Pork Tostadas (as seen on America's Test Kitchen)

(photo courtesy of America's Test Kitchen)

These slightly spicy pork tostadas were AMAZING! They are not hard to make, they just take some time. We also made our tostadas the way they describe in the recipe (fried in oil) but I suppose if you're looking for a healthier alternative you could brush the tortillas with EVOO and bake them until crispy. (But for the record they won't be the same... so go ahead... just this once and indulge in a crispy fried tortilla!! :-)

I was just reading on America's Test Kitchen's website that the video of how to make these should be available in a few weeks. Click on this link, it will take you to the web page, check there to see if the video has been posted. After watching it you'll see how easy these are to make!!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless pork butt, (I used a pork shoulder and it turned out just fine) trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 medium onions , 1 quartered and 1 chopped fine
• 5 medium garlic cloves , 3 peeled and smashed and 2 minced or pressed through garlic press
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• S&P
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1(14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (use only a 1/2 a tsp. if you don't want the pork to be too spicy)
• 2 bay leaves

Directions

1. Cut up your pork in 1-inch pieces and trim it of most the excess fat. Don't trim all the fat off as it will keep the pork tender as it cooks. 
2. Bring pork, quartered onion, smashed garlic cloves, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 6 cups water to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and cook until pork is tender, 75 to 90 minutes. 
3. Drain pork mixture, through a colander, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid or the stock. Discard the onion, garlic, and thyme. 
4. Return pork to saucepan and, using potato masher, mash until shredded into rough ½-inch pieces, set aside.
5. Heat the EVOO in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add shredded pork, chopped onion, and oregano; cook, stirring often, until pork is well browned and crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. 
6. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
7. Stir in tomato sauce, cayenne pepper, reserved pork cooking liquid, and bay leaves; simmer until almost all liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make the tostadas:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 inch corn tortillas
• Salt

Directions:

1. Heat vegetable oil in small skillet over medium heat (if you have a thermometer heat it to 350 degrees).
2. Using fork, poke center of each tortilla 3 or 4 times (to prevent puffing and allow for even cooking). Fry 1 at a time, holding metal potato masher in upright position on top of tortilla to keep it submerged (see photo below), until crisp and lightly browned, 45 to 60 seconds (no flipping is necessary). 
3. Drain on paper towel-lined plate and season with salt to taste. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Serve your tostadas with the pork and your favorite garnishes. Here are a few suggestions, avocado, cilantro, lettuce, tomato, queso fresco or your favorite cheese.

Panang Curry Recipe

Serves 1 (I usually make double)
1 Tbl Panang Curry Paste (I use the Mae Ploy Panang Curry Paste)
1 cup coconut milk
1 Tbl sugar
2 Tbl fish sauce (even though this smells terrible you CAN'T leave it out!)
peanuts (optional)
Meat of choice (I have had it with salmon, pork and chicken)
Veggies of choice (according to the man at Uwajimaya you HAVE to have potatoes, but I have put in zucchini, broccoli or cauliflower, red peppers, onions and carrots)

Heat dry wok over medium heat, add curry paste and stir into pan until fragrant

Add meat and veggies and 1/4 cup coconut milk and stir until meat is cooked

Once meat is cooked add remaining coconut milk

In a separate dish mix sugar, fish sauce and peanuts and add to the mixture.

Stir until thick and serve over rice.

This recipe is compliments of a friend from school. It is very easy and delicious! It can be a bit spicy, but if you can handle the heat... it's a keeper!

Bree's meatballs

**  You can ask your butcher or usually find a "meatloaf" or "meatball" mix at your local grocery store **

1/2 lb. ground veal
1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg - lightly beaten
1 small-medium sized sweet onion, finely diced
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I try and get a blend of asiago, pecorino romano, and parmesan)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 and 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 and 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 and 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if you like it hot-hot-hot!)  :)
Favorite jar of marinara or my favorite Trader Joe's Organic Vodka Sauce!  :)

1. Turn crockpot on medium heat (depending on how much time you want meatballs to simmer - low heat if you want them to simmer all day!)  :)
2. Pour favorite sauce in crockpot - set aside
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees & spray a jelly roll cookie sheet with an Olive Oil spray (my fav is from Trader Joe's) - set aside
4. Beat your egg (I do this by hand with a fork) with all your herbs, finely diced onion, S&P, and cheese until well combined
5. Using your hands, thoroughly combine the meat with the egg mixture being careful to NOT over mix (this will result in a tough meatball) - set aside
6. Using a cookie dough or small ice cream scoop (I use the 2Tbsp. Pamper Chef scoop) scoop out meatballs & roll them with your hands to make them round & place them on your prepared cookie sheet (You should make between 48 and 56 meatballs depending on how much meat your started with)
7. Bake meatballs in your preheated oven for 20 minutes
8. Place your meatballs in your sauce that is in your crockpot.  Let simmer at least 2 hours before serving!
9. Serve with pasta or make meatball sandwiches with provolone cheese & hoagie rolls!  YUMMO! :)

Pork Tenderloin with Pesto, Provolone, and Pancetta

2 pork tenderloins
pesto
6 slices of provolone cheese
10-12 slices pancetta


1. Slit tenderloins lengthwise, creating a generous size pocket
2. Smear a generous amount of pesto in pocket, and then place half-slices of cheese on top, & push down into pocket
3. Lay pancetta along the length of tenderloin and pull pocket closed, tying in several places with cotton twine to hold together
4. Place in baking dish and bake 25 min. @ 400 degrees; Check with meat thermometer before removing from oven

(I cooked 3 tenderloins in same dish and it too approx. 40 min.

