Carnitas

Wow we just love this dish. As of this past Sunday this is the 3rd time to make this. It is really tasty.Now it is a weekend dish but you can still be doing other things around the house.
3 lbs boneless pork shoulder or pork butt cut into 2 inch cubes. We used country style ribs and we did find some cubed pork pieces at Sam's last week that worked out great another time.
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
4 cloves garlic crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch of cayenne pepper

Corn or flour tortills
avacado slices,cilantro,
sauted onions and bell pepper
what ever garnish you like.
 Place pork in large dutch oven or heavy pot. Add orange juice, lime juice,garlic, cumin,
 salt and enough water to baarley cover the meat.
Bring to a rip roaring boil then reduce to a bubly simmer and cook for two hours uncovered. Do not touch meat.
After 2 hours increase heat to med high and occasionaly stir turning the pieces, cook for about 45 minutes until all liquid is gone. You should have a little pork fat sizzling to brown the meat in. Turn till all sides are brown. When browned on all sides yhey are ready.
Serve with warm torillas and fixings.
Yum Yum

Pork Tenderloin

Next to a steak the meat we like the most is a pork tenderloin. Noel fixed two that he bought that were in a marinade. He wrapped in foil and baked in the oven.
They were so jucy and melted in your mouth.

Pork Loin roast, carrots and potatoes

We bought a whole pork loin as they are pretty cheep compared to a beef roast and cut it up into 3 pieced to freeze one we smoked in the smoker and this one we cooked in the crock pot. I guess I can say I liked this a lot more than the better half she just likes beef roast better.Don't get me wrong it was really good she can just be picky sometimes. We served the veggies over some rice and cooked some butter peas.

This made a lot it will feed 4 to six we but up some in the freezer for a rainy day.

About 2 lb pork loin

3 cloves garlic sliced

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil and butter

1/4 cup creole or Dijon mustard we used creole

2 onions chopped

1 to 2 stalk celery

1/4 cup bell pepper

1 cup beef bouillon

one bag baby carrots

as much as you want depends on size.... we used about 8 to 10 cut in chunks.

Cut slits in roast and insert garlic all around roast.

Melt butter and live oil in heavy skillet and salt and pepper the roast and sear on all sides.

Remove and rub the mustard on all sides. ( did side to face on bottom and when placed in crock pot I did the top.)

Place 1/2 f the potatoes and carrots in bottom of crock pot and place roast on top.

In same skillet brown onions,celery,bell pepper about 5 minutes. Place over roast along with rest of potatoes and carrots.

Back to the skillet again and add 1/2 cup beef bouillon and scrape up bits from bottom, then pour over roast along with the rest of the bouillon. Cook on low for 6 hours If home turn roast and stir.

Smoked Pork Butt

removing the bone

The outer part is called the bark

be careful it still hot

Ok I left you a with a tantalizing picture and it is from my new toy. Doug got a smoker last year and at our music jams he always had the most mouth watering meat. We got lucky and found a electric smoker at Waley world that was being discontinued and on sale. So I have been looking up on smoking meat and the first thing they said to cook in it was a Boston butt or pork shoulder to help season the smoker. This is our Boston butt and it just melted in your mouth. I really did not need any Bar BQ sauce but we do like Sweet Baby Rays. Now this did take a good bit of time so it has to be done on a weekend for me as it is a two day event.
Injection Sauce
1 cup apple sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
4 teaspoons Cajun seasonings (Zatarains) we like a lot so we used 4 Tablespoons
2 teaspoons powdered mustard.
Dry Rub
4 Tablespoons paprika
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons cumin
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon red pepper
Mustard
apple juice
Boston Butts are a cheep piece of meat and are found on sell during the summer. This also makes a whole lot so if cooking for a crowd or like us to but up and have later as sandwiches. I think we got 4 baggies of 4 cups each that we were able to put up in the freezer not counting what we stuffed our self with first. When it is in the 100's like this week being able to pull out a pack and have is great.
Now that you have all the ingredients gathered lets get started.
Take the meat and inject it with the injection sauce.
when that is done take the mustard and rub all over and sprinkle half of dry rub (do not rub it in) on meat and place in foil or Saran wrap and place in refrigerator overnight.
Next morning take out and put other half of rub on meat do not rub in just sprinkle it on all over.
Let it set about 20 to 30 minutes.
Get the smoker ready
We used apple and hickory wood chips.
A shoulder or butt will take about 1.5 hours per pound of meat to smoke. You will need to smoke the meat at 225° - 230°F until the internal temperature reaches 140°. From there take it up to or 200° - 205°F to pull it.
We pulled it. We also put some apple juice in a spray bottle and sprayed it on the meat every hour.
When the meat was ready we took it out and let it set wrapped in foil in a foil container for about an hour.
This was still hot so be careful pulling the meat apart. Pour the meat juices into a bowl and put it the refrigerator while you pull the pork or while the meat is resting. After the meat juice solidifies run paper towel lightly around the fat and it will stick to the paper towel. Add back to meat.
Whew that took a good bit of time but let me tell ya it melted in our mouths and we will have some great sandwiches for a few days. As Ramona's dog says nom, nom, nom good

4th dinner crock pot pork

Well better late than never. We cooked something new for us this 4th. It was so hot here the thought of getting out to grill just makes me cringe. I cooked out for the chicken we had a week or so ago and I thought I would melt.105 heat index is not my idea of fun in the sun. One of the local grocery stores had a sale on a pork shoulder or a Boston but so I got one to try. I had come across a recipe for one cooked in the crock pot and wife has been wanting some pulled pork barbecue. I put this in the crock pot Friday night before we went to bed with a package of Lipton onion soup mix and depending on how big your piece of meat is let it cook low and slow over night. Ours was not ready at 10 the next morning so we kicked it up to high and by 1 we were in business. Sine we had potato salad last week we had roasted potatoes with it and baked beans.

