Hot dogs on the grill, I like them burnt
Meat
Basil rubbed Pork Tenderloin
Lyn and I decided this will be added to our rotation. Want to thank Martha for sharing this with us.
Extremely simple to prepare and cook, tender and delicious.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pork tenderloin (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons spices or seasonings (See Recipe Note)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
How
- Heat the oven and pan. 10 to 20 minutes before you plan to cook, place a large cast-iron or oven safe skillet on the middle rack in the oven and heat the oven to 450°F. The skillet will heat along with the oven.
- Season the pork. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and trim off any large pieces of surface fat. Mix any spices being used with the salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub the spice mix onto the pork on all sides.
- Swirl the pan with oil. Using oven mitts, carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.
- Roast the pork for 10 minutes. Place the pork in the pan. (It’s fine if your pork tenderloin is a little long for the pan; just bend it to fit as we did here.) Return the pan to the oven and roast for 10 minutes.
- Flip the pork, reduce the heat, and roast another 10 to 15 minutes. Flip the pork. Reduce the oven temperature to 400°F and continue roasting 10 to 15 minutes more. The pork is done when its internal temperature registers 140°F to 145°F in the thickest part, 20 to 25 minutes total.
- Rest for 10 minutes before serving. Transfer the pork to a clean cutting board, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing crosswise. For extra-thin slices for sandwiches, cool the pork completely, then refrigerate before cutting.
RECIPE NOTES
- Seasoning the pork: You can keep this pork simple and season with just salt and pepper, or you can rub it with any favorite spices or salt-free blend of spices.
- I used a basil blend rub.
Simple Pan Seared Pork Chops
I get my pork chops from Butcher Box and I have a lot of different recipes this is a simple yet very good one here are some others Pan Fried Pork Chops With Juniper and Rosemary, Air Fryer Parmesan Coated Pork Chops, Pork Chops with Cider, Horseradish Glaze, Pan Seared Oven Roasted Porkchops with Roasted Veggies, anyway I wanted simple so I grabbed my cast iron pan.
Ingredients
- Pork Chops (mine are thick about 1.5 to 2”
- Kosher Salt
- Cracked Pepper
- ½ TBS unsalted butter
- ½ TBS olive oil
How
Bring chops to room temperature.
Pat dry with paper towels
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
In a cast iron pan on medium high heat melt butter and add olive oil. Once the butter has melted and mixture is bubbling place the pork chop in pan.
Cook about 5 minutes per side or until golden brown and register about 135-140 degrees. Timing depends on thickness.
Remove from heat and let rest should get to about 10 minutes and around 145 Degree
So simple but so good.
What to do with 1/2 lb leftover hamburger meat
I had a pound of ButcherBox ground sirloin and made the Pasta With Roasted Pepper and Manchego Pesto but only used 1/2 of the hamburger so I decided to make some burritos with the left over. that was good but I thought what else so I decide to make some instant pot chili with beans which were added after it had all cooked. Lyn has a friend, Richard, who is great at making several meals out of one. I said this is Richard approved. I also tried to crisp the burrito rather than have is a a soft shell. crisping under broiler ater a light spray of avocado oil proved to be a good thing to do.
If you are interested in trying their organic meat please use my code we can both save some money. Hey, I love ButcherBox and I think you will too! They deliver 100% grass-fed beef, organic chicken, and heritage breed pork directly to your door with free shipping. Not ordering here would be a missed steak! I’m giving you $30 off your first box! You can thank me later..
Taco seasoning
I usually make a batch and store in jar and use in many dishes.
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
Morale is 1 pound can go a long way. I also have some chili frozen.
Homemade Chinese Dumplings ala Chef Gail
I love what they call Peking Ravioli and have bought from restaurants, and frozen. My fondest memories are when I used to commute into Boston via the train, a there was a group of us and maybe once a month take turns going into China Town and buying a huge box of frozen ravs. On the way back we would split them up and distribute to our coolers. Many good meals were had. Well our Son Mike’s is married to a wonderful woman, Gail, who happens to be from China. I innocently (ya right) ask if she ever made them. Her mom had visited recently and left her with a freezer full. She said yes and she would show me how. I jokingly called Chef Gail and it stuck at least while she was here.
