Posted on December 29th, 2007 by Amanda
Subscribe to my RSS Feed To Keep Up To Date.
Thanks For Visiting Try New Meals.
This recipe is obviously not a complete meal but Pork is pretty versatile, you can serve whatever you want with it. Personally I am partial to wild rice and a vegetable of some sort when I serve this. The recipe calls for baking this in the oven but I have cooked it many times in a slow cooker and it works just fine.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 (5 pound) boneless pork loin
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- In a bowl, combine sage, salt, pepper, and garlic. Rub thoroughly all over pork. Place pork in an uncovered roasting pan on the middle oven rack.
- Bake in the preheated oven approximately 3 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches at least 150 degrees F (65 degrees C), depending upon your desired doneness.
- Meanwhile, place sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, water, and soy sauce in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken slightly. Brush roast with glaze 3 or 4 times during the last 1/2 hour of cooking. Pour remaining glaze over roast, and serve.
You can find a printable version of this Herb Roasted Pork With Glaze by clicking here
Recipe Alterations
I really enjoy this recipe the way it is so I do not change a lot but I still do change a few things such as:
- Instead of using plain vinegar I instead will use apple cider vinegar as we find it tastes so much better
- I will usually switch the sage out for some other spice
Family Taste Test
My whole family loves the glaze in this recipe. Even my son, who I thought would find this too strong a flavor but instead he eats it up. When I make the glaze I double it and pour some over the pork after it is cut up as a sauce as well. The sage the recipe calls for I can take or leave. I am not a huge fan of sage and sometimes will substitute various other spices depending on my mood that particular day.
My Thoughts
The simplicity of this recipe is great especially when the flavor is so good. I love that I can just put the pork loin in the oven (or slow cooker) with a very basic rub, and the glaze is just as simple to make. It tastes like a lot of work went into it when really it took almost no time at all. I recommend this recipe to everyone seeing as I make it a lot and throughly enjoy it. This is a recipe I will hang on to and continue to make down the road.
No Comments »
Filed under: Main Dish
Posted on December 23rd, 2007 by Amanda
Before I tried to write about perogies I did not realize that there were so many ways to spell perogy. This is the way I have always written it ( you know the countless times you write perogy in a day) and I do not know if there is one correct way so this is the spelling I am going to stick with. Hopefully this does not anger anyone! I have always loved perogies, especially the home made ones my grandma used to make with chokecherry syrup, but I never learned to make them myself. When this recipe popped up I thought it would be interesting to try to see if it even tasted much like a perogy.
INGREDIENTS
- 5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 pound bacon, diced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Place the potatoes in a large pot with water to cover over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender. Remove from heat, drain, then combine with the milk and 6 tablespoons of butter, mash and set aside.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the bacon, onion and garlic in the butter for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the bacon is fully cooked.
- Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions and cool under running water.
- Place 1/2 of the mashed potatoes into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top this with 1/3 of the cheese, followed by a layer of lasagna noodles. Repeat this with the remaining potatoes, another 1/3 of the cheese and a layer of noodles. Then arrange the bacon, onion and garlic over the noodles, then another layer of noodles, and finally top all with the remaining cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with sour cream and chopped fresh chives.
You can find a printable version of this Pierogi Casserole by clicking here
Recipe Alterations
As always I made alterations to this recipe but this time I only made two minor ones and they are:
- I used margarine instead of butter
- I didn’t have any fresh chives only the freezer dried ones so I didn’t bother using any at all
Family Taste Test
This did taste a lot like perogies but kind of bland perogies, even with 6 cloves of garlic both my husband and I found we could not taste any of it as the potato taste was kind of over powering. My son did not care for this at all and would not eat it. We found this to be one of those meals that is ok but not really good enough to bother making again.
My Thoughts
I found this meal to be very time consuming and my kitchen was leveled after getting this in the oven. I don’t mind the extra work but a recipe had better be good to justify all that and this one just wasn’t that good. If I was to make it again in the future there would have to be quite a few adjustments made to make it more flavorful. Not even sure what exactly you could do differently but would start with adding something other than just milk and butter to the potatoes. Then again I guess it does not really matter what I would do differently as I really don’t see this recipe being on my meal plan again.
No Comments »
Filed under: Main Dish
Posted on December 17th, 2007 by Amanda
Mmmmmm, this soup had such a good flavor to it, everyone really enjoyed it. There were a few issues with it but those were because of my own mistakes and nothing to do with this recipe. As long as you follow the recipe or adjust accordingly this will turn out just fine. Other than cutting up a few vegetables this was a breeze to put together. You also have to cut up the roast but if you cook it long enough it is so tender it just falls apart anyway.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 (3 pound) beef chuck roast
- 1/2 cup barley
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
- 4 cups water
- 4 cubes beef bouillon cube
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 (28 ounce) can chopped stewed tomatoes
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
- In a slow cooker, cook chuck roast until very tender (usually 4 to 5 hours on High, but can vary with different slow cookers). Add barley and bay leaf during the last hour of cooking. Remove meat, and chop into bite-size pieces. Discard bay leaf. Set beef, broth, and barley aside.
- Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Saute carrots, celery, onion, and frozen mixed vegetables until tender. Add water, beef bouillon cubes, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, chopped stewed tomatoes, and beef/barley mixture. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 10 to 20 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Find this delicious Beef Barley Vegetable Soup here
Recipe Alterations
As usual I made changes to a recipe before even trying it but this time I only made two changes which is kinda unusual for me. The changes I made are:
- I did not saute anything in a separate pot I just threw everything into the slow cooker. Why dirty more dishes than necessary?
- The can of stewed tomatoes that I had was 19 ounces so that is all I used. I added a bit more water to make up for the lost moisture.
Family Taste Test
My husband and I really liked the taste of this soup. We both found it very hardy and filling although due to all the stuff in there there was not a lot of liquid left when it was reheated the next day. My son was not really into this soup, probably because of all the veggies in it. He ate the carrots and the peas form the frozen mixed vegetables but that was about it.
My Thoughts
I will definitely be making this again but next time I will be freezing half of it as this recipe makes a lot and unfortunately we never got around to eating it all before it had to get thrown out and I hate wasting food. Next time I will be adding the carrots and celery sooner than I did because they were not quite cooked when we went to eat and I also think there will need to be a little bit more liquid added so that it is more…..soupy? Overall though this was very good, and it will be on my meal list throughout the winter months.
1 Comment »
Filed under: Soup
