Cranberry-Mustard Pork Chops

Always looking for a new way to whip up a pork chop! These were scrumptious!

Cranberry-Mustard Pork Chops
Adapted from this blog

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops, about 1.5 lbs.
• Salt and pepper
• Dash of cinnamon on top of each chop
• 1 12 oz. bag fresh cranberries (or 1 15 oz. can)
• 1/4 cup spicy mustard
• 1 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9×13 inch glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries,spicy mustard, sugar with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook at a rolling boil for about 20 minutes, or until the cranberries have popped and sauce begins to thicken.
3. (If using canned cranberries, stir together the cranberries, spicy mustard and half of the sugar in a bowl, then spread over the chops.)
4. Add the pork chops to the baking dish and season with salt and pepper and a dash of cinnamon to each chop. Pour the cooked sauce over the top of the pork chops and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until pork chops are cooked through. Cooking time may vary, depending on thickness of the chop.

Ginger Pork Potstickers

I've made these twice. I think the sauce is my favorite part.

Ginger Pork Potstickers
Adapted from this blog

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 packages wonton wrappers
• 1″ section of fresh ginger – peeled, minced
• 4 cloves fresh garlic – minced
• 4 scallions – chopped thinly
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce 

For Sauce: 

• 1.5 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1.5 tablespoons orange marmalade

Directions:

1. In a large pan, sautee garlic and scallions for a few minutes, but not too long. You don't want the garlic to turn bitter. Add pork, ginger, and soy sauce. Cook until meat is done.
2. To assemble dumplings: Place 1 teaspoon of meat mixture into center of wonton wrapper. Lightly dampen the sides of the wrapper with water. Fold wrapper into a triangle. Gently press the wrapper together to seal and remove any air.
3. Using the same pan as you cooked the pork mixture, place the potstickers in the oil (add some olive oil if needed) and cook for about two minutes on each side, until a little crispy. You'll need to do a few batches. 
4. Into a small bowl mix: Hoisin, honey, orange marmalade. Mix to combine. Serve alongside potstckers for dipping.

Sweet and Spicy Pork Enchiladas

This was said to be as good as Cafe Rio. It's not. But it is the most delicious pork I've had at home. Justin loved it as well. You could serve this pork in more ways than enchilada-style. I'll be having it in a salad tomorrow. Mmmm.

Sweet and Spicy Pork
Adapted from this blog

Ingredients:

• 1 (2.5-3lb) pork loin roast
• 1 can yellow El Pato sauce
• 1 can green El Pato sauce
• 1 can tomato sauce (I use no salt added)
• 3/4c brown sugar 

For Enchiladas:

• Rice (I flavored mine with cilantro, lime juice, ranch dressing mix, and the broth from the pork)
• 1 can black beans
• Green enchilada sauce.
• Cheese
• Tortillas

Directions:
Put roast in a slow cooker with about 2c water. Cook on high 8-10 hours. Remove roast and shred with forks, removing any fat. Drain and quickly rinse crock pot (don’t worry about getting everything out, just a quick rinse to remove any extra fat hanging around). Return shredded pork to slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Stir to combine well and heat through till warm (about 1 hour on high).
To serve:
In a flour tortilla, add a layer of rice, pork, and black beans. Roll up like a burrito, and spoon green enchilada sauce on top. Sprinkle with cheddar (or other) cheese. Broil until cheese is melty.

Notes: I bought a huge can of green enchilada sauce and used a few spoonfuls. I need to just buy a smaller can. 

Pork Chop and Pineapple Pie

I love Paula Dean. Justin loves her food. He couldn't say enough about how much he loved this meal. He was disappointed when I made pork chops a few days later and didn't make this again. I didn't do it exactly her way, since we only have a gas grill and it was below freezing outside, but it sounds like a fun way to cook when you have guests over. I'll list her original recipe, and then explain how I cooked it.

Pork Chop and Pineapple Pie
by Paula Dean

• 1 boneless pork chop per person
• 1 slice red onion per person
• 1 slice green bell pepper per person
• 2 canned pineapple slices per person
• 1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce per person
• 1 tablespoon margarine or butter per person
• Salt and pepper

For each serving, lay a pork chop on a large square of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Top each chop with the onion, green pepper, and pineapple slices. Drizzle with the teriyaki sauce. Top with the butter and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in the foil, rolling ends to completely seal the package. Freeze or refrigerate.

When ready to eat, place packages directly in coals for 15 to 20 minutes. Check to see if the pork chop is cooked through; rewrap and cook a little longer, if necessary.

NOTES: First off, Paula loves butter, so I cut it down to about 1/4 of what she asks for. And that is still usually a bit more than I'd like. I didn't marinate this at all, since I usually don't think about dinner till 1/2 hour before I want to eat. I browned the pork chops a bit on each side first, splashed them with teriyaki sauce, then added the veggies and pineapple. I put a small square of butter in each of the pineapple holes and splashed more teriyaki sauce on it. I cooked these covered in my chicken fryer for about 15 minutes until we were ready to eat! I noticed some people mentioned they added cheese and bacon and such, but I thought it was great just the way it was listed (minus a lot of butter)! I served it with rice pilaf.

