Sweet and Hot Slow Cooked Spanish Pork

We've made it to another Freezer Friday! Hooray! It's not just any Friday, mind you, but Labor Day weekend Friday! It's going to be a really nice four days to get together with family and friends. I may just relax and snooze. Tonight is "girl's night out"...and I'm going to leave dinner with the kids and a sitter. So, I thought I'd share one of my favorite freezer meals that also doubles as an amazing meal to serve to guests, neighbors, friends...or the babysitter. Good news, it's also gluten free and dairy free (if you don't top it with sour cream).

Sweet and hot is a weird combination. It's like a gorgeous drop-dead-to-look-at mom who can also bake brownies. Hmm. I'm not going to point fingers at anyone in particular. My mom says I totally fit that description. To the rest of you, you know who you are. I'm just saying, it's a hard balance to keep. Apply the sweet and hot combination to a dinner that can also double as a freezer meal for just about any Mexican filled entree...and you will be ready to cry tears of joy. Then and only then will you understand what it feels like to truly achieve dinner zen. Ohhhmmm. You love me already...Ohhmmmm. You can't wait to try this.

I've been goofing around with this recipe for quite a while. I hope when you have it, you will experience all the combined wisdom several different recipes. Call me crazy. What I wanted was a recipe that had fairly few ingredients, without using a jar or packaged item of to "count" as an ingredient. I also wanted the meal to be satisfying. I wanted them to love it! So much love...that I would hear a lot of general moans of adoration for my skills as a chef. I'm selfish that way. I like praise. Doesn't everyone?

Tess' Sweet and Hot Slow Cooked Spanish Pork

3 lb boneless pork carnitias (or a boneless pork loin, cut into cubes)

2 tsp dry ancho chile,

2 tsp dry Mexican oregano

1 tsp whole cumin,

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup lime juice plus zest of one lime

1/2 cup Homemade sundried tomatoes or store purchased sun dried tomato julienne

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

salsa and sour cream (optional)

Directions: In a spice mill, combine the ancho chile,

oregano,

and cumin seed.

Grind until a fine powder is achieved.

Spread the spice mixture over the carnitas (pork). Drizzle with honey.

Add the lime and sun dried tomato.

I cooked mine in my solar oven (350 degrees) for 4 hours, but you can put it in the crock pot on low 5-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

Meat will be very tender. Thanks to the tomato and lime juice for the acid that breaks down the meat to make it so divine. You can leave it in chunks or shred it, depending on your preference. It's so tender it easily shreds with a fork.

Serve as a taco filling. I like to add fresh chopped cilantro and green onion and top it with some avocado yogurt cream and some of my Home canned Salsa.

Yields 6 3/4 cup servings. Recipe is okay to double or triple as needed for freezer meal purposes. To freeze, place 3 cups of the meat and juice mixture in a quart size bag along with fresh chopped cilantro and green onion. Label clearly with date and reheat instructions:

"To serve, defrost overnight in the fridge or remove bag and defrost in the freezer. Shred the pork. Heat 5-7 minutes in the microwave or 8-10 minutes on the stove top. Be sure to keep the juice with the meat. Salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot as a taco filling, taco salad base, enchilada or burrito filling."

Lay bag flat in fridge. When cool, transfer to the freezer. Freeze solid and place in your freezer file.

Last note.

My sweet friend Andee Andee Farnsworth Bergeron sent me this wonderful recipe that would also work wonderfully!

Costa Vida Sweet PorkPork Roast (4-5 lbs), thawed if frozen
3 c. Dr. Pepper
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. (packed) brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. powdered garlic
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 large carrots, peeled and grated
1 (smallish) Serrano pepper, seeded and diced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
Cut away any obvious fat portions from the roast. Place all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on high for 6-7 hours.
Remove pork to cutting board.
Add an additional 1/2 c. granulated sugar and 1 cup Coke to the liquid in the crock pot. Stir.
Shred the pork, removing excess fat and bones, and add back to the crock pot. Stir.
Reduce to low and cook an additional 3 hours.

There you go!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

The Utah Fam's Sunday Dinner: Pulled Pork Tacos

One of the blessed parts of going to visit my family in Utah is that they are all foodie-folk.  My sister Auntie Em has an amazing garden and while I was visiting her and giggling all night over girlie girl things...we raided her garden.  Now there's a visual huh? 

 Her cherry tomatoes were organic heaven!

 From her garden she chopped 4 cups of fresh tomatoes, 1 cup onion, one jalepeno and  3 cloves fresh pressed garlic.

Add to that the juice of 2 limes and some salt and pepper to taste. It was simple and perfect. Like Em. 

 We headed out to the family dinner Sunday evening. When we got to my parent's house the smell of slow cooked pork and a mixed fruit pie had mingled in the air like love. I could almost taste it!

