  Add the pork tenderloin to the insert of a 4-5 quart crock pot.  Add all the other ingredients.

3.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

4.  Remove pork tenderloin and let rest 5 minutes on a cutting board before cutting.

5.  Remove apples and cranberries to a bowl with a slotted spoon.

6.  Mash apples and cranberries adding liquid from the crock pot as necessary to achieve desired consistency.

7.  Serve apple-cranberry sauce alongside sliced pork.

Sauteed Spinach with Garlic by Joie de vivre

Ingredients:

10 oz. spinach, washed and dried

1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1-2 Tbls. olive oil

balsamic vinegar.

Directions:

1.  Heat a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add olive oil and saute garlic for about 30 seconds. 

2.  Add the spinach and stir with tongs until completely covered with oil.  Cover the pot for 2-3 minutes to let the spinach wilt.

3.  Remove the spinach and sprinkle lightly with balsamic vinegar.

Golden Glow Pork Chops with Sauteed Greens

In my opinion, there is no more useful kitchen appliance than the crock pot.  I know I have been talking a lot about crock pots recently (be prepared, I'm making taco soup in my crock pot as we speak so tomorrow will be another crock pot entry!), but that faithful workhorse is kitchen magic to a busy mom.  Yesterday, I again tried out my new cookbook, Fix it and Forget It Big Cookbook, and found a winner of a recipe.  I was first drawn to this recipe because it was a good way to use some of the peaches I had canned this past summer.  But oh, it was so much more than just a good way to use canned peaches.  The sweetness of the peaches perfectly complimented the cinnamon and the cloves.  The pork chops were more tender than any I had ever had in my life.  I didn't even need my knife to cut them because they just fell apart with the touch of a fork.  It did have a relatively short cooking time for a slow cooked meal, just 3-5 hours, so those of you who work outside of the home may have trouble making this for a weekday dinner, but it was perfect for me and I got it in the slow cooker while my boys were eating their lunches.  If you do work outside the home though, don't miss this one.  Save it for a Saturday, it was well worth it.  Mmmmm.....

To accompany the pork chops, I sauteed the beet greens and kale that came in our very last CSA basket for the season.  If you have never made greens before, heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large pot with a lid.  Add the stems of the greens and saute for a few seconds over medium-low heat.  Put the lid on the pot and cook for a few minutes.  Give the stems a stir and add the leaves.  Again, give a stir and put the lid on.  Check on your greens every few minutes, giving them a stir each time.  When the greens are tender, add a clove or two of minced garlic and stir until fragrant.  Add a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar to cut the oiliness and serve.  Enjoy!

Golden Glow Pork Chops by Fix it and Forget it Big Cookbook

Ingredients:

5-6 pork chops

salt to taste

pepper to taste

29 oz. can cling peach halves, drained (reserve juice)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

8 oz. can tomato sauce

1/4 cup white vinegar

1.  Lightly brown pork chops on both sides in a saucepan.  Drain.  Arrange in a slow cooker insert.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  

2.  Place drained peach halves on top of pork chops.

3.  Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, tomato sauce, 1/4 cup reserved peach syrup, and vinegar.  Pour over peaches and pork shops.

4.  Cover and cook on Low 3-5 hours.

Squash Soup with Crumbled Bacon

I must admit, winter squash is not my favorite.  In my mind, I remember my mother making acorn squash all the time, although probably it was not more than a few times a year.  In my mother's defense, she did make the acorn squash palatable by baking it with butter, orange juice and brown sugar.  But I remember hating the squash after finishing the bites saturated with the sweet, buttery cooking liquid.  As an adult, I have learned to look past my initial aversion to winter squash, but it is still not my favorite.  It does give me pause however, thinking about what I make that my kiddos will have an aversion to when they grow up.

 

During fall, our CSA basket always contains some interesting squash.  Last winter, I must confess, I had to throw away some winter squash that had wintered too long in my pantry.  So when we started receiving our squash this year, I knew I had to cook it quickly or risk the same squash demise.  I have been reading Tom Valenti's Soups, Stews, and One-Pot Meals this week and in it there is a technique of laying strips of bacon across squash while it is baking to give it a nice smokey flavor.  Since everything is better with bacon, I took Tom Valenti's recipe for Butternut Squash Soup with Minced Bacon, and changed it to suit my cooking style.  The Squash Soup I created has a wonderful, smokey flavor from using the bacon technique, and the texture is smooth and silky from the long, slow cooking.

