Words (Almost) Fail Me

Again, not what I had planned to make today but when I was talking to my most excellent butcher at Pal's, I noticed these little crown rack pork roasts. Basically, it was a crown roast, quartered. It even came with little paper hats for the ends of the ribs! (For lack of tape, I was not able to take a picture of the roast with the little paper hats *sad music*).

Okay, I let it rest until it lost the chill from the fridge then I seared it really well with a mix of butter and olive oil. I threw it into my little baking dish because it was just the right size and covered it with... Dijon Tarragon Dip! Yep, I made it a couple of days ago just for dip but figured that it would probably work as a pseudo rub. I slathered the stuff all over the top and sides of the roast, inserted the thermometer and stuck it in a 325 F oven.

As good as that church Pageant dinner was last year, I did overcook that roast a bit. I was on the thermometer this time like a bloody hawk and as soon as it hit 160 F I pulled it out and tented it with aluminum foil until it reached 170 F.

I made mashed potatoes with cream and butter (left over from baking) and cooked some carrots in the steamer above the potatoes. Meag made a Honey/Lemon Dilly Sauce for the carrots (I think we all know that one) and the meal was on.

It was a really generous cut of meat after I sliced it into four chops. The potatoes were pretty close to lump free and the carrots were a nice bit of tangy in the middle of all of the savoury goodness.

There's one chop left (we had a guest for dinner) and I think I might have to wrestle Meag for it.

I'm going to be writing another post about the potatoes. It really deserves a post of its own.

Scalloped Sweet Potatoes & Apples with Pork Chops

Okay, this one came from a book that Erin got from the library (I think). I was really looking forward to this and the smell certainly made it worthwhile. It smelled so amazing and I was so hungry by the time that it was ready. I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed, I thought the chops seemed a little dry even though the sauce was too thin and it seemed like the sweet potatoes were kind of floating in a broth (a tasty broth though). I was ready to say that I wouldn't make it again and then I started copying the recipe into the post and realized that I had forgotten to add the flour (cue the sad horn - mwa mwa mwaaaaaaaa). So I will have to revise my opinion and say that I will probably try it again just to make sure (but on a day when I've had lunch because baking sweet potatoes with brown sugar and nutmeg is just more than one woman can take on an empty stomach).

1 T oil
4 pork chops (I used the thick boneless ones)
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 large apples, peeled and sliced
2 large onions, sliced
1/4 c melted butter
1 T brown sugar
1/4 c flour
1 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg (I unintentionally used much more)
1/4 t fresh ground pepper (I also used more pepper)
12 oz beer

Brown the chops evenly on both sides. Layer sweet potatoes, apples and onions alternately into a shallow, greased casserole dish (I used my pyrex 8x8 square dish). Sprinkle them with half of the butter and the brown sugar and place the chops on top of the vegetables. Mix the spices and flour with the rest of the butter and the beer in a saucepan. Bring sauce to a boil and pour over the pork chops. Cover with foil (or a lid if your casserole dish has one) and cook at 350F for 1 1/2 hours (no, that's not a typo). Take the foil off and cook for another 30 minutes.

Okay, what would I change the next time. I'D ADD FLOUR!!!!!

ground pork meatballs

So, I have some ground pork, and think, "Hmmm, swedish type meatballs!" and so, go to the 'zaar. "ground pork" did not register as an ingredient, just sent me to all pork recipes. I have a recipe, but not all the ingredients. ;-( . The following is the solution to my predicament!

*** ~ = around - I was just throwing stuff together without measuring

1 lb ground pork
1 egg
~1/4 c bread crumbs
~1/4 c milk
2 tsp VE 3 onion dip mix
1/8 tsp allspice (or more if you like)
~1/2 tsp salt
~1/2 - 3/4 tsp black pepper
a few scrapes of fresh nutmeg probably 1/8 tsp of ground

I am cooking them right now and they smell amazing!

I put all that stuff into my stand mixer with the dough hook and let it do its thing on low. then used my handy icecream scoop/meatball scoop/cookie dough scoop and made meat balls and put them on my broil pan (lined with foil and with a wee bit of water in) and put them under the hi broil in the oven on the lowest rack. Cookem' til they're done. Fantastic!

Then, I moved the meatballs to the slowcooker, and turned it on so when I added the sauce, the crock was hot already.