Apple Pork with Butter Browned Cauliflower

It only seems fitting that October is National Pork Month, especially given that is goes oh so well with apples!  I like pork chops and applesauce, but wanted to kick the presentation up a level a few years ago.  Combine that with a crock pot, and you get this recipe!  It looks beautiful, the meat pulls apart easily and melts in your mouth, and is beyond simple to prepare! 

Pork Loin with Apples 
Yields 6 generous servings


To Prepare the Pork
1. Place a pork tenderloin in a crock pot on medium heat.  I put mine on at 9 a.m., and it was ready to serve at 5 p.m.  It was browned on the bottom, and was very moist!  Your pork will not dry out, since all of the juices are recycling in the crock pot!
2. 30 minutes before you want to eat or serve, pour the pork juices out of the crock pot.

3. Pour a can of pre-made apple pie filling over the pork and cook on high until you are ready to serve!

See, I told ya it was going to be simple! 


This cauliflower is something I recently heard about while the tv was on and I was in another room.  It sounded like something that would taste savory and hearty, and would be warm and filling...and let me tell you, it did not disappoint!  I could not get enough, and in all honesty, I wish I had made a double batch!  It was nice and warm, the cauliflower was soft, but still had a little of its crunch, and the butter toned down the overwhelming cauliflower flavor.  To quote Julie Powell (author of Julie & Julia) "Is there anything better than butter? Think it over, any time you taste something that's delicious beyond imagining and you say 'what's in this?' the answer is always going to be butter. The day there is a meteorite rushing toward Earth and we have thirty days to live, I am going to spend it eating butter. Here is my final word on the subject, you can never have too much butter."  I could not agree more!

Butter Browned Cauliflower
Yields 4 servings

To Prepare the Cauliflower 
1. Start melting 8 tablespoons of salted butter (1 stick, or a 1/2 cup) in a frying pan over medium heat. 

2. While the butter is melting and heating, cut a head of cauliflower into bite sized pieces.
3. Once the butter is hot and melted, add the cauliflower.

4. After a few minutes, stir the cauliflower, and let it continue to cook.
5. Keep cooking and stirring the cauliflower until it turns golden brown.
6. Strain the cauliflower and serve!

Pecan Encrusted Pork Cutlets with Salted Apple Caramel Cream Sauce

Fall is, by far, my favorite season, and with that comes the flavors of fall!  I have always been a fan of pork and apples, but wanted to put a new spin on it this year.  Salted caramel has been something I have been encountering a lot this year at restaurants and in recipes, and wanted to marry that flavor with the pork and apples.  The pecans add the right amount of savory and nutty flavor to balance out this sauce!  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!


Pecan Encrusted Pork Cutlets with Salted Apple Caramel Cream Sauce 
Yields 4 - 5 servings


To Prepare the Sauce
1. Add 2/3 cup of heavy cream to a sauce pan on VERY low heat.  The burner should barely be on!
2. Add 2/3 cup of T. Marzetti caramel dip to the sauce pan.  T. Marzetti is the most commonly found brand of straight forward caramel dip.  You should be able to find it with the apples in the produce department of your grocery store!

3. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of sea salt to the pan, and gently stir all of the ingredients together until the color and texture is even.

4. While the mixture continues to cook over low heat, slice 1 Granny Smith Apple into very thin slices.  They should be approximately 1/8 inch thick, but no thicker than 1/4 inch!

5. Add them to the sauce pan and continue to simmer it and occasionally stir it over low heat while you prepare the pork!

To Prepare the Pork
1. Put 1 pound of pecan pieces on a piece of parchment paper on your counter or a table.

2. Using a rolling pin, break down the pieces just a little bit more by rolling them and pressing down with some force.

3. Spray a little non-stick cooking spray into a glass casserole dish. 
4. Take a pork cutlet and press it into the pecan pieces.  Do this to both sides, and then place it flat in the casserole dish.  I used 1 pound of pork cutlets! 

5. After all of the cutlets are coated and in the dish, bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes.

To Serve
1. Plate your pork cutlet and top with a little bit of the sauce!

I served mine along side green beans and some homemade smashed red potatoes!  It was beyond delicious...all I had hoped for and more!

Pulled Pork Tacos with Apple Slaw

A few months ago, my sister and I went to Applebee's.  We are HUGE fans of the trio platters, and were beyond intrigued by their pork tacos.   They were AMAZING!  Now, it can be very expensive to go to Applebee's every time one of us gets a hankering for these delicious nibbles, so I decided to bunker down in the kitchen tonight until I got it darn close to right!  I kept my coleslaw on the "chunkier" side...I really don't like uber mushy slaw, but if you do like the uber mush you can cut down the veggies more than I suggested.  Anywho, hope everyone enjoys! 

Pulled Pork Tacos with Apple Slaw
Yields 3 servings (2 tacos per person)


To Prepare the Slaw
1. Halve a small head of red cabbage and remove the core (the white stem-like part).

