Rotisserie Pork Roast

Rotisserie Pork Roast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1/2 tablespoon minced onion
1/3 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 tsp pepper
2/3 tsp salt
1/2 tablespoon parsley
3-4 lb pork roast
Extra virgin olive oil

1. Mix all ingredients, except roast and olive oil, in a small bowl.

2. Cover roast completely with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.


3. Rub roast with spice mix, until well seasoned. Yes, those are my hands. No, I don't have much of a problem touching raw meat. I've been tainted.

4. Get your husband to set up the rotisserie (sorry - I have no idea how to do this so I cannot instruct you).

5. Place roast on rotisserie and cook for 1 1/2-2 hours, until pork reaches an internal temperature of 160. Let rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

Makes 4-5 servings.

This recipe is being shared at the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap.

Cider Pork and Vegetable Stew

Cider Pork and Vegetable Stew - adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
2 large pork chops, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
2 medium potatoes, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup turnip, chopped
1 package mushrooms, sliced
3-5 T flour
1 apple, coarsely chopped
3 cups apple cider or apple juice
1 tsp dried rosemary
Salt
Pepper

1. Cut pork chops into small cubes. Brown meat for 5-10 minutes, until partially cooked.

2. In a 5qt slowcooker, combine pork and all vegetables. Sprinkle with flour and stir to coat.

3. Stir in juice, rosemary and salt and pepper.

4. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. If necessary, add a few more T flour halfway through cooking time to thicken stew.

Enjoy a delicious blend of hearty autumn flavours!

Makes 6-8 servings.

This recipe is being shared at the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap.

Pork Souvlaki

This weeks' Food Network Chef's Cooking Challenge chef was Cat Cora. I liked the look of a lot of her recipes but in the end chose to stick with pork souvlaki. I cut the recipe in half because I didn't want a ton of leftovers so I've posted the recipe according to what I did.

Pork Souvlaki - from Cat Cora
4 skewers (wooden or metal)
2 large boneless pork chops cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 T red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 .5 T EVOO
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Chewy pitas
Toppings: shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, red onions, feta cheese, tzaztiki sauce

1. In a bowl stir together lemon juice, red wine vinegar, oregano, thyme, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour over pork. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. I let it marinate for 24 hours.

2. If using wooden skewers, let them soak in water for at least 1 hour. Place meat on skewers.

3. Lay on a hot grill and grill slowly continuing to brush on marinade, until meat is done.

4. Serve immediately in a pita, topped with toppings of your choice.

Makes 3-4 servings.

We look Greek food so we really enjoyed this served with a side of roasted potatoes and a coleslaw. I know the coleslaw doesn't really go, but I had some cabbage to get used up. The only thing we noticed was that the red wine vinegar overpowered some of the other flavours. Either I forgot to cut that amount in half or else it was just too strong. I would recommend using less.

And now that I have fresh dill and plain yogurt in the fridge leftover from making taztiki sauce, I am going to make my favourite bread - yogurt and dill bread *seriously - if you are ever looking for a way to use up fresh dill, this is the way.

Western Fritatta

This week for The Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge we were presented with the challenge of creating one of Brian Biotano's recipes. This was a challenge because he has very few recipes posted. However, I found his recipe for Spanish Tortilla and it looked like something that we would enjoy. When all is said and done, this recipe became something quite different than his original recipe but I still used his recipe for inspiration. One thing I didn't understand about the recipe was the cooking times. The original recipe said to cook the eggs in the pan for 2 minutes and in the oven for 5 minutes. That didn't seem like nearly long enough to me - I prefer my eggs to be well cooked.

Western Fritatta - inspired by Brian Biotano
EVOO
1.5 cup grated potato (3 small potatoes)
1 spanish onion, diced
1 cup diced ham
1 green pepper, chopped
8 oz mushrooms sliced
4 eggs
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in an oven safe skillet. Add the potatoes, mushrooms, peppers and onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the ham and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Place the eggs in a bowl and whisk until well blended. Stir in the grated cheese and mix to combine.

Add the egg and cheese mixture to the pan, season with salt and pepper and stir gently with a heat-proof spatula.

Reduce the heat to low and cook until the egg begins to thicken, about 5 minutes.

Put the pan in the oven until eggs are set and slightly puffed and brown on top, about 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges and serve.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Crockpot Pork Roast

Thanks to SnoWhite (once again) for this recipe, we enjoyed the most delicious pork roast ever last night.

Crockpot Pork Roast - adapted from SnoWhite
2-3 lb pork roast
Salt
Pepper
4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup apple juice

1. Trim excess fat off roast. Season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 500. Cook for 20 minutes to seal juices.

2. Place peeled, cored, chopped apples in the bottom of a crockpot sprayed with cooking spray.

3. Place roast on top. Cover with sliced onions.

4. In a small bowl mix sugar, ginger, cinnamon, applesauce and juice. Pour over roast. Cover and cook on low until an internal temperature of 170 is reached. SnoWhite's recipe said 8-10 hours but mine was cooked by 6 1/2 hours because I had a smaller roast.

I don't have any pictures of the final product because we had company over and I forgot to take photos along the way. Just believe me when I say it was one of the tastiest pork roasts I've ever had! Thanks SnoWhite!

Makes 4-5 servings.

This recipe is linked to Crock Pot Wednesday with Debbie.