Meaty Monday: Apple Spice Pork Chops

The Ninja's new colleague had supper with us one night a few weeks ago so I was looking for a recipe that had two things: 1) pork as the main ingredient and 2) some sort of fall implement. I am trying to beckon colder weather with fall aspects; home décor, apple pie etc. I may even drink a pumpkin spice latte.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it looked so easy and delicious I couldn't pass it up. The key thing to remember about this, and any pork chop recipe, is DON'T OVERCOOK YOUR PORK. You're doing yourself a disservice by cooking pork chops and roasts until they are dry as a bone. Pork is best served at 145 F and it is ok to have a little pink in there. Trust me - I'm married to a doctor ;)

I hope you enjoy this meal - if you try it and like it, shout it out below in the comments!

Ingredients:

 - 4 or 5  pork chops (ours were about 1" thick)
 - 2 T vegetable oil
 - salt and pepper
 - 1 medium onion
 - 2 medium apples
 - 2 T butter
 - 1 T brown sugar
 - 1/2 t cinnamon
 -  1/4 tsp nutmeg
 - 1 t chicken bouillon
 - 1 cup water



Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. While the oil is heating, season chops with salt and pepper (I use heavy salt and pepper because we like spiced up food). Once the oil is hot, place the chops in the pan and let the bottoms get a nice brown crust (2-3 minutes). While the chops are browning slice up your onions and apples (you don't have to peel the apples). Flip the chops and brown the other side for 2-3 minutes, then remove them from the pan.








Give the chops a few minutes to get a good crust on one side; then flip and repeat with  the other.

Now put the apples, onions and butter in the pan so that they can soften (approximately 5 minutes), then add in the bouillon, water, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir everything together well and ensure that the apples and onions are softened, then add the chops back to the pan. Make sure there are apples and onions on the chops so that the flavors can collide.



They taste better than they smell - and they smell DELICIOUS!

Simmer the whole mess until the sauce is reduced by half and the chops are 145 degrees F. Serve chops with apples and onions served on top, with your favorite starch or veggie.














I hope you enjoy these as much as we did - fall weather is here and this is great recipe for those chilly nights! What are your favorite fall recipes?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Hunk of Meat Monday: Marinated Pork Roast with Pan Sauce

A hot meal for a cold day

It's cold and rainy here in Kansas, which has me dreaming of spring and grilling. Alas, our grill doesn't get used as much during the colder months so I'm forced to cook whole meals instead of putting the Ninja in charge of the meat.

Which is why this Hunk of Meat Monday recipe is so fabulous - it was easy, delicious and can be replicated with beef or lamb just as easily so it doesn't get old and boring. Throw the roast in the marinade in the morning and that evening, in less than an hour, you've got a scrumptious, moist pork roast to enjoy while the wind blows and snow flies.

Marinated Pork Roast with Pan Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
~ 3 tbsp. lemon juice
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tbsp. parsley
2 tsp dry mustard
black pepper, to taste
~ 4 tbsp. minced garlic

All of this was already in my pantry - win!

Combine all ingredients and save back about three tbsp. of the mixture. Place the pork roast (mine was about 2 lbs) and marinade in a plastic Ziploc bag and let marinate for at least 3-4 hours (longer is better but 3-4 gets the job done).

After marinating is complete, sear each side of the pork roast in a skillet over medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes. Place in 350 F degree oven and cook until internal temperature reaches 145-150 degrees (this took about 45 minutes in my oven but can vary). Let rest for five minutes before cutting.

Searing the pork roast really locked in the flavor on the surface

For the pan sauce:
Marinade that you saved back
2 tsp butter
Pan scrapings from the pork roast
1/2 cup beef broth

Place skillet back on stove over medium heat and add beef broth while scraping up the browned pieces of goodiness from the pan. Add the marinade and let the whole thing boil down for a few minutes. Add butter and remove from heat, stirring until butter is melted. Pour this over your pork roast and enjoy!


So delicious!

In other news, I have finally reached the stage of my life where I look at a recipe like this and am confident that I have all the needed ingredients - red wine vinegar, minced garlic, beef broth etc. I have an overwhelming feeling of pride that my kitchen feels fully stocked. Any others out there feel this way?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Hunk of Meat Monday: Stuffed Burgers

I am horrible about meal-planning. Usually 'round 5:30, I start to think about what we might want for dinner and go into a panic because I want to make intricate, flavorful meals but forget that achieving that goal requires a little bit more planning.