It was like getting a recipe from your mom, a little of this, a handful of that a splash of rice vinegar and she went by smell. When she felt it smelt right, we were ready to start making the dumplings. Now that I think about it that makes sense there are dishes, I make that I’ll know it is correct and ready to cook by the smell, I just never thought about it that way.
The frozen dumplings I’ve made I would pan fried and then add water cover and steam until done. Gail said the authentic way is to boil them (at least the ones you have on the Chinese New Year). So, we made the stuffing (pork) added scallions, napa cabbage, ginger, five spice, canola oil, soy sauce then mix and then stuffed. using chopsticks mix stirring in only one direction (this way the filling becomes very sticky and absorbs more water to bring the juicy flavor). She showed me her way of sealing the wrappers and I soon got the hang of it. Lyn and Mike joined in and before we knew it the pound of pork was gone. Into some lightly salted boiling water and this is where we used her mom’s trick. You bring water to boil then boil for a few minutes add a little less than a cup of cold water and bring to a boil again and repeat. Essentially boiling three times. Drain and eat with dipping sauce.
Now my challenge is to figure out the measurements (double checked with Gail).
Stuffing: Keep in mind these are estimated amounts so you have to use your judgment
- 1 lb. ground pork (>20% fat is ideal)
- 2 cups of Napa cabbage copped finely
- About 3/4 inch of ginger, finely chopped or grated
- 4 scallions, finely chopped
- 2-3 tbsp soy sauce (I like low sodium)
- 1 tsp 5 spice powder
- 2 tbs canola/vegetable oil …add more if the stuffing turned out too dry
- 1/3 tsp salt
Dipping Sauce:
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp sugar (optional for sweet)
• dash rice vinegar
• dash sesame oil
• pinch garlic powder
• two dashes hot pepper flakes
Scoop about 1 tablespoon (or less, so you can easily fold the dumpling) of dumpling filling and place it in the center of the wrapper. Rub the edge of dumpling with water (acts like glue) Hold the dumpling with one hand and start sealing the edges with the other hand (refer to the video to see how to fold a dumpling). Be careful, when you press the edges together to seal the dumpling, do not let filling touch the sealing area (the dumpling will fall apart if you do). After folding, press edge again to seal well. You don’t need to fold beautiful dumplings here, that will come with time, your goal is to make the dumplings hold their shape during boiling.
How
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Carefully add dumplings one at a time into the water. Use a big ladle to stir the water gently, until the water starts to boil again, so the dumplings don’t stick to the bottom, for about 1 minute. Adjust the heat so the water is at boiling point but isn’t bubbling too fiercely.
- When the dumplings float to the surface, add about 3/4 cup cold water bring to a boil add another 3/4 cup cold water continue boiling until the dumplings are filledwith air and swollen and the dough starts to become transparent, about 1 minute or 2 (time may vary depending on temp, size of dumplings etc)
- Gail note: I only see dumplings made from commercial wraps filled with air, the ones my parents made from home-made dough didn’t fill with air,
- Remove and place aside and cook the next batch.
- For the dumpling already boiled, the pan-fried left-over also great:)
Easy Italian Purple Cabbage Rolls
I got a red cabbage with my Misfits Market order thinking it would be a small head that I could add to my salads, but it turned out to be huge. I like stuffed cabbage and figure why not. If your interested in trying Misfits use my code (COOKWME-FG1DCQ) that way we can both save some $$. This is a quick, easy and pretty good. I have made other recipes like sweet and sour but I kind of like this one.
