Pork & Sauerkraut

This is kind of a pork weekend, right? Brats on the grill. Maybe a little pulled pork action.

Speaking of brats. I'm sure you're totally annoyed with the Hillshire Farms commercials ("When I say Hillshire, you say Farms..."). But the one for "with the Miller High Life cooked in" brats got me going a little. I love Miller High Life, so they totally snagged me and duped me into buying them. We had them on Monday night topped with a mountain of sauerkraut. They were delicious, but I have no idea what maniac would be able to actually taste the Miller High Life. I couldn't even taste beer let alone the brand. Regardless, I recommend.

Back to the story here...If you're not planning on having some big cook out this weekend and are looking for a more refined way to satisfy your craving for dogs and kraut, try this out. We really like the flavors of this dish and felt especially German eating it. You could go all out and serve it with a side of potatoes, but this here dish isn't exactly healthy so we opted for some fresh green beans instead. By the way, it's a wonderful idea for all the leftover sauerkraut you end up having from just feeding two people dogs and kraut, because even a mountain of kraut on each dog doesn't use up even half the container. Another tip. If you don't have caraway seeds in the cupboard, I've seen cans of kraut that have caraway seeds in it. Saves you from having to buy the spice.

Have a lovely holiday weekend!



Pork & Sauerkraut
Adapted from The New York Times

2 slices thick bacon
2 pork chops (bone-in or boneless - I used boneless)
1 small onion, sliced
1 can of sauerkraut
1/2 tablespoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup beer
Coarse salt to taste

1. In a heavy skillet, fry the bacon until golden. Remove and drain on paper towels. Brown both sides of the chops in the bacon fat and add the onion. Saute onion for a few minutes until softened. Add the sauerkraut, the bacon, caraway seeds and pepper to the pan. Cover the chops well with the sauerkraut.

2. Add the beer, bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes, or until the pork chops are cooked.

3. Serve by stacking bacon on top of chops followed by a generous mound of kraut and onions.

Sausage & Lentil Casserole

My husband doesn't usually vocalize if he doesn't like something I make. Okay, who am I kidding, it's obvious when he doesn't like something because he just leaves it on the plate. Doesn't even try and squeeze it down for the sake of politeness. He'll pick at it, and just leave the rest for the birds. Yes that's right, he'd rather go hungry than eat something that doesn't suit his palate perfectly. And yes, sometimes it's insulting - especially when I'm my biggest critic and I find the meal outrageously delicious.

Like this casserole. I love it. Could eat it everyday. Jeff groans when I tell him it's what's for dinner. Groans. He claims it's the spinach. He doesn't like cooked spinach. Well okay, that's fair enough but the spinach in this casserole is so mild in flavor and texture I think it's all in his head. I'm certain it's all in head. What you taste most in this casserole is the spicy sausage and the sharp cheddar, all the other ingredients just take very important supporting roles. So if you are like my husband and would rather not eat at all then eat cooked spinach, okay, then this casserole may not be for you; however, even if spinach isn't your favorite (like me) but you won't go running for the hills at the mere sight of it (like me) and you just so happen to love sharp cheddar and spicy sausage (like me and everyone else) then I bet you'll like this casserole.

The only tricky thing about this casserole is finding the right ingredients. The ingredients on paper seem pretty straight forward, accessible, and easy. But then when you actually go out and try to find them, it gets a little tough. Please take my advice on a few things here. I've only found 2 brands that actually make a 19 ounce can of lentil soup. Progresso and Muir Glen Organics. I've used both and Muir Glen is much better than Progresso, but Progresso is cheaper and more widely available. Also, IQF spinach is key and also very hard to find. What you're looking for is going to be a bag of spinach that the spinach leaves were frozen separately in chunks. The boxed kind won't work here. I've made it with the boxed kind, having to cook it first then mix it in, and it turns out mushy and gross. I've found IQF spinach at Whole Foods. Haven't really looked too hard anywhere else. Leave a comment if you find another brand of soup or a store that carries IQF spinach.


