Pork Vegetable Pie

This pie is a fabulous use for that leftover pork we always seem to have. After-all, one can only eat so many bbq pork sandwiches. This recipe is adapted from one found in an old Farm Journal Cookbook in my mom’s collection. This recipe is easily doubled and is great the second day, reheated in the microwave.

• 3 T butter
• 1 c chopped green pepper
• ¼ c chopped onion
• 3 T flour
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp dry mustard
• 1/16 tsp pepper
• 1 ¼ chicken broth
• 2 ½ c cooked pork
• 1 c sliced, cooked carrots
• 1 ½ c frozen beans
• Pastry for double crust pie

Melt butter over medium heat. Add green pepper and onion; sauté until tender. Stir in flour, salt, ginger, mustard and pepper. Cook one minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add chicken broth. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in pork, carrots and beans. Pour into pie shell, top with second crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let sit ten to fifteen minutes before cutting so pie can set up.

Serves 6-8

Roast Pork with Sherry-Plum Sauce

I received this recipe as part of a Christmas gift and it produced the best tasting, most tender pork roast I’ve ever had. It is great with or without the plum (or apricot) sauce

• 4 lb boneless pork loin roast
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1 c dry sherry
• 1 T dry ground mustard
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 ½ tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 ¼ tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½ c plum jam or apricot jam

Trim excess fat from pork. Heat oil in 10” skillet over med-high heat. Cook pork in oil about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides. Place pork in a 3 ½ qt to 6 qt slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients, except jam; pour over pork. Cover and cook on low heat 7-9 hours or until pork is tender. Remove pork from cooker; cover and keep warm.

Skim fat from juices in cooker, if desired. Stir jam into juices. Cover and cook on high heat about 15 minutes or until jam is melted, stir.

Serve sauce over pork.

Serves 12.

Mom's Perfect Pork Chops Recipe

• 4 pork chops
• 1 teaspoon bacon fat or olive oil
• Salt
• 1-2 teaspoons of dry rub (see below)

Heat a large cast iron frying pan to medium high or high heat (hot enough to sear the meat). While the pan is heating, sprinkle a pinch of dry rub spices (about 1/8 teaspoon or a little more) on each of the pork chops. Using your fingers, rub the spices into the meat. Turn the chops over and repeat on the other side. Once the pan is hot, add a teaspoon of oil or fat to the pan and coat the bottom of the pan. Right before you put the chops into the pan sprinkle each side with a little salt, or you can salt the chops in the pan. Put the chops in the pan. Make sure they are not crowding each other too much. There should be space between the chops in the pan or the meat will steam and not sear properly. Tip: Arrange the chops in the pan with the thickest, boniest parts towards the center of the pan where they get the most heat. Sear the chops, about 2 minutes on each side. Watch carefully, as soon as the chops are browned, flip them. As soon as you flip the chops, if you are using a cast iron pan, you can turn off the heat. Cast iron holds heat very well and there will be enough heat in the pan to finish cooking the meat.If you have chops that are a lot thicker than 3/4" (many are sold that are 1 1/2"-thick), you can put a cover on the pan and let the chops finish cooking for 5 minutes or so (if you are using a cast iron pan and have turned off the heat, there should be enough heat if you cover the pan to finish the cooking of a thicker chop, if not, lower the heat to low and cover.

Serves 4-6, depending on the thickness of the chops.

Dad's dry rub:

• 1/4 cup cumin seeds
• 3 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Combine cumin, peppercorns, and coriander in a heavy medium skillet. Stir over medium heat until fragrant and toasted, about 8 minutes. Cool slightly. Finely grind toasted spices in blender. Transfer to a small bowl. Mix in sugar and salt. Makes 1/2 cup.