BBQ Bone-In Pork Chops

I made these in my cast iron grill pan, but I'm sure you could make them in a regular skillet. This recipe is just the rub for the pork chops, it calls for quite a few spices. I didn't have all the spices but I found that Whole Foods Market has a bulk spice section where I could get just the amount of paprika, or dry mustard that I would need. This was a much more cost effective way to make this recipe!

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp. all spice
• 1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (or I used a few cracks of my black pepper)
• 4 bone-in center-cut pork chops (I used bone-in pork chops but if you don't want to purchase bone-in this rub would work just fine with boneless.)

Directions:

1. Combine the first 9 ingredients; rub over both sides of pork and let them sit (in the refrigerator) for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat your grill pan or skillet over MEDIUM-high heat. Coat pan with olive oil, add pork and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 8-10 minutes more or until done, turning occasionally. Remove from pan and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
3. Serve with potatoes and your favorite vegetable.

Roast Pork & Pears with Mustard/Honey Glaze

1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. each of pepper & nutmeg
2 pork tenderloins, about 1 lb. each
1 Tbs. olive oil
3 ripe bosc pears, cut into wedges & sprinkled with 1 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. Dijon mustard
1/4 c. honey

1. Mix first 5 ingredients and rub all over pork; Mix pears with sugar & lemon juice; Pour oil into 9X13 pan, preheat in oven for 5 min. @ 375 degrees and then add pork & pears; Roast 25 min.
2. Stir together mustard, honey, & 1 tsp. additional paprika; Use 1/2 for basting and 1/2 for serving
3. After 25 min., baste roast & cook additional 5 min. or until cooked through but still juicy
4. Let stand for 5 min., then slice & serve with honey mustard mixture

5. substitute apples for pears or mix the fruit...Yum

Makes 6 servings

Shredded Pork Tacos

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 1 large onion, chopped 
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbl. tomato paste
• a 2 lb (about) pork shoulder
• 1  28oz. can chopped tomatoes
• 1 large chipotle chile in adobo sauce (from a can) minced
• 8-12 corn tortillas
• shredded cheddar or jack cheese
• 1 c. fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

1. In your crock pot toss onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, tomato paste, can of chopped tomatoes, chipotle chili. Mix together.  Add pork shoulder and turn in mixture to coat evenly.  Place bay leaves on top, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
2. Uncover after 8-10 hours and discard bay leaves.  Using tongs transfer meat to a large bowl and shred with two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat.  Return meat to crock pot and mix with sauce. 
3. Spoon pork and onions into tortillas with a slotted spoon.  Top with cheese, cilantro, and Crunchy Slaw.  (See recipe below)

Crunchy Slaw

• 1/3 c. mayo
• 1 1/2 tbl white wine vinegar
• 3 tbl. lime juice
• 1 tbl. sugar
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 a Bag of Coleslaw Mix

1. Whisk together mayo, white wine vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, and pepper.
2. Pour over coleslaw mix, toss.
3. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve (up to 8 hours)

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Acorn Squash

I'm sticking with my challenge to make every recipe I have cut out of magazines before I have any repeats.  I haven't posted in a while because I had a few "misses"... namely, chicken cheese steak sandwiches that were very bland, a spaghetti frittata (an Italian omelet) that was so heavy Ben and I were sick afterwards, and an attempted spaghetti sauce that turned out to be just O.K. (not worth posting)

This Roast Pork Tenderloin ended the streak of bad dinners.  The pork was so tender and smelled delicious while it was roasting in the oven.  My only complaint with the recipe is I wasn't impressed with the acorn squash.  It was a little bitter and dry, maybe I didn't cook it long enough?  If any of you Dinner-Belles out there have suggestions on: 

1. How to select a squash at the grocery store.
2. Your favorite kind of squash.
3. How long to cook a squash and what texture it should be when it's done.

I'd welcome them.  I rarely make squash so I know one the reason why I didn't like the acorn squash in the this recipe very well could be how I selected/prepared it.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 1 acorn squash (2 pounds)
  
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
  
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
  
• 2 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each)
  
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
  
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce (found in the Asian food's section at the grocery store)
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cut and spoon out the seeds inside your squash.
   
2. Scatter squash and garlic in a large roasting pan. Mix rosemary, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; rub into pork. Place in pan with vegetables; drizzle with oil.
   
3. Roast 25 minutes. Brush pork with hoisin. Continue roasting, about 15 minutes, until pork reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees.
   
4. Let meat stand 5 minutes before slicing.
5. Serve with the acorn squash and whole cloves of garlic.