About Pork

Pork can be tricky.

There is a reason that entire religions tend to shy away from this form of protein. But, let's be realistic. A pork butt is a southern staple and a cheap piece of meat.

And, it is one of the few things that we eat that also wouldn't think twice about eating you.

So really, fair's fair.

How to cook pork

1) Get a meat thermometer, especially for bigger pieces of meat this is essential.

Also, you can get the meat out of the oven the minute it hits temperature, rather than overbaking and making the meat tough.

Pork is done when the CENTER of the meat is 160 degrees F.

Directions:

1) Rub 4 lbs. pork (country ribs or boston butt) with salt and pepper

2) Preheat oven to 325 degrees

3) Add pork and enough beef broth (sherry optional) to cover the bottom of the cooking pan

4) Cover with foil and bake 1/2 hour.

5) Uncover, render pork fat and broth into another pan.

6) Pour 1/2 your gravy/BBQ sauce, like the Fig Mustard Rosemary Sauce below, on the meat and pour 1/2 of the meat liquid back on the meat,

Put the other 1/2 of the meat liquid in the freezer

7) Cover the pork again and bake 20 minutes more

8) Remove meat when cooking thermometer reads 160 degrees (10 more minutes)

9) Take the meat liquid out of the freezer, skim the top ( fat) off of the stock. Feed the fat to your dog/cat/pigs. Add the other 1/2 of the gravy/sauce.

Put the stock in a saucepan and tighten up with some cornstarch.(Salt and Pepper, optional)

Serve with meat on plates individually.

Sides:

Green Beans

Saute sliced portabella mushrooms in 1/2 stick butter.

Once done, take the mushrooms out for those who don't like the texture of mushrooms, but the butter will still be musky. (Yum)

Put 1/3 package frozen green beans in same frying pan and saute beans 3 minutes

Add beef broth to green beans to preference. Cover and steam 5 more minutes.

Also:

Bush's Baked Beans

Baked Sweet Potatoes with butter

Fun with Figs

It was a friend's birthday and I was buying her fancy type items for weekend brunch. One of the things that I threw in the cart was the best jellies I could find to go with everything. There were two on the top shelf, Braswell's Pear and Fig Preserves. We might get to the pear preserves later. But here is a quick brunch recipe that came out surprisingly well with the fig one.


Bakery Apple Danishes with Figs and Cream

Stack in a Bowl:

One prefab bakery apple danish ( I might try cherry later)
One big spoonful of fig preserves

Fill the bottom of the bowl with heavy cream
Microwave for 2 minutes

Break your Fast with the Forbidden Fruit.

Fig Mustard Rosemary Sauce for Pork

My friend wasn't interested in the fig preserves and I don't really blame her. They grew in my backyard, but it never occured to me to pick them. But I have been doing all sort of stuff to this fig stuff.




Fig Mustard Rosemary Sauce for Pork

1 jar Fig Preserves
2 tbsp Rosemary
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp Minced Onion
1 tbsp Molassas
1 cup Cooking Sherry
Pepper to taste

Add everything together. Add beef stock to desired consistancy. Let sit for an hour or so to guage the rosemary before you add more.

Beer Margaritas

After a hard week of slapping dinner together, here's a simple drink to make before Sunday Night Football. You can even salt your iced mug if the spirit moves you.






Add together:
1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate
12 fluid ounces tequila
12 fluid ounces water
12 fluid ounces beer
ice
1 lime, cut into wedges

Add together first four ingredients. Stir until melted. Add ice and water to taste. Add lime wedges.

Easy Ramen Noodle Salad

After one particularly broke summer, pre-motherhood, I once swore ramen noodles would never touch my lips again. Just goes to show never say never. Me and the kids love ramen noodle salad with almost anything. Just use the noodles raw and throw the "flavor pack" with all of those bad tropical oils away. Typically, the kids are too distracted with the raw noodles to remember to complain about the spinach.

Toss Together:
4 handfulls of lettuce, spinach, or whatever leafy green you prefer
1/2 pack grape or cherry tomatoes ( less slimy than sliced)
1 pack raw ramen noodles, broken up
1 carrot, shreded
1 can chick peas ( garbonzo beans), drained

Third Day of Crock Pot Chicken - Chicken Pesto Tortellini

Tortellini is ring shaped pasta wrapped around cheese, and sometimes meat. It's kid friendly, but looks more like adult food than ravioli.





Get the frozen ones in the grocery store with no meat for this recipe. If you can get them fresh in the deli section, even better.

After a "grab as you go" weekend, it's time to bone the rest of the chicken.
Skim the yellow fat off of the top and pull all of the bones and skin away from the meat, including the wings and the back. Separate the meat and the remaining stock/gravy. Then make this:

Boil bag of fresh/frozen tortellini until heated through, drain
Separate into dishes

Add:
3 cups boned leftover chicken, heated
1 tbsp premade pesto, available in the spagetti sauce aisle
Shredded parmesan cheese to taste

Serve with Ramen Salad above.

Second Night of Crock Pot Chicken - Faux Chicken Cordon Bleu

Second night and you have an PTA/Amway/AA meeting








Get from the fridge:

Rice from the night before
Chicken from the night before
Green Beans from the night before
The Sliced Ham that the kids got tired of
Swiss Cheese from same

Layer in this order:

rice
chunked chicken
ham
1 slice swiss cheese

Put green beans with small amount of gravy to the side

Microwave for 3-4.

