Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Pulled Pork Burritos

This is another one from the church potluck cookbook that I got for Christmas. I guess not surprisingly, these recipes make a bunch. I now have 3 meals frozen in the freezer since starting this cookbook, because it is just too much to eat in one meal. I guess that's the idea if you're making these for a church potluck...okay so I like to pretend that I know how to cook Mexican food, so that's why I wanted to make these. I like Mexican...not too Mexican though. Taco Bell, yes. Miguel's, maybe. Actual Mexican food in Mexico, probably not. But maybe they eat stuff like this, I don't know. So this recipe you have to start the night before, because you have to marinate the pork. I tell you this to assist in your planning.

Pulled Pork Burritos
4 lb boneless pork loin roast (this was way more than I thought it would be...$14 YIKES but since I have made a few of these recipes, I knew it would make a bunch and be good for more than one meal...)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup vinegar
2 cups chicken stock (I used my own homemade stock yummo)
16 10-inch flour tortillas
2 16 oz can refried beans
2 cups shredded Muenster cheese (I couldn't find this pre-shredded, I had to shred my own)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cut roast into 3 pieces. In smal bowl, combine brown sugar, dry mustard, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper; mix well. Sprinkle over roast and rub into surface. Cover and marinate in refrigerator overnight. In the morning, place onions and garlic in bottom of 5-6 quart slow cooker. Place pork on top. Pour vinegar and chicken stock over all. Cover and cook on low 8-9 hours or until pork is very tender. Remove pork from slow cooker and shred, using two forks. Add enough of the cooking liquid to moisten meat. Preheat oven to 375. Spread tortillas with refried beans. Top each with some of the shredded pork and cheeses; roll up. Place, seam-side down, in two greased 13x9 casserole dishes. Cover with foil and bake 20-30 minutes.

Obviously if you are making this just for one family you could just use 1 can of beans and 8 tortillas. That's what we did, because even though I knew I was saving a lot of the meat, I wasn't sure how tortillas would do being frozen and reheated. Nathan did not have a burrito. He just had some meat on a plate. But he didn't like it. Sam and Emma did reasonably well, considering. Steve was excited to try these. He saw them in the pan and said "ooooh, enchiladas!" I said, "these are not enchiladas, these are burritos." He gave me a look that said, "so what, I think they are the same thing, also I think you are not really Mexican." I then told him the difference between the two, which may or may not be accurate, but I said very authoritatively, "enchiladas have sauce that you cook them with, burritos do not." And I gave him a look that said, "see? I know what I'm talking about." So, these were pretty good. The meat didn't have too much flavor considering the marinade, but that's okay, I guess that makes the meat more versatile for other recipes.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Mostaccioli and Beef

If you don't know what mostaccioli is, it's like ziti without lines. And I had ziti in my cupboard, so that's what I made this with. This is from a cookbook I got a long time ago at a bridal shower, called Betty Crocker's New Choices Cookbook, subtitled More than 500 Great-Tasting Easy Recipes for Eating Right. Now this particular recipe doesn't seem like "eating right," exactly. I wanted to make it because it's a bit different than your typical pasta and sauce.

Mostaccioli and Beef
6 oz uncooked mostaccioli (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (I used my Pampered Chef garlic press)
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan-romano cheese

Cook pasta as directed on package. Cook beef and onion until beef is brown; drain. Stir in oregano, salt, cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, tomato sauce, and garlic. Heat oven to 350. Alternate layers of pasta and hamburger mixture in ungreased 2-quart baking dish (I still sprayed it with Pam...why scrub that much extra if you don't have to?). Heat butter in small saucepan over low heat until melted. Stir in flour and a dash of nutmeg. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling (so I assume you return it to the burner at this point ha), stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Pour sauce evenly over mixture in casserole dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until cheese is light brown.

So obviously this dish had a different flavor to it. The cinnamon and nutmeg made it taste quite odd. We all ate it, but with every bite, I was like "Hmmmmm." But okay for a change.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Caesar Chicken Burgers

In honor of all of you who have had caesareans to deliver your children, I present you with this recipe. Ha. Also if you like chicken caesar salad and stuff, I bet you will like this one. It's from Simple & Delicious Mar/April 2010. There wasn't really too much in this one that I marked, I think because it is their spring issue, and it uses lots of fresh vegetables that I really don't care for. This says you can make it on the grill outside, or using an indoor grill. Even though crazy Steve barbecued hotdogs last week, we really haven't brought it out in full force yet, so we used the good old George Foreman grill.

