Two For The Recipe Box

Roast Pork With Mustard Herb Coating

It's been a while since I posted a recipe and this one is soooo good, I had to share it. I made this roast pork for my family last Sunday and it turned out to be one of the best roasts I have ever tasted. The aroma wafting from my over was absolutely divine and the end product was incredibly flavorful.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons coarse-grained Dijon mustard

6 large garlic cloves, minced

4 small bay leaves, finely crumbled

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 2 1/2-pound boneless pork rib roast

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine Dijon mustard, minced garlic, bay leaves, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and rosemary in small bowl; whisk to blend. Dry pork with paper towels. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Spread mustard mixture all over pork. Place pork on rack in baking dish. Roast pork until thermometer inserted into center registers 150°F, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes. Transfer pork to platter. Slice pork thinly and serve.

Original recipe from Bon Appetit magazine, April 2000.

Cider Pork Stew

I prepared the above recipe with a 3 1/2 pound pork roast and had about 1/3 of it left over. It was the perfect amount for this diabetic friendly pork stew for Monday night's dinner! A sweet smelling fall recipe, this is a great slow cooker stew.

Ingredients
2 lbs boneless pork shoulder roast
3 medium cubed potatoes
3 medium carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium onions, sliced
1 cup coarsely chopped apple
1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
3 tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
2 cups apple juice or apple cider
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
celery leaves (optional)


Preparation
Cut meat into 1-inch cubes. In a 3-1/2- to 5-1/2quart slow cooker, combine meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, apple, celery, and tapioca. Stir in apple juice, salt, caraway seeds, and pepper. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours. If desired, garnish individual servings with celery leaves. Makes: 8 servings For full nutritional info, click here.

Original recipe from Diabetic Living Online.

Good Old Comfort Food ~ Meatballs and Pasta

Meatballs and pasta. They go together like peanut butter and jam. Good old fashioned comfort food. This particular version was created by one of my favorite chefs, Jamie Oliver. We tested it on Monday evening for dinner, after Dylan specifically requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. I've made meatballs many times before, but lately I've been testing quite a few of Jamie's recipes, so I figured I might as well check this one out! Everyone in my family loved it and gobbled it up quickly; we'll definitely be making this again.

The thing I love about Jamie's recipes is that he always uses fresh ingredients and basic cooking techniques. Nothing's super fancy, it's just delicious food made with things grown close to home. And this recipe is no exception. The aroma that filled my kitchen as I lightly fried the fresh rosemary was absolutely divine. And then when I combined the rosemary scented meatballs with the tomato sauce mulling with balsamic vinegar and lots of fresh basil, my kitchen was transformed into a little italian villa. Mmmmm....

So here is the recipe itself, taken from Jamie Oliver's website.

Ingredients

4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
12 Jacob’s cream crackers
2 heaped teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 lb  good-quality minced beef, pork, or a mixture of the two
1 heaped tablespoon dried oregano
1 large egg, preferably free-range or organic
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

olive oil
a bunch of fresh basil
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
½ a fresh or dried red chilli
2 x 14 oz tins of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 lb dried spaghetti or penne
Parmesan cheese, for grating

Directions 
(From Jamie Oliver's website)
To make the meatballs: Pick the rosemary leaves off the woody stalks and finely chop them. Wrap the crackers in a tea towel and smash up until fine, breaking up any big bits with your hands. Add to a mixing bowl with the mustard, minced meat, chopped rosemary and oregano. Crack in the egg and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. With clean hands scrunch and mix up well. Divide into 4 large balls. With wet hands, divide each ball into 6 and roll into little meatballs – you should end up with 24. Drizzle them with olive oil and jiggle them about so they all get coated. Put them on a plate, cover and place in the fridge until needed.

To cook the pasta, meatballs and sauce: Pick the basil leaves, keeping any smaller ones to one side for later. Peel and finely chop the onion and the garlic. Finely slice the chili. Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Next, heat a large frying pan on a medium heat and add 2 lugs of olive oil. Add your onion to the frying pan and stir for around 7 minutes or until softened and lightly golden. Then add your garlic and chilli, and as soon as they start to get some colour add the large basil leaves. Add the tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar. Bring to the boil and season to taste. Meanwhile, heat another large frying pan and add a lug of olive oil and your meatballs. Stir them around and cook for 8–10 minutes until golden (check they’re cooked by opening one up – there should be no sign of pink). Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer until the pasta is ready, then remove from the heat. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions.

