Pork – Rosemary and the Goat

Tequila, Sausage and Vegetable Mixed Grill

Perfect for your Labor Day backyard party.

The night we made this there was only the two of us. As you can see in the picture, we could have feed at least 4 extra people. Where were you?

This isn’t actually a “mixed grill” but I didn’t know what to call it. I had saved the basic ingredients from a Food Network recipe I had seen but then decided to go off road and add a lot of other things to the recipe. Usually a mixed grill has several kinds of meats and I only had my Eckerman’s Smoked jalapeno Sausage with Cheese and besides we didn’t need any other meats.

September 2, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork/ Sandwiches

Pork Burger with Blue Cheese and Grilled Peaches

Who doesn’t love a good burger?

Back in my high school “burger days” (the 60’s)the only place we would go for a good burger was Knox’s Drive-In. Whether it was with my now husband or my twin sister, Terry and a group of friends that was our go to place for a burger and hanging out. That might have been about the only place back then to get a burger. The Drive-In is now closed but to this day I can still remember the phone number and that is mainly because whenever we would go back home for a visit our three kids always wanted a “Knox’s Burger”. What a burger it was, a thin patty that you could actually get your mouth around topped with my favorite mustard, pickle, onion and slaw. Not any ordinary slaw either; simple finely chopped cabbage with maybe a little pickle juice and tiny bit of mustard.

Fast forward to current times and you’ll find burgers that could feed four people and have to be dissected to get it in your mouth. I’ve never had an egg on a burger and that’s one trend I hope is over. Those poor chickens have been working overtime to provide eggs for “put an egg on it” menu items.

This pork burger is a recipe I found in Erin French’s new cookbook The Lost Kitchen. The Lost Kitchen is one of my favorite Magnolia networks new shows. Erin has her Lost Kitchen restaurant in Freedom, Maine and the only way to get a reservation for the 6 months a year she is open is to send a postcard in sometime in April and hope they see it and you make it on their reservation list. I’m still looking for a Round Top post card that might catch her attention. Maybe I need one that says “90 population” and she’ll think “that girls needs a night out”.

July 13, 2022 By Sherry

Pork

Chops and Rice — Quick and Easy

Who doesn’t like quick and easy?

This recipe is something I have made for over 50 years, and it was one of the first things I cooked as a newly wed.

I have to say this recipe was put aside for a couple of decades until recently and I was trying to think of something to make for dinner that could be made after I come home from working at the brewery. During the Spring antique show here in Round Top, (TX) there was no time for cooking when I got home from a long day of prepping and helping out in the kitchen (and I don’t even stay until closing).

What makes this recipe fast is the “instant” rice which I gave up years ago for converted rice, black or red rice and all the other mouth-watering rices available. But, when you are in a hurry this rice will have you sitting at the table in no time enjoying a homemade meal.

June 21, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

White Beans, Rice and Sausage

No, not Red Beans and Rice but White Beans and Rice!

Red beans and rice fan? I like red beans and rice but think I like the white beans and rice with sausage even better. Although, cheese doesn’t really pair that well with white beans so I may keep them both on my menu list.

My sister and I, from almost the day we were married, use to write down our menus for the week. I would not vary from what I had planned for the week. If I said I was having pork lo mean on a Thursday then that’s what I prepared. These days, I still make out menus for the week but hardly ever do I stick to a schedule because it seems like most of the time we end up going out to eat and that is usually for Mexican food or to local JW Steakhouse for fish or chicken night. If I want something really good and different I’m going to make it myself at home.

February 4, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork/ Salads

Grilled Pork and Peach Salad

Southern Living recipe with some tweaking.

I have always loved Southern Living’s recipes. Back in the 70’s I submitted and had accepted about 5 recipes for the SL magazine. For having a recipe published in the magazine I received the yearly annual SL cookbook and also 50 recipe cards with “my recipe that appeared in SL magazine”. I actually still have a few of those cards somewhere in boxes in storage.

When I first saw this recipe and made it I could still buy good “cling free” peaches. This salad would be just as delicious for a Fall dinner using roasted apples. Pork and apples make the perfect combo.

The recipe begged (I think) for some charred corn and definitely some avocado. Wished I’d had some cilantro and I would have given it a good sprinkling. The bread slices are so crusty and oily and when it mixes with the greens and pork make for the perfect bite of food.

September 18, 2021 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork/ Sandwiches

Cassoulet Toast

Not the time consuming two day project of a traditional cassoulet.

What is a cassoulet you say? Well if you like white beans then let me tell you about this cassoulet. No it isn’t a casserole it’s a slow cooked dish (maybe casserole would be a stretch) that contains meats like bacon, pork sausage, ham, pork skin, duck and can have goose or mutton.

Making a traditional (French) cassoulet would take you a couple of days at least. By the time you make your duck confit and prep everything and then cook for hours the next day, you have invested a lot of time into what you might think is just beans and ham. The first time I we made this (or Paul/Scott made it) we did the confit one day and we used dried beans and not canned beans. It gets stirred during the day while cooking so the crusty top layer gets pushed to the bottom. If you want to see their results look here.

