Amy’s Slow-Roasted Pork Carnitas
Pork shoulder or butt is a must have item in your freezer. This roast can be turned into so many wonderful things. Slow cook it for hours, tear it apart with two forks and get creative. Depending on how much or little you season it you could use it for a wide variety of meals.
I found this recipe on Rick Bayless site and I really wanted to use his recipe because it did not call for much seasoning. I figured I could use some of the left over pork in empanadas or make some bbq pork sandwiches. But alas I bought a whole pork roast with a bone in it and I could not cut it up as he suggested. So I got creative and decided to slow cook the whole think in some simple spice and a fresh onion. Results were so good we decided to make this again for my younger brother and his family. They loved it so much!
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Quincy Market Baked Beans
Attention all of my baked bean loving fans! This is not my baked bean recipe. I mean, it is a baked bean recipe that does happen to be of my own creation, but it’s not the one you dream of. This recipe is just as good, but it is not as Americanized as the other baked bean recipe many of you have tasted, and requested for your own parties. At this point I’m really not sure I want to share that recipe. Mostly because I make it on such a large scale. 2-3 pounds of beans and bacon is so much, and to make it into a smaller version, well I would have to test that. No time for testing, so no blog post for Amy’s Baked Beans. Stay tuned I might release them in the future.
I have been baking beans for about ten years. I can believe it has been that long. I remember my first batch so long ago. I really am on my way to mastering them, and most of my family would agree that my pound for pound bean and bacon baked beans are a Tri-Tips dream come true.
Full RecipeChile Verde
I was not going to post this recipe mostly because I plan to make it differently next time. This was a learning experience for me, and the end result was very tasty. So, I decided to post along with my notes and some of the corrections I plan to make next time I whip up some Chile Verde. I was inspired by Bobby Flay’s Green Chile recipe and followed it loosely.
Learning how to make your own Chile Verde is a great recipe to have under your belt. Mostly because it is so cheap to make and it’s not bad for you. You could make this with a lean pork tenderloin and yield beautiful results. This is another recipe where having homemade chicken stock in the freezer comes in really handy. It lowers the cost and ups the flavor.
Full RecipeBrunswick Stew (Daring Cooks Challenge Apr, 2010)
The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.
This months Daring Cooks Challenge was super fun for me. Mostly because I got to break in my newly acquired WagnerWare Dutch Oven. We purchased this Dutch Oven off E-Bay and it works like a dream. It heats evenly and retains temperature like no other pot I have.
I created my stew using a Game Hen and Chicken Carcass Vegetable base stock. I pulled the game hen out of the stock pot after the stock had been simmering for about an hour. I let it cook off then I skinned it and removed all the meat and set it aside to add to my stew later. The other meat I chose for my stew was the economical choice of country style pork ribs.
Full RecipePork Chops with Mustard Sauce
This recipe was inspired from Gourmet Magazine. I often hear the following complaints: week nights are hard to find the time and energy to cook up a fabulous meal, and the most common complaint is recipe X has too many ingredients that I don’t have in my pantry. I think this recipe is good for a causal cook because most of the items are things all cooks should have in the kitchen. The only thing I may not have on hand all the time is the cream, but more often then not I have a little jug of it in my frig. I have scaled this recipe down to serve two people; you could easily double this recipe to feed four. This recipe is also kid friendly in my opinion. You could easily cook five pork chops, make the sauce for two and serve the kids chops with apple sauce.
I’m not sure why or when simple whole food got replaced with processed food. Processed food usually still has to be heated or doctored in some way or another, and always costs more then whole food. I’m sure you could buy some processed pork chops for more than double the price of what you would pay to make this meal, and save like 15 minutes time. Just being a little more organized with your menu planning will save you money and the time won’t be an issue. And don’t forget the biggest bonus; you will be eating delicious healthy food vs what you get from the deli counter.
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