Slow-Cooker Orange-BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I love my "What's Cooking" magazine. It is a free publication from Kraft Foods. You can also find great recipes on their website.

This recipe comes from the magazine and is on the website. I have made it a few times. It is quick and easy; it would be great if you are having company over for dinner and you are out all day.




1 C BBQ sauce
1/4 C pure orange marmalade
3lbs boneless pork shoulder (I use 3-4 boneless pork loin chops

1/2 C miracle Whip
Sandwhich rolls, split and toasted (I use WW kaiser buns)

MIX barbecue sauce and marmalade in small bowl. Place meat in slow cooker; top with barbecue sauce mixture. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW for 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours). Remove meat from slow cooker; cut into small pieces or shred with fork. Return meat to slow cooker; stir until meat is evenly coated with the barbecue sauce mixture.

SPREAD dressing onto cut sides of buns. Fill rolls evenly with meat mixture.

:::I also grill some onions and serve that on top of the pork buns:::

I have served it over wild rice with a side of green beans, that was good too!

Sole Phyllo Packets with Dill Cream Cheese

We went to dinner at friends last weekend and K&S made halibut in phyllo. It was such a great idea. The phyllo is a great flavor with fish. I had sole in the freezer, so I found a couple of recipes and combine them to make it work. I served it with asparagus and a salad.

6-8 oz (3/4 - 1 Cup) Cream cheese, Softened
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp Fresh lemon juice
8 Sole fillets
Cooking spray, butter Flavored
4 Phyllo leaves, thawed

>Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well, and set aside.
>Place 1 sheet of phyllo on a damp towel (keep remaining phyllo covered).
>Lightly coat phyllo with cooking spray; fold in half crosswise.
> Place 1 fillet on phyllo; Spread one-fourth of cheese mixture on top of the first fillet and the top with the second fillet.(I used 2 fillets so that there was some substance to the package - 1 just was not enough)
>Fold phyllo over fish; fold lengthwise edges in about 1 inch, and roll up, jellyroll fashion.
>Lightly coat phyllo packet with cooking spray; place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
>Repeat procedure with remaining phyllo, cheese mixture, and fillets.

Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter.

Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Sherry Sauce

We had a friend join us for dinner so I made this. I served it with garlic mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and cauliflower with homemade cheese sauce and a spinach salad.

Beef Tenderloin

2-3 lb beef tenderloin roast
2 tsp each thyme, seasoning salt, Montreal steak seasoning. Rub the roast or steaks with seasoning and let stand until room temp. (about an hour)

I use the convection/roast setting on my oven and roast at 400 degrees. I cook it until the internal temp is 120 degrees, that is med rare. The most important thing to remember is to let the cooked meat rest for 10-15 minutes. It will still cook in this time and the juices will settle as well.

Sherry Mushroom Sauce

2 teaspoons butter
1 1/2 cups pre-sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons water


Sauce:

Melt butter in pan. Add mushrooms, shallots, and garlic to pan; saute 3 minutes. Stir in broth and sherry. Combine cornstarch and 2 teaspoons water in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Serve with cooked beef.

Some corrections for the Morton's Chocolate Cake Recipe

I posted a recipe for Morton's Signature Chocolate Cake aka Lava cakes. I just wanted to let you know that I did try them for our V Day dinner at home. They were fantastic however there are a few things that I wanted to mention.

First off, it says they make 6 servings, they actually made 12. I have ramekins that are the size of the cup in a muffin tin. So I made six of those and them used three of my smallest white corning ware dishes (maybe 4 inch) and made double portions with the rest of the batter. Next time however, I will half the recipe.

I used dark chocolate instead of semi sweet and that was really good.

Thursday night madness

Thursday night is always a crazy night to get dinner on the table. My daughter has ballet that runs right over the dinner hour. Needless to say, if I am not organized prior to leaving for ballet, it is a take out night...

All week I have been craving Greek food, so here is what we had. I prepared all of this ahead of time so it was ready to put together upon our return.