Caesar Chicken Burgers
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 slices red onion
2 tbsp butter, softened
4 hamburger buns, split
2 cups torn romaine
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (I used grated parm because that seemed fancier)
1/2 cup creamy caesar salad dressing, divided

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Grill on an indoor grill coated with cooking spray for 4-5 minutes or until juices run clear. Grill onion slices for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, spread butter over cut sides of buns. Place buttered side up on an ungreased baking sheet. Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for 1 minute or until golden brown. Toss romaine with cheese and 1/4 cup dressing; spoon onto bun bottoms. Top with onions, chicken, and remaining dressing. Place bun tops.

I made this on my previously-complained-about George Foreman grill. I do like that thing but I hate cleaning it. This year at yard sales I am going to be on the lookout for a GF grill that has removable plates. You should see the acrobatics involved in trying to clean it, top and bottom, without getting the middle wet. It's fun. Sometimes Steve cleans it for me, but not this time. So anyway Steve really really liked these. He loved the red onion. I thought it was a bit too strong, though. For Sam's I only used cheese and dressing. For Nathan and Emma, we just cut up some of the chicken with no dressing or anything. I should have pounded the chicken out thinner, even though I hate doing that because it's so messy, and also I think not that effective. I have the Pampered Chef meat tenderizer thing, and I pound the crap out of the chicken, and all it does is like squirt chicken juice everywhere and it's still fat in the middle. But maybe skinnier pieces of chicken would have cooked more evenly. Also it was hard to take a bite sometimes because the chicken was so thick in parts. I used whole wheat buns, too. #1 it's healthier, but also the bread doesn't get as soggy when you add stuff because it's denser. Even still these buns got a bit soggy, so imagine if I used Wonderbread-like white buns. Overall, it was a pretty good dinner, so I guess it's a keeper.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Fruited Pork Chops

This is yet another recipe from the crockpot cookbook I got for Christmas. I have liked almost everything out of this book. Incidentally, while I'm typing this, I am eating leftover french fried onions from the Onion Crescent Crunch Sticks from last week. Love those things.

Fruited Pork Chops
8 boneless pork loin chops
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white wine vinegar (yes I bought this. It wasn't very expensive and I felt very gourmet buying it. Hee hee.)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
2 cups chicken broth
10 dried apricots, chopped
1 cup golden raisins
10 dried plums, chopped (these are prunes. But don't tell anyone, because then no one will want to eat this, because people think prunes are just for constipated old people.)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper. In skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. When butter melts, brown chops on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Place in 5-quart slow cooker. To skillet, add brown sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, allspice, and chicken broth; bring to a simmer. Stir in apricots, raisins, and plums. Pour over chops in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours or until chops and fruit are tender. In bowl, combine cornstarch and water. Add to slow cooker; cover and cook on high for 20 minutes or until sauce thickens.

Once again this smelled really good cooking. The pork was tougher than I thought it would be. The kids said it was stringy and hard to chew. Sam even suggested that we should try "chewing against the grain" to make it easier. Nathan said "I don't like this kind of chicken," because to him, every meat is chicken. I wonder if it would have been better with worse meat. I have heard that crockpots are good for cheaper cuts of meat, because they have all day to tenderize. Maybe these were too high quality. I paid $10 for 8 boneless chops, seems pretty reasonable. But the bone-in chops were cheaper. So maybe if I tried this again I would use a lesser cut of meat. Also regarding the fruit: They were like "what's this? And what's this one?" I said fruit. I did not tell about the prunes. I did tell about the raisins. We had this with rice, and put some of the sauce on the rice. Except Nathan doesn't like rice, as he very vocally reminded us. Sam whispered, "should we not tell him that's what they eat in Haiti?" I agreed that we should not. I suppose when we're there, he'll eat it, eventually, if it's the only show in town. So I think this one is not going into the "keeper" book, although of course I am saving the cookbook, so I can always go back.

Oh, and does anyone have any good ideas for half of a bag of leftover "dried plums?"

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Sweet and Sour Meatball Casserole

This is another crock pot recipe from the cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas. No particular reason for trying this one, it just sounded good. The kids like meatballs, so that's one point for it. But Steve doesn't like pineapple, so it loses the point it just got. Oh wait, I do like pineapple, so the point goes back up. Anyway here is the recipe.

Sweet and Sour Meatball Casserole
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup wild rice, rinsed (I couldn't find this at Walmart, so I used regular long grain brown rice)
14 oz can beef broth
1 1/2 cups water
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
8 oz can pineapple tidbits in juice, undrained
1 pound frozen meatballs
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 tbsp cornstarch
5 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp water

In 4 or 5 quart slow cooker, combine onion, garlic, rice, broth, water, sugar, vinegar, and pineapple. Stir to combine. Add meatballs. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours. Add chopped peppers; stir. Cover and cook on low 45 more minutes. Turn heat to high. In small bowl, combine cornstarch, ketchup, and water; mix well. Add to slow cooker and stir. Cook on high for 15-20 minutes or until liquid is thickened and bell peppers are tender. Serve immediately.

