The name is practically the recipe. It’s that simple!
Last night, we had failed to thaw meat for dinner, so I scoured the meat case for a bargain. I found a pack of about 3-1/2 lbs. of boneless pork loin cuts for $2.49/lb. I usually like to do these on the Weber Kettle charcoal grill to add that smoked flavor and keep them tender. It was a miserable rainy day. I had to get creative. I grabbed a box of Mango nectar on sale for 80 cents and we were good to go!
When I got home, I fired up the oven at 350º convection to start warming up. I got the 15″ cast iron skillet off the wall and heated it up with some olive oil coating the bottom. Then I barely seared the pork in it. I sprinkled a generous amount of ground ginger on top and poured as much of the liter of mango nectar as would fit in the pan; probably about half. I put this in the oven.
Then I got out the rice cooker and put the Three Continent Grain blend into it with the appropriate amount of water a glug of olive oil and a half teaspoon of nutmeg. After the pork had baked for about 10 minutes, I turned on the rice. When the pork and rice were done, I heated peas. Pictured here, is broccoli. These are leftovers reheated for lunch. Yum! I get the grain mix at Costco, but I called the manufacturer. It can be obtained at Acme, SafeWay, BiLo, etc., all across the country. It’s great stuff, and far superior nutritionally than standard white or brown rice. (I usually don’t plug products. I should have arranged to get something for this.) You may find availability and more info at info@earthlychoice.com
The rubber ducky is on the table, because it was in the kitchen to get washed while I am painting the duck themed bathroom where it usually abides. There will be more about that in another article.
The pork was a huge hit! It was savory, juicy and tender. It was done in about 30 minutes. This is a salt-free recipe that won’t leave you looking for the salt shaker. The ginger gives it that snap! The mango gives it mystery. It’s not expected. Most will not guess it. Ginger is a powerful anti-inflammatory, so it’s good for you, too.
I can’t just leave well enough alone, as they say. When I am left to make dinner for the family, and there is one kind of meat thawed, by now, they are still expecting to be surprised. This night the meat was a pound of hickory smoked, 100% beef sausages from Shady Maple, Lancaster, PA. They were the size of 10″ long bratwurst. I cut them into 1″ to 3/4″ long pieces and started to heat them in a large, cast iron skillet in some olive oil. Immediately the quartered rings of a yellow onion were added, then the halved strips of a yellow, red and orange sweet peppers were added.
The heat is on. The juices are beginning to flow. But the dish lacks inspiration. So, I grab a bottle of ginger brandy and glug, glug, glug, glug. Yes. All four glugs into the pan, over the contents. Then I turn up the gas a little more. I go to the freezer and get out the frozen corn. I threw a couple handfuls of that into the pan. and stir that in. I keep cooking and stirring until the brandy has a chance to seep into everything a bit. Its alcohol is bubbling away, leaving sweetness and the ginger.
That’s about all you need to remember for this dish I created tonight. It was delicious, nutritious, gluten-free, no added sugar, and has chocolate.
Ingredients:
3 cups organic quinoa
vegetable oil or olive oil
6-1/2 cups water
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 Hass avocados
4 Ataulfo mangoes
In a large sauce pan, toast the quinoa in a thin layer of oil to bring out the flavor. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Add the water, cocoa & cinnamon, and bring to a boil. Pit & peel the avocados and dice into the pan. If they are ripe enough, wisk them into the slurry. Peel & dice the mangoes & add them. Boil for about 6 minutes, then cover. Remove from heat and let sit for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer it to a suitable bowl or casserole dish for serving and cover and put it into the refrigerator to chill.
It is mildly sweet and goes well with salad and/or soup.
If you follow my recipes, you know I like pork and you know I like avocados. I put them together in my first time making pork soup. Pork tends to be really affordable. We got a great deal on a shank roast. We had it for dinner. There was plenty left over, and a good size bone with a joint. I stripped the meat off of the bone and stewed it with a Spanish onion, cut in half, for half a day, in about 5 quarts of water with about a Tablespoon of turmeric, in a 10 quart sauce pan. I discarded the onion and the bone, and refrigerated the broth overnight.
Ingredients:
Broth in 10 quart sauce pan
6 carrots sliced thin
1 leek diced, including green leaves
8 or 9 radishes quartered
large handful of fresh kale, chopped
~ 8 sun dried tomatoes, diced
4 ounces pea shoots, chopped
2 large Hass avocados peeled & diced
~ 1/2″ fresh ginger grated
15 twists medium grind black pepper
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon ground sage
~ 1 pound pork diced small, including fat portions
water to almost fill pot
Basically, heat up the broth and start chopping and adding the ingredients in order and stew. It makes a great soup! It’s healthy , too, for an Atkins diet.
