Tag Archives: butter

Pork Loin Rosemary Roast with Creamy Rosemary Gravy

Posted on by

So, I was freaking out today. Is anyone else out there a control freak? Growing up I had no idea I was a control freak. I was always the one just “going with the flow”, whatever, sounds good. I am a typical middle child, book nerd, peace maker, introvert.

Now, my birthday is approaching and I’m afraid that what other people plan won’t live up to what I was thinking we’d do. Like, I just gave my husband a DETAILED list of EXACTLY what I want to do on my birthday. Is that too much? I don’t know. At least I know what will happen, and that I won’t be disappointed that my husband didn’t pick up on my “hints”. Heh. Well…. bad or not, now I’m excited because he said he was really happy to see, in detail, what I wanted to do… and that he could make it happen. Whew!

Now, since I love to cook… I, at times, find myself saying… I’d rather just make it at home. Then I can control what ingredients are put into it and it will cost way less. So, I mentioned that to my husband and he said NO. Lol… problems, right? I’ve got a great husband who knows how to deal with my crazy emotions. 🙂

But this was one meal that I was considering making for my birthday since it was a crockpot meal and I wouldn’t have to “cook”. But, since I was appropriately shot down, I made it for dinner tonight!

porkroastwithpotatoes

Ingredients

  • 3 TB extra virgin olive
  • 2 TB minced garlic
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 2 tsp dried sage
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • dash of cayenne
  • 1/2 onion sliced thick
  • 7-8 potatoes cut into 6-8 pieces each
  • 2 lb. center pork loin (or two 1 lb. pork tenderloins)
  • 1 1/2 cups favorite white wine
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cup free range low sodium chicken broth or stock
  • 1 cup half&half with 2 TB flour (or cornstarch)
  • 2 TB butter

porkloinroastherb PorkLoinRoastHerb2

This is what the roast will look like when it comes out of the crock pot!!!

Instructions

  1. Spray your crock pot with some non-stick olive oil cooking spray.
  2. “Crust” the pork loin by placing and rubbing all dry herbs and garlic all over the pork loin and then place it into the crock pot.
  3. Wash and cut potatoes and onions and place into the crock pot with the pork roast.
  4. Add the white wine and the chicken broth, and then add the 2 TB of butter broken up into smaller pieces of the cop of the meat and potatoes in the crock pot.
  5. Put crock pot on LOW for 6-8 hours for best results, OR on HIGH for 4 hours.
  6. About 20 minutes before you want to eat, remove the pork roast from the crock pot and set aside on a plate and cover with foil to let it rest. Then, remove the potatoes. (At this point, you can do as I did and make mashed potatoes with them, or just eat them roasted.)
  7. Take the juices and onions from the bottom of the crock pot and put into a medium sized sauce pan. Heat up on medium-low. Do NOT boil.
  8. Put the 1 cup of 1/2&1/2 into a measuring cup and whisk in the flour (or corn starch). Then, SLOWLY whisk into the sauce pan with the drippings from the crock pot to make an AMAZING gravy!!! Then, add the FRESH rosemary to the gravy.
  9. Place the resting pork on a cutting board (you can add any accumulated meat juices back to the sauce if you like!). Slice the pork very thinly and place on to a serving platter. Pour the warm gravy over top.
  10. Serve with potatoes, and veggies… or just DIG IN!

porkloinroastwithgravy

Had to give this shot of the pork loin with the yummy, creamy gravy…

It sounds like a lot, but it was pretty easy because most of the day it was just sitting in the crock pot! Then you just whip up a gravy from the juices and voila! It’s juicy, tender and just comforting really…. perfect for a chilly and windy day!

And now, for the quote of the day: This was my day today.

