Cranberry Pork Chops

serves 4

4 pork chops
3 carrots, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 can cranberries
1 cup chicken or beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, flavored or plain
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 onions, sliced (or 8 oz pearl onions)
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
bouquet garni


Brown pork chops in a skillet over medium heat. Place carrots in crock pot. Top with pork and all remaining ingredients except mushrooms. Cook for 4-6 hours on low. Add mushrooms and continue cooking on high for 1 hour. Remove lid to reduce liquid or drain and make gravy.

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Still working on this one...the pork was a little tough last time I did this, probably because I forgot to brown it before cooking it. This is a conglomeration of several recipes, so I'll be tweaking as I return to it. This recipe is great with chicken and beef as well.

Venison Tenderloin

serves 6

4 pounds venison tenderloin
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Combine the red wine, vinegar, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary in a large ziploc bag and mix well. Put the venison tenderloin into the bag. Close tightly, pressing out as much air as you can. Place meat in the refrigerator to marinate, turning two or three times, for at least 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Remove meat from marinade, and place on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the temperature reaches 150 degrees. Let the roast stand for 15 to 20 minutes before carving.

While the tenderloin roasts, heat marinade in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until the liquid is reduced by 1/3. Remove all but a few tablespoons of the sauce and whisk in 2 tbsp flour. Slowly add the rest of the sauce back in, along with milk or beef broth. Continue to add liquid and reduce until there is about two cups of gravy. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with venison.

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This was my first time ever eating venison, let alone cooking it. The marinade was great (especially the gravy), even though it was quite vinegary. The resident venison expert (my fiancé) was awed at how much better it was than any venison he had eaten before. Perhaps the butter-baste was partially responsible. =)

Considering how dry the meat is, I would probably cook it in a crock pot next time, which would eliminate the need for a marinade. However, it was a very good introduction to venison. Definitely repeatable.

Super Chicken Divan

aka One Amazing Cholesterol Trip

1 lb chicken, cubed
2 cups broccoli
2 tbsp butter
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Cook chicken in butter and olive oil. Cut broccoli into 1/2 inch spears. In 2-quart saucepan, heat 1 inch salted water to boiling. Add broccoli. Boil uncovered 5 minutes; drain and keep warm.

In the same saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Saute onions until soft. Add remaining ingredients, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly. Add chicken pieces. Serve over rice or noodles.

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Sort of based on two Betty Crocker recipes, one for Turkey Divan, one for Chicken Divan. I couldn't decide which one I had more ingredients for, so I just combined them. I got an all-star approval!

Cranberry Meatballs

makes 3-4 dozen

Meatballs:
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 large eggs
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 red or green bell pepper, finely chopped

Sauce:
1 can (approx. 15 ounces) whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 tbsp hot sauce
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Line 2 large baking dishes with nonstick foil or regular foil sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Heat oven to 325°.

Combine meatball ingredients, blending well. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs and arrange in a single layer in the two prepared baking dishes. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Drain well on paper towels. Put the meatballs in a slow cooker or large saucepan. Combine the sauce ingredients and pour over the meatballs, stirring gently. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. If using a crock pot, cover and cook on low for 2 to 4 hours. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with toothpicks from a slow cooker on low setting or serve warm from a chafing dish.

Holiday Relish

aka Cranberry Sauce

12 oz fresh, frozen, or canned cranberries
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
1 orange, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp grated orange rind
1/2 cup red wine
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Put all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir to combine. Keep stirring and bring the ingredients to a boil over medium heat. Lower the heat and simmer gently until relish thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Garnish with orange rind curls.

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The recipe I was following is from Parade, but I made a few changes, some of which I can't remember, but I think I hit most of them. Judging by the picture at parade.com, the original recipe does produce something more like relish than sauce. Adding some wine (mulled wine if possible) makes it more liquid and adds a rich flavor. Based on what was in our mulled wine, one could probably add cloves and allspice to this sauce, or just add it to the wine and enjoy that while cooking for the holidays! (It does wonderful things to pot roast as well.)

Basil Cream Sauce

makes six servings

2 cups fresh basil leaves
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 ounces pine nuts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
pint light cream

In a food processor, combine basil and garlic. Begin processing and pour in olive oil in a thin stream. Process for about 40 seconds, or until mixture begins to emulsify. Add pine nuts and Parmesan, then blend for 1 minute.