So this was the first flop we've had in a while. I think it was a mistake to use brown rice instead of long grain, because it turned into a gloppy gluey mess. I never added the cornstarch in the last step, I just added the ketchup, because the mixture was already so thick. We basically ended up just eating the meatballs...scraping them on the sides of the bowl to get the gluey rice off. Except Steve. In a bold, missionary-minded-I-will-eat-what-I'm-given way, he ate everything in his bowl. I don't know how he does it. But for the rest of us...not so much. Not a keeper.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Onion Crescent Crunch Sticks

We had these yesterday for lunch with goulash (which some of you might call chop suey, but we call goulash). They were quite good. This is the last recipe from the Job Corps cookbook. I like any recipe with french fried onions, that's why we tried this one. Normally I do not care overly much for Pillsbury refrigerated anything (except the cinnamon rolls). The dough just seems to have a weird aftertaste or something. But these were very very good. These made a lot for our little family, but it would be great as an appetizer or to bring to a pot luck or something.

Onion Crescent Crunch Sticks
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp flour
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp onion salt
1 8 oz can crescent dinner rolls
2 2.8 oz cans french fried onions, crushed (I bought one big can so I could eat the rest)

Combine eggs, butter, flour, parsley, and salts. Unroll crescent rolls. Separate dough into 4 rectangles, pressing perforations to seal. Cut each rectangle crosswise into 8 strips. Dip each strip into egg mixture. Coat with crushed onions. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

So like I said, these were good. Nathan didn't try them ("I don't like bwead sticks") but the kids really liked them and Steve and I did, too. The challenge here was not to eat too many of them. I love the french fried onions. Now I have an appetizer recipe using them, also a main dish (onion cruch chicken or some such thing) and I also have a side dish recipe with them (something about mashed potatoes, I can't remember what it's called). So if I wanted I could have a full meal using these delicious things. Mmmmmmmmm.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Blonde Brownies

I made these last night for home fellowship at Tom & Becky's. It's from the Job Corps cookbook again. Only one more recipe out of this one to go...This is the second time I have made some type of brownie for home fellowship. People are going to think I don't know how to make anything else...but I had to work last night so I didn't have time to think about or make something more elaborate...brownies, even from scratch, don't really take that long to make, as compared to cookies or whatever. So here we have more brownies...

Blonde Brownies
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped nuts, optional (I left these out...nobody in my family likes nuts, although I do sometimes, but I guess not really in brownies...we are nutty enough already hee hee)

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Melt butter in saucepan and add brown sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture gradually, mixing well. Spread into 13 x 9 pan (it will be thick). Sprinkle with chips and nuts. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool in pan and cut into squares.

So I actually haven't eaten one of these yet. Steve brought them to the Hinchliffe's last night, and brought 3 small ones home, which must be a pretty good sign if most of them got eaten. My friend Becky said of them: "Thank you for the yummy goodies! They were sooooo good!" (via facebook). So that is positive feedback. And Steve said they were very good too. So I will keep this one.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Potato Latkes (Pancakes)

Oh yeah the Page family is SO international. This is a Polish side dish. I got it from the Job Corps (or, if you are Obama, Job Corpse) cookbook that I have been going through. I have been told many times that you can make these with leftover mashed potatoes, but have never found an exact recipe for them (I don't really like "just throw in an egg and salt and pepper." I like to be more precise than that, at least for my first time). So even though these used shredded potatoes, I wanted to try them. We had these with bacon and sausage and scrambled eggs. But these ended up so "eggy" that I think next time there will be no eggs with them.

Potato Latkes
3 eggs
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
dash white pepper
1 tbsp minced onion
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups shredded potatoes (I used frozen ones and didn't even thaw them first. It was fine)
butter
applesauce

Thoroughly combine eggs, flour, salt, pepper, onion and nutmeg. Stir in potatoes. Heat butter in a large skillet until bubbly (at this point I used cooking spray instead of adding butter. They probably would have been better tasting with butter but I wanted to at least attempt to be a bit healthier ha ha). For each pancake, spoon 1/4 cup mixture into skillet; flatten. Fry over medium heat until golden brown; turn and fry until other side is golden brown. Serve with applesauce.

So these were quite tasty. Nathan didn't like them but Sam and Emma really did. Steve and I did too, they were very good. The kids didn't like dipping them in applesauce but we did. A keeper for sure, since we love having breakfast for supper.