Funny-Parenting-93

Dill Chicken and Potato Skillet

Posted on by

Doggone it…

Yeah. That’s how my Tuesday went! We have a large dog. Well, I guess technically he is in the medium to large sized dog family. He is around 80 pounds…. and he’s part bloodhound. The part about him being a bloodhound mix is quite important because he can literally smell a crumb under the kids bed from last week. He’s quite persistent too. During quiet time today, both of my kids were in 1 room playing together and having a snack, and my son decided to open the door. Four times. Guess what happened each time. Yep, Duke got in, ran straight for the snacks and tried to gobble it up as quickly as he could and tried to shove himself under my daughters bed to get all of the extra crumbs. I had to run from my room where I had a pile of laundry in my lap, each time, and pull the 80 pound dog off of the snacks and drag him out of the room. I’m going to get some serious Madonna arms!!! HA! It’s like, son, can you not see that if you open the door, your NATURAL CONSEQUENCE is: the dog will eat your food. And of course my son looks at me with a blank stare and says “Duke eat my food!”. Um. Yes, yes he did. Wow.

So, this is what happens every night when I make dinner:

duker

After he gets in trouble around 10 to 15 times for trying to stick his nose in dinner, he will finally sit down on that rug, completely in my way, and lay there while I make dinner. 🙂 He likes to smell it I assume.

Last night I was craving beets and potatoes. Weird craving? Not sure! But it sure sounded good!

dillpotatoskillet

Ingredients:

4 large yukon gold potatoes
10-12 organic baby carrots cut in half
3 frozen chicken tenderloins (for 2 people… I use 1.5 per person.)
1 small bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
2 TB olive oil
1 TB unsalted butter
3/4 cup FF low sodium free range chicken broth
1/4 sweet onion diced
1 small piece of bacon chopped
Optional: Can of beets… YUM! 🙂

Dill Seasoning: (Mix together in a small bowl and set aside)
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons dried dill
2½ teaspoons garlic powder
2¼ teaspoons kosher Himalayan sea salt
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
ÂĽ teaspoon cayenne pepper

chickenandpotatodill

Directions:

Partially peel the potatoes… I peel just the “eyes” out of the potatoes, and then dice. Drizzle the olive oil into a large skillet, and heat up at med. high. Place the potatoes, bacon and carrots into the skillet and place lid on. After about 5 minutes, when the potatoes might start sticking to the bottom of the pan, add the diced onions and chicken broth and stir around to “unstick” all of the ingredients, and sprinkle 1/3 of the above seasoning (that you mixed and set aside) over the potatoes and replace the lid. In a separate skillet, place 1 TB olive oil and the 3 (or more) chicken tenderloins and 1/3 of the dill seasoning sprinkled generously over both sides of the tenderloins. Cook on medium to medium high for approximately 8-10 min. per side until there is no pink left in the middle. (This is from frozen). While the chicken is cooking, sporadically stir the potatoes and carrots, adding more seasoning as desired. When the carrots are mostly soft with a bit of crunch, they are done (about 20 minutes)! Add 1 TB butter, melt in, stir around and serve with the chicken, and some slices of beets if so desired! Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and ENJOY!

Quote of the Day:

9ff4fb5fe8dd80a301ca0adc6ae09414

CousCous Stuffed Acorn Squash

Posted on by

stuffedacornsquash

As the weather cools I usually start craving different squash dishes, and warm baked dishes. Now, the “cool” part of the day here is still not dipping very low, but this acorn squash just sounded delicious!

It’s more of a “southwestern” take on it, or tex-mex… maybe? But this one turned out great! You can make it your own too by adding your own leftover meat from the week, or leaving the meat out and letting it be vegetarian!

This one is a good one!