By the way, I checked Soups, Stews and One-Pot Meals out from the library, but it is now on my "to buy" list.  This book is chock full of Italian grandmother type meals.  I want to try my hand at his Chicken Hearts and Gizzards in Italian-Style Tomato Sauce next.  If I don't tell my children what it is, perhaps their aversion won't be automatic.  

Squash Soup with Crumbled Bacon by Joie de vivre

Ingredients:

6 lbs. of winter squash (I'm not sure of the variety I used though!)

Bacon

6 Tbls. unsalted butter

1 onion, diced

Couple sprigs of thyme plus more for plating

Bay leaf

1 qt. chicken stock

1 can (15 oz.) beef stock

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  Cut your squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Lay strips of bacon across the open face of each squash half and place open side up on a baking sheet.  Place in the oven and bake until a fork can pierce the squash flesh easily.  Mine took 1 hour to bake, you can start checking on yours after 40 minutes or so depending on the variety of squash you are using.  Remove the bacon to paper towel lined plates and let the squash cool slightly.  Crumble bacon when cool and set aside.

In a large soup pot over medium heat, pour the melted butter from the squash or drizzle in some olive oil.  Saute the onion over medium low heat until softened, but not browned.  Put in the thyme sprigs and the bay leaf and stir for 1 to 2 minutes.  Scoop squash into the bowl and stir for 1 minute constantly so squash does not scorch.  Pour in the stocks and stir to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and bring soup to a boil.  After bringing soup to a boil, turn heat down, partially cover, and let simmer very gently for an hour.  Fish out the thyme and bay leaf with tongs and puree soup with an immersion blender.  

To serve:  Ladle into bowls, top with some crumbled bacon and sprinkle with additional thyme leaves.

A World in a Pan

After my Pork Chop Hot Dish post from a few days ago, Laura from Laura's Paris Cooking Notebook commented that she would like to put the recipe up on her site.   Naturally, I was honored since I have been reading her lovely blog and drooling over her gorgeous pictures of the daily routines in French culture.  Every time I read her blog, I envy the cheeses, eggs, produce and everything that she has access to living in France, and now, my Pork Chop Hot Dish is on her site!  Really Laura, it is an honor and I thank you.  Here is the link to Pork Chop Hot Dish on Laura's site.

Apricot-Filled Pork Tenderloin

With the CSA vegetable season winding down, my thoughts have been turning to meat.  This week, I found a really yummy pork tenderloin recipe.  In the ten years or so since I've been cooking, I think I've made pork tenderloin only once or twice, and probably the pre-seasoned kind you just plop in the pan and stick in the oven.  After this recipe, I'll be making it more.  It was very easy and delicious.

Apricot-Filled Pork Tenderloin adapted from Taste of Home Winning Recipes

Serves at least 6

1 pork tenderloin (2 lbs.)

1 package (6 oz.) dried apricots  (Set aside 3 for marinade)

Marinade:

1/3 cup sweet and sour sauce (found in asian sauce section at grocery store)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 Tbls. teriyaki sauce

2 Tbls. ketchup

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 onion slice, separated into rings

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Make a lengthwise cut through 1/3 of roast but not all the way through, open up the roast and slice from the center through the remaining 2/3 cutting it in half but not all the way through.  You are cutting the roast so that it opens up like a letter and lays flat with a 1/4 inch thickness.  Place all apricots (minus the three reserved for the marinade) over the tenderloin to within 1/2 inch of the ends.  Roll up from a long side; tuck in the ends.  Secure with toothpicks or kitchen string.

In a blender, combine the remaining ingredients and reserved apricots.  Cover and process until smooth;  Pour marinade into a ziplock bag;  add the tenderloin.  Seal bag and coat tenderloin in the marinade.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours periodically checking that all the meat is covered with the marinade.

After meat has marinated, place it in a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish.  Drizzle with about 1/3 cup of the marinade and discard the rest of the marinade.  Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees (35-50 minutes)  Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Camping food Part II

Perhaps my penchant for eating good food has gone too far (or maybe, not far enough?).  On my last blog post, I had a friend ask where I bought the freeze-dried salmon.  Blech!  When I say we eat fancy when were camping that means no freeze-dried foods!   (I must confess though that for the second morning of our camping, I did plan a cold cereal day.)  I think the secret to eating well while camping is just advanced preparation and a good storage technique for cold foods.  That being said, our most recent camping adventure sported this menu:

Friday night:  Black bean salad, Grilled Steak tacos with salsa and guacamole.  Roasted marshmallows  (pictured above sans marshmallows, served with a glass of red wine (don't tell the camp host!))