2. Shred half of the cabbage with either a knife or grater.  If you want to save time, or just don't like shredding, you can find pre-shredded red cabbage in the produce section of your grocery store!

3. Shred 1 red apple (or cut it down to shred sized pieces).  I opted for a Honey Crisp apple!  If you don't like apples, you have other options: pineapple, shredded oranges or mandarins, even diced peaches would work!

4. Shred 1 cup of carrots, or again use pre-shredded found in your grocery store produce section.
5. Mix all three of these ingredients into a bowl and set aside.

To Prepare the Slaw Sauce
1. Add a 1/2 cup of mayo to a bowl.  I used light mayo and it did not change the flavor of the sauce in the end, so you can use either regular or light mayo!
2. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the bowl.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the bowl.
4. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the bowl.
5. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper to the bowl.
6. Blend all of the ingredients well and pour over the Apple Slaw.  Mix it well and put it in the fridge.

To Prepare the Pulled Pork
1. Pull the Lloyds BBQ Pulled Pork containter out of the fridge.
2. Open the container, and pour into sauce pan.
3. Heat over medium heat.
Ok, so I couldn't fight the sarcastic directions there, but in all honesty, we used Lloyds Pulled Pork at our house all of the time. It's quick and easy, and not to mention, delicious!  If you are not a fan of pork, they also have a pulled chicken and pulled beef option.  It comes in a little red tub (that is microwavable and resealable), and can be found in the meat department of your grocery store.  If is usually near the pre-made mash potatoes and pre-sliced deli meat.  Quick. Easy. Delicious...done!

To Serve
1. Put the pork in taco shells of your choosing and top with the apple slaw.
2. Garnish with limes (which are really yummy if you squeeze them over the tacos), and I served mine along side some Zataran's Rice Pilaf.

WTF?! What's That Fruit...

Recently, a Brooklyn chain grocery store called Golden Mango opened in my neighborhood.  In a hesitant state, I strayed from my favorite grocery store and produce stand to check out the merch, and I was beyond pleasantly surprised!  They had my attention as soon as I walked in and stumbled upon black truffles...oh, this was gonna be good!  As I strolled aisle upon aisle of produce, I was amazed at the varieties of apples, pears, plums, and melons, not to mention the onions, whole spice roots, potatoes, turnips, and beets.  I quickly gravitated towards two things I had heard of but had never actually tried - Quince and Cactus Fruit!

Quince

My first encounter with quince was actually it being one of three flavors in a candle scent.  Not knowing what quince was, or what it smelled like, I didn't know what to look for in the scent!  When I bought the quince fruit, I was surprised by the overwhelming odor of apple, and it kinda resembled a golden delicious apple...hmmm!

After a little research, I learned that Turkey is the number one producer of quince, and that it grows from a tree similar to apple and pear trees.  Most varieties of quince are considered too hard and sour to eat unless they go through a process of bletting, which means to soften something by frost and decay.  It is also believed by many historians, and supported by some ancient texts, that quince was actually the Forbidden Fruit that Eve ate...not an apple!  Some countries use it as a cough suppressant, add it to their tea, use it as a jelly base (such as marmalade), a fruit to add to stew base, and cooking paste!  Whoda thunk!  Many people suggest adding quince to apple sauce and apple pies in moderation to add a little tartness to the flavor.  When quince is cooked the skin of it will turn from yellow to red.

When I cut into the quince, the color surprised me!  It looked like the brown color that an apple turns when it sits out.  I tried some and didn't think it was nearly as sour as I was expecting.  I do not know if this quince was bletted or not, but I thought the flavor was VERY similar to an apple!  I am definitely looking forward to trying it in some cooking once the cool weather comes!

Cactus Fruit

Ah the prickly pear!  I was first introduced to the prickly pear in the Disney movie adaptation of The Jungle Book.  The skin is a deep purple color with brown pock marks on it.  There was no distinct odor to it when I bought it.  In the Saudi Arabian region, prickly pears come in a yellow and orange variety. 

Prickly pear has to be skinned in order to eat it.  When you cut through you will find a fuschia flesh inside.  The color is intense, and like nothing I have seen before!  It is most commonly used to make candies, jellies, and drinks.  Some research has shown that there may be uses for prickly pears as a treatment for Type II Diabetes, as well as hangovers!  So, the next time you have one too many, hit your local grocery store for some prickly pears!  It also is made into liquor in Mexico, and was used as a dye by the Aztec and Myan people.

When I ate the cactus fruit, I found that the taste was similar to an EXTREMELY mild banana, but had the texture of a very juicy watermelon.  The seeds of the fruit are edible, but very hard!  Prickly pear is great when mixed with yogurt, and is a pleasant and unexpected change to the "normal" and "expected" flavors!  Many suggest adding prickly pears to tequila, vodka, or lemonade, as it compliments them very well!  Who knows, maybe adding prickly pear to your tequila will make for a hangover free morning!