Pulled Pork, Baked Beans, and Collard Greens - Southern Style!

I have always wanted to make my own Collard Greens. I have only had them once in Georgia about 8 years ago. I can still remember how good they were. For the Collards, I started with 2 fresh bunches and washed them thoroughly, stripped the stems, and cut them into strips. I added these to a pot of half chicken broth and half water that I had been boiling with a ham hock for about an hour. I liberally salted and peppered the leaves and let them soften for another hour. They turned out pretty good but not as tasty as I remembered, they were a little bitter. I have a new recipe from a Southern Cook that I am trying out next time. For the Pulled Pork and Baked Beans I made a homemade BBQ sauce. It consisted of bacon, onions, tomato sauce, ketchup, cayenne pepper, cider vinegar, brown sugar, and worcestershire. I simmered all these ingredients together for about an hour. Then I put half the sauce in the crock pot for the Pulled Pork. I added a 1.5 lb pork tenderloin to the crock pot as well and cooked on high about 4 hours. At the end the pork was melt in your mouth delicious and just fell right apart. For the baked beans I had soaked some dried red beans overnight and boiled them for about 2 hours to soften. I added these beans to the BBQ sauce then I baked them in a 325 degree oven for an hour. The result was a tangy baked bean dish with a nice crust on the top from baking. I think the Pork was the most successful part of this whole meal and I will definitely be making it again! So Yummy!

Bucatini Pasta with Meat Sauce

We went to AJ's on Friday (specialty food store) and got some gourmet pasta and sauce to make. The pasta we chose was "Bucatini" I have never had this before. It was like a really thick spaghetti noodle. It was actually really good. You get a nice bite because it's thicker than spaghetti but you still get those long strands that I love. For the sauce we got some ground sirloin from the butcher and I browned this in a pan with onions and garlic. Then I poured a bottle of gourmet pasta sauce over it and simmered for about 10 mins. I combined this with the Bucatini and garnished with Fresh Basil. It was very delicious. You can always tell a difference when you cook with high quality ingredients. This is a really easy meal and we make it a lot. I always love to doctor up a plain jar a pasta sauce to make it my own.

Basil Garlic Pesto with Parmesan Crusted Cod and Veggie Pasta Salad

My Uncle gave me a huge bag of Fresh Basil from his garden when I was at Oktoberfest. I was so excited because I love fresh basil. I decided to make a really nice Basil Garlic Pesto sauce with it. Pesto is so easy to make. Just add Basil, Garlic, Pine nuts, Parmesan Cheese,Olive Oil, and salt to a food processor and blend. The result is a rich and flavorful sauce that can be served with just about anything. I chose to serve this over a Parmesan crusted piece of Cod. Just follow my instructions for Chicken Parmesan in an earlier post. It works really well with a firm white fish and the cooking time is about the same (18 mins). On the side I made some whole wheat pasta with steamed broccoli, spinach, and fresh tomatoes. I mixed this all together with the Basil Pesto. I served the Parmesan crusted Cod along side with a nice spoonful of Pesto on top. This was a great quick meal and the pasta is great for lunch the next day. Thanks Uncle Steve for the Basil!

German Potato Salad

My Aunt and Uncle threw an Oktoberfest party this last weekend. Everyone was asked to bring a German dish to share. My Mom has been making German Potato Salad for Oktoberfest for years so I thought I would try the recipe out. It is pretty easy and very flavorful. The main ingredients are Potatoes and Bacon....who wouldn't love that! First I quartered some Red Potatoes and then I boiled them until they are fork tender (about 10 mins). Be careful to not overcook them, you want them to be firm and not fall apart when you mix the ingredients together. Then I brown some bacon in a pan and set aside. Once the bacon is done you add a lot of chopped onion to the rendered bacon fat in the pan. Saute the onions until they are softened. Then add white vinegar, salt, water, and a little sugar. Mix this and bring to a boil. Add half the crumbled bacon, chopped fresh parsley, and the potatoes. Heat everything through and transfer to a serving bowl. Then top with the bacon! This dish has a very German flavor to it. The sugar and vinegar make it sweet and savory which is a great combination. I love the addition of the fresh parsley because it gives the dish a little extra color.

Baked Chicken Parmesan and Broccoli Pasta

I am not a huge fan of eating chicken every night so I have to spice it up sometimes. I have been making baked Chicken Parmesan a lot lately. I just dip the chicken breast in some egg then roll it in a mix of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Spray the baking pan with a little Pam and then bake for 20 minutes (flipping the chicken halfway through). This chicken comes out really crispy and is very close to the real stuff, which is fried, but without all the extra fat from the oil. On the Side I just sauteed some broccoli, onion, carrot, and spinach in olive oil. Once they are softened I add the garlic because I don't want to burn it by cooking it too long. Then I just pour some sauce over the top and simmer for about 5 minutes. Pour this sauce over some pasta and you are all set with a really healthy pasta dish. This is a great way to get a couple extra servings of veggies.

Pumpkin Pie

I had a lot of leftover Pumpkin Puree from the Lasagna so I decided to make a Pumpkin pie. My Mom makes wonderful Pumpkin Pie so I wanted to see how hard it was. I have never made this before. I just used the recipe on the back of the Pumpkin can. It was very easy. You just mix together Pumpkin, condensed milk, eggs, sugar, ground ginger, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Then pour that mixture into an unbaked pie crust (I didn't make my own crust, my Mom will be so mad!). Then bake at 350 for about an hour. It turned out really well and Matt actually ate some of this one. The only problem was that I did not have "ground" cloves. I only had whole cloves. So I tried to grind them down in my Magic Bullet. It kinda worked but you can still see the big brown specks of clove in the pie. I served the pie with whip cream on top. I would say it's a success for my first Pumpkin Pie on my own. Next time I will make a completely home made pie, including making my own Pumpkin Puree!

Pumpkin Lasagna

It is starting to feel more like Fall. This is my favorite time of year. Every store has pumpkins out and every internet site has pumpkin recipes. I found this pumpkin lasagna one online so I thought I would try it out. It's basically the same concept as regular cheese lasagna. You use Pumpkin as the cheese and Swiss Chard as the spinach. First you mix together pumpkin puree and cream. Then add chopped sage and nutmeg. In a big pot saute some onions and add chopped sage, nutmeg, and the Swiss Chard until it's wilted. Then layer the pumpkin mixture and the swiss chard mixture just like you would a lasagna, with alternating layers of noodles. Then top it with some pumpkin puree and parmesan cheese. I really thought this was very tasty. Matt would not even touch it! He hates pumpkin apparently. My Mom use to make Pumpkin soup when I was a kid and I loved it. This had the exact same flavor. This was interesting but it was also very good. Iwashed this down with Firesteed Oregon Pinot Gris. Here is the recipe from delish.com.

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/pumpkin-lasagne-recipe-8251?click=recipe_sr