My ruminations on my life, my family, cooking, baking, and whatever else comes to mind
Tonight’s dinner was fast and easy – a combination of a couple previous recipes. I mixed one pound of ground buffalo with some kosher salt, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce, then formed it into four patties, which I pan fried. After flipping them over, I added 8 oz of crimini mushrooms to the pan and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and garlic. I then served on large butter lettuce leaves.
Another great box. The apples are just wonderful, and this week saw the first of the winter squash – some beautiful little pumpkins. I’m looking forward to roasting those 😀
Free-Range Eggs
Lettuce-Butterhead
Winter Squash-Pie Pumpkins
Tomatoes-Heirloom
Tomatoes-Sungold
Tomatoes-Sungold
Squash-Romanesco
Potatoes-Gold
Nectarine-White
Pluot-Flavor Supreme
Apples-Honeycrisp
Apples-Honeycrisp
One of our standbys, bruschetta chicken for dinner tonight. A last hurrah of summer and a welcome to autumn! This is a great healthy meal that is very satisfying.
I signed up for Weight Watchers on September 1st, and meals like this fit in very well with the plan. I’ve added a page to keep track of my progress that you can access up top there to hear about my success and struggle, and you’ll sometimes see point values pop up here for my reference and yours if you’re so inclined. So far I’m happy with my progress. 🙂
This is 6 points per serving.
This recipe was inspired by my bierock recipe (German bread dumplings filled with a mixture of ground beef, onion, and cabbage). Omitting the bread makes it a bit healthier, and pork chops seemed to fit with this method of cooking better than ground beef. The beer lends a subtle flavor to the pork and a stronger flavor to the cabbage, but it’s not really a beer flavor, if that makes any sense. At any rate, this was weird, but good. Next time I’d use a little thicker pork chop, as these super thin ones got just a touch dry.
Beer Braised Pork Chops and Cabbage
Serves 3 generously
1 tbsp canola oil
6 thinly sliced pork chops, about 1.2 lbs
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion (1/2 of a small onion)
1 cup water
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
1 small head green cabbage, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bottle (12 fl oz) beer (I used the locally brewed Scuttlebutt Amber Ale)
Season the pork with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pork chops and brown on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the pork to a plate and add the onions stir and add water as necessary to deglaze the pan as the onions caramelize, about 5 minutes total. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the cabbage and season with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the beer and return the pork and any accumulated juices to the pan. Cover and braise for 7-12 minutes or until the cabbage is wilted. Stir the vegetables and serve warm.
This is a healthy take on stuffed peppers. This is oven broiled and stuffed with a lean meat and veggie mixture rather than cheese. The picadillo is a Brazilian version, based on this Allrecipes version. Ground beef is more traditional, but the ground turkey is a good substitute. My grocery store sells it in packages of 20 oz, but if yours does 1 lb packages, that’ll work just fine. I quite liked this, but Shaun wasn’t a fan, so it’ll go on my list o’ things to make when he’s out of town.
Turkey Picadillo Stuffed Poblanos
Serves 8
8 medium poblano peppers
For the picadillo:
2 tsp canola oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup diced yellow onion (1/2 of a small onion)
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper (1/2 of a medium bell pepper)
20 oz lean ground turkey
1/2 cup green olives, halved
2 tbsp capers
1 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash ground cloves
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1 dried bay leaf
dash hot sauce
1 15-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
For the picadillo:
In a large saucepan heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, and pepper, and saute until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the ground beef to the pot and increase heat to medium high. Brown the beef well, breaking it up into small pieces. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
For the chiles:
Halve the poblanos lengthwise, keeping the stems intact. Use a paring knife to scrape out the seeds and membranes. Place the halves skin side up in a large baking dish.
Turn on the broiler and place the chiles underneath for 4-5 minutes to get a good char. Remove the pan from the oven and use tongs to turn the chiles cut side up.
Spoon the picadillo evenly into the poblano halves, heaping slightly as needed.
Place back under the broiler for another 5-7 minutes to get the filling to brown slightly.
Another great box this week!
Free-Range Eggs
Head Lettuce-Farmers Choice
Tomatoes-Brandywine
Squash-Romanesco
Squash-Romanesco
Potatoes-Gold
Cucumbers-Slicing
Cabbage-Savoy
Nectarine-White
Pluot-Flavor Supreme
Watermelons
Apples-Honeycrisp
With the leftover tenderloin from last night, I made these layered enchiladas. I cut up the pork into small chunks and browned them up in a skillet with a bit of olive oil, with the additional seasoning of cumin and chili powder. I then added a can of fat free refried beans and about a cup of dark red enchilada sauce to the skillet and stirred to combine well, bringing it to a boil. I sprayed an 8″ x 8″ pyrex baking dish with non-stick spray and lined the bottom with four corn tortillas, then added my pork mixture, topped with another four corn tortillas, and poured about another cup of enchilada sauce over the top. Into a 425 degree F oven for 20 minutes to let it all come together, and my leftover pork was transformed 😀 This was a really good hearty, albeit unattractive 😛 , meal for a drizzly evening.
Another simple and tasty dinner tonight. I preheated the oven to 425 degrees F, sliced up about 3 pounds of romanesco summer squash into 3/4 inch thick rounds, sprinkled them with kosher salt and black pepper and popped them in the oven. I then made a rub from about 2 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, and 2 tsp olive oil, and rubbed that all over two pork tenderloins. I then threw those in the oven (the squash had about 10-15 minutes head start), and roasted until they reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, which is a little pink. If you like your pork well done, go up to 180 degrees F, and don’t give the squash a head start.
I made this recipe again tonight, with the only change being that I used a whole small head of garlic (about 6 good sized cloves) to make the paste to put under the skin. I let them marinate for 24 hours in the fridge, and again the infused flavor was just wonderful. I served this with some lightly steamed broccoli.
This was a very simple and delicious preparation for a lovely piece of fresh halibut. The skin was removed, the fish was seasoned lightly with pepper, then dusted with panko, and fried over medium heat in a little olive oil. Served over a tossed green salad, the light summer meal was complete.
