Pernil (Puerto Rican pork roast)

Our family is currently passing around a cold so dinner time around here has consisted of a lot of Trader Joe's frozen meals. Tonight I was finally able to make us a full dinner (with a lot of help from my husband) and it was nice to get back in the kitchen. I bought a few big pork shoulders a few weeks ago and have been keeping my eye out for recipes. I loved the long cooking time and relative ease of this recipe.

Pernil

1 pork shoulder, 7 pounds
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder (I used ancho)
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
Olive oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 (14 oz) can of beef broth
lime wedges for serving

Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Score the pork with a sharp knife in a crisscross pattern.

Pulse the garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper together in a food processor, adding the oil until a paste is formed. Blend in the vinegar.

Rub your paste well into the pork. Put the pork in a roasting pan and pour in just enough beef broth to cover the bottom of your pan. Roast the pork for 5-6 hours or until a thermometer inserted in the middle gets to 170 degrees.

Turn your roast every hour or so being sure to keep the bottom of the pan covered with beef broth. If you use up all your beef broth just use water to cover the bottom of the pan.

If you like your meat brown and crispy raise the heat to 400 degrees the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Let the pork rest for 10 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve with lime wedges.

Serves 6-8 people

After scoring.

Rubbed with marinade and ready to go into the oven.

Our pork was soft and flavorful, the taste reminded me of carnitas. We have a lot of leftover meat so tomorrow we will be shredding it up and having tostadas for dinner.  Oh and a word of warning, after the onions were "pulverized" in the food processor I was tearing up so badly I had to leave the kitchen for awhile until I could see again. Don't let that keep you from making this tasty dish.

Till tomorrow...

Slow Cooker Baked Potato and Cheese Soup or Atkins diet, What Atkins Diet?

I love the kind of baked potato soup you get in restaurants, the cheesy potatoes are SO good. I wanted to try to make this soup at home and thought the slow cooker would be the ideal cooking method. I have been trying to make more and more things in the slow cooker for those nights I work late.

Slow Cooker Baked Potato and Cheese Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 large russett potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cans (14 oz) chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 1/2 cups low fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup (8 oz) light sour cream
1 cup low fat milk
Black pepper to taste
6 strips of bacon cooked and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

In a medium saucepan cook your onions in the olive oil until golden brown. Place the onions in the slow cooker. Place the potatoes on top of the onions. Put the chicken broth, seasoning salt, and garlic cloves in the slow cooker. Cover and cook over high heat for 6 hours. When the potatoes are very soft add the cheese, sour cream and milk. Stir until the cheese has melted, then continue cooking for 10 more minutes. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher to get a smooth consistency. Season with pepper and more salt if needed. Serve the soup sprinkled with a little bacon on top.
Serves 6-8

I never get tired of pictures of frying onions.

Potatoes, onions, garlic and chicken broth in the slow cooker.

This soup was good but not quite as good as what I have had eating out. I think if I added cream or half and half instead of milk it would taste richer and creamier, but I am not quite ready to totally throw caution (and our health) to the wind.  Next time I make this soup I might put the soup in the blender to get the potatoes really smooth. I hope you try this recipe out and tell me how you like it.

Till tomorrow...

Blueberry-Cornmeal Pancakes or Breakfast for Dinner

We had a late night last night so I wasn't able to write about what we had for dinner. I wanted to share the recipe we made because we liked it. I found a recipe for Blueberry-Cornmeal Pancakes in Bon Appetit magazine and the combination of blueberries and cornmeal intrigued me. My kids LOVE pancakes so I knew this would be a hit with them.

Blueberry-Cornmeal Pancakes

Ugly but tasty blueberry-cornmeal pancakes.

1 1/2 cups fine-grind cornmeal
3/4 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
Melted butter
1 cup fresh blueberries
Warm pure maple syrup

Whisk the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and oil in a medium bowl; add to dry ingredients and whisk to blend. Let stand 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place a baking sheet in the oven. Preheat the griddle over medium heat; brush with melted butter. Working in batches, spoon 1/2 cup batter onto griddle for each pancake. Sprinkle each with 2 tablespoons berries. Cook until golden brown and just cooked through; about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to sheet in oven to keep warm. Serve with syrup.

Serves 4 to 6

Dry ingredients.

Wet ingredients.

Pancakes cooking on the griddle.

These pancakes tasted delicious, but they wouldn't hold their shape in the pan. As soon as I would flip them over they would break into small pieces. I have made a lot of pancakes and have never had that trouble before. I think the batter was too thin, next time I will up the amount of flour to 1 or 1 1/4 cups and see if they stay together better. We had fruit and sausages with our pancakes and there were smiles all around.

Till tomorrow...

Steak and Mushroom Soup

As promised, tonight I am going to share a recipe you can use if you had any leftovers from the Steak and Mushroom Sauce recipe I posted on 2/16/2011. It is hard to get my family to eat leftovers so anything I can do to "disguise" the original dish is always appreciated. I like this soup because it has a great depth of flavor and is easy to make and quick to cook.


Steak and Mushroom Soup

1 cooked steak, diced (about one cup)
1 1/2 cups Mushroom Sauce (recipe posted 2/16/2011)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) low sodium/low fat chicken broth
1 can (14 1/2 oz) low sodium/low fat beef broth
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Croutons
Shredded Gruyere cheese

In a large pot combine the mushroom sauce, chicken broth, beef broth, water, celery seed and black pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 25 minutes. Add the steak and simmer for 5 minutes more. Spoon into bowls and top with croutons and cheese.
Serves 4

Steak and Mushroom soup boiling away.

I served the soup with cheese, crackers and pears. It was a simple meal and we enjoyed it.

Till tomorrow...

Quick Coq au Vin - or - Purple Chicken for Dinner

I have made traditional Coq au Vin (literally translated as rooster cooked in wine) a few times. While I like the result I don't like the 2-3 hour prep and cook time. I was excited to find this Quick Coq au Vin recipe in Bon Appetit magazine. I wanted to see if I could get a well flavored dish in only 45 minutes.

Quick Coq au Vin

6 bacon slices, chopped into 1 inch pieces
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (or 8 chicken thighs)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
8 shallots, peeled and halved through the root end
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 cups dry red wine (I used a primitivo)
1 1/2 cups low sodium/low fat chicken broth, divided
2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
3teaspoons whole wheat flour (or whatever kind you have on hand)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp, put the bacon on a paper towel lined plate. Keep the bacon grease in the pan.
Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon parsley. Cook the chicken in the same skillet you cooked your bacon in until it is cooked through, around 6 minutes for each side. (Make sure to check that your chicken is cooked, since this is the only real cooking time it has) Put the chicken in the oven to keep it warm.
Add the shallots to your skillet and cook for 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the skillet, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and cook for 4 more minutes. Add the garlic, wine, 11/4 cups chicken broth, 1/2 tsp of parsley and thyme. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile place the flour in a cup and add the 1/4 cup broth stirring until smooth.
Add the flour mixture and bacon to the sauce. cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the sauce is thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve the chicken with the sauce on top.
Serves 4

Frying bacon

Chicken getting brown.

Immediately after adding the wine to the pan.

This recipe didn't have the same depth of flavor as a traditional coq au vin, but for a quick weeknight supper it worked well. It tasted great served over mashed potatoes. I love these kinds of hearty dishes during the winter time. I hope you and your family enjoy it as well.

Till tomorrow...