Roasted potatoes were cut and sprinkled with the Lipton onion soup mix and baked beans had a little bell pepper,bacon and onion added. Some brown sugar and dash of dry mustard. We did cheat and buy a bottled barbecue sauce but we did doctor on it some.

Pork Chop and Feta Skillet from Sisters Cafe

God this was so good we are going to have to fix this one again soon. We had the Cilantro and Lime rice with this. My wife said this was the best squash she has ever eaten. And on top of every thing it was so simple to do. Erin from Sisters Cafe we send you a big kiss. Please check out their site we have a link here on the right.
We did make a few changes as we have some rosemary and basil growing in the yard.
1 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary(we used fresh)
1 teaspoon dried basil (we used fresh sweet basil)
1 teaspoon minced garlic(we used more because we like garlic)
1 pinch black pepper(we may have used a little more)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 pork chops (we had 2 really large ones)
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (we added a little zest) about one lemon in dish large enough to dip chops in.
2 oz crumbled feta cheese with basil and sun dried tomatoes (we only had plain)
1-2 yellow squash or one zucchini. We used 2 cups of summer squash we had put up last summer to make room for new.
We also had 1/4 head of cauliflower we added this wasn't part of original recipe but what the heck we like cauliflower and know it kinda absorbs the flavors (and we were right.)
In small bowl stir rosemary,basil,garlic,and pepper.
Heat oil in large skillet. Dip chops in lemon juice sprinkle with herb mixture.
Place chops in hot skillet, drizzle some lemon juice over them, sear both sides. About 7 minutes each side.
(Now we fix our chops a little different here in that we simmer them in a little water and covered for about 1 1/2 hours turning every 30 minutes and adding water if needed. the chops are so tender they fall off the bone)
Add sliced squash to edges of pan and pour remaining lemon juice and herbs if any, simmer when squash(we also added cauliflower here)is near done add feta cheese and cook till melted. About 5 minutes. I know you are gonna love this one.

Pork Chop Supper in a Skillet

We are trying to cook things that we do not use the oven because it is so hot. Unfortunately, most of the ones we want to try are oven dishes.
This was good it reminded us of a crock-pot dinner. We fixed a pear salad to go with it along with fresh tomatoes.



Pork Chop Supper in a Skillet

1 -2 1/2 Tablespoon of butter depending on size of chops
4 pork chops (we use ones with the bone in)
3- 4 medium red potatoes cut in small cubes
2 cups baby carrots cut in small bite size (this cuts down cooking time if vegetables are small and bite size)
1 small to medium onion in thin slices
1 small can mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
I clove garlic
Can add a little celery or celery salt
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon pepper to season chops.
½-cup water

Sprinkle lemon pepper on both sides of chops
Take1 ½ Tablespoon of butter and brown chops in large skillet (about 3-4 min on each side)
Pour in ½ cup of water cover and simmer about 15 minutes with cover on. Then turn and check water and add any if needed.
Cook this way for 45 min until chops are staring to get tender.
Meanwhile cut up vegetables
In separate skillet or saucepan, cook onion in 1Tablespoon of butter until clear
Add carrots and potatoes cream of mushroom soup garlic mushrooms celery salt and salt and pepper.
Heat until everything is mixed well (may need to add a ¼ cup of water) pour over pork chops.
(I find this does mess up an extra pot but everything gets mixed up good, You can just add everything to skillet with chops and save this step if you want)
Cover and simmer for 15 to 25 min or until vegetables are tender.

Pork Chops with apples and Cabbage

Baked Pork Chops and Apples
SERVES 6
2 Tablespoons butter
6 Pork chops
4 Apples
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon

Peel, core, and slice the apples.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a skillet.
Brown the pork chops on both sides in the butter.
Grease (or spray) a large baking dish.
Put the apple slices in the bottom of the dish.
Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the apples.
Place the pork chops on top of the apples.
Cover with foil and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours.

Cabbage and Brown Sugar
SERVES 6 -8
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
1 Tablespoon canola oil
8 Cups shredded green cabbage (about 1 normal-sized head)
1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar
3-4 Garlic cloves, minced (I use 4)
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper

In a large skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat; add cabbage, garlic and brown sugar to pan.
Sauté until the cabbage is limp, about 5 minutes or so.
Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in vinegar.
Cook, stirring very often, for approximately 20 minutes; taste and if cabbage is too crunchy for you, continue to cook for a few more minutes.
Add salt, pepper to taste, and serve.

This was very yummy the apples we used were granny smith and we served over rice. With half of a Cabbage we cut this in half and tried it. It may have been a little much with both dishes made with brown sugar but both were good. Both found on recipe zaar.

Blackberry-Glazed Pork chops

Well the weather is a little cool again but it makes for being in the kitchen a lot better. Saturday we had a pear salad, roasted potatoes and a blackberry-glazed pork chop. The glaze made a good bit and we did not want it to go to waste so the next night we got some country ribs and cooked them out on the grill. We were surprised that the flavor was not as strong on the ribs as on the chops the night before.We are not sure what we did wrong but they still tasted good. We may try this again on the grill with chicken or something else.
Blackberry Glaze
1 tsp butter
4 boneless pork chops ¾ to 1 ¼ thick
½ cup blackberry jam
1/3 cup blackberry or balsamic vinegar (we used the vinegar)
¼ cup Dijon mustard
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 ½ tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves(we did not have fresh so we used dry)

Heat butter in large skillet on med high heat. Cook chops on both sides about 5 to 7 minutes or till browned.
Mix remaining ingredients; add to skillet, simmer uncovered, until sauce is reduced to a glaze consistency and chops are tender about 5 to 8 min. Turn chops frequently.