A super easy pressure cooker recipe for country ribs. Not only was it easy, but the flavor of the sauce was outstanding. You can see the little pieces of onion in the sauce.

Going to the freezer, I grabbed a small package of the Berkshire pork we purchased last summer. I’m embarrassed to say that this is the first of it I’ve used (we bought a quarter of a 4-H Berkshire pig). My freezer has been just overflowing. I’ve not purchased any fresh meat for months (except for additional chicken which we eat often), in an attempt to use up some of the good stuff we have in the freezer. But with just two of us eating, it takes awhile to make much of a hole in the jam-packed freezer contents.

In addition, I didn’t even think about how I’d  prepare it. So I went to Eat Your Books, searched for “country ribs” and it told me in the short form what ingredients are in each recipe. Choosing one, yup, I had all that was needed. I can’t say that I have ever done country ribs in a pressure cooker. What a winner of a recipe this is. 25 minutes in the pressure cooker and it was done! Wow. Ordinarily I would have simmered the ribs for awhile in water, then we would have grilled them on the barbecue. Not needed with this recipe. It came from Pressure Cooking for Everyone by Richard Rodgers.

First the ribs were browned in oil in the pressure cooker pot. That was easy and took just a few minutes. The ribs were removed, then I lightly sautéed an onion, with a bit of garlic added in at the end. Catsup was added, some jalapeno jelly (or you could use apricot preserves instead), chili powder and some water to give it just enough saucy consistency. The ribs were added back in, on went the lid and I brought the pressure cooker up to steam and it cooked for 25 minutes. I brought the heat down right away by putting the pressure cooker under the cold water faucet in the sink. Done. While it had been hissing away I made a green salad and some cauliflower.

The pressure cooker pan did have a bit of grease in it, so I spooned that out, then scooped out the remaining barbecue sauce onto the cooked ribs. Oh, it was fantastic. This recipe was so easy – I’d make it again any day. And I just loved the flavor of the sauce.

What I liked: the flavor of the sauce was just right as far as sweet scale. Because the onions are chopped, they don’t disintegrate, and I liked that little bit of texture in the sauce too. Easy to make too. I loved how quickly it cooked too. Just what a pressure cooker is for!

What I didn’t like: nothing at all. (If you were going to make mashed potatoes or rice on the side, I’d suggest you double the amount of sauce as you’ll want some to spoon onto the side dish.)

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What I’d really wanted was one of those lovely, big bone-in pork loins, the kind that Costco usually sells over the holidays. And only during the holidays. My freezer was just too full to buy one, even though I would have cut it into more manageable sizes. So, when my DH went there on December 31st, this type was the only thing available. I’m not usually very crazy about this kind of tied-up roast because the butchers have taken two smaller boneless loins and just stuck them together to make one bigger roast. They never seem to have the same flavor as the bone-in ones. But this was what I had, so I needed to work with it, whatever it was.

My friend Cherrie had made this roast for Christmas Dinner and told me it was really delicious. The original recipe came from Southern Living, their December issue. When I made it, it was January 2nd and although some local food markets were open, I just decided to improvise and use what I could from my own pantry. I wanted it to be grilled on the barbecue, not oven roasted. I wanted to make the sauce in a pan, not nestled in the bottom of the pan with the pork grease, and I didn’t have mixed dried fruits, so I used dried apricots only. And it worked! Maybe not quite as pretty looking as the magazine’s finished product (they butterflied a big pork loin, stuffed it, then rolled and tied it).

Here, at left, are some additional photos: (1) the darling, little Seckel pears used for the sauce; (2) the sauce as it just began to simmer (with pearl onions, honey, butter, lemon juice, fresh rosemary); and (3) a plated portion with the slice of roast on the bottom, sauce on the top with some of the juices.

The roast, in a pan, on a rack, cooked in the barbecue for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, and we let it rest, tented, for about 10 minutes before everybody couldn’t stand it any longer and we started eating. And it WAS really good. Everyone seemed to like the fruit sauce. Ideally you will cut thinner slices, so everyone gets a full round slice (with stuffing in the middle). What most people wanted, though, was a half of a thicker slice. It did fit on a plate a bit better, but not quite as attractive without the fruit stripe.

What I liked: how pretty it looked; how tender the meat was, and not dry because it was removed from the barbecue at exactly 145°; the sweet/savory taste of the fruit sauce on top.

What I didn’t like: even though I added butter to the fruit sauce, I think a bit of the drippings from the pork roast would have been exceptionally good in it. I’ll leave that up to you. In the original recipe the fruit soaked up a lot of the fat – I wanted to minimize that – but surely it would be good with just a bit of it.

