Herb-Crusted Pork Loin and Roasted Apples

Growing up I remember always dreading the nights that my dad got to choose what we ate for dinner because I always knew exactly what he was going to say.  Pork chops and apple sauce.  And he always said it like he was a 1920's gangster.  I'd give my mom this pleading look in hopes she wouldn't listen to him, but I guess when you're married for over 20 years you have to listen to your spouse once in while.

She would try to make the pork chops interesting with bbq sauce because she was as unexcited about pork chops as I was and still am, but my dad is a purist and doesn't like messing with what he knows he likes.  He will only ever eat vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup.  Not an adventurous eater that one.  So every once in a while my mom and I endured a boring dinner just to please my dad.

Ever since I've started cooking for myself I have avoided pork like the plague.  Unless it's carnitas or pulled pork, I'm just not interested.  However, this one time I decided to pay homage to my dad's tastebuds and tried a bit more sophisticated version of his favorite dish.

Herb-Crusted Pork Loin and Roasted Apples

Serving Size: 2 Servings

Ingredients:

2 Pork Loin filets

2 medium Apples, sliced thin
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp of Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp + 1/2 Tbsp of Cinnamon
2 tsp of Cumin
1/2 tsp of Cayenne
1 tsp Cilantro
1/2 tsp of Thyme
1 - 2 Tbsp of Fresh Parsley
1 cup of Walnuts
2 cloves of Garlic, minced
1/2 of a small Onion, chopped
1 Tbsp of Oil or Butter
1 large Egg
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Lay apple slices on the bottom of a baking dish drizzle with oil and top with lemon juice, 1 Tbsp of Brown Sugar and 1 Tbsp of Cinnamon

Heat oil or butter over medium high heat and saute onions and garlic until soft and aromatic.

In a food processor or blender pulse the walnuts until fine.  Combine with onions, garlic, and parsley.  Pulse until mixed up.

On a plate combine all of the spices and rub into meat.  Brown the pork loin in the pan until just golden.  Dip in egg and cover with walnut crust.

Place on top of apples and bake until 160 degrees.  About 20 mins.

2012 Stuffing-Off Challenge

Thanksgiving is all about friends, family, and gratefulness.  But what would an American tradition be without a little gluttony?

This year since I was in charge of the stuffing, I made it a competition between the old and the new.  Check out both recipes we had at our feast and let me know which one you would have chosen to win in the comments.  Also, if you have a favorite stuffing recipe you'd like to share, please put it in the comments.

Mom's Traditional Stuffing

VS

Sausage, Apple, Mushroom and Walnut Stuffing

Mom's Traditional Stuffing - Stuffing Challenge Winner

This was my first Thanksgiving that I hosted and I was in charge of the turkey, stuffing and vegetables. I couldn't decide which stuffing I wanted to make because I missed my mom's stuffing last year, but also ended up having my favorite part of the meal be the Apple, Sausage and Walnut Stuffing we had.  Since I just recently started liking stuffing, I didn't want to miss out on either.  So since this year I was in charge of it I decided that I didn't have to decide.  Instead I made a half size amount of both and decided to have a stuffing-off.

Mom's Traditional Stuffing was easily the crowd's favorite.  It also quickly became the first of the leftovers to vanish.  Can't break tradition in this apartment I guess.  That is why it gets the coveted "Stuffing Challenge Winner" spot on the blog, but don't miss the runner up's recipe on the next page.

The amount below is the full size amount, but it can easily be cut in half.

Mom's Traditional Stuffing

Serving Size: 10-12 Servings

Ingredients:

24oz of Day Old Bread
2 cups of chopped Onions
2 cups of chopped Celery
2 Tbsp of Butter
1 large grated Carrot
3 Tbsp of Poultry Seasoning
Thyme, Marjoram and Rosemary to taste (optional because the poultry seasoning contains this)
Turkey Gizzard finely chopped
2 cups Chicken Broth or Giblet Stock (directions below)




Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Parsley

Directions:

Tear the bread into 1 inch pieces and let sit over night if you can.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a skillet on medium-high heat and saute onion and celery until tender, about 5 minutes.  Pour over bread in a large baking dish.  Add grated carrot, gizzard, parsley and spices to taste.

Slowly pour in chicken broth or giblet stock and allow bread to absorb the liquid.  Mix everything together with your hands.  Keep adding broth or stock until the bread is fully saturated, but not dripping.

