Split Pea and Ham Soup Version 3.0

This is the third split pea and ham soup I've posted and while it may seem redundant, they are each different in their own wonderful way which is why I can't just let it slide. It's also a bit on the ugly duckling side of things appearance-wise, so I feel obligated to expose the beauty of its flavor over and over and over until we can all agree that split pea soup is awesome.

This soup is great for many reasons but let me touch on the two most important ones. 1) The flavors only get better with time so one pot of soup will cover at least a few days' worth of lunches or easy repeat dinners. 2) It's really really really easy to make. It takes nearly 3 hours from start to finish, but your actual active time will be more like 10 minutes. This is another recipe that is great to try when you will be home for that amount of time busying yourself with other chores or projects. I made this soup, Asiago French Bread (it makes a guest appearance in this post as a dipper for the soup), did laundry, and organized my craft bins in that 3 hour time. Hooray for multitasking!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
• 2 cups dry split green peas
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2-3 cups chopped ham (ends and pieces from your local butcher are perfect for this, meat from a slow cooked ham hock would work, or you can use bacon if you're feeling sinful)
• 2 tsp red chili flakes
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dill
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions: 

1. Heat a large heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter, onion and carrots, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add all ingredients except the balsamic vinegar. Cover with a lid and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally (about once every 30 minutes). If the soup is quite thick, add 1/2 cup of water at a time as needed. Should be smooth, not thich like mashed potatoes!
2. Once the split peas have cooked down (at the two hour mark they should have basically melted apart in the soup) add the balsamic vinegar and give it a good stir. Cover and simmer an additional 30 minutes, then serve hot with crusty bread and a light salad. 

See I told you the soup was not too sexy lookin'. Don't worry, just turn down the lights and enjoy. Just kidding please don't eat hot soup in the dark. Bad, bad idea.

For leftovers reheat the soup with a splash of chicken stock or water to thin it out as needed.

Pork Enchiladas with Queso Fresco

I have been on a slow-cooked pork kick lately (say that five times fast!) and tonight I made pork enchiladas for dinner. It's a simple dinner that looks and tastes like it requires lots of hard work, which is always a great thing in my book. Plus, enchiladas are easy leftovers!


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb pork blade
• 1 can of beer 
• 1 can of coca-cola
• 1 cup milk
• 1 pack of corn tortillas (about 10-12 tortillas)
• 3 cups enchilada sauce (3 cups water+ two dried mix, or 2 cans)
• 1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco (or full fat ricotta if you can't find queso fresco)
• Cumin/Cayenne/Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. About 7 hours before you want to be sitting down to eat, start cooking the pork. Prepare the pork blade by finely slicing it (you're basically pre-shredding the pork to save time and a big mess later) into little inch-long strips. Place it in a slow cooker and pour the coca-cola and the beer on top. Add your desired seasonings, then cook over high heat for 6 hours. 
2. When the pork has finished cooking, preheat the oven to 350 F. 
3. Pour the milk into a pie pan or something similarly deep/wide. Dip a tortilla in the milk, then spoon about 2 tablespoons of pork into the middle. Roll it up and place it seam-side down in a large baking dish. Don't worry about making it pretty--these babies will basically melt apart while they bake. 
4. Once you're finished filling the casserole dish, pour the enchilada suace evenly over the enchiladas. Top with the queso fresco and bake for 25-30 minutes until it's all bubbly and melty on top.
5. Serve hot with your favorite Latin sides, such as guacamole with corn, salsa, sour cream, sliced black olives, beans, rice... the list goes on! 

Enjoy!

Potato and Sausage Soup

Fall vegetables are great bases for hearty soups that can provide a week's worth of meals. This soup is particularly low-budget friendly and delicious. The ingredients are simple and basic staples which makes this a very low-maintenance meal. The flavors blend with time, so it's a great soup to make at the end of the weekend for easy dinners throughout the week.

Serves 2 hearty eaters, plus leftovers for 6 more modest bowls

Ingredients:

• 4 potatoes
• 1/2 cup cream (room temperature)
• 2 cups milk (room temperature)
• 1/2 small yellow onion
• 8 oz. ground pork 
• Dried thyme/rosemary, pepper, cayenne, salt
• Splash of hot sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Light coat each potato in olive oil, pierce with a fork a couple times each, then wrap individually in foil. Bake for 60 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet to medium-high heat and add in the ground pork. Dice the onion and add to the skillet, stirring occasionally to ensure even browning. You want this pork to get nice and crispy so it's texture will stand up to the soup. Season the pork with thyme, rosemary, coriander, pepper/salt, and a pinch of cayenne.
3. Once the potatoes are done, unwrap each potato and slice in half lengthwise. Using a large spoon, scoop out the potato into a large pot. Add the cream, milk, and hot sauce. For a smooth soup, use an immersion blender to puree the potato. Otherwise, you can use a whisk to break up the potato into the soup. Turn the heat to medium-low and stir in the cooked pork and cook until the soup thickens and is heated through, about 25-30 minutes. 
4. Serve hot!