Ingredients
- 1 large head purple cabbage
- 3 cups water or unsalted chicken broth
- 1 cup brown rice, cooked and cooled
- 1 ¼ pounds ground sirloin
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 2 teaspoons ground sage
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (optional)
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 2 ½ cups low-sodium marinara sauce (my mother in-law used to use tomato soup)
How
Carefully cut or remove 6 large leaves from a head of cabbage—the bigger, the better; they are your vessels in this recipe. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then drop in the leaves. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until soft and malleable.
Bring the 3 cups water or broth to a boil, then add the rice. Cover and cook until the farro has softened and can be fluffed with a fork, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 400˚F.
In a large bowl, mix turkey, egg, garlic powder, onion, bell pepper, sage, Italian seasoning (if using), salt, black pepper, 2 tablespoons marinara sauce, and rice.
In a baking dish, spread 1 cup marinara sauce over the bottom.
Take a scoop of the meat mixture ( I used my medium ice cream scoop) and roll into a cylinder or ball. Place at the bottom of a cabbage leaf; roll up the bottom, fold in the sides, then continue rolling the leaf to seal. Repeat. Depending on the size of the leaf, I had some left over so I just made small meatballs with leftover and placed in pan. I think they are called porcupine balls, I call it chef’s treat.
Place the rolls side by side on top of the sauce in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the rolls Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake at 400˚F for 55 minutes.
You could also use this for stuffed peppers, acorn squash
Info
Other things I’ve been making
Quick stir fry 
Green apple and butternut squash soup 
Salads of all kinds 
another quick stir fry 
Butternut Squash and black bean burrito 
sliders 
TDay Turkey 
oven made bear but chicken 
herb rubbed flank steak 
Roasted veggies 
Oat flour pancakes 
Chicken thighs 
Pork chopped 
pasta 
Chicken cutlets air fried 
Quck chicken parm 
Brisket 
Homemade pizza 
redonion relish 
Pork roast 
cupcakestuffed meatloaf 
Tomatoe basil soup 
cast iron roasted chicken
Fusilli and Meatball Puttanesca
Lyn and I were looking for something for dinner and we came up with making Ravioli Puttanesca but use some of my meatballs chopped up and some Fusilli instead of raviolis. It’s the same basic recipe but I chopped up two meatballs and added some sundried tomatoes to the sliced cherry tomatoes.
I really like the results and will duplicate in future.
Meatballs optional
Steve’s Meatballs
What was a Sunday dinner at Rose’s without meatballs? This is a dish that a pinch of and a handful of that really comes to play. A dish that my side of the family would kill for, a plate of pasta topped with some of Rose’s meatballs. You really have to make these every week so you get it down. But then I would be 900 lbs. Quick easy but soooooo good.
This is my take of her recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. of ground sirloin I used 93% lean
- 3-4 eggs – 2 per lbs
- About 1.5 handfuls of seasons bread crumbs and 1.5 handful of oat bran, each handful was about 1/4 cup
- splash of milk maybe around 1/4 cup
- Heaping tablespoon or dried parsley
- About 1/3 cup grated parmigiana Reggiano cheese
- Heaping tablespoon of dried basil
- A couple of teaspoon of garlic powder
- About a tablespoon of onion powder
- 1 tsp. Salt and fresh ground pepper if you want a spicy meatball either use more pepper or add 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
How:
Preheat oven to 350◦
Line a backing sheet with high sides with tin foil and drizzle with then and spread olive oil
in large bowl mix bread crumb and oat bran with milk let sit for 3-5 minutes
now mix all other ingredients together thoroughly. Using a medium ice cream scoop, scoop out and shape into 2” balls. (Approximately) and line the pan with meatballs leaving a little space between each.
Hint: I always have a small bowl with some olive oil in it to keep dipping my hand in it for when I form the meatballs
Convection Bake for about 15-30 minutes, checking after 20 minutes. The will be firm but not too firm. You can place sauce until ready to serve. if you want check with instant thermometer temp 138ish
Note: I think when going to serve that putting in sauce and let them simmer with the sauce make them come out very moist and as Lyn said melted in your mouth.
