Lulu's Recipe Box

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches

TC is going to a school get together tomorrow and he needed a main dish to share with everyone. He asked me if we could make pulled pork and I said yes, as long as I could use this new recipe! I was able to taste test one sandwich today and it was delicious and so simple to make. It tasted pretty darn close to my favorite pulled pork sandwich at Flying Mango in Des Moines, IA. Since I only make it home to Iowa a few times a year, this recipe will definitely curb my cravings for Flying Mango.  I didn't make the coleslaw, but I definitely will next time. It would be so yummy on top of the pulled pork or on the side. Here's hoping TC brings home some leftovers tomorrow night. I want another sandwich! 

 

Serves 10

Ingredients for the Pulled Pork:

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

6 ounces tomato paste

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

2 T. yellow mustard

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. onion powder

3 pounds boneless pork sirloin roast, cut into 3 pieces

sandwich roll/hamburger buns

Ingredients For the Cole Slaw:

1 bag (14 oz) cole slaw mix

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 T. canola oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 T. Cider vinegar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. celery seed

1 tsp. onion powder

Directions:

Mix together the ketchup, cider vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, yellow mustard, salt, and onion powder in a crock pot. Add pork and turn pieces to coat with sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the pork is tender (it should be easy to shred). Once done, shred pork and return to the crock pot. Stir the pork into the sauce.

For the cole slaw, mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and let chill for 1-2 hours.

Put some pork on a bun and and top with cole slaw if you prefer.

*** Recipe from member mrswilliams on Tasty Kitchen

Pork Chops with Cinnamon Apples

There are some meals that just taste better during a certain season of the year and these pork chops with cinnamon apples are just the meal for Fall. It is a simple and healthy meal with tasty flavors. The pork chops are seasoned with dried rubbed sage and the apples are cooked in butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and lemon. Serve this with some buttered poppyseed noodes and you will have a filling meal!

Makes 4 servings/4 pork chops

Note: Cut the recipe in half for two pork chops.

Ingredients:

For the pork chops:

1 tsp. dried rubbed sage

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black peppper

4 (4 ounce) boneless center cut loin pork chops (1/2 inch thick)

1/2 tsp. vegetable oil

For the cinnamon apples:

1 tsp. butter

4 cups (1/2 inch) slices, peeled, granny smith apples (about 4 medium)

1 T brown sugar

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Dash of salt

Directions:

Combine first 3 ingredients, and sprinkle over the pork. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add pork; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove pork from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add apples and remaining ingredients. Cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequetly

Serve the apples and pork with buttered poppyseed noodles. I used egg noodles but you could use whatever noodles you'd like. Add 1 1/2 T butter, 2 tsp. black poppyseeds and a little salt and pepper.

 ***Recipe from my sister Sarah

Shrimp and Pork Fried Rice

I'm back into the blogging world! I have to admit, I have been horrible at cooking new things the past few months. Life has been crazy between wedding planning, traveling back to Iowa for wedding showers and my work load with teaching. Unfortunately things are not slowing down anytime soon, but I forced myself to try some new recipes! I'll have at least three new ones for you this week! My first recipe this week is my mom's fried rice. This was one of my favorites growing up. I don't think my mom ever missed cooking a homemade meal for me. Fried rice is an easy dish to make and you can sort of throw in whatever makes you happy! It makes for great leftovers too! 

 

 

Ingredients:

Cook 1 1/2 cups of long grain rice in 3 cups water

4 slices of bacon fried crisp, then broken into small pieces

3 eggs, beaten

3 T. oil

2 tsp. grated fresh ginger root/about 1/2 to 1 tsp. of ground ginger

8 oz. cooked pork, cut into thin strips (you can use a thin pork chop)

8 oz. cooked shrimp, coarsely chopped (you can use fresh or frozen)

8 green onions, finely chopped

1-2 T. soy sauce

Directions:

Pour half of the egg mixture into wok or large fry pan. Cook and slide out onto plate. Roll the egg up and slice. Repeat with the other half of the egg mixture. Stir fry ginger in oil for 1 minute. Stir in already cooked rice for several minutes. Stir in bacon, pork, shrimp, green onion, egg and soy sauce. 

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

 

 
We grill a lot of pork chops in this household but I was in need of a new way to prepare them. I bought the Best of America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated) 2009 magazine recently and this is the first recipe that I have tried. This pork chop is something different from your ordinary grilled pork chop. The homemade bread crumbs are crisp and flavorful and baking them keeps the pork chop juicy inside. Serve with some roasted rosemary red potatoes and green beans. A very healthy meal that's full of flavor!

