Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Pork Chop with Cider Gravy, Sauteed Apples and Onions

Dress-up your mashed potato with pork chops and apples!

Cook Time: 30 min

Level: Easy
Yield: 4 servings


Ingredients

4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Salt
4 bone-in pork chops, 1-inch thick
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, yellow or red, thinly sliced
2 Gala or Golden Delicious apples, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 lemon
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup apple cider
2 cups chicken stock
2 rounded tablespoons orange marmalade


Directions

In a medium pot add sweet potatoes and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until fork tender, 15 to 18 minutes.


Season chops with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook pork 5 minutes on the first side until deeply golden, turn and cook 3 to 4 minutes more with a loose foil tent over the pan. Remove cooked chops to a plate and cover to keep warm. Add another turn of the pan of olive oil, add the onions and apples. Season with salt, pepper and thyme and cook until just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Douse with juice of a lemon and remove onions and apples to a bowl; keep warm.


Add 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet, melt then whisk in flour, cook 1 minute then whisk in cider and 1 cup of stock. Season the gravy with salt and pepper. Thicken 4 to 5 minutes over medium-low heat.


Drain cooked sweet potatoes and return pan to stove. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and combine with marmalade and 1 cup stock. Add potatoes and mash, season with salt and pepper.


Serve chop covered with apples and onions, gravy poured down over top, sweet potatoes alongside.

From: foodnetwork.com

Christmas Pasta

Looking for something to serve on Christmas day? Here's a flavorful sauce with pancetta, Italian sausage, veal, pork and beef!

Cook Time: 20 min
Level: Intermediate
Yield: 4 servings


Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
1/4 pound pancetta, thick cut, chopped into small bits (Italian cured pork, ask at deli counter)
1/2 pound bulk hot Italian sausage
1 pound combined ground beef, pork and veal
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup good quality dry red wine
1 cup prepared beef stock, paper container or canned
2 (32-ounce) cans chunky style crushed tomatoes
A handful chopped flat leaf parsley leaves
1/4 teaspoon (a couple of pinches) allspice or cinnamon
Coarse salt and black pepper
2 pounds penne rigate, cooked to al dente
Grated Pecorino Romano, as an accompaniment
Fresh, crusty bread, for mopping


Directions

Heat a deep pot over medium high heat. Add oil, garlic, bay, and pancetta bits and brown for 1 minute. Add meats and brown and crumble them for 5 minutes.


Chop carrot, celery, and onions near the stove and add to the pot as you work. Cook vegetables with meat 5 minutes and add wine. Cook for 1 minute; add stock and tomatoes to the pot.


Stir in parsley, allspice, or cinnamon and season sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and cook 10 to 15 minutes minimum before serving. Reheated sauce only improves.


Toss pasta (cook off only as much pasta as you need at the time: half a pound for every 3 people) with a couple of ladles of sauce to coat, then top bowl with extra sauce. Top pasta with lots of cheese and pass bread at the table.


From: foodnetwork.com

Asian-Style Pork and Vegetable Noodles

Cook Time: 10 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

* 1 rounded tablespoon sweet-hot mustard
* 1/4 cup tamari, dark, sweet soy sauce, eyeball the amount
* 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock, or about half of one 14
ounce container
* 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, from Asian foods aisle, a serious drizzle
* 2 boneless center-cut pork loin chop, 8 ounces each
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan
* 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* Salt and black pepper
* 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
* 1 package (16 ounces) fresh linguini
* 12 to 16 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
* 3 inches fresh ginger root, finely chopped or grated
* 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
* 5 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
* 2 cups fresh bean spouts, 4 handfuls
* 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds or black sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions

Put a large pot of water on to boil for pasta.

Place sweet hot mustard in a bowl. Whisk in Tamari sauce. Add stock
and sesame oil to the broth and soy. Set aside.

Slice the pork chop very thinly against the grain.

When water for pasta boils, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium
high to high heat. To the skillet, add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2
turns of the pan in a slow stream. Add crushed pepper flakes to the
oil, then the thinly sliced pork. Season pork with salt and pepper.
Cook pork 2 minutes to caramelize the meat, then turn and stir-fry.
Add salt to pasta water, then carrots. Blanch carrots for a minute,
then remove with a slotted spoon. Add fresh linguini to boiling water.
Transfer carrots to pork stir-fry. Add mushrooms, ginger, red bell
pepper, scallions and bean sprouts. Toss and stir-fry veggies with
pork for 2 minutes. Cook pasta to al dente. Drain and add to the pork
and veggies. Pour Tamari and broth mixture over the noodles and pork.
Toss and allow the noodles to completely soak up the liquids, a minute
or so. Remove from heat. Serve large bowls of noodles, pork and
veggies with a garnish of toasted sesame seeds or black sesame seeds.
Break out the chopsticks!