Cover with tinfoil and bake for about 1 hour or until the stuffing reaches 165 degrees.  In the last 5-10 minutes, uncover and allow the top to brown.


GIBLET STOCK RECIPE

4 cups of Chicken Broth
1 rib of Celery
1/2 of a Carrot
1/2 of a Yellow Onion
1 Bay Leaf
Chicken Heart, Liver and Neck

Directions:

Simmer all of the ingredients together in a covered pan for about 2 hours.  Separate liquid and add to stuffing.

Sausage, Apple, Mushroom, and Walnut Stuffing - Stuffing Challenge Runner Up

Stuffing has recently become my favorite dish at Thanksgiving.  I used to hate it.  I think I was insane as a child.  Last year I had my first LA Thanksgiving and was very grateful for everything that day brought, including an Apple, Sausage, Walnut and Raisin stuffing.  I was a bit weary at first when I helped make this dish, but as soon as it came out of the oven it took all of my strength not to eat it all before we even brought it to the feast.

Out of every type of food on our table that day, I was surprised to find that I liked this new kind of stuffing the best.  It was because of that miracle that I knew this year I had to make it, but with a few twists.  However, I also couldn't forget that I was sad I wasn't having my mom's traditional stuffing last year.  What was a girl to do?  I decided that a "Stuffing-Off" was in order and made half amounts of both kinds of stuffing and let the crowd choose their favorite.  

Sadly, my personal favorite came in second, with only me and one other person choosing this recipe over the other, but tradition is tradition for a reason.  However, I think the new tradition will have to be both kinds of stuffing every year.  

Even though it is the runner up, below is the full amount for my favorite kind of stuffing.  (I only made half for our dinner)

Sausage, Apple, Mushroom, and Walnut Stuffing

Serving Size: 10-12 Servings

Ingredients:

24 oz of Day Old Bread

2 Tbsp of Butter

2 cups of chopped Onions

2 cups of chopped Celery

1 pound of Italian Sausage

2 packages of Mushrooms (white or portabella)

2-3 medium Apples, chopped (I used Green Dragon Apples)

3 cloves of Garlic, minced

2 tsp of dried Thyme

2 tsp of dried Sage

1 cup of Walnuts

1 1/2 cups of Apple Cider

2 cups of Chicken Broth

Directions:

Break up the bread into 1 inch pieces and let sit out over night.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Melt butter and saute onions and celery until tender, about 5 minutes.

In a separate pan cook the sausage, garlic and mushrooms until fully cooked.

Combine all of the ingredients except for the liquids in a large baking dish.

Slowly pour the apple cider over the stuffing allowing the bread to soak it up.  Finally, slowly add enough chicken broth to fully saturate the bread.  It should be wet, but not dripping.

Cover with tinfoil and bake for about an hour or until the stuffing reaches 165 degrees.  For the last 10-15 minutes, uncover and allow to brown on top.  

Twice Baked Garlic Sweet Potatoes

So I'm still not 100% sure what the difference between sweet potatoes and yams are, but from what I have gathered, sweet potatoes are more common than yams in stores and they vary in color and sugar content.  Either way, these bright spuds are packed with Vitamins A, C and B6.

I could eat sweet potatoes in any form, with butter and brown sugar, as fries, as gnocchi, you name it I'll probably love it, as you will probably gather from my other recipes on here.  This variation though is a throwback to school lunches for me with an adult twist.

School lunches, now that I look back on them, were generally pretty lackluster, but I still found a way to be jazzed about the cuisine most days...  I still need to figure out chicken turnovers... I remember loving twice baked cheesy potatoes.  I haven't had one in years and I figured it was time to bring them back, but with a healthier twist.  You're welcome Mr. Bloomberg.

Twice Baked Garlic Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 medium Sweet Potatoes
2-3 cloves of Garlic, minced
1/4 cup of Sour Cream or Milk
1 Tbsp of Butter
Olive Oil
Green Onions (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Bake the potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour or until soft.  You can also pop them in the microwave for about 10 minutes, just make sure to poke holes in them with a fork so they don't explode.

Once cooked, slice through horizontally about 1/3 of the way down the potato.  Scoop out the insides into a bowl leaving some flesh in the skin to provide a sturdier base.

Combine insides with garlic, butter and sour cream and mash together.

