BLTA with Garlic Mayonaise

It gets plenty busy around here during the week and sometimes we just need a simple, quick dinner.  This one generally pleases our entire family and is not too overwhelmingly processed and unhealthy which can be a problem when you need fast, fast, fast!  This can be thrown together in an instant!  It’s sort of a non-recipe, really… but, hey, I was hungry…

BLTA WITH GARLIC MAYONAISE

Ingredients:

Sliced French Bread (or your favorite kind of bread)

1-2 Large Tomatoes, washed and sliced

1-2 Avocados, sliced

Romaine Lettuce, washed and torn

Your Favorite Bacon, cooked (we like the thick cut Applewood smoked stuff)

For the Mayo:

1/2-3/4 Cup Your Favorite Mayonaise

3 Tsp Garlic Paste

Juice of one large lemon

Salt and Black Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 Tsp each)

Directions:

1.  Mix all the mayo ingredients together well and refrigerate at least 15-30 minutes ahead of time.

2.  Toast French Bread

3.  Assemble sandwiches per your taste.

Flipped Sausage and Apple Cornbread

I was given this recipe a long time ago from a friend and with the abundance of
apples I have, I thought I would try it out again.  I think it is a good brunch recipe.  It is not too sweet and the cornmeal definitely gives it its own texture which got mixed review from my crowd.  I love the idea of this recipe and will definitely play with it in the future to give it a more smooth, cake-like texture as I think that would go better overall with the balance of savory and sweet.  Having said that, I think the recipe stands alone just fine, I would just be tweaking it for my own personal taste.  I do love the combination of apples and sausage though – definitely high on the yum factor scale!  If you are looking for a good holiday recipe or simply went apple picking and find yourself saying, “What am I going to do with all these apples?” you might want to give this one a try!

FLIPPED  SAUSAGE AND APPLE CORNBREAD

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Sausage Links (pork or turkey is fine)

4 TBS Butter

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

4 Small Apples (of your choice) – peeled, cored and sliced

1 Cup of Flour

3/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal

3 TBS Brown Sugar

1 TBS Baking Powder

1 Tsp Salt

1 Egg, beaten

4 TBS Melted Butter

1 Cup Milk

Directions:

1.  Grease 9 inch round cake pan and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Brown sausage in skillet over medium heat, remove from pan once done, leaving about 1-2 TBS drippings in skillet.  Cut links into small pieces and set aside.

3.  Add butter and brown sugar and stir until sugar melts.

4.  Add apples and saute until soft, about 10-12 minutes.

5.  Add sausage pieces and apples slices in a single layer to prepared baking pan and pour skillet juices over the top evenly.

6.  Let apple-sausage mixture sit until room temperature while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

7.  In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

8.  Add egg, melted butter and milk and stir until well combined.

9.  Pour batter over apple sausage mixture, smoothing out to cover entire pan.

10.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean.

11.  Remove from oven and immediately invert onto serving dish.

Blackberry Chipotle Glazed Pork Ribs

Since BBQ season is sort of coming to a close, I thought I’d post a rib recipe Mr. Foodie and I made recently after we found ourselves with a refrigerator full of blackberries.  (Oh, the sales!)  I actually got this recipe out of a local grocery store handout and was quite enticed by the picture and the word ‘glaze’.  This came out good, with a balance of sweet and smokey flavors.  Mr. Foodie liked it a bit better than I did, I thought there was a little bit too much tang but I suppose this would also depend on the berries used so this recipe could vary batch to batch.  It was different and a nice alternative to our regular rub with BBQ sauce.  Enjoy these last few weeks of summer and get out there and grill!

BLACKBERRY CHIPOTLE GLAZED PORK RIBS

Ingredients:

3 Racks of Baby Back Pork Ribs

For Spice Rub:

1/4 Cup Paprika

2 TBS Sugar

1 1/2 TBS Chili Powder

1 1/2 TBS Salt

1 TBS Ground Black Pepper

1 TBS Garlic Powder

1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

For The Glaze:

1 TBS Olive Oil

1 Cup Diced Onion

3 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 TBS Chipotle Chilis in Adobo, seeds removed and chopped

3 6 oz. Packages of Blackberries

1/2 Cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Tsp Salt

Directions:

1.  Mix all spice rub ingredients in small bowl and rub mixture onto each side of rib racks.

2.  Cover ribs with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

3.  In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, cook the onion until soft, about 4 minutes.

4.  Add the garlic, saute for 1 minute and then add the chipotle chilies and stir constantly for 1 minute.

5.  Add blackberries, balsamic vinegar, sugar and salt and then stir until well blended.

6.  Bring blackberry mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.

7.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced to 1 1/2 Cups, about 35 minutes.

8.  Remove from heat and place in blender and puree for about 2 minutes, until smooth.

9.  Strain to remove seeds.

10.  Grill Ribs about 20 minutes over indirect heat.

11.  Brush the glaze on both sides of each rib rack and turn to baste about every ten minutes.

12.  Repeat the basting process 2-3 times, until the ribs are cooked through.

13.  When meat pulls away from the bone, ribs are done.

14.  Take ribs off the grill and let rest about 1o minutes, covered in foil before serving.

Spicy Pork – Korean Style

This isn’t really a recipe post.  Primarily because I did not make the spicy pork and have been sworn to secrecy about the recipe.  My recent food obsession is Korean food for some reason and I am lucky enough to have a friend that is not only Korean but also a lover of food whose family owns a catering business.  Talk about knowing the right people… She took pity on me since she knows Mr. Foodie does not love Korean food and I always want to eat it and brought me over some of her native dishes.  (The spring rolls pictured are also her creation, just maybe not so Korean!)  I’m not allowed to tell you the recipe but I can give you a list of ingredients, hopefully you can play with it and figure out the measurements.  I had to give my friend some props on this blog for feeding me a good meal!

SPICY PORK – KOREAN STYLE

Ingredients:

Sriracha

Sambal

Korean Fermented Pepper Paste

Corn Syrup

Dried Pepper Flakes

Sugar

Ground Ginger

Ground Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Lemon Juice

Sesame Oil

Soy Sauce

Directions:

1.  Call good Korean girlfriend and have her make this for you.

Pork Schnitzel

I was originally on the hunt for a German recipe and thought of schnitzel.  Upon doing further research, I learned that it is actually an Austrian recipe and a FAR cry from what Americans think of at that fast food joint!  I also learned that this is a carb-heavy dish and usually served with, you guessed it….MORE carbs!  Traditionally it is made with veal but I used pork since it is what I had on hand.  Since we are not a big potato family, I served it over buttered orzo.  Mr. Foodie and Foodie Jr. enjoyed it and it made for a simple meal.

PORK SCHNTZEL

Ingredients:

1 lb. Boneless pork chops, pounded to about ¼ inch

½ Cup Flour

1-2 Tsp Seasoned Salt (I make my own blend but use your favorite)

1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper

2 Eggs, beaten

¼ Cup Milk

1 Cup Panko

3-4 TBS Vegetable Oil

2 TBS Butter

Lemon Wedges

Directions:

1. Set up a dredging/dipping station with three bowls.

2. In the first bowl, combine flour, seasoned salt and pepper.

3. In the second bowl, place the beaten eggs and milk.

4. In the third bowl, place the panko.

5. In a large skillet, heat oil and butter over medium heat.

6. Dredge pork pieces in the seasoned flour, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs.

7. Fry the prepared pork pieces for about 4 minutes on each side.

8. Squeeze lemon over finished cutlets, if desired and serve.