Zesty Cook » pork

How to Make Barbeque Chicken Sauce

zesty — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:37:48 +0000

Ever want to escape the weather? Some choose to go to an all inclusive resort, other choose to have special weekend away in seclusion and than there is some that just pretend to relive the summer and make a kicked up barbeque chicken sauce in the middle of January.

I guess for this week I am the latter of the three described above. For me, nothing beats the barbeque. The thrill of the grill and the flavors make my mouth water, hairs stand up and belly growl. For today, I thought I would share one of my favorite sauces to have on hand – homemade barbeque chicken sauce. This BBQ sauce can we used on just about anything… from chicken, beef, pork, vegetables, rice, nachos, you name it.

I am pretty sure you could smear this BBQ sauce on your car bumper and love it.

Barbeque (BBQ) Chicken Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

1 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tsp. Dry Mustard
2 Tsp. Smoked paprika
1 Clove garlic ( crushed)
4 Tsp. Chili powder
1 Cup Ketchup
1 Cup cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Pepper

Method

Preheat large sauce pan over medium heat
Stir all dry ingredients together and than add remaining liquid.
Mix thoroughly and bring to a gentle boil ( stirring occasionally )
Reduce to a simmer for 25-30 minutes
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: The longer you simmer this barbeque chicken sauce, the better it will be. If you notice it getting to thick, just add a little water. Package this in resealable jars and give it to your friends, they will be happy.

OK, so you have to try this sauce… not because I love barbeque but just for the shear excitement of your taste buds. Let me know if you do give it a try and let me know your thoughts and alterations if you made any. Have a super day and I will talk to you on Friday.

Take care

zesty

Apricot Pork Pasta with Feta

zesty — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:00:39 +0000

Come here Friday and give me a hug! Ahhhh thank you. Happy Friday to you!

After visiting the new local market last week, I left with a nice pork roast that I was planning to roast for sandwiches, stir-fry and whatever else rolled through my brain. This dish was an ad hoc lunch prepared in less than 15 minutes on Saturday afternoon.

A couple of days prior, I slow cooked the pork roast for about 8 hours with a combination of Apricot Jam, Rosemary and splash of apple juice. To say the least – the meat was amazing! So tender, juicy and full of flavor.

Ingredients (Pork Roast)

Pork Roast
1/2 Cup Apricot Jam
1 Tbsp. Dried Rosemary
3 Tbsp. Apple Juice

Method

Add all ingredients to the slow cooker and set to low and cook for 8 hours. Your final roast should look similar to this below. Oh so good!

Ingredients (Pasta Dish)

2 Cups cooked Pork Roast
1 Cup Button Mushrooms
1 Cup Broccoli
1 Cup Baby Spinach
1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts
1/4 Cup Feta Cheese
2 Cups Spiral Pasta
1 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
2 Tsp. Soy Sauce
1 Clove Garlic
1 Tbsp. Ginger
2 Tbsp. Orange Juice
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Method

Preheat Large Pan on Medium- High Heat and add olive oil.
Add pork pieces and mushrooms, sautee for 3-4 minutes until the pork and mushrooms caramelize.

Add Ginger and Garlic, Cook for 3 more minutes
Add Soy Sauce and Hoisin Sauce

Add Orange Juice and Broccoli – stirring to coat the broccoli ( be sure to add a sprinkle of salt on the broccoli to ensure it stays bright green.
Add Spinach – cook for 1 minute while stirring ( If you find the hoisin sauce is sticking to the pan which is quite possible due to all the sugars – add a tablespoon of hot water to the hot pan and de-glaze the pan and get all those great flavors.

Add Walnuts and cooked spiral pasta (you can use whatever pasta you have on hand as well).

Plate and top with Feta Cheese.
Enjoy!

As part of the zesty tradition, I can’t wait to hear what people both think of this recipe as it is so simple but quite tasty and also what’s your favorite type of pasta. Again happy Friday and I hope you have a great weekend.

Take care

Zesty

Grilled Orange Balsamic Pork and New PEI Potatoes

zesty — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:00:05 +0000

WOW! I had a great day off yesterday. I was able to get some grass cut, went to the building supply store to pick out all the windows for the new house, hung out with the family and had a great dinner.