Greek 'salsa'



1 red pepper - chopped
1/2 long English cucumber - chopped
1 clove garlic - minced
Olive Oil (I just dumped, but if I am guessing...) 3 TBSP
1 TBSP Greek Seasoning (I buy the big container of it at Costco)
Feta Cheese - crumbled - as much as desired

Mix all ingredients together and cover with saran and let marinade in the fridge. Serve either in a pita with hummus and chicken or alongside your souvlaki.

Souvlaki





Bamboo Skewers (about 8)
Store Bought tzatziki

3 Chicken Breasts (You can use steak, lamb or shrimp too)- cut into 1-1 1/2 inch cubes
Sea Salt (enough to lightly season chicken)
After cutting the chicken, season with the salt and let rest while you mix up the marinade.

About 4 TBSP Olive Oil
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
2 TBSP Greek Seasoning
Mix these three ingredients together in a bowl. Add salted chicken cubes and coat. Put 6 cubes onto each skewer. Place in a container or on a plate (with saran) and let them rest in the fridge until ready to cook. This will allow the flavors to really get into the chicken

Cooking them on the BBQ gives them a nice char-broiled taste. But you can cook them in the oven by broiling them. Simply place them on a broiling pan and broil at 450 degrees for about 10-15 mins (or until cooked through). I would suggest rotating them half way through to get them cooked evenly. Serve hot with tzatziki.

Pita & Hummus





Nothing fancy here... I have made my own hummus at times, but honestly, I have not found a recipe that compares to the store bought kind (let me know if you have one I can try). I cut the pita into 6 pieces and lightly cover with butter. I then heat them in the oven until butter is melted and the pita is heated through (a toaster oven works great for this). I then serve with hummus.

LEFTOVER IDEA - I use leftovers to make a stuffed pita. Simply cut open one side of the pita, spread hummus and tzatziki on the pita, add chicken and Greek salsa and close to enjoy for lunch or dinner. You can have this cold or hot. Add a bit of extra feta for some more flavor.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Pizza is such a family favorite. I made this the other night when my cousin came over for dinner. It turned out really well. I made the dough around lunch time, let it rise and then added the toppings and let it rest for the afternoon. It still rose a bit, but that made the dough really nice and fluffy when we cooked it for supper. I would stress that you grease the pan, especially if you are going to leave it rest for a time. I forgot to and the crust did not get as crispy as I would have liked and it stuck in a couple of places.


Using the pizza dough recipe, roll out your dough to fit the pizza pan.

Ingredients for 1 pizza:
1/4-1/2 Cup BBQ sauce
1 cooked chicken breast - sliced
1 large Red Pepper - cut in strips or small pieces (whatever your preference)
5 or 6 small mushrooms - sliced
2 cups (or more if desired) grated Mozza Cheese (I use partly skimmed mozza)
OPTIONAL - grilled onions

Spread BBQ sauce over the dough, arrange chicken, red pepper mushrooms and onions (optional) over the BBQ sauce. Top with cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 mins.

Pizza Dough

1 package dried yeast (1½ tsp or 8ml)
1/2 tsp sugar
1½ cup lukewarm water
3½ cups flour (I use a mixture of whole wheat 2.5 Cup and buckwheat 1 Cup - however next time I would only use WW)
2 TBSP Italian seasoning (optional)
1½ tsp salt
1 large egg - beaten
olive oil

Sprinkle yeast and sugar into warm water and stir together. Let rest for 10 minutes until mixture starts to bubble.

In the meantime, combine flour, salt and Italian seasoning in large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in yeast mixture and beaten egg. I use my Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook to mix and kneed the dough into a ball.

You can use your hands too, just gradually work in the flour to make a dough.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead thoroughly until smooth and elastic -at least 5 minutes. Limit your flour , just use enough so the dough will not stick to the counter.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn dough around so that it becomes covered with oil. Then cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise for 45 mins or doubled in size.