President Dwight Eisenhower and Mrs Mamie Eisenhower sit in the open car and wave as they leave the Capitol in Washington Jan. 21, 1957, just before swinging into Constitution Avenue on traditional inaugural parade route. (AP Photo)
When President Dwight David Eisenhower was running for re-election in 1956, he came to Minnesota. My parents were GOP state committee persons. At the parade that was held to welcome Ike, I was presented to him. He kissed me and held me high in the air! Of course, I was just a little more than a year old at the time. I still have the rhinestone IKE brooch my mom was wearing for the occasion. My mom had a hand signed, black and white photograph of Ike and Mamie Eisenhower sitting in the rose garden of the Whitehouse, in a brass frame, sitting on her dresser next to her bed for four decades, until she passed away. I have several “I Like Ike” buttons, even one in Norwegian. I did say I’m from Minnesota after all. Ike dreamed big. More importantly, he led a nation who was tired of war to dream big, and to work together for some things that were bigger than themselves.
Ike had seen Hitler’s Autobahn and envisioned the Interstate Highway system to knit our country together as one nation as it had never been before. He witnessed the scourge of polio and mobilized free, universal immunizations for every child in America to wipe out this crippling disease. He wanted to go further and have universal healthcare for children. Schools and universities were built and a generation of veterans and their children were educated, thanks to a progressive income tax and a high corporate income tax. The middle class was established and the war debt was paid off. It seems we have now lost that spirit of bold cooperation for anything other than endless warfare. Ike warned us about that as well when he told us to beware of the military industrial complex. Well, I have gone on long enough. What does this have to do with a recipe?
I got to thinking what to call this and it hit me that this would have been impossible without Ike’s input and vision. It would have been impossible when I was a child. I was able to go to the grocery store and buy all of these ingredients for reasonable prices thanks to Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway system. So here goes.
Ingredients:
~ 1/4 cup lard
~ 2 pound pork tenderloin
1 small sweet onion, diced
~ 1 cubic inch ginger root, peeled & finely chopped or grated
Slice the tenderloin into 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick medallions. rub it down with the turmeric and the mustard. Heat up the lard in a large skillet, preferably cast iron. I used our 13″ one. It was full by the time I was done. You are going to need sides. Start cooking the pork the onion and the ginger root in the lard. Let it cook for a bit, turning frequently. You don’t want to carmelize the meat. You want it tender, not crunchy. As you prep the fruits, add them to the skillet. Stir the mixture, so nothing burns. The only thing that should have carmelized would be the onions. You can put a lid on it to help hold the moisture and the heat in to help cook the meat and reduce the heat to medium. Slice the meat open to test for doneness. If it is about done, crumble the Gorgonzola on top of the mixture and cover for a few minutes, reducing the flame to low. Rip up the spinach and pile it on top. Replace the cover. Turn off the stove. Just let the steam and heat from the cast iron pan and the other ingredients cook the spinach. Serve.
It makes six servings. It took about half an hour to make. It is a one pan meal. It is super interesting! It has so many different flavor notes and textures. It is the rare recipe in which I did not use garlic or pepper. The ginger provided enough heat. I preferred it in little chunks rather than grated so it would surprise the tongue now and again. The kiwi are an element of whimsy. Each serving may get just a tiny bit of it. It wakes up the palate with a bit of tartness. The cheese melts in with the fruit and meat juices to form this uniquely luscious sauce. When I was all done, I wanted to pick up my plate and lick it to get the last gooey drop of it.
Bethann and Hilary told me I could definitely make that again. It is gluten free, low carb, and includes two super foods.
Apologies to those of you who are starting the fast today. We cannot fast due to health limitations. I have to avoid drastic changes in diet in order to prevent migraines that cause strokes. I also need to avoid grains and gluten and limit carb intake. This recipe happened this evening, since Bethann was busy finishing a peppermint swirl dress, and could not break away to cook. I used ingredients I found in the refrigerator, cleaning up odds and ends. Bethann had started to thaw about a pound of 80% lean ground beef. It was still pretty frozen when I put it in the cast iron skillet. That worked pretty well. It allowed enough time for me to cut the other ingredients and for them to cook, without overcooking the beef.
Ingredients:
~ 1 pound 80% lean ground beef
1 small, sweet onion, finely diced
1 Gala or other sweet apple, peeled & diced
~ 10 radishes, finely diced
4 portabella mushrooms, diced
a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
a generous pinch of ground ginger
a generous pinch of ground mustard
a generous pinch of ground turmeric
5 twists of black pepper
~ 3 ounces of feta cheese
Start to fry the ground beef in a large cast iron skillet. Flip it and scrape it as needed to break it up and continue thawing it and cooking it, while slicing the other ingredients. As the ingredients are cut up, add them to the skillet. Add the spices. Keep turning and mixing the ingredients. When all of the vegetables are tender and the beef is cooked, crumble the cheese on top of the mixture and cover until melted. Serve.