Roast Semi Boneless Leg of Lamb
I had not made a leg of lamb in a long time it is a fatty meat, and my now older stomach lets me know when I have had a little too much fat. Mike and Gail were coming over for Xmas dinner wearing mask and all. Lyn and Gail both get tested for COVID at least once a month Mike and I figure if they do not have it then we are safe. So far, all checks have been negative. I have my basic recipe but always check others for any good ideas. I found one that broiled each side about 5 minutes before roasting, like the idea so what the heck I tried. Not a bad idea, thanks Kitchn your recipe was very close to mine.
INGREDIENTS
1 (5 to 7 pound) bone-in leg of lamb (whole food had semi boneless)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced.
Leaves from 3 fresh rosemary sprigs, coarsely chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
1 Lemon sliced (I draped over the lamb while roasting ) also rubbed the lamb with lemon juice after putting slices of garlic in
What you need
Roasting pan with rack
Aluminum foil
Sharp chef’s knife or carving knife, for carving
Instant-read thermometer
How
Take the leg of lamb out of the refrigerator about an hour before cooking so it comes closer to room temperature. This promotes faster, more even cooking.
Slice garlic thinly and using a paring knife make slits and insert garlic slices all over the lamb. Mince any left over
Rub the lamb with lemon juice .
Set the lamb in a rack inside a roasting pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and rub all over into the fat and meat. Season generously all over with salt and pepper. Position the lamb so that it is fat-side down.
Broil for 5 minutes. Arrange an oven rack so that the top of the lamb is a few inches from the broiler element. Heat the broiler. Broil until the surface of the lamb looks seared and browned, about 5 minutes.
Flip the lamb over and broil the other side. Flip the leg over and put back under the broiler until the other side is seared, about 5 minutes more.
Take the lamb out of the oven. Top with minced garlic, rosemary, and lemon slices. Turn off the broiler and set the oven temperature to 325°F. Reposition the oven rack to the middle of the oven. Rub the top of the lamb with the garlic and rosemary then top with lemon slices.
Cover the lamb loosely with foil and roast 40-1 hour. (Mine took 45 minutes see below for instant Thermometer temp guides) Tent the pan loosely with aluminum foil to keep the garlic and rosemary from burning.
Uncover and take the temperature. Uncover the lamb. Take its temperature with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part not touching bone. The lamb is ready when the temperature is 135°F or above. At 135°F the lamb is cooked to rare, but it will continue cooking as it rests, so we recommend taking it out of the oven at 135°F for medium-rare to medium. (Refer to the cooking chart above for general roasting times.)
If the lamb is not ready, continue cooking uncovered until it reaches your desired internal temperature, checking the temperature every 20 minutes.
Figure out where to carve. Let the lamb rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. Transfer the lamb to a clean cutting board. The bone runs through the meat at an angle, giving you two fairly big pieces of meat on either side of the bone. Start with the side of meat that feels most accessible to you.
Cut the meat into slices across the grain. Make straight, parallel cuts straight down through the thickest part of the meat until you hit the bone. You should be cutting perpendicular to the bone, across the grain of the meat. The slices will still be attached where they meet the bone.
Cut the slices off the bone. Turn your knife so that it’s now parallel to the bone instead of perpendicular. Starting at the end of the bone furthest from you, cut through the slices where they attach to the bone. Keep your knife close to the bone as possible. I got to chew the bone after dinner, chef’s treat.
Transfer the slices to a serving platter. Place the slices on a serving platter. Tent the platter with foil to keep the meat warm.
Recommend serving the lamb with mint jelly. I roasted some potatoes, carrots and Daikon radish (*that is another story) and a side salad.
*The other story I used misfits Market and choose a Daikon radish which I had not knowingly had before. It was huge about 1 foot and a half long. I gave half to Mike and Gail.
Gail and I had been working on a Legos project which we usually do when we go to their apartment.