So, out comes the hamburger. Or ground pork. Or, in last night's case, ground turkey.

I've seen lots of recipes out there for stuffed burgers - those are not a new fad. But I've never made one and I've also never had a turkey burger. Two birds, one stone.

So below are two recipes, intertwined - one for turkey burgers and one for beef burgers.

Buzzard's Stuffed Burgers
- 1 lb ground beef or hamburger (did you know they're not the same thing?)
- 1 lb ground turkey
- Worcestershire sauce
- Swiss cheese, torn into tiny pieces
- Shredded Cojack cheese
- 1/2 strip bacon per beef patty
- salt & pepper
- seasoning salt

Fry bacon while ground beef is defrosting - this is essential if you waited until the last minute to get started on dinner. Shred bacon into tiny pieces - one half piece per patty. I only made two patties so one piece of bacon was plenty.


Mmmm, bacon

After beef is defrosted, place in bowl and pour in a good amount of Worcestershire sauce (~4 tbsp) and mix up with hands. Let set for ~5 minutes before dividing beef in half and forming two- half pound patties.



Add in Worcestershire sauce, mix and let marinade for five minutes

Make a divot in the patty and place half the bacon and some shredded cojack cheese. Smush burger around filling, while retaining patty shape.



Add in your stuffing and mush the patty around the bacon and cheese to seal

Do the same process (two patties, cheese, smushing) with the swiss cheese and ground turkey. At this point, I had four- half pound burger patties.

Turkey and swiss sammich, anyone?

Season your turkey patties with salt and pepper; beef with salt, pepper and one of my fave seasonings, Red Robin french fry sprinkles.



Season beef patties with salt, pepper and Red Robin's french fry seasoning

Grill patties over medium charcoal heat until internal temperature reaches 160 F. Enjoy the gooey goodness when you cut into them (we didn't have any buns so ate with forks)!

Don't they look delicious?!

 

Bacon and cheesy stuffed amazingness!

I plan to try again with mushroom stuffed ground pork burgers (for the Ninja, not me) later this spring. Now that it's warming up, we basically spend every minute of every evening outside working or playing around, and 5 out of 7 nights, we end up grilling. I love it - quick prep, quick eat and quick clean up. Triple threat.

The turkey burgers were good but not great. I needed to add bacon in the middle or something. They also needed more seasoning but I'm not sure what is a great turkey seasoning? I would appreciate input and advice for ground turkey seasoning!

If you try these out, let me know if you liked them and leave me tips below, please!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Beer Drenched Pork Chops

My friends and family will tell you I'm not a beer drinker. However, that does not mean that I won't cook with it - hence this recipe that I found on Pinterest.

When you read through the ingredients you're probably going to think the pork chops will be bitter and overwhelmingly 'hoppy.' Not so.

I only made three chops with this recipe but should have made six because I was wishing I had more for leftover lunches the following days.

Without further ado:

Beer Drenched Pork Chops
- 1 bottle dark beer (not as dark as Guinness - I used Amber Bock)
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- six pork chops
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 water

Season chops with salt & pepper.

The beginning of a great meal

Place in a skillet with a little bit of vegetable/canola oil. Brown both sides.

Mmmmm, meat.

While the chops are browning, combine your beer, ketchup and brown sugar and mix together well.



The dark beer of choice - I'd say it turned out well!

Mix together ketchup, brown sugar and beer. It will be foamy - don't worry.

After chops are brown, add beer mixture to pan and simmer, uncovered, until chops are 145 degrees F. This will take about 15 minutes but use a meat thermometer to be certain - don't overcook your pork or it will be too dry! Especially since you're going to add them back to the sauce briefly to coat.

 Bubbly, porky goodness

Remove pork chops and set aside. Add ~1 tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 water to sauce mixture and simmer briefly to thicken. Add chops back to mixture and coat with sauce for a few minutes. Serve with rice or your choice of sides.

 

Don't be fooled - my food photography skills are not improving I just used some editing to make it look 'better' - I think white plates and natural lighting would drastically improve my plated meals!



That's it! Seriously one of the best pork recipes I've ever had - I hope you love it as much as the Ninja and I did!

 

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~