 Now my mom slow cooked a 2 pound roast in a crock pot with  a can of Dr. Pepper (yes...that is the secret ingredient),  2 whole chopped onions, 3 cloves of garlic and 1T of ancho chile powder.  After 4 hours it looked like this:

We added 3 T of my fajita seasoning to the shredded meat...

My brother in law Chris Grilled some fresh corn tortillas straight on the stove. I think you need tongs for this to work...by the way...YUM. It made the tortillas so nice and toasty!

 Topped them with a pile of shredded pork, Auntie Em's salsa and one of my favorite Mexican cheeses...Cotija...Love...

There it is! The pulled pork tacos of love. Now you know the secrets.  

Happy Sunday ...or Um, Tuesday...any day fast dinner if you remember to plant tomatoes and start your crock pot. Okay...you can buy tomatoes from your local tomato farmers too...I'm sure they'd be okay with that.

Fruit and Rosemary Stuffed Pork Loin

The first time I ever smelled fresh rosemary was as a nanny. I was fifteen years old and had been hired as a caretaker and cook for two year old twins the summer of my Junior year in high school. In Arizona, rosemary grows in bushes the size of Juniper shrubs and we use electric chainsaws to trim it. It sounds like a horror movie to all of you in the climates who have to nurture the little shrub-lings in tiny pots in your window boxes and cover them with towels to protect them from frost. Having spent most of my young life in the cold, I had not seen the herb growing wild. Yet here I was, new to Arizona, and my boss insisted there was some rosemary herbs growing in her yard. She also insisted that I could surely benefit greatly if I used her weeds in making dinners. She proudly pranced over to the shrub and tore off some of the tender shoots. Timidly I held the plant to my nose. I instantly fell in love. I think I walked around with a sprig up my nose the better part of the day. I was alone with two year old twins. I had a lovely green mustache for doing impressions of the Muppet's Swedish chef. I realize now that perhaps I was setting a bad example of how to carry herbs around the house. Hopefully the girls didn't need years of therapy after that display. I have no defense. I couldn't help myself! Rosemary was intoxicating. It was woodsy and hearty, unlike any of the dry pine-like needles I had seen in anemic jars in the kitchen spice rack. Fresh Rosemary is the aroma of breakfast sausage cooking on Christmas morning and inviting me to wake to a warm yellow glowing tree adorned with gifts. It was the scent of the first kiss I gave Ace after an Italian dinner where he asked me to be his wife. It's everything I adore. Now...we grow it in our garden as well. I have stopped walking around with sprigs up my nostrils. I'm sure that's a relief to hear.

This recipe is being shared on Freezer Friday...because I like to have it already made on hand for whenever I want a touch of simple elegance shoved between the bags of frozen hot dogs in my practical freezer. It just seems to classy up the joint. Let's face it...as a mother, there are golden moments where dinner may not be gourmet...but it can be first class. Am I right? My kids eat this meal without reservation. Ace the vegetarian...well, he gets a lot of beautiful grilled vegetables and homemade bread. I don't hear him complain about the dinner. I also bake this one in our Solar Oven on especially hot days. That's the other bonus of living in the dessert...we get Solar cooking adventures. I like this one because you only need 3 ingredients!

Fruit and Rosemary Stuffed Pork Loin

2 lb lean maple marinated pork loin, cut open so it lays flat (I use D Dog BBQ maple rub overnight. )
6-7 dried apricots, plums, apples or golden raisins (or any combination of dried fruit you desire)

3T fresh rosemary, chopped

Directions:

Arrange fruit on the fillet that has been butter-flied open (see photo). Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary.

Place on a 2 foot section of very heavy aluminum foil that has been lightly oiled. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roll fruit and rosemary into the meat.

Tightly roll in the foil and twist the ends closed.

Bake at 375 degrees until a meat thermometer registers 175 degrees (about an hour). Remove from the oven, cool and then place in the fridge. When cold, transfer to the freezer or slice and transfer individual servings to smaller freezer friendly containers.

To serve: Defrost stuffed pork in fridge overnight.
Heat out of foil in the microwave 5-7 minutes or individual slices 3-4 minutes.

However you do it...enjoy. There you go.

