Pork Chops with Dressing

A simple dinner for the family they will love, serve with a salad or roasted veggies.

4 to 6 pork chops
4 cups diced bread (your favourite)
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 apple, chopped

Lay chops flat in bottom of greased pan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cover with dressing.  After covering meat with dressing, place pan in preheated 350F oven and bake approx. 1 hour.

Gratin of Potatoes, Shallots and Sage

Another great recipe from Food and Drink Holiday 2000.  These are very rich.

1.5 kg (3 lbs) Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled
1/4 cup butter
2 cups whipping cream
2 cups milk
6 shallots, chopped
1/4 cup sliced fresh sage
4 cloves garlic, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Thinly slice potatoes.  Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
2. Combine cream, milk, shallots, sage and garlic in pot.  Bring to boil.  Remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes.  Strain, reserving both vegetables and liquid separately.
3. Make a single layer of potatoes in dish.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle over some shallot mixture.  Repeat layers, seasoning and sprinkling on vegetables until all potatoes are used up.  Pour over liquid.  Press potatoes down to make sure the liquid comes right to top.  If not add more cream.  Dot with butter.
4. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until potatoes are tender and liquid is absorbed.

serves 8

Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin with Apples and Sage

Get the best bacon you can for this…preferably from a butcher..it will make a huge difference.  From Food and Drink Autumn 2010.

2 large pork tenderloins (or 1 pork loin roast 1 kg)
10 fresh sage leaves very finely chopped or 1 tsp dried rubbed sage
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
9 to 10 slices thick cut bacon
Kitchen twine
3 to 4 large apples such as Cortland or Spy
1 large cooking onion
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock

1. If any silver skin on loins is present cut away and discard.  Sprinkle sage, garlic, salt and pepper all over loins.  Place loins closely together lengthwise, with thick ends meeting thin ends to even out roast thickness.
2. Lay out slices of bacon snugly together on a cutting board, forming a rectangle.  Place loins across bacon so bacon ends emerge from each side.  Beginning at one end, lift a bacon end up over loins at a 45 degree angle.   Then, alternating sides, continue lifting bacon ends down the length of roast forming a chevron pattern of bacon on top.
3. Cut five 12 inch lengths of twine and one 30 inch length.  Place 5 shorter lengths of twine under loins widthwise.  Working out from roast centre, firmly (but not causing deep indents to form) tie up each piece of twine, spacing evenly apart.  Then tie up roast lengthwise with longer piece of twine.  Trim twine ends; discard. (Roast can be prepared, covered and refrigerated for up to half a day.  Add 10 to 15 minutes to roasting time).
4. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 425F.  Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Lightly brown roast on all sides, about 15 minutes in total.  Transfer to a baking pan lined with a rack.  Place in oven; set time for 30 minutes.  Check and continue roasting until a meat thermometer reads 145F.  Remove from oven: transfer to cutting board.  Cover roast with foil; let rest 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, peel core and slice apples.  Thinly slice onion.
6. Drain most of fat from frying pan; place back over medium heat.  Add onion; cook 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Stir in flour; cook 1 minute.  Stir in chicken broth; add apple slices.  Bring to a boil; simmer, covered 5 to 10 minutes or until apples are tender and sauce is lightly thickened.  Add more broth if too thick; keep covered and hot.
7. To slice pork roast, snip off lengthwise string.  Then slice about 3/4 inch thick removing crosswise strings as they are encountered.  Place a few saucy apples on each warm serving plate, top with a couple of slices of roast and drizzle with more sauce.  Serve with mashed potatoes and vegetables.

Ale Braised Short Ribs

Beer and Beef, it doesn't get much better than that!  Dark ale works best in this recipe, but use what you have.  From Food and Drink 2011

1.75 kg beef short ribs cut 2 to 3 inches thick and sliced into pieces with 1 to 2 bones in each
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups onions, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp garlic coarsely chopped
2 tbsp fresh sage coarsely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups dark ale
1 cup beef stock

1. Heat oven to 350F.
2. Generously season short ribs with salt and freshly ground pepper.
3. In a large ovenproof pot, heat oil over medium heat.  Sear the short ribs in oil until well browned on all sides, work in batches to avoid overcrowding the pot.  Place browned ribs aside on a plate.
4. Discard excess oil from pot, add onions, garlic and sage and saute until onions are nearly tender, about 10 minutes.  Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute longer.
5. Place ribs back in pot along with ale and beef stock.  Bring to a simmer, cover and then place in preheated oven.  Bake for 3 hours or until meat is very tender and falls apart when gently pulled with a fork.  Remove from oven.
6. Set ribs aside and pour the pan juices through a strainer to remove the solids; reserve liquid.  Place ribs and strained liquid back into the same pot and cook over low heat until the liquid has reduced to a sauce consistency, about 10 minutes.
7. Season to taste and place everything in transportable and oven friendly dish.  When ready to serve, place in a 350F oven and warm through.  Serve ribs covered with sauce.