Glazed Baked Ham

• 1 5-6 lb locally raised ham, smoked

Sweet Hot Honey Mustard Glaze

• 3 Tbsp sweet hot honey mustard (or brown mustard with honey)
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• About 50 cloves

 Remove the ham from the refrigerator (still wrapped) a couple of hours before you intend to cook it so that it can get closer to room temperature. Preheat oven to 325°F. Place ham, fattier side up, in a foil-lined roasting pan. Score a diamond pattern in the fat with a sharp knife, about 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch deep, and the parallel lines about 1 1/2-inches apart. Do not score the meat itself, just the fat and any skin. You can score the fat to as deep as where the fat meets the meat. If you want you can first cut off any skin that might still be on the ham, but it isn't necessary. You can either put the cloves in before applying the glaze or after. They look better if applied after, but it is easier to see the lines in the ham as a guide for placement if you put them in first. Place the cloves in the center of the diamonds to form a nice pattern around the top and sides of the ham. (Some people put the cloves in the intersection points of the scores. Do as you wish. You just want a nice pattern.)

Mix the mustard with the brown sugar in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the ham. Only use about third of the glaze (reserve the rest for later in cooking). Try to work the glaze into the scored lines.

Place ham in oven. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours (check after 1 hour, will take longer if the ham is not at room temp to begin with), or about 10 minutes per pound, until the internal temperature of the ham is 110°-120° (use a meat thermometer). (Note that the ham is already smoked when you buy it, all you are trying to do is heat it up for eating. Cooking to a higher temperature puts it at risk for drying out, but some or more comfortable with hotter ham.) Baste the ham with the glaze a couple of times during the cooking. If you check on the ham and think that the glaze is at risk of getting too browned (like on the way to burnt), you can cover with a piece of foil. When the ham has reached the desired temperature, finish it off in the broiler for a minute or two just to get some nice browning on the top. Take the pan out of the oven and brush the ham all over with pan juices. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Harvest Pork Roast

Fork-tender pork slow roasted with acorn squash, apples and cranberries all basted with a sweet onion glaze. Perfect for easy holiday meals

• 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 -4lb boneless pork loin roast, trimmed 4 cups chopped onions (3 lg)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup Spicy Brown Mustard
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 medium (4-inch diameter) acorn squash, each cut into 8 wedges
• 3 large Braeburn or other baking apples, each cut into 8 wedges
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat; add onions and garlic. Cook and stir 10 minutes or until onions are tender. Remove from heat. Blend in honey, mustard and pepper; set aside. Spray large (about 17x12x3-inch) dark roasting pan with cooking spray. Place roast in center of pan. Pour onion mixture over roast; cover pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake 2-1/2 hours.

Remove roast from oven and baste with pan drippings. Remove about 1 cup drippings from pan; set aside. Arrange squash pieces around roast. Place apples over squash. Drizzle with reserved drippings. Cover; bake 1 hour more. Remove foil; sprinkle cranberries over roast and squash. Bake, uncovered, another 15 to 20 minutes or until meat and squash are caramelized and fork tender.

Pork Chops with Cherry Sauce

I found this great pork chop recipe on a blog written by Amy Wisniewski. The spice rub is aromatic and slightly piquant and really livens up a pork chop, but the sweet-sour cherry sauce is what makes this recipe a keeper. An added bonus is that the sauce can be prepared while the chops cook, making for a quick weeknight meal. The spice rub can be made ahead and stored at room temperature for up to 3 months. It’s also great rubbed on lamb or beef.

Cherry Sauce

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium shallot, finely chopped
• 1 cup fresh Bing cherries, pitted and halved
• 1/3 cup ruby port
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Pork Chops:

• 2 (1-inch-thick) bone-in pork loin chops
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed
• 3/4 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Rinse pork chops and pat dry with paper towels. Place salt, coriander, mustard, and pepper in a small bowl and mix until evenly combined. Rub all of the spice mixture on the pork chops. Heat the oil in a large, oven-safe frying pan over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add chops and cook on one side, undisturbed, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Flip chops and place the pan in the oven. Cook until chops are firm but not hard and an instant-read thermometer registers 160°F, about 11 minutes.

For the cherry sauce:

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it shimmers, add shallot and season with salt. Cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in cherries, port, and vinegar and cook until cherries begin to soften and port has reduced by half, about 10 minutes. While the sauce reduces, start cooking the pork

Slow Roasted Pork Roast

• 3-4 boneless pork roast
• salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
• 1/4 c. BBQ sauce
• 1 12-oz. jar pork gravy

Season roast on all sides and brown in a little oil on all sides. Transfer to roasting pan. Combine gravy and BBQ sauce and pour over roast. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and cook 2 hours longer.