Rub olive oil on the outside of the skin to help it crisp.  At this point I would put the empty skins upside down in the broiler for five minutes, but this isn't necessary.

Spoon the filling back into the skin and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

To get them a bit crispier, put them back in the broiler for five minutes.

Top with green onions, salt and pepper.

Starry Inside Cupcakes

I openly admit that I will never root for the Dallas Cowboys.  I will proudly wear my Eagles green in Dallas on game day if I ever get the chance.  However, today of all days happens to be a certain Cowboys fan's birthday, so I bit my tongue long enough to make Cowboy themed cupcakes because it was a perfect opportunity to attempt putting shapes inside cupcakes.  If it hadn't been for the Cowboys' logo being a star, I would have never stooped so low, but since I've been wanting to try this for a while I made an exception.  Oh it's painful just writing this post....

These cupcakes aren't any harder than regular cupcakes, they just take a bit longer and some planning ahead.

I thought the name was clever.  It's a play on "Starry Eyed".  Get it now?  Hey, I had to do something to distract from my treason right now.

Starry Inside Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcake batter made to specifications
Food Dye
Icing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix up your batter and separate it into two bowls.  1/3 in one bowl and 2/3 in the other.  The 1/3 amount will be used for the star shape, or whichever shape you choose. Get festive.  Dye it the color you choose.  Wilton food coloring will give it a better color rather than liquid food coloring, but you will pay more for the Wilton.  Pour the 1/3 amount into a 9x9 greased glass baking dish.  Bake until just set enough to hold a shape when cut.  About ten minutes, but keep an eye on it.

Use a cookie cutter to make your shapes in the batter.  Remove each piece and set on wax paper.  The batter will be soft enough that you should be able to push some pieces together to make more shapes and not waste so much of the cake.  Put the shaped pieces into the freezer for at least half an hour.  This is so that when they get baked again they won't dry out.

Put cupcake liners in your cupcake pan.  Stand the shapes up in the liners and put a dollop of the other batter on each side of the shape.  Let some pour over top of the shape, but remember it will rise up over the shape, so do not fill more than 2/3 of the way.  Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.

Ice and enjoy.  Just try to mark the cupcakes so you know where the shape is so you can cut the cupcakes in half and show off your handiwork.

Donkey Tails and Elephant Ears

So I guess I have to do an extra post this week in honor of the election tonight.  I avoid sharing my support for either side as much as I can, but if you are strategic enough, you can get me talking about the issues and figure it out pretty easily.

But tonight, no matter who wins, I can't pass up an opportunity to cook something special.  Even though I think the two party system has run it's course and we should start embracing third parties more, I can't deny that the two people truly in this race tonight are from the Republican and Democrat parties. Because of this fact, I decided to honor both sides of the spectrum and make a dinner of Donkey Tails and Elephant Ears for dessert.  Tonight I get the help of my roommate because I enticed him with fried food.

Warning: This meal is far from healthy, but if your candidate loses, I'm sure some dramatic people (like myself) will like the indulgence.

Donkey Tails and Elephant Ears (Election Night Meal)

Donkey Tails:

Ingredients:

6 Hot Dogs
6 Flour Tortillas
Shredded Cheese or cheese sauce
Chopped Onions
Jalapeños
Olive Oil
Chili (recipe below)
       1/2 of pound ground beef
       1/2 of a white onion
       7 oz of diced tomatoes w/ juice
       7 oz of tomato sauce
       7 oz of Kidney beans
       3/4 cup of water
       1 tsp of chili powder
       1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
       1/2 tsp of cumin
       1 clove of garlic
       salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large saucepan, brown the ground beef over medium heat along with the onions.  Sauté until browned and drain the excess fat.

Next, add the rest of the ingredients for the chili.  Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low.  Cover and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. 

Once the chili is finished, heat the hot dogs for about 20 seconds in the microwave.  Then wrap the hot dogs in the tortillas and secure with toothpicks.  Heat oil in pan and brown the tortilla/hot dog.  Cover with cheese, onions, jalapeños, and chili.


Elephant Ears:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of milk
3 Tbsp. of butter
1 package of dry yeast
1 Tbsp. of sugar
1/2 tsp. of salt
2 cups of flour
Oil for frying (I used vegetable oil)
Cinnamon and Sugar for topping.

Directions:

Combine the milk, sugar, salt and butter.  Heat over medium until butter is melted, but do not boil.  Let cool to lukewarm.  Add yeast and stir until dissolved.  Stir in the flour.

Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp paper towel and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Pinch off pieces of dough, about walnut size.  Stretch each piece into a thin circle about six inches in diameter.

Fry each circle in oil for about 10-15 seconds.  Turn over and repeat until light brown.  

Drain on a paper towel and top with cinnamon and sugar.

Fall Veggie Flatbread

The week I decided to make this dish, my office had a serious discussion about how LA is not known to be full of great pizza joints.  Now don't get us wrong, they have great dishes that they call pizza, but said dishes are quite different than the New York Style Pizza I know and love from back east.  We decided that they should more adequately be called flatbreads when they look all fancy with their pears, honey and herbs instead of dripping pepperoni and marinara sauce.  Therefore I had to change the name of my post from Pizza to Flatbread.

I don't mind, though, because this dish is a far cry from pizza, but still swirls with a myriad of flavors ranging from sweet to salty to earthy.  Everything fall is about.

What's also great about this dish, is you can make it a quicker dish by buying store-bought dough, or make it totally from scratch and impress your friends with your skills with minimal effort.  I vote for making your own dough, because it gives it a nicer crunchy base, adds a bit more flavor, and isn't nearly as sticky and messy as pre-made dough.  And don't worry about tracking down yeast, I know I didn't want to bother with that, this dough is yeast-free and can easily be whipped together in five minutes from things you probably already have in your cupboard.

Fall Veggie Flatbread

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 1/2 cups of Flour
1 Tblsp of Olive Oil
3/4 cups of Water
1 3/4 tsp of Baking Powder
1 tsp of Garlic Salt (if you use        Garlic Powder or eliminate the        garlic, add 1 tsp of Salt)


Toppings:

1 cup of Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan Cheese

1/2 of a medium Yam
1/4 of a small Yellow Onion
1 large Carrot
2 Red Potatoes
3 Tblsp of Olive Oil (approx)
1 sprig of Rosemary
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Black Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

For the dough, combine all of the ingredients, and knead the dough until everything is incorporated.  

*you can make the dough beforehand and let it sit in the refrigerator, just make sure it is covered.*

Spread the dough on a greased baking sheet, keeping it as evenly distributed as possible.

Chop up the veggies and spread them on a baking sheet (I popped the potatoes and yam in the microwave for a few minutes to soften them up for cutting).  Drizzle olive oil over them.  Sprinkle the minced garlic and black pepper on the veggies.  Bake for about 10-15 minutes.


While those are baking, combine the ricotta and parmesan cheeses in a bowl, and then spread the mixture on the dough.  Remove the rosemary from the stem, and sprinkle on the dough as well.  

Remove the veggies and spread them on top of the flatbread.  Bake everything for about 20 minutes, or until the dough turns golden.

Autumn Trail Mix

I had a friend visiting last week, so my cooking was limited.  LA just has so many great dining options, I had to show him what he is missing.  So instead of cooking up something involved, I chose to embrace the cooling temperatures and finally admit to myself it's no longer summer and make a snack for these shortening Fall days.

My roommates just carved their jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, which got me excited for roasted pumpkin seeds.  I made them save their pumpkin guts and give them to me since they weren't as interested in them as I was.

Now, growing up I used to make my mom make roasted pumpkin seeds for me because I thought they were so cool.  They are a tasty snack, but not all that impressive, unless you are a ten year old who thinks you look BA because you brought in pumpkin seeds to eat at school.  This year I decided to try a little variation and was surprised at how much better they are when mixed with other flavors.

To keep you snacking with Fall in mind:

Autumn Trail Mix

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Seeds
Cranberries
Almonds
Walnuts
Chocolate Chips
Butter
Salt

(there are no measurements because you can mix it however you'd like.  I had more seeds and almonds than anything else.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Rinse your pumpkin seeds and remove any of the strings and gooey stuff from them.

Melt enough butter to lightly coat your pumpkin seeds.  Mix seeds and butter in a bowl.  Spread seeds out on a baking pan and lightly sprinkle salt on them.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until golden.

Once cool, combine seeds with Cranberries, Almonds, Walnuts, Chocolate Chips.  I made them stratified for the picture and then shook them all up when I put them in their storage container.  Make sure to get a little bit of everything with each bite.

Comment below with your own trail mix recipes or variations!  And don't forget to subscribe!