Ingredients

  • 3-4 acorn squash (about 2-3 lbs each)
  • 1 cup couscous
  • 3 TB butter
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
  • ÂĽ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 cup diced fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies
  • 1 can black beans
  • ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese
  • fresh minced cilantro for serving
  • hot sauce (optional)
  • 1/2 cup leftover turkey sausage crumbles
  • 3/4 cup leftover shredded pork
  • salsa (optional)

stuffedacornsquash2

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Slice the tops off each acorn squash and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Toss seeds in the garbage and lay the squashes, cut side down, on a greased foil lined sheet tray. Roast for about 30-40 minutes until very tender when pricked with a fork.
  3. While the squashes are roasting, prepare the filling. Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a medium sized saucepot with the butter, olive oil and the salt and cumin. Once boiling, add the couscous and remove from the heat and place lid on. 
  4. In the mean time, place the heated up pork (or whatever leftover meat) and the sausage in a large bowl, the can of tomatoes, black beans, and chopped cilantro into the bowl. Once the couscous is done (according to pkg), pour into the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well.
  5. Fill the inside of the squashes with the couscous mixture and top with mozzarella cheese. Broil on low for about 5-6 minutes until cheese melts.
  6. Top squashes with fresh cilantro, more hot sauce and salsa if desired.

Yield: 6-8 servings

stuffedsquash

Enjoy!

And now, for the quote of the day:

2eabc35921ea0cc90f83e513e3565beb

Crockpot Roasted Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans

Posted on by

crockpotchickenwithswtpt

I needed something with a lot of flavor, and something I could put in the crock pot since I didn’t have a ton of time to cook… SO, i picked up a whole chicken w/the skin on. I wanted to be able to use the leftovers for a couple of meals for my hubby while I am out of town this weekend!

I will have to post that recipe at a later time!!

Ok, so here is the Crockpot roasted chicken!

Peruvian Roasted Chicken
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: varies
Points+ with Skin: drumstick 2 pts, wing 3 pts, thigh 4 pts, 4 oz breast 5 pts

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 1 bottle IPA beer (or a light beer)
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice of
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 lime cut into slices
  • salt
  • paprika
Directions:

Wash chicken and remove any giblet bag that is in the cavity. Salt and pepper the chicken. Place into the crock put and put on high for 4-5 hours, or low for 7-8 hours. Pour the beer over the chicken, and the rest of the liquids. Put the lemons and limes inside of the chicken cavity. Put all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix. Rub all over the chicken and place lid on. Put on low or high depending on cook time you want.

To test for doneness, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken; the thermometer should read about 160°F. The chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165°F, but after the chicken is done, it should basically be falling apart. I served it with mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed green beans with onions.

crockpotroastedchicken

For the mashed sweet potatoes I did the following:

Ingredients:

8 SMALL sweet potatoes peeled, and cut into 8 pieces per potato
2 TB margarine or butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Put the potatoes in a pot and just cover with water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 9-12 minutes until a fork easily goes through the potatoes. Drain, and mash and add above ingredients. If you prefer it even smoother, you can take a hand mixer and whip them!

For the green beans, I just sautee them in a skillet with about 1/4 cup onion and 1 tsp minced garlic for 10 min until softened, but still a bit crunchy.

Voila!

Delish!

And now, for the quote of the day:

day-by-day-cs-lewis-picture-quote

Lemon Poppyseed Chicken with Mint-Basil Couscous

Posted on by

DSC_0738

This is one of my “comfort” foods. Like, when I’ve had a long day, I like to make this and just inhale it! The chicken always turns out, and it always hits the spot.

This is my adaptation of Rachael Ray’s recipe: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/recipe/15613_Lemon_Poppy_Chicken_With_Sweet_Pea_amp_Mint_Couscous/index.html

I only changed two things, so it’s still HER recipe. Please visit her website above for her version!!!