Saturday:  Breakfast:  Egg and cheese sandwiches

   Lunch:  Hot dogs, chips, birthday cupcakes, leftover black bean salad

   Dinner:  Beer marinated pork shish kabobs with zucchini, squash and red onion, crusty bread, White beans with chanterelle mushrooms

Sunday morning:  Cold cereal with rice milk.

My advanced preparation consisted of making the black bean salad, marinating the steak for the tacos, pre-cutting the cheese and wrapping up the eggs for the egg and cheese sandwiches, marinating and cutting the pork and veggies for the shish kabobs and putting all the ingredients together for the white beans with chanterelle mushrooms.  I then packed everything in the cooler starting with Sunday's breakfast items on the bottom and ending with Friday's dinner items on the top.  The beer marinated pork shish kabobs was definitely my favorite meal and the white beans with chanterelle mushrooms smelled as heavenly while cooking as they tasted.  Here are some of the recipes to try on your next camping adventure.

Black bean salad  adapted from Campfire cuisine:  Gourmet recipes for the great outdoors by Robin Donovan

Juice of 3 limes

2 Tbs. honey

1 Tbs. ground cumin

1 Tbs. ground coriander

1 Tbs. dried oregano

2 14.5 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 green bell peppers

6 green onions, thinly sliced.

Mix the lime juice, honey, cumin, coriander and oregano in a large ziplock bag until well combined.  Add the beans, diced pepper and onion and toss until well combined.  Close this ziplock and then put this ziplock into another one to get it ready for the ice chest!

Red wine Marinade for steak taken from Campfire Cuisine:  Gourmet recipes for the Great Outdoors by Robin Donovan

Juice of 3 limes

1/2 cup red wine

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbs. dried oregano

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Mix all ingredients in a large ziplock, drop in the steak, seal the bag making sure to get most of the air out.  Put this bag into another bag to ready steak for the ice chest.

Grilled Steak tacos by Joie de vivre

After your coals have gotten hot, put the steak on the grill and grill on each side for about 7 minutes, remove steak to a plate and loosely cover with foil for a few minutes.  Thinly slice steak, put into a tortilla with guacamole and salsa.  Wrap up and enjoy!

Beer-Marinated Pork and Veggie Kabobs adapted from Campfire Cuisine:  Gourmet recipes for the great outdoors by Robin Donovan

For the marinade:

1 1/2 cups water

1 bottle beer

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 Tbs. dried oregano

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbs. course salt

1 tsp. pepper

Mix all ingredients in a large ziplock bag and mix.

Add to marinade

1 1/2 lb. pork loin cut into 2 inch chunks

Shake bag to combine.  Seal well removing as much air as possible and put this ziplock into another ziplock to ready meat for ice chest.  Once ready to cook kabobs, thread meat chunks onto skewers with cut onion, zucchini, squash, etc that has been drizzled with olive oil.  Put on grill over hot coals!

White beans with Chanterelle Mushrooms taken from Campfire Cuisine:  Gourmet recipes for the Great Outdoors by Robin Donovan

2 14.5 oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 lb. chanterelles, sliced

1 small red onion, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 Tbs. chopped thyme

1/2 tsp. salt.

Olive oil spray

Heavy duty foil.

Mix beans, mushrooms, onion, olive oil, thyme and salt in a ziplock bag.  Seal, removing as much air as possible.  Seal this ziplock into another ziplock to ready beans for the ice chest.  When ready to cook, make a foil packet by taking a long piece of foil, folding it in half, and then crimping the two sides.  Spray the inside of the foil packet with the olive oil spray and put the bean mixture in.  Crimp the remaining side of the foil packet to seal leaving enough room for steam to circulate.  Put the packet over hot coals for 20 minutes.  

My weakness and laziness in camping is definitely breakfast foods (I think it's the lack of coffee so early in the morning) so for my next post, I'm going to be researching and trying some out.  Bonne chance with the camping food and let me know if you try anything!