We were given a large chunk of leftover gyro lamb meat from a church festival. You know what they say, “When life gives you gyro lamb meat, make Gyro Lamb Avocado Mango Hash!” What, you have never heard them say that? That’s because they have not tried mine.
Ingredients:
~ 2 pounds Gyro Lamb meat
1/2 Fennel split lengthwise, diced, including fronds
Use a large skillet. Slice the lamb, then break it into bite sized pieces. Throw the Lamb and the Fennel into the hot skillet and brown. Stir and flip while cooking. Add the the Peppers and Garlic next. Then add the Cilantro, the Mangoes & the Avocados. Stir in and continue to cook until everything is soft and juicy. Twist the Pepper. Break up the cheese on top. Cover for a minute or two to help the cheese melt a bit and serve.
Serves 6.
I know it sounds a little unusual. I made it for my family. They loved it. They took the leftovers in their lunches and asked for it again!
This is the recipe for another dish we served at our rent party. It is a meatless chilé with corn. It is a hearty vegan dish.
4 cups cooked kidney beans
1 cup finely chopped onions
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cups diced, canned tomatoes
1 jar Simply spaghetti sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup or more of frozen corn
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Sauté vegetables. Then add tomatoes & spices. Cook awhile. Add beans & sauce. Cook more.
Several people asked for Bethann’s recipe for meatless shepherd’s pie. It is from the Foods for Paradise cookbook. It did have milk in it, in the mashed potatoes, since it was cheese week, but it could be made without.
Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons oil
1 pound, cooked, chopped broccoli
1 package chopped spinach, thawed
1 sweet. red pepper, diced
pepper to taste
garlic to taste
4 carrots, shredded
3 cups mashed potatoes (We used instant made with milk and butter.)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
15 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes.
Optional:
Shredded Swiss cheese or grated Parmesan or soy cheese for on top.
Sauté onion and garlic in oil. Add vegetables, spices and tomato, and stir. Simmer over low heat until vegetables are tender crisp. Put vegetables into 9″ x 13″ greased baking dish. Spread potatoes over the top. Spread shredded Swiss cheese on top, to taste. Shake paprika over the top. Bake at 350° about 30 minutes, until heated through.
You may use soy cheese as a vegan alternative.
Once a month, usually a Tuesday, a bunch of ladies, mostly from St. Philip, go out to dinner somewhere together. This practice started on the occasion of Bethann’s birthday two years ago. I had had a terrible staph infection on my neck and reactions to medications to treat it. Another lady had lost her husband in October. It had been a pretty grim time. A friend decided it would be a good time to have a good time. So a bunch of them took Bethann out to dinner. They had such a good time, they decided to do it again the next month, etc. It is now a regular event: Ladies’ Night Out.
So I got the idea to have a couple of the guys over to our house to make manly meals and watch manly movies while the ladies went out. We have watched “Monty Python’s: The Holy Grail”, “Napoleon Dynamite”, “Hannah”, “The Man Who Would Be King”, The Grammy Awards, a Leonard Cohen concert, a Bob Dylan documentary, etc. We have eaten “turtle burgers” (recipe by Southern Culture on the Skids), hobo hotdogs, veal steaks, stir fry and corn dogs. One night we ignited a tiny bit of bootleg, Greek Raki to prove that it was well over 50% alcohol. I concocted this recipe for one of those nights. It was a hit. I made it for Bethann and Hilary later. They loved it, too. This is especially amazing, because Hilary says she doesn’t like avocados or feta and it contains both. I told her they cancel each other out. She said they must, because she claimed the leftovers for her lunch.
Ingredients:
about 1-1/4 pound 80% lean ground beef
a small onion, chopped
a handful of chopped green & red peppers
a handful of baby bella mushrooms
a large handful of frozen corn
2 avocados peeled and cubed
salt
granulated garlic
mixed peppercorn grind
Greek oregano
cilantro
a generous handful of feta cheese
In a large skillet, fry up the hamburger and the chopped onion. If there is a lot of fat; drain some of it. Add the peppers, mushrooms and corn. Add the spices. Be liberal with the cilantro. It’s good for you. Stir and cook them until the peppers start to get a bit juicy, but not mushy. Add the avocados. Cover and let them get warm. Top with the feta and serve.
Then I got out the rice cooker and put the Three Continent Grain blend into it with the appropriate amount of water a glug of olive oil and a half teaspoon of nutmeg. After the pork had baked for about 10 minutes, I turned on the rice. When the pork and rice were done, I heated peas. Pictured here, is broccoli. These are leftovers reheated for lunch. Yum! I get the grain mix at Costco, but I called the manufacturer. It can be obtained at Acme, SafeWay, BiLo, etc., all across the country. It’s great stuff, and far superior nutritionally than standard white or brown rice. (I usually don’t plug products. I should have arranged to get something for this.) You may find availability and more info at info@earthlychoice.com