Pork or Chicken in Peanut Sauce

I'm not going to lie. This is one of my all time favorite freezer meals. It's freezer Friday and I have been holding out on you. It's one I share with a lot of friends and family members when they have need of meals, because it is essentially so simple to make, and full of ingredients that I don't have to find at special Gourmet shops. In fact, the vegetables I chose are totally domestic easy to find vegetables that I am usually chopping for other freezer meals anyway, so it also fits easily into a cooking session when I am making several freezer meals at once. It takes a very short time to make as a regular meal...and also doubles as a freezer meal. I often make a meal for dinner that will double as a freezer meal. It's a great way to build up your arsenal by simply cooking dinner and setting aside half to go in the freezer for a meal later. This meal is called a "topper". My husband Ace used to call people "toppers". You know who they are. A topper is someone you tell a story to, and they "top" you by telling you a bigger grander story that they have done. Ace could almost always be a topper when it comes to car stories...and very often when people are telling him about some feat they've done in cars, he will listen and ask them questions about their car...and they have no idea who he is or what he's done with cars. It makes me happy that he just builds people up. It's rare in a person. It's rare in a dinner. But that's exactly what these "topper" dinners do...they make your rice or pasta better, without boasting of themselves. They won't need to boast, you can tell by how they taste. Refreshing isn't it? The only preparation on this meal that takes a little time, is the chopping...but my kids love to chop and so it turns into a family project.


Tess' Pork or Chicken in Peanut Sauce
(yield 12 3/4 cup servings rice topper)

5 lb boneless skinless pork loin, cut into cubes (chicken boneless skinless thigh meat works)
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sliced garlic
1/2 cup peanut butter
1T sesame oil
1T chile paste or hot sauce
3 large onions, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions: Get all your stuff together. Yes, I know it's technical, but if you don't you will inevitably be out of vinegar...or peanut butter.

In a large 12 inch skillet, on high heat, add the sesame oil to the pan. Add the pork and cook stirring frequently 5-7 minutes until browned nicely.

Add the bulky veggies. My onion was a little young when I took it from the garden...but it worked fine to use the bottom ends. You can also use green onions, if you use the light ends.

Cook the vegetables with the pork, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic. Yes, it sounds like a lot of garlic, but if I eat that much garlic then the Cullen's won't come to dinner...and you Twilight people will finally get some alone time with Edward. I know how important that is. Again...dude, he's a fictional character and he will never love you. I'm just saying. Eat garlic. Move on.

Oh...and when the garlic is nice and tender, add the peanut butter and remaining ingredients to the pan. Random...my 87 year old FIL, Mr. Putt Putt, likes to keep peanut butter in his bedroom next to his easy chair. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Yes, he putts around with spoons like this upcoming picture. Another random fact...did you know that mice like peanut butter?
Ask me how I figured that out. No...it wasn't when I was making this dinner. Jerry the mouse did not run across the kitchen floor, peanut butter spoon in hand, and in a almost frenzied speed of escape knock himself cold while watching me chase him with a broom. That didn't happen...but it would make a good cartoon.

Once the sauce has simmered with the meat and vegetables about 2 minutes, add the chopped cilantro.

Divide into 3 dinners for a family of 4, or two for a family of 6. Or 6 meals for a family of 2 with very small children. You can serve one for dinner over rice, or just put them all in the freezer. We usually serve one of the dinners that night. It's also very good over rice noodles.

To freeze: Place meat mixture in Three One quart freezer bags when it has cooled enough to scoop without melting bags. Seal bags very well. You might want to double the bags if you are worried about spilling. Bags need to be labeled before adding the mixture, or it will be hard to write on them, and also easy to puncture with writing utensils.
Lay bags in the fridge out flat to cool. Never cool at room temperature and then transfer to the freezer, you risk food born illness. When cool transfer to the freezer. Keep the freezer cold. Check the meals after two hours to be sure they are freezing. Never stack warm meals on top of each other. Only stack once frozen.

Label clearly: "defrost in the fridge 24 hours or out of bag, in the microwave 3-5 minutes on 50% power. To serve, heat 3-5 minutes on high in the microwave or 5-7 minutes on the stove in a skillet. I usually cook the rice while I heat the topper. It's very quick.

There you go.

Southern Style Ribs

I have to apologize up front to all the vegetarians out there. My husband Ace thinks eating meat ribs is probably the highest form of barbarian revelry known to the culinary world. Sucking on the bone carcass of a poor creature just grosses him out. So, is it any wonder that the only time I ever make ribs is when he leaves on a business trip? I cooked half and put the second half in the freezer for later...like tonight. Evil and wrong as my husband thinks it is, I happen to like tender pieces of juice laden carne falling off the rib bone. There's something cave woman about it. It makes me want to wear leather and spike heels. It's hot.

When you happen to freezer cooked meat, it gets more tender and delicious. Why is that? It's a process called drip loss. Now in my case we chill things before we freeze them so we don't get a lot of liquid dripping off the once frozen product. Drip loss is the term used for leakage of moisture during the defrosting process. Water expands as it turns to ice, causing the food fibers to splinter and break. This is what causes limp or soggy textures after defrosting frozen vegetables. If food is chilled before freezing ice crystals that form will be smaller causing less damage to fibers of food and less drip loss. The result is better texture and flavor, especially in cooked meats. It actually acts as a tenderizing process. Isn't that amazing?