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An easy and tender grilled pork tenderloin with a complex mustard seed, pepper and coriander rub. Easy for a weeknight dinner. With one generously sized tenderloin (from Costco – theirs are particularly large) we had enough to serve 4 medium-hungry people.

You can see, in this picture above, a very old, probably 100-year or more old, well-used carbon-steel knife. My DH is very proud of that knife, and the carving fork that matches it. One year (probably about 35-40 years ago) my DH was visiting his mother, who was then a widow, and they were driving 30 miles from their home town in Ocean City, NJ, to the cemetery to visit Dave’s father’s grave. You’d never just drive by this place – it’s literally in the middle of nowhere. The small town isn’t even on the maps anymore. It’s where some of the grandparents and their parents are buried. The family plot.

On the way there my DH saw, off at a little clearing in the forest, a makeshift swap meet. I don’t know the why of it – even he doesn’t remember now – but they stopped. My hubby doesn’t usually stop at such things, but he/they did. And he ended up buying the knife and fork set from an old geezer for $8.00. Dave has tenderly cared for them all these years. Since the knife is carbon steel, it holds a very nice, sharp edge (stainless steel isn’t quite so talented), but it also stains, from whatever food it touches. I call that character, so this one has lots of character. It’s touched a generation or two or maybe three of different foods, obviously. The set has horn handles – another little thing that my DH liked about them. His mother thought he’d not haggled with the owner hard enough. Dave loves to tell this story to anyone who inquires about the terribly discolored knife and fork set.

So, there’s your story of the day. Back to the meat. This is one very easy grilled pork dish to make – in lickety-split time. I read about it over at The Bitten Word blog. They said the original came from Cook’s Country. The spices are easy to bring together – you grind them up in a spice grinder, or crack them hard inside a double-layer of plastic baggies – and slap the mixture on the pork. Grill, rest, slice and serve. Easy. Tasty. And do bring out your old carving knife, if you have one. It will give the pork some extra character, too.

What I liked: how quick and easy it was to put together. You don’t have to serve it with a side dish – it might be nice – like some cooked apples – but actually the mustard-based dry spice mix might not lend itself well to a fruit-based condiment. It would be delish, though, with an onion chutney or just serve it plain. I served it with smashed potatoes and a vegetable.

What I didn’t like: really nothing. It’s not a wow dish, but it was definitely very good! And when I saw it wasn’t wow, I just mean if you’re looking to really go over the top, or make it for a big company meal, this might not fit the bill (for me, anyway).

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Our friend James, who used to be a professional chef, was telling me recently about his mother’s Chili Verde. I have a recipe for Crockpot Chili Verde on my blog already – also made with pork – and it actually has more ingredients in it than this one. It’s been awhile since I’d made it, so when James was describing his mother’s and how he slurped it up with some tortillas, it got my mouth to watering. A few days later James handed me his mom’s recipe and I set out to make this version.

Chili verde (green chili) is a moderately to extremely spicy Mexican and Mexican-American stew or sauce usually made from chunks of pork that have been slow-cooked in chicken broth, garlic, tomatillos, and roasted green chiles. Tomatoes are rarely used. The spiciness of the chili is adjusted with poblano, jalapeño, serrano, and occasionally habanero peppers. . .  this came from Wikipedia.

And yes, that describes it perfectly! Chunks of pork (shoulder or stew meat) that’s cooked with some broth, onions, garlic, cumin. After browning the meat well (which will give it plenty of flavor) you add in all those other ingredients and simmer for half an hour. Then you add in some poblano chiles, a jalapeno or two, a yellow bell pepper (gives it nice color) and a whizzed up mixture of fresh tomatillos and cilantro. That simmers for 30-45 minutes and it’s done. Since I always think stews and soup mixtures taste much better the next day, I made it a couple of days ahead, actually, through the first simmering instructions. Then I added the fresh chiles, tomatillos and cilantro and finished it off.

I had on hand some really good tortilla chips, so they were crushed in my hands and sprinkled on top, along with some shredded Jack cheese and a little sprinkling of cilantro. And I served it with a buttered flour tortilla on the side. Delicious. The only change I made to the recipe was using pork broth (I have one of Penzey’s jars of pork soup base) but chicken broth is what’s in the original recipe. Don’t overcook the pork – it will get dry and stringy. Total cooking time is about an hour or so. After the stew was cooked, I cut the pork chunks into smaller bite-sized pieces, and removed the last traces of fat.

What I liked: the rich flavor – much of it from browning the meat very well – that fond in the pan provides so much good taste. It was easy to make too. Great as a leftover meal as well.