Divide the dough in half and roll out to fit two pizza pans. Make sure you grease the pizza pans or your crust will stick after it has cooked. Top with desired sauce and toppings; cook at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cooked all the way through.

Valentine's Day Entertaining

Please note that I have posted an update on this recipe here

With Valentines Day just around the corner, I thought it would be an idea to look for some Valentine-y treats. I have not tried this recipe yet, but I thought that they sounded really good. I think I will add it to our dinner on V Day.

V Day is usually spent at home. I find litle romance in a crowded restaurant. I would rather spend evryday day celebrating my love; I mean I don't love my hubby any more on Feb 14th. Not to say that we don't celebrate though... So on the actual day, I usually make a special dinner for my hubby kids and at times friends, in the comfort of our home.

I found this here

Morton’s Signature Hot Chocolate Cake
SERVES 6

Recipe
Unsalted butter and granulated sugar, to grease ramekins
1-1/2 cups/ 375ml unsalted butter, at room temperature
12 ounces/375 g bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 large egg yolks
7 large eggs
1-1/2 cups/375 ml confectioners sugar
3/4 cup/ 175 ml all purpose flour
18 fresh raspberries
Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Generously butter six 6-ounce ramekins and sprinkle each with granulated sugar. Tap out excess sugar.
In the top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together. Remove the top of the double boiler pan from the heat.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and set on low speed, beat the egg yolks and eggs for about 2 minutes, or until light and smooth. With the mixer running, pour the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl and mix for about 2 minutes longer.

Put the confectioners' sugar and flour in a fine mesh sieve and sprinkle into the chocolate mixture. With the mixer on medium speed, beat for 30 seconds, or until well mixed.

Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins cups, leaving about 1/4 inch (5 mm) of space below the rim. Set the soufflé cups on a baking sheet and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until puffed and about 1 inch higher than the rim. The centers will be soft but not sticky.

Remove the cakes from the oven and immediately invert each onto a serving plate. Remove the cup and garnish each plate with three raspberries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chicken Corn Chowder

I have made this one for many years. It is an adaptaition of a number of recipes. It is comfort food for a cool evening. I made it this evening for a group of friends. We coupled it with caesar salad and garlic bread.

4 chicken breasts cubed and cooked.
4 strips bacon cut into pieces - fried up (I use Turkey bacon)

1/2 Large Cooking Onion Chopped
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
4 Cloves Garlic - Minced
Fry together until tender

2 Large Potatoes - peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
4 Carrots - peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp sage
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cajun Seasoning to taste
1 litre chicken stock (4 Cups)
Add cooked chicken and bacon
Add to the onion mixture and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes and carrots are tender.

3 Cups Milk (I use skim to cut the calories and fat)
2 Cups frozen corn
Add to the stock mixture and bring to a boil

4 tbsp flour and 4 tbsp water. Mix together in a container with a lid and shake until there are no lumps. Add it to the soup to thicken. Serve hot.

Blender Hollandaise Sauce

This is one that I got from the 'Best Of Bridge' cookbooks. I use it often, over asparagus, eggs Benedict and other dishes.

1 Cup butter
In a pan melt and bring to a boil. DO NOT brown.

4 egg YOKES
1/4 tsp each of salt, sugar, Tabasco & dry mustard
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Mix all ingredients together in the blender. Add melted butter a little at a time while blending at a low speed.

Serve hot.

You can reheat this in a pan to use later.

Plantation Supper

1 lb ground beef
1 Onion, Chopped
Fry beef and onion together until cooked

Cook Pasta of your choice (I like whole wheat rigatoni for this one)

1 Can mushroom soup (fat free is fine)
3/4 Cup of milk (skim is fine)
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1 8oz pkg cream cheese (light or fat free are fine)
1 Cup corn (canned or frozen)
Add all ingredients to the cooked beef mixture and stir until cheese is melted and everything is heated through.

Pour beef mixture over cooked, drained pasta and serve. I add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and some fresh ground pepper to finished it off. Serve with a salad.