To serve the meatballs: Saving some of the cooking water, drain the pasta in a colander. Return the pasta to the pan. Spoon half the tomato sauce into the pasta, adding a little splash of your reserved water to loosen. Serve on a large platter, or in separate bowls, with the rest of the sauce and meatballs on top. Sprinkle over the small basil leaves and some grated Parmesan.

*Nutritional information for this dish has been omitted because it varies so much depending on the ingredients chosen. 

A Double Dose of Jamie for Easter

I had promised in a tweet earlier this week that I would share a couple of Jamie Oliver recipes that I made over Easter weekend, so here the are.

The first is an omelette that I made for my family the morning before Easter Sunday. Predominantly eggs, it's low carb, low fat, and high protein. The hint of rosemary on the palette is present is every bite of the omelette, while the tartness of parsley salad on the side perfectly balances the savory eggs. I added a sprinkling of goat cheese to the omelette for the last minute of cooking time too, just because I love cheese.

The second recipe I prepared for Easter dinner itself. We had a large family dinner and I was asked to bring a potato dish, so this was the one I chose. Wow, what a great choice. It pairs perfectly with the sweetness of an Easter ham. I'll definitely be making this one again.

Potato and Chorizo Omelette with a Kinda Parsley Salad

(From Jamie Oliver's website)

"This omelette is a cross between a Spanish tortilla and an Italian frittata. It’s Spanish because of the chorizo and potato, but a little Italian too because I like to finish it off in the oven instead of on the hob, so it puffs up like a soufflé. It has all the things I love in it –potatoes, sausage and eggs."

Ingredients

4 small waxy potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large free-range or organic eggs
2 x 60g good-quality Spanish chorizo sausages, cut into 1cm thick slices
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
2 shallots, peeled and very finely sliced
juice of 1 lemon
extra virgin olive oil
a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked

Directions

(From Jamie Oliver's website)

"Preheat your oven to full whack, or get your grill nice and hot. Put the potatoes into a saucepan of boiling salted water and simmer them until cooked, then drain in a colander and leave them to steam dry. Beat the eggs with a fork in a large mixing bowl, season well with salt and pepper, and put to one side.

Heat a 20cm non-stick, ovenproof frying pan. Add the chorizo slices and the potato chunks. The chorizo will start to sizzle, releasing all its tasty oils and spices. After a couple of minutes, when everything’s lightly golden and crisp, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put to one side. Sprinkle the rosemary leaves into the hot fat. As soon as they hit the pan, they’ll start to crisp up. Pour the beaten eggs on top immediately, adding the potatoes and chorizo and spreading everything out evenly. Place the whole pan in the preheated oven or under the grill until the omelette is golden brown on top and just cooked through in the middle.

While the omelette is cooking, put the shallots into a bowl with the lemon juice, some salt and pepper and a glug of extra virgin olive oil. Toss and pinch the shallots with your fingertips to soften them slightly, then mix in the parsley leaves. Serve a little on top of the omelette and tuck in!"

Balsamic-Baked Onions and Potatoes

(From Jamie Oliver, via Food Network)

"This dish has attitude - it uses a lot of balsamic vinegar but, trust me, it works really well! The onions and potatoes are baked in the vinegar, making them crispy, dark, sticky and sweet. I've chosen to serve them with roasted pork, but beef or lamb works just as well. I prefer red onions for their color and sweetness.”

Ingredients

3 1/2 pounds medium-sized waxy potatoes (all purpose), peeled and quartered lengthwise

Olive oil

7 ounces butter, cubed

1 bunch fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped

1 whole bulb garlic, quartered or smashed

5 medium red onions, peeled and quartered

1 1/2 cups cheap balsamic vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

"Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the potatoes into a pan of boiling, salted water and cook for around 8 minutes, then drain and return to the pan. Chuff them up a bit by shaking the pan. Get another roasting pan, into which you can fit the potatoes in 1 layer, and heat it on the stove. When hot, pour a glug of olive oil into it and add the butter, rosemary and garlic. Add the potatoes and toss them in all the flavors. Add the onions and all the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes on the burner to reduce the balsamic vinegar a little. Place the pan on the top shelf and cook for around 50 minutes, until the potatoes and onions are dark, sticky and crispy - removing the pan to toss the onions and potato halfway through."