What I didn’t like: really nothing. Know that the broth is just that – broth – it isn’t a thick soup, although the tomatillos and cilantro add some good texture to it. That’s why I added the crushed tortilla chips to the soup – they give it texture as well.

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What better way to use leftover pork chop meat than in a soul-warming soup with onion, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, some Italian sausage, flavorful broth and garnished with fresh, crispy raw radish slivers and cilantro. And laded onto a nice piece of bread (underneath the soup). Yum!

Do you despair sometimes with what to do with leftovers? I certainly do. And pork roast is right on the top of my list. My choice is always to have just enough pork roast or chops for that one meal. But, alas, I don’t always plan quite that well, and I suspect you probably don’t, either. In this case I had a big pile of pork chop meat – it was beautifully tender and still pink inside. We’d already had the actual pork chops for a company meal, then two more evenings I’d reheated them. So I was fed up with having that kind of preparation. What to do?

Well, I went to Eat Your Books and searched through my own cookbooks to see what kind of recipes I could find. I didn’t want to continue to cook the meat – it was premium quality meat, tasty and juicy. See in the photo how nice and pink the meat is – perfectly tender. You don’t want to cook it hardly at all! So I needed some quick – flash – prep. Soup. That was it. I’d make soup. I read through all of the pork soup recipes I could find. Nothing quite seemed to fit. Parts of one and ingredients from another, an idea began forming of a mélange of flavors. Yes, I had a little bit of Italian sausage in the freezer too. Dave went to the market and got some fresh Napa cabbage and some radishes. And I made a delicious soup. Perfectly rounded out with flavor from the sausage, the cabbage, the onions, celery and carrots. I added in one of my favorite Penzey’s products, their soup bases  (both pork and chicken), some sugar snap peas as well. I cut the pork chop meat into little slivers (see photo) and just barely heated it in the hot soup then poured it over a piece of toast in the bottom of each bowl and garnished with the radishes and cilantro. Delicious!

What I liked: it’s a low-calorie soup, for one. Delicious flavor too. And I now have a fantastic recipe for using leftover pork (roast or chops) that will become a regular part of my menus. The textures are great (with the raw radishes sprinkled on top) too. Other than the fat in the meat itself, the only other added fat were the 2 T. of oil to sauté the onions and celery.

What I didn’t like: gosh, nothing, really. If I had Texas toast, that would have been nice – what I had was tender white bread, so I put one slice cut in half and double stacked. Or a nice thick piece of French bread would probably be ideal (that’s what I put in the recipe ingredients below).

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Ever even heard of picadillo? That’s pee-ca-dee-yo in Spanish. Actually this has a Mexican derivation. And its much beloved in the culture. We’re on our way home from our trip today, so I’ve set this up to post ahead of time.

Oh gosh was this ever good. It probably doesn’t look like much – a ground meat mixture on top of something. Yup. So delicious. So easy to make and just bursting with flavor. Traditionally, Picadillo is a Latin American dish, but variations exist in many countries, including Cuba. All the variations include something a bit different. This recipe, which came from Dean Fearnley-Whittingstall’s book River Cottage Meat Cookbook, is most aligned with the Mexican version, although it does contain a couple of ingredients from one or more of the other country’s variants. And then I added chives. Not typical. So I suppose that then becomes my variation. And I served it on grits, which makes it even more unusual. Southern cooking is not anything like Mexican or Latin American cooking. Ah, forget all that. Just make it.

This started out because I defrosted a pound of ground pork from our most recent 1/4 pig purchase – a Berkshire pig from a local 4-H kid. I went to my kitchen computer, to Eat Your Books website and typed in ground pork and scanned the recipes from my own books. Not only does it tell me where the recipe is, but it lists the most common ingredients. Yippee! I had everything needed. Except tortillas to serve it on or with. So I improvised. And it called for ground beef too, but I just used the ground pork instead.

First I started sweating the minced onion, red bell pepper and chiles. A friend had given me a lovely Cubanelle pepper a few days ago. Perfect for this. It’s not a hot pepper, but it added nice green color and flavor too. I added some chipotle chili in adobo sauce to the dish to give it a bit more character.

Then I added all the other ingredients – garlic, salt, pepper, sugar (just a little bit), the ground pork, raisins, some olives (I used a bottled product called Olivetta – a mixture of lots of different olives (and a few other things), all minced up – something I buy at my local Italian market), some diced tomatoes, and some tomato paste, along with some pork stock (which was just a dip into my jar of Penzey’s pork soup bases that I use so often). While that simmered I made the cheesy grits (recipe up tomorrow). Then I just served it like a sauce on top of the grits, with some slivered almonds sprinkled on top along with some chopped chives (optional). Dave and I talked about going back for seconds, but we decided we shouldn’t, even though the tastes of everything beckoned us. So, make this, okay? You won’t be sorry!