 

  • 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock, divided
  • 1/2 bag of frozen sweet baby peas
  • 1 cup israeli couscous
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • 1 cup flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 lemons zested, 1 juiced
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins, cut into bite-size pieces(I used 6 chicken tenderloins)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
  • 10 leaves of basil, chopped
  • 10 leaves of mint, chopped

– See more at: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/recipe/15613_Lemon_Poppy_Chicken_With_Sweet_Pea_amp_Mint_Couscous/index.html#sthash.5ikV4uxH.dpuf

lemonpoppyseedchicken

Directions:

Place a medium-size saucepot over high heat and add 1 1/2 cups of the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil then add the peas and the couscous. Place a lid on the pot and turn off the heat. Let sit for 5 minutes. (Israeli Couscous has different prep instructions. If you use this kind of coucous please follow the proper directions on the box!)

While the stock is coming up to a boil for the couscous, place a large skillet over high heat with 3 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 3-4 tablespoons. While the skillet is heating up, place the flour on a plate. Toss the chicken in the flour to coat, shaking off any excess. Add the chicken pieces to the hot skillet. Season the chicken liberally with salt, pepper and the lemon zest, and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring every now and then to get them brown all over.

Once the chicken has browned, add the remaining cup chicken stock to the skillet. Once the stock is hot, add the butter and poppy seeds. Stir until the butter has melted and the sauce has thickened up a bit, about a minute. Turn off the heat and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon into the pan.

With a microplane or the smallest grade of a handheld box grater, grate in the garlic the last 2 minutes of cooking.

– See more at: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/recipe/15613_Lemon_Poppy_Chicken_With_Sweet_Pea_amp_Mint_Couscous/index.html#sthash.5ikV4uxH.dpuf

 

Quote of the Day:

cf60e9789b1f3a431dbecec132a5ce80

 

Short Ribs – Served 2 Ways… and mighty good either way!!!

Posted on by

Shortribsongritsshortribsonpotatoes

Short Ribs, served on top of cheesy grits OR garlic, parmesan mashed potatoes…. You choose!!

I was watching one of my favorite cooking shows the other day, and someone made short ribs. I was thinking… short ribs?! I could do that, right? I have GOT to try that if they make it on a cooking show. They must be amazing!!! So, I found a recipe and adapted it to make it my own. And I have found out…. I LOVE short ribs! They were incredibly easy too!!! You could cook a roast the same way! LOVE! You could even do sirloin tips, etc similarly. Easy and quick recipe!

Ingredients (including grits AND potatoes… you can choose either though)

6-8 individual short ribs (or more depending on the size of your crowd! You want about 1-2 per person)
3-4 TB butter (4 if you want to top the ribs after serving with a bit of butter)
1 TB minced garlic
1/4 onion cut roughly (larger pieces)
1 cup red wine (I used an “Old Vine Zinfandel”) this is optional, you can just use beef broth; OR substitute with a dark beer
1 cup low sodium organic beef broth
4 carrots cut into large pieces
salt & pepper
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
3 TB quick cooking white grits (or yellow grits… your preference)
3/4 cup water (for grits)
5-6 red potatoes
2 TB milk
2 TB parmesan cheese

 

Directions:

Place cast iron skillet (or normal skillet) on stove and heat up. Do not put oil in the skillet. While it is heating up, dry the short ribs with a paper towel, and sprinkle sea salt and pepper on all sides of the short ribs. Then, making sure the skillet is hot, sear the short ribs on all sides so they have a nice crust. Only about 30 seconds per side. Then, place into your crock pot. When you remove the short ribs from the pan, DO NOT dump any drippings from the pan. (You can also do this in a dutch oven baking at 350 for 3-4 hours). Put your crock pot on HIGH for cooking for 4-5 hours, put on LOW to cook for 7-8 hours. Add 1/4 cup of the beef broth to the skillet that you just finished searing the meat in. Then add the garlic and the onions to the skillet and stir into the simmering beef broth. Once that’s simmering, add 1/4 cup of the wine and a tsp of the worcestershire sauce and 1 TB of butter. Simmer that until it reduces by half. While that is simmering, add the remaining liquids into the crock pot and place a small amount of the butter onto the top of each of the short ribs. Once the liquid in the skillet has reduced, pour that into the crock pot and place the lid onto the crock pot.