Enjoy!

This soup is a meal in itself, but if you need some greens add chopped fresh spinach  to your bowl before ladling in the soup. 

Asian-style Ribs

Ribs ribs ribs! The first time I made ribs I baked them in the oven... and I was pretty stressed out by the end of the day because after all of my brushing and basting and slow-cooking, they were a tad dry. There is nothing worse than dry pork ribs! However, last summer I purchased a slow-cooker and ever since then I've never had a worry in my mind about dry ribs. 

If you don't own a slow-cooker, I highly recommend taking the plunge -- I bought mine, a very basic 3 qt. slow-cooker with either low or high settings for about $30, and next time I will lay down the big bucks for a self-shut off and timer. 

You can change up the sauce if you don't like Asian-style ribs, but these are especially delicious alongside Veitnamese spring rolls, salad with sesame ginger dressing, or sauteed veggies with soy sauce.




NOTE: Start making these ribs 7 1/2 hours before you want to serve them! About 7 hours and 15 minutes go to actual cooking time, so just reserve about 5 minutes at the start, a few minutes at the 6 hour mark to fiddle around, and a few more minutes at the 7 hour mark to transfer them to the oven.


Ingredients:

• 1 rack of ribs (or more, depending how large your slow-cooker is)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon sriracha
• 2 tablespoons garlic chili paste
• 3 cloves of garlic, pressed or finely minced
• 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger (or half teaspoon dry ground ginger)
• 4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce (or any other asian sauce like hoisin or teriyaki)

Directions:

1. Cut up the ribs into large sections, and fit it all into the slow cooker. 
2. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, garlic chili paste, garlic, ginger and seasonings until combined. Pour over the ribs in the slow-cooker.
3. Turn the slow-cooker on low heat and let the ribs cook untouched for 6 hours. 
4. After 6 hours you can rearrange the ribs to get the top ones down into the sauce, making sure to spoon sauce over all of the ribs first. Add more soy sauce if it is getting low. 
5. Preheat the oven to 450 F and slow-cook the ribs on high for another hour. Transfer the ribs to a foil-lined and lightly greased baking sheet, spreading them out to be in a single layer. Brush the sweet chili sauce over the ribs on the top-side (this is where you can use your imagination and use whatever asian-style sauce you like).
6. Bake on the top third of the oven for 15-25 minutes, depending on how crisp you want the ribs to be.

Enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Rosemary Panko

I first came across a stuffed pork tenderloin recipe a year ago (that I for some reason have never been able to find again) that changed the way I think of tenderloin forever. I always thought it was a dry piece of meat that was meant to be a vessel for gravy and nothing more. Hahaha silly me I was soooo wrong!

I have stuffed pork tenderloin with couscous and caramelized onions, italian breadcrumbs and sage, and finally, panko and rosemary. While these have all been delicious, my BF has decided that this week's tenderloin was one of his favorite meals I have ever made, so that's the recipe I'll share!

Feel free to tweak the recipe in any way you see fit! You can quickly toast the breadcrumbs/panko, you can stuff it with cranberries or apples, you can give it a nice pepper crust, you can do anything!!!



Ingredients:

• 1 pork tenderloin
• Fresh rosemary
• Olive oil
• Acid for marinade (I used some of the juice that my pickled jalepenos are in, but you can use lemon juice/apple cider vinegar/orange juice/etc.)
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• Salt, pepper
• Twine/Toothpicks to fasten the stuffed tenderloin for baking

Directions:

1. In a ziploc bag, put the tenderloin, about 10 leaves of rosemary, salt/pepper to taste, and 1 part acid to 2 parts oil. Marinate this for at least 24 hours. Do not cut corners! This is where all the magic happens and the longer your tenderloin marinates, the juicier it will be at the end. 
2. The next day, preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. Finely dice 10 more fresh rosemary leaves. Mix it with the panko, salt/pepper (and other seasonings if you want) in a small bowl.
4. Slice the tenderloin like a hot dog bun - lengthwise and not all the way through! Using your hands, put the panko mix in the slot and then use kitchen string to tie it closed (4 pieces looped around each end and a quarter of the way in on each side). Toothpicks also work, they are just more work later to get out :)
5. Roast the tenderloin on an ungreased baking sheet in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes, turning halfway through to ensure even browning. Remove the kitchen string (or toothpicks) before serving!

Enjoy!

P.S.  This goes great with "Thanksgiving-style" dishes like mashed taters and squash, as well as simple sides like peas and spinach.