I love the homey feel of a roast in the oven on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and knowing my effort will pay off with an excellent dinner and lovely leftovers. I am trying to stay away from red meat as much as I can (which is hard for me), so I thought a nice pork roast would be a good substitute.

One thing I have learned so far is that you are far better off brining any kind of pork, it helps to flavor and also keep the meat moist. With pork being so lean, it really helps.

I served it with Crash Hot Potatoes, the recipe I borrowed from here. My potatoes sure did not turn out as beautifully as Pam’s.

Brine pork in a large container or Ziploc bag
1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup of sugar, handful of peppercorns

Pour your salt, sugar and peppercorns into your container, fill up half way with really hot water, and mix until the salt and sugar is melted, then add several cups of ice cubes, continue to stir until they are melted and the brine is cold

Add your pork roast and put in the fridge for an hour up to 8 hours. When ready to cook remove pork from brine and pat dry

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (2-3 pound) boneless center cut pork loin, trimmed and tied
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, thickly sliced
2 carrots, thickly sliced
2 stalks celery, thickly, sliced
3 cloves garlic, smashed
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
2 apples, such as Cortland or Rome peeled, cored and cut into 8 slices

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large ovenproof skillet heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Season the pork loin all over generously with salt and pepper. Sear the meat until golden brown on all sides, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to a plate and set it aside.

Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, herb sprigs, and 2 tablespoons of the butter to the skillet. Stir until the vegetables are browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in the sliced apples, then push the mixture to the sides and set the pork loin in the middle of the skillet along with any collected juices on the plate.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the loin until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 140 to 150 degrees F, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Transfer the pork a cutting board and cover it loosely with foil while you make the sauce. It may be slightly pink inside.

Arrange the apples and vegetables on a serving platter and set aside (the only thing worth eating was the carrots). Remove and discard the herb sprigs.

Return the skillet to a high heat and add the vinegar scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen up any browned bits. Reduce by half then add the cider and reduce by about half again. Pull the skillet from the heat and whisk in the mustard, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of cold butter. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Remove the strings from the roast and slice into 1/2-inch thick pieces and arrange over the apple mixture. Drizzle some sauce over meat and serve the rest on the side.

I was lazily watching the Barefoot Contessa awhile back and saw her make Cheese Danish’s. I dreamt of the yummy ones they sell at Costco, and since I had everything on hand to make some, I decided to try it.

It is quite easy and pretty tasty, I added strawberries to the mix and made a few changes based on other peoples input from the Food Network Website. I have to say they aren’t that pretty to look at, but they sure are delicious!

The most important this is to refrigerate the filling for about an hour before assembling the pastry.

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese (I used fat free sour cream)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons, I used one)
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
10 large Strawberries, rinsed, and diced small

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

Use a silpat or grease your non stick sheet pan

Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta or sour cream, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don’t whip!

Mix in the strawberries and place in the refrigerator

Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it’s a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares.

Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash.

Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

I thought I would share what my wonderful hubby gave me for Valentines Day! The anniversary band which matches the ring he have me for our 25th Anniversary! My right hand rings!

I am pretty sure I have the best hubby in the world, at least for me!

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day!

One of my friends gave me this recipe years ago, I made it once, loved it, and forgot about it and how good it was. I tried to find the recipe again recently, and it seems I had lost it in the intervening years. It is so delicious and I really wanted to try it again so I searched the web and found a few different versions and of course had to tweak it for my preferences.

It turned out even better than I remembered! The pork is so moist and the sauce is a bit on the sweet side with a bit of tang from the Dijon and Hot Sauce, YUM!

3-4 lbs Pork Butt (I used a leaner choice)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh cracked pepper

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced thickly

2 cups Root Beer (not diet and I used A&W)

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tbl honey

1/2 tsp root beer extract (if you have it, I did not)

3 cups Root Beer (not diet)

1 bottle Chili Sauce (I used Heinz)

1-2 tsp hot sauce (I used Tabasco)

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tbl Dijon Mustard

Remove pork roast from the packaging and pat dry (this helps with the browning)

In a large skillet brown roast on all sides in the 2 tbl vegetable oil, the pan will need to be screaming hot

In the meantime, place the sliced onions in the bottom of your crock pot, add the garlic

Add the roast and pour enough Root Beer to almost cover the top of your pot roast

Cook on low for 7-8 hours, turning the roast about half way thru, when done pour off almost all the cooking juice reserving about 1 cup

Shred the meat with two forks and serve with the Root Beer Sauce

In a medium saucepan combine the 3 cups Root Beer, Chili Sauce, Garlic, Hot Sauce, Dijon Mustard and 1 cup of reserved cooking juice from the crock pot (if your roast is still cooking simply a cup worth out of the crock pot), simmer on low for an hour until the sauce reduces by half. Keep tasting and add more hot sauce and Dijon to your liking

Serve on Hamburger buns with whatever condiments you wish

I would have to say Chocolate Chip cookies are my favorite, especially with a cold glass of milk! Nestle Toll House Cookies are the ones I always make!

I was in the mood for cookies one rainy day and decided to make Chocolate Chip cookies with Pecans. They were delish I must say, I have always made them with Walnuts, but change can be a good thing and in this case it was!

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (I used extra)
1 cup chopped Pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Stir in morsels and nuts.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

I saw this recipe on my buddy, Paula’s blog some time ago, and immeditately started bugging my husband to make it for me, he was happy to oblige! Her recipe was way too healthy, and he wanted it fried, so he found the recipe below and adapted it a bit, you actually fry the pork twice which makes it extra crispy.

This is better than anything you will get at a restaurant, I guarantee it!

3/4 pound pork tenderloin
2 - 3 teaspoons soy sauce
Pinch of cornstarch

Sauce:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water or reserved pineapple juice
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 4 tablespoons water

Batter:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 cup warm water, as needed

Other:
1 carrot
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
3 cups oil for deep-frying, or as needed

Preparation: Directions for sweet and sour pork.

Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes. Marinate in the soy sauce and cornstarch for 20 minutes.

To prepare the sauce, in a small bowl, combine the sugar, ketchup, dark soy sauce, salt, water or juice and vinegar. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water. Set aside.

Peel the carrot and chop on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces. Cut the bell peppers in half, remove the seeds and cut into cubes.

Heat the oil for deep–frying to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the batter, combine the flour and cornstarch. Stir in the egg white and vegetable oil. Add as much of the warm water as is needed to form a thick batter that is neither too dry or too moist. (The batter should not be runny, but should drop off the back of a spoon).

Dip the marinated pork cubes in the batter. Deep-fry in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the wok. Deep-fry the pork until it is golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.(If desired you can deep-fry the pork at second time to make it extra crispy) (Make sure the oil is back up to 375 before you begin deep-frying again).

To prepare the sweet and sour sauce, bring the sauce ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrot, green pepper, and pineapple. Bring to a boil again and thicken with cornstarch mixture, stirring.

Check the sauce one more time and adjust seasonings, adding salt and/or vinegar if desired.

Serve sauce hot over the pork and rice.