Ingredients:
Serves 4.

Salt
4 (6-8 ounce) boneless, center-cut pork chops 3/4 - 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat
4 slices high-quality white sandwich bread, torn into 1 inch pieces
1 shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. vegetable oil
Pepper
2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. minced fresh thyme (you could probably use dry thyme instead)
2 T. minced fresh parsley (could use dry parsley)
1/4 c. plus 6 T. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 large egg whites
3 T. Dijon mustard
Lemon wedges for serving

Directions:

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350. Dissolve 1/4 c. salt in 1 quart water in a medium container or gallon-sized zipper lock bag. Submerge the chops, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Rinse the chops under cold water and dry with paper towels. (Could skip this brining step if using enhanced pork)

2. Pulse the bread in a food processor/blender until coarsely ground. Transfer the crumbs to a rimmed baking sheet and add the shallot, garlic, oil, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Toss the crumbs until evenly coated with the oil. Bake until golden brown and dry, about 15 min. stirring twice during baking time. Cool the bread crumbs to room temperature. Add the Parmesan, thyme and parsley to the baking sheet and toss with the bread crumbs.

3. Place 1/4 c. flour in a pie plate. In a second pie plate, whisk the egg whites and mustard until combined; add the remaining 6 T. flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining.

4. Increase the oven temp to 425. Spray a wire rack (one you would use to cool cookies on) with vegetable spray and place in a rimmed baking sheet. Season the chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in the flour; shake off the excess. Coat the chop with the egg mixture; let the excess drip off. Coat all sides of the chop with the bread-crumb mixture, pressing gently so the a thick layer of crumbs adheres to the chop. Transfer the breaded chop to the prepared wire rack. Repeat with remaining 4 chops.

5. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center reads 140 degrees, about 17-25 minutes.(The bottom of the chops were still a little soggy even with using the wire rack so next time I'm going to flip the chop about half-way through cooking time so that each side gets crisp.) Let rest on the rack until the chops register 150 degrees, about 5 min. Serve with lemon wedges.

In Good Company

One of our favorite things to do on the weekend is to have dinner with Sara and Tim and play their new Guitar Hero Rock Band. Rock Band is addicting and so fun! Sara always cooks wonderful meals for us at their house, but tonight it was our turn to host them. I cooked some of my favorite dishes that I think you will enjoy making too! They are very simple, tasty recipes!

Mandarin Salad

Ingredients:                                                                        Dressing ingredients:
1/2 c. sliced almonds                                                            1/2 tsp. salt
3 T. sugar                                                                            dash of pepper
1/2 head iceberg lettuce                                                       1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 head Romaine lettuce                                                     1 T. chopped parsley (can use a little dry)
2 whole green onions, chopped                                              2 T. sugar
11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained                                   2 T. vinegar

In a small heavy pan over medium heat, cook almonds and sugar, stirring constantly until almonds are coated and sugar dissolved. Watch very carefully as they will burn easily. Cool and store in container. Mix all dressing ingredients and chill. Mix lettuces and onion. Just before serving add almonds and oranges. Toss with dressing. Yields 4-6 servings.

Party Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 lb. bag hash browns, thawed (can use shredded or small cubes, I prefer cubes)
3/4 c. margarine (1/2 c. with potatoes, 1/4 c. with corn flakes)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 c. mild Cheddar cheese (shredded)
2 T. dry minced onion
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1 1/2 c. corn flakes

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan. Crush the cornflakes by hand. Melt 1/2 c. margarine and 1/4 c. margarine separately. Combine the 1/4 c. margarine with the crushed corn flakes. Combine the 1/2 c. margarine with the hash browns and all other ingredients except for the corn flake mixture. Top the potatoes with the corn flake mixture. Bake 1 hour or until hot and bubbly on top.

***For four people, I cut this recipe in half.

Mom's Pork Tenderloin
 

This recipe is for a 2 lb. pork tenderloin or approximately that. Would probably serve 6-8 people.

Cut a clove of garlic into two pieces and use to rub the meat.

Rub the pork tenderloin with the following mixture of spices:
2 tsp. ground sage
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. marjoram leaves

Tie the two strips of meat with cooking twine to keep the two pieces together. I just used some string that I had on hand and it worked fine. My mom grills this meat until the temperature reaches about 150 degrees. I had to improvise because we don't have a grill, so I browned it on all sides in a large frying pan with oil. Then I put it in a 350 degree oven and baked it until the temperature reaches around 150 or until it is not too pink. It was so tender and just as good as grilling it. Let sit 5 minutes before cutting.