Wine and Garlic Pork Chops

I'm always looking for new main courses that involve proteins other than chicken. Don't get me wrong, I love chicken, but sometimes I get a little bored with chicken, so it's great to have back up options ready. Robert isn't normally a big fan of pork chops, so I knew any recipe I tried with pork chops needed to really bring a punch.

Enter garlic and a bottle of syrah to the rescue! This recipe involves quite a bit of reducing liquids but don't skimp on the process, the pan sauce drizzled over the pork is well worth the effort. And don't forget the garlic! I know it may sound strange to eat whole garlic cloves with your meal, but these are so delicious you won't want to miss out. Between roasting in the olive oil and soaking in the wine reduction, these cloves are unlike anything you've ever tasted.

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Wine and Garlic Pork Chops


Ingredients
5-6 boneless pork chops with medium thickness
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
1 and 1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup beef broth
1 whole bay leaf
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
18 whole peeled garlic cloves
1 tablespoon additional butter

Instructions
Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over high heat.

 Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops and sear on both sides until golden about 2 minutes per side. You won't cook the chops all the way though at this time, they'll finish cooking later.

 After searing, remove the pork and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium high and throw in the garlic cloves, stirring around for a few minutes until nice and golden.

 Pour in the red wine and add the bay leaf. Stir and reduce until nice and thick.

 Stir in the beef broth and add the pork chops back to the skillet.

 Cook the chops for a few more minutes then stir in the balsamic. Continue cooking until the chops are done.

 When done, remove the chops to a plate and set aside. Add the last tablespoon of butter and reduce the liquid some more.

 Arrange the chops on a platter and pour the sauce over the chops to cover.

Enjoy with some healthy sides like salad or roasted cauliflower.

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Dr Pepper Pulled Pork

Last weekend Robert and I hosted some friends that we hadn't seen in a while for dinner. I wanted to cook dinner but also wanted to ensure that I chose a menu that wouldn't have me cooking all the way up to when it was time to sit and eat, like I usually do. So I settled on pulled pork cooked all day in the crock pot.

My mentor at worked had mentioned that he and his wife like to make their pulled pork with Dr Pepper and I was immediately intrigued. The last several times I made pulled pork, I used a boneless pork shoulder and this time I decided to try pork shoulder with the bone in. Both ways are delicious, but there definitely is a richness that the bone provides. Serve the pork on hawaiian bread rolls as sliders and this would be a great addition to a Super Bowl Party spread.

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Dr Pepper Pulled Pork


Ingredients
3 lb pork shoulder
pork spice rub
1 yellow onion, quartered
3-4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 mini cans or one normal can of Dr Pepper
Hamburger Buns

Instructions
Place the onion quarters and smashed garlic cloves in the bottom of the crock pot.

For the spice rub, I used McKormick's Grillmasters Pork Spice rub but feel free to use whatever rub or spice combo you think is best. Rub about 1-2 tablespoons all over the pork shoulder.

Heat a dry skillet over high heat and sear the pork shoulder on all sides.

After searing, place the pork in the crock pot on top of the onions and garlic.

Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the pork.

Pour in the Dr Pepper on top.

Stir up the contents then cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

After 8 hours is up, carefully remove the meat from the crock pot and shred with two forks discarding any fat and bone.

While the meat is out of the crock pot, blend the liquid, onions, and garlic using an immersion blender or by transferring to a blender and pureeing until smooth.

Put the shredded pork back in the crock pot with the liquid and let sit on "keep warm" for about an hour to soak up the juices.

When ready, serve on toasted buns with your favorite BBQ sauce and sides and enjoy.

Carnitas Tacos

I think it's safe to say by now that I am a huge taco fan. I think this is my fourth taco recipe in under a year on this blog. I tend to serve tacos when we have guests over for dinner because it's easy to allow everyone to customize their ingredients and really only the meat requires cooking, which makes it an easy fix and keeps me out of the kitchen.

Normally, this recipe would be made with pork shoulder or pork butt instead of the pork loin I used here. Unfortunately, the grocery store in Gunnison didn't carry either of the preferred cuts, so at the recommendation of the butcher I used the loin cut instead. One benefit of using the loin is that it's a leaner cut which means it's lighter.

The "margarita bath" of orange and lime juices with salt that the pork is braised in really comes through the meat in the tacos. Additionally, after braising the pork was juicy and tender and extremely flavorful, even without all the marbled fat that the preferred cuts would provide. I highly recommend this recipe for your next Tex Mex or taco night.

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Carnitas Tacos


Ingredients
2 lbs boneless pork loin (or pork shoulder or butt if you prefer)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
tortillas, and toppings for the tacos

Instructions
Cut the pork into 2 inch cube pieces and place in a large, heavy bottomed non-stick dutch oven or pot. (I didn't have one so I used a large enameled cast iron casserole skillet and it worked fine)

 Pour in the orange juice

 and lime juice over the pork.

 Using the flat side of your knife, crush the garlic cloves

 and place them among the pork cubes.

 Add the cumin

 and salt

 and top with enough water to barely cover the top of the meat.

 Bring it to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.

 Simmer the pork on low for two hours uncovered, not touching the meat at all. After two hours increase the heat to medium high.

 Continue to cook, turning occasionally until the liquid thickens then evaporates. Keep turning the meat to brown the edges until all the liquid is gone.

 Shred the pork in a good processor.

Serve with tortillas and all the fixins and enjoy.

 P.S. We had a lot left over and discovered that leftover carnitas are great on nachos and in breakfast tacos.

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Pork and Vegetable Stir Fry

Robert and I are at the tail end of a wonderful vacation in Ruidoso, New Mexico. As Suzie and I have mentioned, it's been a really hot summer in Dallas, nearly breaking the record for number of days with over 100 degree temperatures. When I was presented with the opportunity to take a short vacation between clients at work, Robert and I packed up our bags and headed to the mountains to my family's cabin.

We got in Saturday night and have enjoyed days full of golf, good food and family ever since. Robert is an avid golfer and has certainly enjoyed being able to play later in the morning than he has been forced to play during the Dallas heat wave. I'm still learning to play golf, and while it's still frustrating at times, I enjoy getting to participate in a game he enjoys.

 My grandparents spend most of the summer up here in Ruidoso, so we've also been able to spend time with them as well. Mimi, my grandmother, is an excellent cook and I spent many days in my childhood standing next to her in the kitchen while she crafted our family meals or baked cookies and other sweets. Last night, she prepared this wonderful pork stir fry and let me take pictures and help as we went along.

This dish is great for several reasons. To start, it's fairly simple and easy to put together, the most time consuming part is prepping the veggies. Second, it's quite healthy and also delicious. There aren't many Asian dishes in my cooking repertoire right now so I was excited to get to add a new one! I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did.

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Pork and Vegetable Stir Fry

Ingredients
1 package of boneless pork chops, cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
1 package of mushrooms sliced
1/2 a yellow onion, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1/2 cup sugar snap peas or snow peas
1 small can water chestnuts (optional)
1 12 ounce can bean sprouts
2-3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup low sodium beef broth, divided
cooked white rice

Instructions
Start by prepping the pork and vegetables.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. We used an electric skillet but a large skillet on the stove top would work as well.

Add the pork and cook for about 3 minutes, until almost cooked through.

Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1/4 cup of beef broth to the pork.

Add the onions and celery and saute for about 3 minutes.

Add the snap peas, broccoli and mushrooms and stir to combine.

Add the water chestnuts and bean sprouts.

Pour in the remaining soy sauce and beef broth and cover, cooking for about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Serve over rice and enjoy.