Fridge to Table: less than 10 minutes, and
you get an hour of your life back.

First Night of Crock Pot Chicken

I generally like to feed everyone right when I walk in the door. I find after everyone is immediately fat and happy, 1) they tend to hold better conversations and 2)eventually go away and leave me alone.

Then while I'm doing what I need to do, I make whatever I'm going to make for the next dinner. Yesterday I made a crock pot chicken that I bought on sale and threw in the freezer.

Add the following to the baking dish/crock pot:

One whole chicken, cleaned and cut up

and

Campbell's Soup Gravy

one can Cream of Celery Campbell's Healthy Request soup
2 tbsn onion flakes
1 tsp tarragon
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp white pepper
Fresh or dried parsley for color

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes
Or in a crock pot on high for 3 hours

Or Best Method: Until the meat thermometer indicates done.

I like this served with 2 cup jasmine rice boiled in 4 cups water, then put on low heat uncovered with 1 tbsn butter until the water is gone. But minute rice or egg noodles are good too. Make a lot so you can make the next recipe too.

Vegi Alert! The tarragon in the gravy goes very well with frozen green beans. Again, make a bunch and put the rest in the fridge for the next day.

Cambell's Soup Gravy

There are certain staples of Southern cooking that cannot be denied. One is the importance of white and brown gravies. We will deal with the brown gravy ( and the carmelized roux) later. For now I will explain a simple cheap way to produce a white meat gravy.

Campbell's Soup Gravy

one can Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Chicken, OR Cream of Celery Campbell's Healthy Request soup
2 tbsn onion flakes
1 tsp basil OR tarragon
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp black OR white pepper (white is milder)
Fresh or dried parsley for color

Add all ingedients.
Add to one chicken and bake on 350, letting the juices merge with the chicken.

OR add 2 Cups Beef Stock ( not broth) boil and stir on low heat.
Add to existing meal.

Shepard's Pie for Leftover Roast

I have some roast that I cooked in the crock pot that was great at the time but everyone is sick of now. I held everyone off with burger, spagetti sauce, and elbow noodles last night, but now I have to dress up this beef before it goes to waste.

This one pan recipe is also useful for getting vegetables down your children.

Ingredients:
3 to 4 cups minced or finely diced leftover roast beef
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, and green beans)
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 to 4 cups instant or fresh mashed potatoes, prepared with milk, butter, salt, and pepper OR 4 cups frozen hashbrowns
3 tablespoons sour cream, optional
1 cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese
Sweet Hungarian paprika

Preparation:
Lightly grease a large cast iron skillet. Heat oven to 350°.

In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion in the olive oil until softened and lightly browned.

Add beef and butter and sauté for about 1 minute longer.

Stir in the flour until blended. Add beef broth, cream of celery soup, Worcestershire sauce, and mixed vegis. Add additional broth depending on how juicy you want it.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

If using leftover mashed potatoes, warm them in a saucepan with a little butter or milk until softened.

Stir sour cream (optional) and cheese into the potatoes/hashbrowns. Spoon potatoes evenly over the beef layer and sprinkle lightly with paprika.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until hot and bubbly. If desired, turn on the broiler to brown the top but watch carefully to prevent burning.

Good with red wine vinegar. Serves 4 with leftovers.

List of Basics

The first rule of no nonsense cooking for groups is to purchase the following:

1) A large cast iron skillet - 20 bucks. A must for any kitchen. Bigger the better. Available for cheap at the thrift store or for around 20 bucks at the hardware store. Cure by using a paper towel to liberally cover both sides with a good cheap vegetable oil and bake the pan in the oven. Heat the pan for 30 to 60 minutes in a 300 to 500 degree oven. The more you use it, the better it seasons. Hand wash with light soap.

2) A wide square Japanese cleaver, available in most Asian grocery stores for less than 10 dollars. Good for cutting thin without adding your finger to the meal. Can also double as a spatula.

3) A large plastic cutting board - (Tree Hugger Disclaimer)Between wood and plastic, a newer plastic board wins due to wood's tendency to house bacteria. Unless it's recycled wood, a wood cutting board is not that ecological. And who wants a cutting board of recycled wood? Again, bigger is better.

4)A meat thermometer - This is essential for tackling large cuts of meats and many other items. It takes the guesswork out of cooking to safe temperatures and avoids episodes where you have hungry people at the table glaring at you because the chicken's still pink in the middle. Get the cheap one that looks like a dial on a spike.

5) A crock pot - This is a wonderful time saver. In college I fed myself and all my roommates with a crockpot, a ham hock, an onion, some lentils, salt,and a warm PBR. These are all over the thrift stores for around 10 dollars. Here are a bunch of money saving ideas for the crock pot.

It's What's for Dinner

I have been wanting to blog forever, but most of my opinions are much more controversal than my daily response to " What's for dinner?"

As a happily single mom, I am pretty much responsible for kitchen duties around here. But now that my kids is getting old enough not to burn the house down that's about to change as well.

So this is a blog about single parent families, getting your children involved with cooking, and practical culinary skills for people who need to stretch a dollar.