What I liked: oh gosh, everything. Flavor, texture, comfort food, warm on the stomach. Worth making for sure. Also, it’s versatile – serve it on rice (more traditional), tortillas (or even chips) or mashed potatoes (which would be great for using up leftovers). I think the raisins (that little bit of sweet) is what “makes” this. It’s like finding pineapple in a curry sauce.

What I didn’t like: ah, nothing. I’ll definitely be making this again.

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During a recent cooking class with Phillis Carey, she began the introduction to this dish by saying that this is one of her very favorite dishes. And that she makes it very frequently for herself and has never tired of the combination of flavors. I scribbled notes on my recipe in a hurry there – I always listen closely when Phillis tells us it’s a favorite of hers because I’ve never not liked any of her favorites. And she mentioned that yes, making risotto is a bit of a nuisance, what with all that constant stirring for 30-35 minutes. But she assured us that we’d be glad when we tasted it. And indeed we were. We heard “mmmmm” all around the classroom. My mmmm included! I nearly licked the plate. For risotto. It was so gosh-darned delicious.

It’s a traditional risotto in how it’s made – nothing different about the preparation or the stirring, or keeping the chicken stock hot. It was the combination of the sausage, the leeks, the corn. And the prettiness of the added spinach. And the red of the tomatoes. Well, just all of it.

I made the dish a few nights later, as I said, with the identical ingredients (except I used pork Italian sausage) and my DH and I nearly licked the plate. Don’t skimp on the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Or the butter – that’s an important addition at the end. Do use fresh, baby spinach too. If you have some fresh basil, sprinkle a bit of that on top as you serve it.

So, how’d we like it? Well, I’d had it at the cooking class, so I knew I’d enjoy it. My DH was so busy eating it he couldn’t even look up to say anything. Meaning that he loved it. We both did. It did take about 45 minutes to make, but I didn’t have to stir it every second. I was close by to stir it around every 30 seconds or so and add more broth as I chopped up the tomatoes, cut the fresh corn off the cob. I made it last week for our friends in Colorado too, and they both thought it was delicious.

What I liked: I loved it all. The texture of the arborio rice – it came out perfectly. The sausage added some great taste, but wasn’t overwhelming. The color with the spinach and tomatoes. The cheese. Oh goodness yes, it was all good. And this is now going onto my “favorites” list if that’s any indication of how delicious it is!
What I didn’t like: well, I suppose the stirring gets a little tedious, but that’s it.

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Let me explain what you’re seeing in this photo. Obviously, those are mashed potatoes on the bottom (with a bit of Italian parsley stirred into them before serving). Pork tenderloin slices have been spice-rubbed, left to marinate for awhile, then seared and baked in the oven for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile (beforehand) you will have made the two sauces – on the left (on top of the pork slice) you can see the salsa verde (green) – and on the right is the ancho chili sauce (a deep red-brown color and not hot). And some big sprigs of Italian parsley for garnish. The recipe came from a cooking class with Tarla Fallgatter. I don’t want you to get intimidated by the long list of ingredients – it’s not all that complicated to make, really. I don’t kid you, do I?

Since I like Mexican food in general, I enjoy these kinds of sauces. The salsa verde is green from tomatillos, green chiles and cilantro. First, you roast the poblano chiles (also called pasilla, although they really aren’t pasilla chiles) under the broiler just until the skin is charred – if you cook it further the flesh of the chile will disintegrate into nothing. And don’t make this but an hour or two before serving – it separates after it sits awhile. You could re-puree it, I suppose. Just have everything ready to go ahead of time and blend the sauce near to serving time.

The ancho chile sauce is really easy to make – you soak the dried anchos (they’re dried poblano chiles) for for an hour or so, seed and stem them, then whiz them up in the blender with roasted, fresh poblano chiles, some red wine vinegar, honey and lastly a bit of cream to soften the heat.

The pork is allowed to sit for awhile with a spice rub on it before you sear it quickly on top of the stove, then the tenderloin is roasted for about 20 minutes in the oven. Done. Delicious. Make some mashed potatoes to serve it on, and serve it. Do note that this entrée is very low in calories and fat – the recipe below doesn’t include the mashed potatoes, however.