Fresh Corn and Sage Bread

Fabulous with your holiday bird!

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

1 tbsp chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp dried sage leaves

4 cobs of corn shucked

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cornmeal

4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

In a nonstick skillet, add 1 tbsp butter with onion, celery, jalapeno and sage over medium heat and cook for about 7 minutes or until softened.  Set aside to cool.

Using chefs knife, cut kernels off of corn cobs and set aside.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, whisk together milk, eggs and remaining melted butter.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture along with cooked onion mixture and stir to combine.  Stir in corn kernels until well-combined.  Pour into six 5 3/4 x 3 1/4 inch parchment paper lined loaf pans and smooth tops.  Bake in 375F oven for about 30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean.

Cheese option:  Divide 3/4 cup shredded cheddar over top of cornbread before baking

Cornbread Muffins:  Divide batter among 12 greased muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes.

Pumpkin "Ravioli" tossed with Bacon and Parsley

This is a bit fussy and I was nervous about using the pumpkin, but wow I loved it!  Admittedly I do love squash and the pumpkin had a great fall flavour.  Making the ravioli's takes a bit of time.  Got this out of Food and Drink Autumn 2011.

"Ravioli"
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1 cup canned unsweetened pur pumpkin
1/2 tsp dried sage leaves, crumbled
1/4 tsp salt
pinches each nutmeg and pepper
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra smooth ricotta cheese
2 eggs
about 2/3 of a 400 g pkg wonton wrappers

Sauce
4 strips bacon, thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp chopped parsley
pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan for serving

1. Melt butter in  large frying pan over medium heat.  Add onion and stir just until tender, about 3 minutes.  Add pumpkin and seasonings.  Cook, stirring frequently, until pumpkin loses some of its moisture and flavours develop, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, turn into a bowl and cool completely.  Stir in cheeses then 1 egg until well blended.
2. Whisk remaining egg with 1 tbsp water.  It's easiest to work with about 10 wonton wrappers at a time.  Spoon 1 heaping tsp filling in centre of each wrapper.  Brush edges with egg mixture.  Pick up wrapper and fold together, pressing out excess air to form a triangle and enclose filling.  Squeeze edges tightly to seal.  Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers and filling (freeze any leftover wrappers).
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil to cook ravioli.  Meanwhile in a large wide pan or frying pan, cook bacon until fairly crispy.  Keep warm.  Add ravioli to boiling water.  Cook until tender, 4 to 5 minutes.  Drain very well.  Add butter to bacon in pan, stirring until melted.  Then add ravioli, parsley and pepper.  Stir very gently to coat, serve with additional Parmesan.

Serves 4

Oven Roasted Chicken with Prosciutto, Lemon and Sage

This is fantastic!  The lemon and Prosciutto work together beautifully.  From Food and Drink Autumn 2010.

4 thin slices prosciutto about 60 g
1 tbsp each butter and Dijon mustard
2 tbsp finely chopped sage
Finely grated peel of 1 lemon
1 large garlic clove, minced
Generous pinches each salt, pepper and paprika
3 lbs (1.5 kg) whole chicken

• Preheat oven to 375 F.  Finely chop prosciutto.  In a medium bowl, add butter and Dijon.  Mash together to blend.  Stir in prosciutto, sage, lemon peel, garlic and pinches of salt and pepper.
• Very carefully using your hands, pull away skin from 1 chicken breast, just enough so that you can slide about a quarter of the mixture in between skin and meat.  Using your hands on top of skin try to spread out butter mixture under skin.  Repeat with other breast and thighs spreading remaining mixture under skin.
• Season outside of chicken with salt, pepper and paprika.  Tie legs together if you wish.  Place chicken in a small roasting pan.  Roast in centre of preheated oven, basting occasionally, until juice runs clear when thigh is pierced, about 1 1/4 hours.

Serves 4