Tuesday night as we were sitting in the living room watching some TV, we all of a sudden heard a truck coming up the lane. It was the neighbor with a special treat. Fresh pork chops which were aching to be grilled.

I just knew they were to be on the menu for dinner and I had a great idea for a glaze. Fresh orange balsamic glaze with a mustard addition. In addition to the great pork – we drove up the road and picked up some fresh new PEI Potatoes from our neighbors road side stand. So delicious… wait to see the pictures!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Brown sugar
Juice of 1 Orange
1 Tsp. Mustard
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Pork Chops
PEI Potatoes

Method

Preheat Grill to medium heat
Apply olive oil, salt and pepper to the pork and let rest to room temperature
Cook over medium heat turning once

Combine Vinegar, Sugar, Mustard and Orange Juice in a bowl and baste the pork after turning it once.
Once desired temperature is reached, remove from heat and let rest.

Boil potatoes in water until fork tender

Assemble the plate

ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When cooking potatoes, try to avoid a rumbling boil as they tend to cause the potatoes to become wet.

I hope you have a great day! I am back at the office today and preparing for next week’s travel. Talk to you all on Friday morning.

Take care

zesty

Pork, Peppers and Pasta!

zesty — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:00:42 +0000

Happy Thursday! It is all about the letter “P” today. Pork, Peppers, Pasta and Parsley together to make this quick and easy dish on a weeknight.

I don’t know about you but I am always looking for ways to make satisfying, healthy meals in short order. Now don’t get me wrong, I love to cook and be in the kitchen. However, after a day at the office there are times I just want to relax on the couch and watch an episode of “house hunters”. You may laugh but I do love that show (except for all the repeats lately)!

Back to the task at hand. Everyone wants quick and efficient meal ideas and this recipe will not let you down. As long as it takes you to cook some whole wheat spaghetti – this meal is ready to roll. Serve this with a slice of fresh warm beer bread and you are set.

Ingredients

2 Boneless Pork Chops
2 Servings of Spaghetti
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/2 Red Pepper (Sliced)
1/2 Orange Pepper (Sliced)
1/2 Yellow Pepper (Sliced)
2 Garlic Cloves (Minced)
1 Cup Mushrooms (Chopped)
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 Tsp. Rosemary
1/2 Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 Tsp. Minced Ginger
Parsley for Garnish

Method

Prepare vegetables according to ingredients list.

Cook pasta according to directions.
Preheat saute pan to medium high heat.
Add brown sugar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, rosemary and ginger to a bowl and form a paste.

Add olive oil to pan and immediately add garlic and pork. Cook for a minute, moving constantly.
Add paste and cook until meat is opaque.

Remove meat from pan and add mushrooms and peppers. Stir around and add lemon juice to remove the bits from the bottom of the pan.
Cook for 3 minutes, then add meat back to the pan. Stir together and adjust seasoning.
Remove finished pasta and top with pork and vegetables.
Finish with fresh parsley.

ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When stir frying vegetables and looking for a brown texture, do not add too much at one time because overcrowding will cause steaming to occur. This will prevent the food from frying properly. This is especially true if you are cooking water dense vegetables like mushrooms. Nothing will brown if the mushrooms go in first – be sure to add them after.

I hope you have a great Thursday. Weekend is almost here… hang in there.

Take care

zesty

Seven Minute Pork Sandwich

zesty — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:00:02 +0000

Happy Tuesday! I know this post is just a sandwich but it’s an interesting and tasty sandwich that I threw together over the weekend. Pork chops were on sale at the super market so I decided to pick them up. I was craving avocado and hummus as well. That is when I clued in – lets create a new sandwich! I simply pan fried the pork chops with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Let them cook through but allowed them to remain juicy. After that just add your hummus and sliced avocado and it is complete.

This is super simple with a nice balance of flavors and texture.