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Two years ago: Grilled Flatbread with Lamb and Feta
Three years ago: Frosty Strawberry Squares (a frozen strawberry dessert)

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The latest issue of Food and Wine magazine had a quick (and easy) method of making carnitas (pork) tacos. Two of our grandchildren were visiting the past week, and I know they enjoy Mexican food, so this seemed like an easy entrée. I served it with a green salad, and that was dinner.

The pork shoulder roast should be trimmed of noticeable fat, cut into small chunks, and it’s pressure-cooker cooked for 25 minutes. Do run the pressure at a low level if possible. Also, don’t put much water in the pan – it makes some fluid (water and fat) as it cooks, but after the meat is cooked, you mix the limited amount of fluid with the three spice powders (ancho, chipotle and achiote) to make a kind of sauce on the meat at the end. The meat chunks are drained, then briefly fried in a bit of vegetable oil – to caramelize the outside edges a little. Then you just pile some pieces onto a hot corn tortilla, add some cilantro, a squirt of lime juice and some sliced avocado. If you desire, put out some shredded cabbage, and cheese and let people help themselves. Result? Well, this isn’t quite as flavorful as a many-hour roasted carnitas roast, but for a quick weeknight dinner this was just fine. Flavor was good and it made for an easy cooking experience. I do have another recipe on my blog for a caramelized pork carnitas also. That recipe requires a bit more cooking time than this one, but it has some added steps too. Both are good, but if time isn’t a problem, I’d opt for the caramelized one which also has a bunch of cheese added to it as well. I adapted the magazine recipe a little (I used more pork and I’m glad I did because we barely had enough for 5 people), so the recipe below has been changed with my additions and changes.

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A year ago: Chicken Breasts with Maple Mustard Sauce
Two years ago: Mint Juleps with Agave Nectar
Three years ago: Caramelized Onion Sage Puffs

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The first time I had posole – when I was visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico for the very first time, I was blown away with the intense flavors. I attended a cooking class in Santa Fe and learned some of the nuances, and about the important New Mexico chiles and/or powder that must be in it. Whenever I see posole on a menu I usually order it. But really, it’s not hard to make, and I think this recipe is as good, if not better, than any I’ve ever had at a restaurant. It freezes well, too, although the toppings must be made within an hour or so of serving.

I made this a couple of weeks ago when we were visiting our Northern California family, and the grandkids could pick and choose which toppings they wanted on their soup. Our 17-year old grandson doesn’t like vegetables, he says. Pushes them around his plate to avoid eating them, and he picked all around the veggies in this soup. Our granddaughter, though, is game for tasting almost anything (thank you, Taylor! – she reads my blog) and she liked this soup and ate it all.

The soup is pork based – this one uses country style ribs. They are slow cooked for a couple of hours, then the mixture (including the broth) gets refrigerated overnight. Now, you don’t have to do that step, but it makes for a healthier soup since you can remove the fat from the meat and the broth before proceeding. The dried New Mexico chiles are an essential ingredient – I hope you can buy them at your local market like I can. Anyway, the chiles are soaked in water for half an hour, then made into a thin puree in the blender (with some added onion, garlic, salt and water).

The actual soup preparation is easy. I actually add some vegetables to my posole. It’s likely not traditional, but this soup isn’t billed as an authentic posole anyway. You can add what types of veggies you like – I used carrots, more onion, and because I had one, I charred a pasilla chile and added that chopped up as well. The hominy, though, is a necessity. Mostly this stew is all about the hominy. You can find hominy in the canned vegetable aisle. You could substitute other beans, but it definitely wouldn’t be a New Mexican style posole that way. If you don’t like hominy, use canned pinto beans instead. Pictured here you can see the big bag of shredded, chilled pork, all ready to be poured into the soup.

The garnishes, though, are what make this dish. Truly they do. You simply must have some corn tortillas chips. You can use packaged chips – or visit your local Mexican restaurant and buy a small bag of their homemade chips if you don’t want to make your own. Do add the finely shredded Romaine lettuce, some diced avocado, radishes (very finely sliced or diced), some freshly chopped cilantro and if you really want to cap it off, serve with a couple of lime wedges on the side of each bowl.

This would make a very fun company meal – especially if you make oodles of toppings to put out. Cheese isn’t traditional, but maybe some of the Mexican crumbly white cheese (queso fresco) would be good too. The finished soup flavor is spicy, but not overwhelmingly hot. The dried chiles add a really delicious depth to the soup, and a gorgeous red/orange color. This soup is really flavorful!

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A year ago: Plum Compote (oooh, that was delicious – try it during plum season)
Three years ago: Iceberg Wedge with Blue Cheese

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