A Domestic Day

Today was a domestic day. I accomplished a laundry list of things I needed to do around the house, but had been procrastinating. Okay, I'll admit, laundry, dishes, painting, ironing, hike in the woods, organizing, grocery shopping and picking up really do not provide a lot of meat for a blog entry. If you can picture me in running shorts and a t-shirt dancing around the house to hits by everyone from Frank Sinatra (yes, you can foxtrot with a vacuum) to Britney Spears (yes, shaking your derriere on a step stool is dangerous), I guess at least I might get a smirk out of you, oh reader of mine.

I did do some fun things, outside of my am hike with the barkers. While I was homemaking, I made a darn good piece of Boston Butt for pulled pork sandwiches. I also had a few hours of bonding time with my adorable 3 month old buddy, Matty B. Matt giggled as I pulled the perfectly smoked pork out of the smoker, and got rocked to sleep as it cooled.

Southern Delight
For dinner, we ate sweet potatoes, green beans, and pulled pork sandwiches. Tossing the potatoes into the oven just before you pull out the pork butt from the smoker gives them 1 hour to cook, and you time to do whatever while your pork butt cools/gets pulled. Remember to season your sweet potatoes with butter (it makes everything better!), cinnamon, and a drizzle of honey. The cinnamon on the potatoes will complement the pork really well. Never be afraid of seasoning pork with cinnamon- they make a great combination!

Pulled Pork
Pork Butt (to be cooked in a smoker)
Fight the Fat Foodie's Awesome Rub
BBQ sauce (see a sample list of GF BBQ sauces here.)

1. Massage your pork butt with the spice rub the night before you intend to smoke the pork, making sure to cover the whole butt. Keep the pork in a sealed container (or wrapped in plastic) in the refrigerator over night.

2. Cook your pork butt for about 4 hours (1-1.5hrs per pound) in the smoker. Use a meat thermometer to measure the temperature.

3. The pork butt is done when it reaches 175-180 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it reaches this temperature, remove the butt from the smoker and allow to rest for 45 minutes.

4. Pull the pork using 2 forks, being sure to remove any major lumps of fat from the pork. Serve, optionally with BBQ sauce.

Pan-roasted Pork Chops with Cranberries and Red Swiss Chard

With Valentine's day around the corner, maybe you're looking for a special meal to cook for your honey muffin. I planned a romantic evening last night, set up the table with a few special items, and got to cooking. This recipe was delicious and not too difficult. Bon appetite!


Pan-roasted Pork Chops with Cranberries and Red Swiss Chard

For Swiss chard

• 1/3 cup minced shallots (2 medium)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 lb red Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately

For pork chops

• 4 (1 1/4-inch-thick) rib pork chops
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

For sauce

• 1/3 cup minced shallots (2 medium)
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries (4 1/2 oz)
• 3/4 cup chicken stock or broth
• 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Prepare Swiss chard:
Cook shallots and garlic in butter in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add chard stems and center ribs and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add leaves and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer chard to a heavy saucepan and wipe out skillet.

Cook pork chops:
Pat chops dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chops, about 3 minutes per side.

Transfer skillet to oven and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally 2 inches into meat registers 155°F, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer chops with tongs to a platter, leaving fat in skillet, and cover chops loosely with foil to keep warm.

Make sauce:
Sauté shallots in fat remaining in skillet over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add wine and deglaze by boiling over high heat, scraping up brown bits, until reduced by half. Add cranberries and stock and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries begin to burst, about 2 minutes. Stir in brown sugar and thyme and simmer, stirring, until berries are collapsed, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter until incorporated, then season with salt and pepper.

Assemble dish:
While sauce is cooking, reheat chard over moderate heat, stirring. Divide among 4 plates and top with chops, then spoon sauce over.

New Year!

The holidays came around so quickly. All of a sudden, my sister (Tiffany) arrived from the DR, Nick's family was here, and I was fighting for glimpses of sleep in between reconnecting with friends and family. Time went by in a glimpse. All too soon Tiffany was back on a plane home, Nick's family returned home, and New Years crept up.

I usually find New Year's uninspiring. This was the first New Year's Day I had off, and I was ridiculously sick. Maybe getting over my sinus infection made the arrival of 2009 seem like the changing of the leaves; for the first time I feel like something new has started.

Here are a few of my New Goals for a New Year:
* Dance more often
* Be able to run 3 consecutive miles (aka do the Mazz Family run)
* Get rid of all the furniture in the storage room (need any?)
* Finish my WOCN certification
* Get a job at Shepherd as a full-time WOCN
* Take better care of myself


In interest of a newer, healthier year, here is a recipe for a low-fat dinner.


Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Mustard Rub

INGREDIENTS
* 1/2 cup grainy mustard
* 1/2 cup apricot jam
* 1 garlic clove, forced through a garlic press
* 2 small pork tenderloins (1 1/2 to 2 pounds total)
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 pound fresh apricots, quartered and pitted

PREPARATION

Preheat broiler and line rack of a broiler pan with foil.

Whisk together mustard and jam in a small bowl. Whisk together 1/3 cup mustard mixture with garlic in a large bowl.

Pat pork dry, then sprinkle all over with teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Coat pork with 2 tablespoons mustard-garlic mixture, then arrange without crowding on broiler pan.

Toss apricots and remaining 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper with remaining mustard-garlic mixture. Arrange apricots in 1 layer around pork (including space between tenderloins) and broil 5 to 6 inches from heat, turning pork over once, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each tenderloin registers 145°F and apricots are softened, about 15 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board (leave apricots on pan) and let stand 5 minutes.

Cut pork crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices and transfer to a platter. Spoon apricots over pork and serve remaining mustard-jam mixture on the side (sweeten with additional jam if desired).

Picadillo de Livsita

Let me just say, Picadillo is one of the most useful dishes I have ever cooked. Picadillo is a spicy Spanish/Latin American dish with ground meat and veggies (onions, peppers, tomatoes). Serve this dish over rice, in lettuce as a wrap, as a stuffed pepper, in a tortilla... or whatever else you can think of.



To top it all off, my sister keeps telling me this is her favorite.







Picadillo de Livsita



Ingreditants

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

1 cup green and red pepper mix

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded (to taste) and minced

4 garlic cloves

1 pound beef sirloin

1/2 pound ground pork

1 teaspoon (rounded) cumin

2 small tomatoes, chopped into small pieces, or run through the food processor chop cycle

1/2 cup raisins

red wine (optional)

Hot white rice




1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, green peppers, garlic and jalepeno until soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the meat, turning the heat up to medium-high. Brown the meat, breaking up any lumps. Cook the meat thoroughly, about 10 minutes.

3. Drain off the fat.

4. Add the cumin and tomatoes. Stir in well. Bring the mixture to a boil, turn the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Stir in the raisins, cover, and let simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the raisins have plumped.





Today, I forgot to get a jalepeno, so I used dried red pepper flakes, and it still turned out well. Sometimes I splash in a little red wine (and then have a glass over dinner) for a different flavor. Adding green olives at the end- when the raisins go in- also adds another dimension.