Cook as directed above until the meat is about falling off of the bone…. And… if you want some gravy, just take about 1 cup of the drippings, place into a sauce pan, add a TB or a bit more of flour… Simmer and WHISK vigorously until thickened!

When it’s about time to serve the short ribs, you’ll want to make your sides. The wilted spinach in the above picture, all I did was sautee it in some of the “au jus” from the crock pot for about 2-3 min. Done. The carrots I also sauteed in the au jus, just for about 5-10 min until starting to soften.

The mashed potatoes was a version of a previous recipe of mine: https://dancinandcookininthekitchen.com/2014/06/08/crispy-coconut-encrusted-chicken-with-mashed-potatoes/

The grits, I just followed the instructions on the package for quick cooking grits. Once they were done, I removed from the heat and stirred in about 2 TB of shredded cheddar cheese. That’s it!

Serve up, and ENJOY!!! My hubby said “I’d order this in a restaurant, develop a craving for it, and then have to keep going back just to order it!”. So, I’d say it was a major success!!!

And, for the quote of the day:

e47fbd1816d21874a7a2e203bb9cfe40

Ritz Cracker Coated Chicken with Pasta and a Cream Sauce… NOT LIGHT!

Posted on by

Ok… so first off, this is NOT what I planned on cooking tonight. I was going to make a lightly “pan fried” chicken with a lemon dill sauce. Let’s just say I found out that I was out of corn starch, then I found out that I was out of panko bread crumbs. THEN I ruined my lemon sauce because I added a bit of cream… it was going well, and THEN I added a bit more lemon… CURDLED my sauce!!!! UGH! Then, the other sauce I tried to make I followed a recipe. Shouldn’t have. It was HORRIBLE! So then, I just made my own “alfredo” sauce with a bit of dill (I needed to use my DILL!!). (light version)

So… Here goes!! HAHA, the final recipe I actually used…

chickenritz

Chicken Recipe:

6 chicken tenderloins
1 cup milk (I used coconut milk… you can use whichever)
2 TB light oil (canola or coconut)
1 cup flour
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
salt&pepper to taste
3 egg whites
1/2 cup water
1 roll of ritz crackers (or equivalent… I used TJ version)
2 TB parmesan cheese grated

Directions for the Chicken:

Soak the chicken in the milk for 30 min. at least in the fridge. Place the flour, onion powder, garlic powder and salt and pepper in 1 bowl. In bowl #2 place the egg whites and water. In bowl #3 place the ritz crackers crushed up to crumbs, and the parmesan cheese.

Take the chicken, dip into the flour mix (bowl #1), then into the egg and water mixture (bowl #2) and then into the crumb mixture (bowl #3).  Then place into the heated skillet of oil on medium to medium-high. (Just covering the bottom, not dropping into a vat of oil)

Since I had more chicken than could fit into the pan, the chicken that was already crisped up, I placed onto a pan in the oven @350 to keep crispy and hot in the oven. (not for more than 15 min or so)

While all of this is happening… INSTEAD of making mashed potatoes like I THOUGHT I was going to… haha, I made linguini. Yeah, where was I at the grocery store?!

Then, I made the sauce… oh man. I’m telling you, this was a struggle. UGH! Ok. So… here’s the recipe for the sauce:

1 1/2 – 2 TB butter
2 TB flour
3/4 cup half and half (or whatever milk you prefer)
2 TB parmesan (or similar) cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp garlic (powder or minced)
1 tsp minced FRESH dill (optional)

1. Melt butter in small sauce pan on low
2. slowly add flour and whisk
3. when thickened add the half and half slowly while whisking quickly
4. add salt and pepper
5.add cheese just till melted, whisking the entire time until melted thoroughly
6. add fresh dill (and leave some for garnish)
7. remove from heat and pour over pasta and chicken

 

I served this with a salad with the leftover dressing from last nights summer fruit salad!!! YUM!