Ingredients

Sliced Pork Chop (cut on the bias)
Sliced Avocado (drizzled with lemon)
Hummus
Bread or Rolls (Toasted)

Method

Cook the pork chops (to your liking).
Preheat oven or toaster oven.
Place rolls or bread inside and toast.
Slice avocado and top with lemon juice.
Once bread is toasted, add liberal amount of hummus.
Top with sliced cooked pork.
Add Avocado on top.
Close the sandwich.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: If you have left over bread that is a few days old. The best way to make it stretch is to toast it. It will still test fresh when toasted. Another option is to cube up the old bread, toast it in the oven and add it in the food processor for homemade bread crumbs.

I would love to know what you think about this sandwich combination. For my vegan readers out there…. omit the pork and add a roasted portabella mushroom.

Hope you have a great Tuesday and I look forward to hearing from you.

Take care

zesty

Slow Roasted Cajun Ribs

zesty — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:00:15 +0000

Yes it’s true!! Slow Roasted Cajun Ribs were on the menu last night. I was going to do them in the slow cooker but I totally forgot in the morning to put them in so I decided we would have a late supper and I would slow roast them after work. This process takes a bit of time but like anything…. good things are worth the wait! I have a previous post sharing tips while cooking ribs, all the tips still apply however these ribs will utilize the oven as well as a two step basting process.

Ingredients ( Dry Rub)

3 Tbsp Dried Thyme
2 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Packed Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
1 Tbsp Dry Mustard
1 Tbsp Hot Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tsp Salt

Ingredients ( Sauce)

1/4 Cup Molasses
1 Tbsp, Soy Sauce
1 Tsp. Sweet Chili Sauce

Method

Prepare the meat and remove any silver skin to allow the meat to breakdown and become tender while cooking. Preheat oven at 250 degrees.

Add dry rub mixture all over and meat and ensure you rub it in well. This will allow the flavours to penetrate the meat as it cooks. If you have time you can leave the rub on all day or even over night. I just let it sit about 20 minutes.

After 90 minutes of cooking – I add the sauce to the top of the meat. Brush the glaze all over the meat and make sure that it is evenly distributed over the meat. This will form a nice crust to the top of the ribs.

After 2 hours and 20 minutes in the oven at the low tempreature. I like to blast the heat to 450 degrees for about 10-15 minutes and really build the crust on the meat. By this time the meat has already pulled away from the bone and is very juicy. The higher tempreature for the short burst just adds more flavor to the surface of the ribs.

Once out of the oven – I like to let the ribs sit there for about 10-15 minutes so that the juices will travel back to the center of the meat and ensure the succulent flavor you come to expect from pork ribs.

A great side dish with ribs is a nice coleslaw. I just grated some cabbage and some carrot then sprinkled in some cracked black pepper and red pepper flakes and used a store bought dressing and called it a coleslaw. Yesterday’s french fries would also be a nice treat beside this ribs. Now the only thing left to do is grab your favorite drink, a handful of napkins and ENJOY. Let me know your favorite sauce that you use when you make ribs.

Super Simple Pork Roast with a Crust

zesty — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:00:02 +0000

This past weekend was a special weekend as we attended a 65th birthday for my aunt. There was a lot of food preparation of course as the party was for about 50 people. I was asked to bring a pork roast, which in my mind I was more than happy to do that.

The weather is cooling down here so I decided to go with the oven method for this roast. When cooking large pieces of meat I usually always opt for the low and slow method. I added a dry rub the and let it sit for about 20 hours prior to roasting. This allows the rub to penetrate the meat and add even more flavor.

The recipe for the rub is:

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander seed
3/4 teaspoon ground savory
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
salt to taste

So as for the cooking technique…. it doesn’t get much simplier. I add the meat to a roasting pan and preheat the oven to 250 degrees. I like to let the meat rest for a few minutes on the counter and it does not tense up coming directly form the fridge and then into the oven. I cover it and let it roast for about 20 mins per pound ( depending on the size of your cut) I also like to remove the cover 3/4 through the cooking time to allow the rub to form a crust. When cooking for a crowd or anyone for that matter I like to check the internal tempreature of the meat using a meat thermometer just to be safe. As you all know, pork can be cooked with a hint of pink and also remember, the meat will continue cooking once you take it from the oven. Once you do remove the meat from the oven, be sure you cover the pork with tin foil to allow the juices to stay inside.

Once covered for 15-20 minutes you are ready to slice and enjoy.