Balsamic Honey Reduction and Pork Medallions

Last Sunday I was in the mood for something a little different for dinner.  I'm not sure why but my family doesn't eat a whole lot of pork on any regular basis.  When we do, it's either BBQ'd or bacon.  I love bacon.  We have a freezer with a variety of pork and I pulled 4 pork chops out of the freezer and cubed into about 2 inch pieces.  You could use a pork loin or pork fillets instead of the pork chops.  Mix it up....whatever you like.

The recipe follows

Here's the link to the salad.

First let's make the reduction

• 1 Shallot - Minced
• 3 cloves of Minced Garlic ( I use the minced garlic in the jar...)
• 1 Cup of Balsamic Vinegar
• 3 Tsp of Honey
• 2 Tsp of Dijon Mustard
• 1 T of Sugar

In a Medium Saucepan heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil and over medium high heat soften the shallot and garlic.  After 2-3 minutes add the remaining ingredients and reduce heat and simmer the mixture until it has reduced by half.   Set aside for use with the pork medallions.

Season the Pork Medallions with Salt and Pepper.

In a large pan over medium high heat add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  When the pan is hot add the pork medallions and fry for about 2-3 minutes.  Proceed to add the reduction and finish cooking the pork medallions in the reduction until the internal temperature reaches 160.

Lettuce Salad with Red Quinoa, Almonds, and Apple

I think this picture says it all.  This is a great salad to impress anyone and tastes delicious.  Super easy to make and very healthy.  An added benefit is the quinoa!

Here goes.

Take 1/4 cup or so of red quinoa and add to boiling water for about 10 minutes.  When done rinse and spread on a baking sheet to cool.  I put paper towels in the bottom of my strainer and poured the quinoa into that and squeezed out excess water before transferring to a pan to cool

The dressing:

• 1/4 cu of olive oil
• 3-4 tsp of apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp of honey
• Add some salt and pepper to taste.  
• Whisk away!

The Salad:

• Pick your favorite package of mixed lettuce.  For this I used the herb blend at the store but I'm sure any of your favorite lettuce will do.
• Core and slice a Granny Smith apple fairly thin.
• Add some Sliced Almonds  Approximately 1/4 Cup.
• Add the Red Quinoa.

In a large bowl add the above ingredients and coat the salad with the dressing.

Voila!  You are ready to go.  Enjoy!

Salami and Fontina Cheese Panini

Hello World!

My favorite christmas gift this year was a Panini maker from my wonderful wife Emily.   I have only just begun to explore the yummy sandwich options available.  I thought about purchasing a panini recipe cookbook (although that might make a great gift for a later time) but instead I have just looked around the internet for a few ideas and come up with some of my own.

She searched all over and ended up at a cooking store and the friendly customer service lady directed Emily to a Breville BGR200XL Panini Maker.  Here's the link.  I have only used it a handful of times so far but it works great.  It's easy to clean, does a nice sear, and has a locking handle.  


Salami and Fontina Cheese Panini Recipe

So here's my recipe.

We don't have a lot of options available for fancy bread on our area so I used an Italian Loaf.

• Italian loaf
• Salami (6 slices per sandwich)
• Fontina Cheese ( 3 slices per sandwich)
• Roasted Sweet Red Pepper (the kind that comes in the Jar) I cut into slices for the sandwich
• 1 Yellow Onion ( I sliced the onion and caramelized it on the Panini maker with some Olive Oil)
• Spinach Leaves
• Coarse Grain Mustard (here's a link to my favorite)

I started by caramelizing the onions on the panini maker.  While the onions were caramelizing I started to build the sandwich.  I put a fairly liberal spread of the mustard on one slice of bread and then added 6 slices of salami, spinach, three slices of Fontina Cheese.  I topped this with the roasted red peppers and caramelized onions and then the top bread.  I poured a little olive oil on the top of the bread and then proceeded to place the side of the sandwich with the olive oil on the bottom of the panini maker so I could pour some more on the other side of the sandwich.

A few minutes later you have the sandwich you see here.  I apologize for the picture... I took it with my cell phone and apparently didn't have it focused correctly. Hopefully you get the idea.  This meal was served for dinner and my three girls 13,11, and 9 ate it up and loved it.

Enjoy!

Prime Rib and Burgundy Mushrooms

My new go to meal for the holiday's comes direct from "The Pioneer Woman"  Aka Ree Drummond on the Food Network. Yum, Yum, Yum

Food Network has changed their Sunday Morning lineup and I really like the food that Ree cooks  and so I pay attention to her show more than several of the other shows.  Her latest creation is Prime Rib and Burgundy Mushrooms.  We made this for our Family Christmas Dinner and it did not disappoint.  The prime rib turned out very delicious and the crust was amazing but the surprise of the night was the burgundy mushrooms.  Everyone raved about how good they were and to be honest, they were fantastic.  Ree says to cook for 9 hours and although I thought it would be too long, they turned out perfect!

One of the things I like about this recipe is that it involves very little kitchen time while company is around.  The mushrooms are ready to go whenever and all you have to do is slice the prime rib.  Throw in a few salads and some crock pot cheesy potatoes and you are ready to go!

I didn't follow the exact instructions on how Ree cooks her prime rib.  There are a million different ways to cook a piece of meat, but I think when you are cooking one of the most expensive cuts of meat, you should do everything you can to maximize the flavor and minimize over cooking.  Here's a great article that summarizes why you should cook low and slow and then hot at the end.  I agree with it 100% and so I modified my cooking procedures.  This also ensures you don't overcook the meat. 