So, how do you cook a good rib? I start with a good season rub. Probably my personal favorites are D-dog's apple or peach rub, but his maple comes in a close third. Love them all.

My Southern Style Ribs

6 lbs baby back pork ribs

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup mustard (prepared like French's)

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp hot sauce

1T BBQ rub or your choice or Chef Tess All Purpose seasoning

Cut the ribs into serving size pieces. Place ribs in a roasting pan and season generously with BBQ rub or seasoning. Bake in 325 degree oven 1 1/2 hour until cooked through.
Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes or until thickened and reduced to a syrup. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Take the ribs out of the oven. Brush the sauce over the ribs. Reduce oven heat to 300. bake uncovered, basting occasionally. Bake 1 hour longer until ribs are tender. Remove from oven.

OR alternate cooking method:

Skip oven baking all together and place ribs and reduced sauce in a crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours

Yields 6-8 servings. Serve some for dinner tonight with baked beans sweet potatoes and Cole slaw. We made sweet potato french fries. It was awesome.

For a freezer dinner, allow meat to cool until you can handle it. Place 4 servings in a gallon size freezer bag, labeled. Lay flat and cool in the fridge. When very cold, place in freezer. Freeze flat for optimum freezer space.

To heat:

Place on oven rack out of bag. Bake 375 degrees 35-40 minutes until heated through.

Microwave: 2-3 ribs 4-5 minutes from frozen.

There you go.

Shallot Herb Roasted Pork with Lemon Cream Sauce and Mushrooms

I mentioned I had girl time with Tara on Friday night. What I failed to mention was that we also had a meal...not just Tara's Toasted Pound Cake with Almond Cream Sauce . This master genius dinner was one of my favorite. Shallot herb roasted pork with lemon mushroom cream sauce. It's a mouthful to say...and a mouthful to eat. I got a recipe from The Merlin Menu for Pork Tenderloin with Lime/Cream Sauce. It sounded wonderful! And it was. In true Stephanie fashion (that's me, Tess is my nickname) I tweaked it a little for the Evil Think Tank with Tara. I know Ron Merlin doesn't mind. I had to "healthify" it, so I could save my calories for dessert. As much as I would love to use a bunch of cream, the cream cheese offered a great alternative for a creamy sauce with not much guilt. Weight Watchers has really made me more aware of getting a balance. Healthy dinner and an occasional splurge is okay. I just keep track of it. So, here's the recipe. http://www.weightwatchers.com/ has a great tool there for plugging in a recipe and being able to figure out the points. This one if 5 servings, 7 points each. This recipe makes a good freezer meal as well.

Herb Roasted Pork with Lemon Cream Sauce and Mushrooms
yield 5 servings, about 3 oz cooked pork.

1 1/4 pounds pork loin, lean. cut into thin slices or very lean boneless chops
zest and juice of one lemon
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 T Penzey's Shallot Pepper (or use 1 tsp fresh pepper, 1 tsp dry tarragon, and 2T fresh minced shallot)
1T chopped fresh thyme

Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped onions
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 thin sliced garlic cloves
1/4 cup fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup fat free chicken broth (or juice and pan drippings from the roasted pork)
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 T minced fresh thyme
1 T minced fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Grate the lemon zest right onto the pork (save about 1 tsp for the sauce)
Squeeze the juice out...right onto the pork. I put my eye out with the juice. Don't do that. I teared up. It made me look emotionally unstable...and we can't have that.

Season generously with the shallot pepper (or alternative flavor blending). I also added 2 cloves of fresh minced garlic.

This is when I stopped and said out loud to myself , " Self, this is just breathtaking." I then realized I was talking to myself and shut my pie hole. Can't be looking mentally unstable...can't have that. Look at this pork. Are you talking out loud to yourself?! Woa, I may not be the only one on earth with issues.

Pop it onto a lightly oiled roasting pan . I used an olive oil pan spray.

Bake 425 degrees 15-25 minutes depending on the thickness of the pork. If you pierce it with a fork the juices should run clear. Remove pan from the oven and transfer the pork to an oven safe serving dish. Take any remaining juice from the pan and put in a dish (to use in the sauce).

For the sauce:

In a 10 inch skillet, melt butter and add onion, shallot, and mushrooms. Cook until the onions and shallots are a nice dark brown...about 6 minutes. Add the garlic the last 3 minutes to ensure it doesn't burn. Add juice from the pork or chicken broth, cream cheese, parsley, 1 tsp. lemon zest and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the warm pork.

Serve immediately or divide between 5 microwave safe dishes and freeze. Makes a great take and heat freezer meal. Microwave 5-6 minutes from frozen.