I won’t go into more details in making the tradition version because this Cassoulet Toast is easy. I first saw the recipe at David Lebovitz’s site and was one he had made from Susan Spungen’s book The Open Kitchen. Susan is a cook, food stylist, recipe developer and author. I started following her on Instagram because of her food pictures and now I own her book and can’t wait to try some of her recipes.

September 26, 2020 By Sherry

Egg Dishes/ Morning Foods/ Pork

Crustless Broccoli and Ham Quiche

Virus inspired weekend breakfast.

(Note: My post may be spaced a little further apart for a few weeks as we are packing and moving to Round Top. Looking forward to many new adventures there.)

Why virus inspired? Well since all this madness started a several months ago I’ve been trying not to waste anything. Normally we don’t like to eat leftovers but even my husband said “lets don’t waste our food”.

Digging through the freezer I found about a cup of chopped ham, some broccoli, had the mushrooms and always have eggs and milk so I whipped this up one weekend morning. Doesn’t every day feel like the weekend?

What are you doing these days for breakfast? Cereal, pancakes, waffles, something fancier. Well now’s the time to try one of my recipes from “morning foods” section. You have nothing but time so give one of them a try and if you do, leave a note (please) in the comment section.

September 13, 2020 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Easy Pork Lo Mein

When I made this dish we were in the middle of the pandemic and I was doing a lot of cooking. A few reasons for all the cooking was boredom, we had to eat, had to get some post made in advance of my shoulder surgery, had to cook some meals for the freezer for post surgery, I love to cook anyway, and I am cooking via internet with the grandsons in Chicago (Oliver and Charlie).

Well, we are still the in pandemic, I’m still cooking, I had the shoulder surgery and in physical therapy. And, during all this we listed our house, the first day had 14 people look, 5 offers, accepted one and now in the process of starting to pack up some things to move to Round Top, Texas (population 90) and will start the process of building a house there.

June 28, 2020 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Red Grapes

Red grapes with roasted pork?

Several weeks ago before all this sheltering in place started we had dinner with some old (not in age of course) Chevron friends that spend part of their year here and part in Minnesota. It’s always great to catch up on what is going on in each other’s lives.

I loved everything about the meal we had that night, the cocktails (thanks Jane/Tony), the appetizers and just the whole meal. In all my years of cooking I’ve never put grapes in anything I cooked and when I first saw these on our plates I thought they were little stems of cherry tomatoes and to my surprise they were sweet grapes that were delicious with a bite of fork. So the way I ate mine when I made this recipe was to take half a grape (these were huge red grapes I bought) and bite of pork; one delicious bite.

May 27, 2020 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Beans, Greens and Ham

Green beans and ham? No, Beans, Greens and Ham

Happy New Year to everyone out there. Hope you will continue following my blog with a lot of adventure to come this year.

My friend, the other Sherry (Sheri) with an “I” was telling me one day about making kale and beans and after thinking on that all day and looking at a large ham bone in my refrigerator left from Thanksgiving, I decided to give it a try.

I really wanted to use up all that leftover ham before it went to waste. Sometimes our disposal eats pretty well. Too bad we don’t have some pigs in the back yard and then they would be eating all the food I let spoil by not paying attention to what’s in my refrigerator.

January 5, 2020 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Entree/ Pork

Butternut Squash Risotto with Crispy Pork Belly

Appetizer or main dish? Your choice.

Another tasty appetizer (or entree) I recreated after having it on vacation. And, will Fall just ahead of us this risotto and pork belly dish would make a great appetizer, small plate, or meal.

When were were on our first anniversary trip of the summer at Beaches in Turks and Caicos I had this dish at Sky Restaurant (rooftop) which had such a breathtaking view I could have eaten a bologna sandwich and thought it was the best thing in the world at the moment.

We had dinner there twice; once just the two of us when we first arrived and then after the kids arrived we ate there another night (minus the grand boys). The first night I had to try the crab and avocado appetizer which was delicious and then appetizer for pork belly and butternut squash caught my eye. I could have ordered a second appetizer but I knew the salmon dish was coming and I didn’t want to be so stuffed that I wouldn’t enjoy it.

August 27, 2019 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Pork and Savoy Cabbage Stir-fry

Stir-fries, what’s not to like?

Rapid cooking over a high heat; that’s how to stir-fry. And, what’s not to like about a stir fry; lots of vegetables, quick cooking with dinner on the table in a matter of minutes.

I’ve been stir-frying for years and still have 3 woks even though I keep trying to give them away to one of my kids; I like using in my 13″ All-Clad skillet; more bottom heat surface and I think even quicker than a wok.

There’s quite a few recipes on RATG using this method; Egg Roll in a Bowl being one of them. If you like egg rolls this is an easy dinner with all the taste of your your favorite Chinese appetizer. Chicken Fried Rice with Vegetables, Sichuan Pork Ragu, and my Thai Shrimp and Eggplant Stir-Fry are a few of the others I have posted in the past. What’s great about stir-friy is that all the prep work can be done early in the day or even the day before when makes throwing a meal together even faster.

February 13, 2019 By Sherry

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