Sausage & Lentil Casserole

16 ounces hot Italian-style sausage (I use Bob Evans zesty italian sausage)
1 small onion, chopped
1 19-ounce can lentil soup
2 cups individually quick-frozen (IQF) spinach
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup uncooked converted white rice (like Uncle Ben's)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 2- to 2 1/2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Remove casings from sausage and crumble with a fork. Add sausage and onion to large skillet; cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add soup, spinach and oregano; heat through. Add rice and season with pepper. Transfer to the prepared baking dish; cover with foil. Bake until rice is tender, about 35 minutes. Top with Cheddar and bake uncovered until the cheese is melted, a few minutes longer.

Adapted from Eating Well

Honey Pecan Pork Chops

It's annoying when I have no specific plans for the meat sitting in my fridge. It eats at me all day. What's worse is when I decide on some brilliant recipe, but only have half the ingredients and none of the motivation to go to the grocery store (I live across the street from a grocery store, but still, laziness happens). For this reason, I am in love with this recipe. I always have all the ingredients (yeah all 4) in my pantry, and this is a considerably tasty way to make pork chops and the presentation always turns out fancy, too. I can imagine children loving this recipe. It reminds me of the flavor of Chicken McNuggets dipped in honey which I believe I ate as a part of my Happy Meal once a week as a child. But don't let that comparison lower your expectations. You'll be using top of the line pork (right?) and not Grade D chicken "meat". That alone places this dish in a whole other league. Quality ingredients do more than half the work for you. Give 'em a try. Once you see how quick, easy, and delicious they are, I bet you'll make them again (and again, and again...).

Honey Pecan Pork Chops

10 ounces (2 medium) boneless pork loin trimmed and pounded thin (1/4 - 1/2 inch)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. chopped pecans

Salt and pepper both sides of pork loins generously. Add flour and more salt and pepper to a large ziplock bag. Place pork in bag and shake to coat evenly. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat watching carefully so it does not burn. Shake off excess flour from pork and add chops to the skillet. Brown both sides, turning once until the pork is cooked to your liking. Depending on how thick your pork is, this can be anywhere from 4-6 minutes per side. Transfer meat to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Remove pan from burner and lower burner heat to medium-low. Replace pan to heat and add honey and pecans to the pan drippings. Heat through and stir constantly as to not burn the honey. I always add the drippings from the plate the pork was transfered to as well. Spoon or pour the sauce over the cutlets, serve.

Asian Pork Stir Fry

Ugh. Rachel Ray. I love to hate you, and hate to love some of your recipes. I love this recipe. The sauce has great flavor, and I love it over the fresh fettuccine. The original recipe here, calls for quite a few different vegetables than the ones I routinely use. But that's what's so good about this recipe, you can really use whatever vegetables you want and it will taste just how you like it. You could even use chicken, though I've never done this. Even though there is a lot of prep involved, this makes a good weeknight dinner because it comes together so quickly once you start cooking. Enjoy and break out your chopsticks (if you have some).

Asian Pork Stir Fry

1 rounded tbsp. of sweet hot mustard
1/4 cup tamari soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 boneless center cut pork loin, 8 ounces each
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 package of fresh linguine or fettucine (next to ravioli & tortellini at grocery store)
1 generous handful of matchstick carrots
1 large red pepper thinly sliced
1 bunch broccoli cut into small florets
1 large or 2 small zucchini squashs cut in half lengthwise then sliced thinly
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (toast in dry fry pan over medium heat for a few minutes until golden and fragrant)

Put a large pot of water on to boil for pasta.

Place sweet hot mustard in a bowl. Whisk in Tamari sauce. Add stock and sesame oil to the broth and soy. Set aside.

Slice the pork chop very thinly against the grain.

When water for pasta boils, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high to high heat. To the skillet, add 2 tablespoons canola oil. Add crushed pepper flakes to the oil, then the thinly sliced pork. Season pork with salt and pepper. Cook pork untouched for 2 minutes to caramelize the meat, then turn and stir-fry. Add salt to pasta water, then add fresh pasta to boiling water. Add vegetables to the pan with the pork. Toss and stir-fry veggies with pork for 2 minutes. Cook pasta to al dente. Drain and add to the pork and veggies. Pour Tamari and broth mixture over the noodles and pork. Toss and allow the noodles to completely soak up the liquids, a minute or so. Remove from heat. Serve large bowls of noodles, pork and veggies with a garnish of toasted sesame seeds.