Heat cream in a saucepan over low heat until simmering. Pour 1/2 of the hot cream into the processor with basil pesto, and pulse for 20 seconds to incorporate. Pour mixture back into cream, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until thickened.

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From AllRecipes.com. Mom and I made this tonight to go on chicken cooked with mushrooms, tomatoes, and broccoli. It was excellent. I actually used about twice as much cheese, a mixture of parmesan, asiago, and romano. For hors d'oeuvres (so we didn't starve while cooking) we had wheat crackers topped with smoked mozzarella, tomato slices, basil leaves, and drizzled with herb-laden olive oil. To die for!

Beef in Ale Sauce

675 g chuck steak
290 ml brown stock
A little vegetable oil
1 tsp wine vinegar
3 large onions, sliced
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, crushed
A little thyme & nutmeg
2 tsp browned flour
Salt & pepper
290 ml brown ale

Sweat the onions in oil until soft. Cut the beef into large steaks. Brown the beef in a hot pan with very little oil. Turn the beef only when it has gained color. Remove the beef and wash out the pan with water. If it is not burnt, keep it to go with the stock. Add the soft onions to the beef pan, raise the temperature and begin to brown.

Add the garlic and sugar, brown, add the browned flour, let it pick up a bit more color but do not let it burn. Add the ale and boil for two minutes, add the stock and boil again. Add the vinegar (to tenderize) and the thyme, nutmeg and seasoning. Put the meat and juices back into the pan, warm up, transfer to a casserole dish, add a lid and cook in the oven for two hours until the meat is completely soft. Serve with mustard mash & braised red cabbage.

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I haven't actually made this yet; the bf always does the honors. We usually make a double or 1.5x batch, and frequently run out of big enough pans to cook in. The meat always comes out completely tender, no knives needed. It's truly delicious. We serve it with mashed potatoes and a green (asparagus is always a good choice).

Honey Orange Glaze

2 tbsp orange juice
1 cup honey
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Mix and baste preferred meat while baking.

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The recipe uses ham, and that's what I used, but I just grabbed some already sliced from our freezer and oh dear, now it's been so long that I don't remember what I put with it. Must have been carrots...and maybe broccoli too? This is why I should take pictures before I let myself get lazy and wait a week before updating. But whatever I made, it got thumbs up from both parents. =)

Orange bento

I've been dying to make color-themed lunches. Because I'm a hippie (at least a wannabe). Last night I was thinking of what was in the fridge that I could fix up without too much hassle, and I remembered that I had a cantaloupe and some ginormous oranges to use. So the color of the day is orange (which of course includes yellow and red for aesthetics and my sanity).

Today's bento consists of cantaloupe and orange fruit salad alongside rice with barely-cooked carrots, Wisconsin cheese, and eggs drizzled with honey orange sauce and accented with tomato flowers. Oh, and a layer of goldfish sandwiched between the lid and some plastic wrap for a snack.

The fruit salad is really just fresh fruit; I did try mixing it with mint and vanilla, but I don't really care for the cantaloupe that way. The orange however...to die for! Anyway, so I just cut them up nice and small and nestled them into a little bowl made of half an orange rind.

The carrots are barely-cooked because I decided I wanted to glaze them at the last minute, and didn't have time to do much except boil them for five minutes. I think that was just enough though. I made a hasty omelet last night and cut some little hearts out of it and dumped honey orange sauce on everything.

I didn't look up a recipe for that because my 7.30 deadline was fast approaching, and decided that mixing honey and orange juice tasted just fine. About.com tells me I should have used much less honey and simmered it for a while rather than sticking it into the microwave for 15 seconds, and Betty Crocker suggests cooking brown sugar, butter, and a little salt and grated orange peel and then simmering the carrots in that. I'll have to give both of those a try and see what else turns up.

Don't know what to say about the little grape tomatoes except that they were hastily made and I need a better set of knives. I'm going to walk into a kitchen store one of these days and pick someone's brain about them, since I currently know next to nothing. Maybe I should search for some little shape-cutters for carrots and stuff too. I can make shapes by hand, but they're never as good, and I tend to run out of creative ideas after stars and flowers.

Overall this was a fun bento. I'll have to do it again, maybe once for each color. Although that could get tricky for colors like blue and purple. How about black and white? Would that even be appetizing? I could make it checkered, like the bathroom set my mom crocheted when she moved out...LOL.