I cooked my prime rib in the oven at 200 degrees F and did not sear it before hand.   The roast was 12.6 lbs and it took about 5.5 hours to reach 120 degrees.  I then pulled it out and let it rest and tented with aluminum foil.  About 30 minutes before dinner I put it back in the oven at 550 degrees and let it sear and reach an internal temperature of 132.  Please note that when you go to sear the meat during the last 20 minutes the stove will get smokey.  I wouldn't recommend opening your stove door a lot.

Another thing, if you want great au jus, after slicing your roast add some water, beef bouillon, red wine to the bottom of the pan.  Put this back on your stove and scrape those delicious bits off the bottom.  For me, I think I used 2 beef bouillon cubes, 1 cup of water, and half a bottle of wine.    I think the au jus is more about finding the right flavor than following a specific recipe.  I kept adjusting the above ingredients tell I thought it tasted good.  Don't be chincy on the wine though, good au jus comes from good wine.

BBQ Pork Salad

So we have established that I like to grill and use my smoker as much as possible.  As much as I want to have only a meat and potatoes diet, we also need to eat healthy right?  Here's a quick idea if you have leftover bbq pork...which you probably will.  If you didn't catch it here's the link to last weeks smoking.

I made this at work on Monday.  The great thing about smoking meat is there is always a bunch left, so I brought extra for my co-workers.  It was delicious.

What did I use?  The recipe is super easy.

Spinach, cherry tomatoes, avocado, some shredded carrots, a can of mandarin oranges and some sweet vidalia onion dressing.  There is always extra servings from the can of mandarin oranges and avocado so it's a great idea to share with some co-workers or friends!  Plus they'll thank you for it!

There's always left over spinach and vegetables for the next day's lunch!  Enjoy!

Sweet Pork Sandwiches with Tangy Coleslaw and Homemade BBQ Sauce

It's been a while since I blogged about BBQ pulled pork sandwiches.  Mostly this is becuase of my lack of picture taking throughout the process.  So, I'm trying to work on that.

Today I wanted to go for something a little more sweeter than the list time I blogged about pork.  I'm the only person in the house that really likes spicy food and I have tendency to overdo the spicy rub so today, no spicy.  :(

It seems to me BBQ is always about following someones recipe.  Do a google search and the recipes are endless.   There are so many different ways to BBQ and today, I felt like cleaning about the cupboards a little and kind of doing my own thing.  I have no idea the exact measurements but the family raved how good it was.....so I must be on the right track.  I have listed below what I think the approximate measurements are.

The Rub

• 1/2 a bottle of Tri-R-Seasoning.
• 1 Cup of Brown Sugar
• 2T of Kosher Salt
• 2T Black Pepper
• 2T Celery Salt
• 2T Spanish Paprika
• 2T Garlic Salt
• 1T Ground Mustard
• 1T Sugar
• 1/2 T Ground Cumin

I added some of this rub to the apple juice and injected the pork butt.  I also reserved about a 1/4 c to sprinkle on the meat after it had been chopped and to add some to the bbq sauce.

The Slaw

Tangy Coleslaw Recipe -

• 1/3 C cider vinegar
• 1/3 C Canola Oil
• 1/3 C Sugar
• 1.5 t celery seed
• 1 T Kosher Salt
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1/2 head of cabbage thinly sliced
• 2 C shredded carrots
• 2 C thinly sliced yellow onion
• 1 C thinly sliced red pepper

Directions:  Cut, Mix, Eat

The Sauce

• 2 C Ketchup
• 1 1/2 C Brown Sugar
• 3/4 C Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 C Water
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion - Diced
• 2T Worcestershire Sauce
• 3-4 Cloves of Garlic minced up. 
• 1T ground Mustard
• 2T of Yellow Mustard
• 1 T of the seasoning mentioned above.
• 2-3 T of spicy brown mustard

After you get this boiling on the stove, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 1 hour and then run through a strainer to have a smooth sweet tasting slightly tangy BBQ sauce.  

 

I went ahead and put this on the smoker in -1 degree weather!   Brrrrr

In order to help the meat along, I used the Texas Crutch.

I chopped up the meat this time instead of pulling it...It's up to you either way.

The finished product!

Want to know what to do with the leftovers?  Tomorrow I'll be making a BBQ salad for lunch!

Shrimp Tacos

It's Sunday March 2 and today I'm planning multiple meals for the week.  It's -1 outside so I guess there isn't much else to do, right? 

Today's Lunch - Shrimp Tacos with Tangy Coleslaw.  I'm also bbq'ing a pork butt (which we'll need the slaw for the sandwiches) and some ring sausage and chicken for the jumbalaya we'll have later this week. 

Shrimp tacos are the easiest thing to make, and so yummy.  A few frozen shrimp, some old bay or creole seasoning, and some chipotle mayo and you have yourself a healthy and nutritious lunch.  Oh, don't forget to take the tails off the shrimp.

The upside is our kids love them too.  They love anything with shrimp, I would leave off the chipotle mayo though, that might be a little on the spicy side for the children.

Here's the coleslaw recipe.

Tangy Coleslaw Recipe - This is courtesy of my Weber's Smoke cookbook.

• 1/3 C cider vinegar
• 1/3 C Canola Oil
• 1/3 C Sugar
• 1.5 t celery seed
• 1 T Kosher Salt
• 1/2 t black pepper

• 1/2 head of cabbage thinly sliced
• 1 cucumber cut into thin half moons
• 2 C shredded carrots
• 2 C thinly sliced yellow onion
• 1 C thinly sliced red pepper
• 1 C thinly sliced green pepper

Directions:  Cut, Mix, Eat

You can also check out my page for pork and slaw sandwiches.