Mom's Sweet & Sour Pork or Chicken

I made this tonight with chicken, but pork works well too. Justin kept commenting on how delicious it was throughout the meal. I felt like a cook tonight.

Mom's Sweet & Sour Pork or Chicken
from the kitchen of Carol R Cheesman

• 6-8 pork chops or 4-5 chicken breasts
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 can of water (or chicken/beef stock)
• 1 can mushrooms (optional)
• 1 large green pepper, sliced
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/3-1/2 c. brown sugar (I used 1/2. I was going for taste, not health this time.)
• Pineapple chunks (optional)
  

Brown meat in electric fry pan. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over meat. Simmer for 2 hours or put in Dutch oven and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. (Carol's preference). Add pineapples if desired. Serve over rice.

Cranberry-orange Pork Chops

Simple, light, quick, good. I now have all the ingredients in my kitchen, so it's a good last-minute recipe. (Justin's mom got us this cookbook. Her hometown catholic church is celebrating 100 years next year, so they made a cookbook from all the German, Czech, Dutch, and Bohemian families in the area. I like it!)

Cranberry-orange Pork Chops
by Emily Bartunek from the Bountiful Blessings cook book from Dante, South Dakota

• 6 boneless pork loin chops, 1/2 inch thick
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 1 T oil
• 1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1/2 c. dried cranberries
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp. paprika

Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, brown chips in oil on both sides. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until meat juices run clear. Prep/total time 25 minutes. Yield 6 servings.

Notes: I added more broth for more sauce. I was also liberal with the dried cranberries. Next time I will throw in some corn starch after I'm done cooking to make the juices thicker. I served this with brown rice this time, maybe mashed potatoes or some pasta would taste good also as a side. I will also mix the broth, the paprika, and allspice before I pour them in the pan next time.

Spicy Spareribs

LOVED THIS ONE!
I learned something new with this one - Spare ribs are pork. Well, that's what I gathered when I saw this sign in the meat section of walmart. This can be cooked as individual ribs for appetizers or in 3-4 rib sections for a meal. We did the meal.


Spicy Spareribs
from the SlowCook Book

• 3 1/2 lbs pork baby back ribs, cut as you want them.
• 2 c. bottled salsa
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1 T quick-cooking tapioca
• 1 t ground ginger

Preheat boiler. Place ribs on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 6 inches from the heat about 10 minutes or until brown, turning once. Transfer ribs to slow cooker.
In a medium bow combine salsa, honey, tapioca, and ginger. Pour sauce over ribs.
Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6-7 hours on on high heat for about 3 hours. Serve sauce with ribs.

Notes: I added way more salsa than 2 c. I just dumped it on till it looked good. I served this with mashed potatoes, because it does have a bit of a kick and the potatoes balanced it well. Justin really really enjoyed this. Especially after our flop the other day.

Pork Chops with Orage-Dijon Sauce

Justin really liked this one!

Pork Chops with Orange-Dijon Sauce
From my slow cooker recipe book, page 305

• 6 boneless pork sirloin chops, cut 1 inch thick
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
• 1 c. orange marmalade
• 1/3 c. Dijon-style mustard

Sprinkle both sides of chops lightly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle chops with thyme. Place chops in a 4 quart slow cooker. In a bowl combine orange marmalade and mustard. Remove 2 T. of the mixture; cover and refrigerate. Combine remaining mixture and 1/4 c. water. Pour over chops.
Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 6-7 hours or on the high-heat setting for 3-3 1/2 hours. Transfer chops to a serving platter; discard cooking liquid. Spread reserved marmalade mixture over chops.

Notes: I made lots of extra marmalade-Dijon mix to set aside and pour over the cooked chops. We like sauce. I cooked it for four hours on high. I served this with curry rice. We'll be making this again.

Autumn Pork Chops

This was the only thing I cooked (other than spaghetti) this week, and I was nervous about it. Prunes are definitely not usually found in my kitchen. I asked Justin to let me know if there is something he wants me to make, and he found this recipe online. It turned out great! I may have to edit this statement, depending on the after affects of the dried fruit.

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 1 Hr.
Serves 6


Autumn Pork Chops
From Yahoo! Food

Ingredients:
6 Pork loin chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 T Butter
12 Dried apricots
6 Dried pitted prunes
1 1/2 cups apple cider or juice
1 T Sugar
1 t salt
1/4 t curry powder
2 T cornstarch
2 T water

In a large skillet, brown pork chops in butter for 1-2 minutes on each side. Arrange apricots and prunes over pork. Combine the cider, sugar, salt and curry; pour over fruit. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove chops and fruit and keep warm. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; add to pan juices. bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with pork and fruit.

Brooke's Notes: I made it tonight with all the ingredients as listed here, and then I cooked in corningware at 350 for an hour instead on a skillet. I poured the juices in a pan to make the gravy afterwards and then served it in the corningware I cooked it in with the gravy on the pork. Next time I would make more juices because it was good served with rice, but there was not enough gravy for the meat and rice. I may also try slow cooking it next time; I just didn't think about it early enough today. It would also taste good with our favorite Cucina Tuscana green beans as a side which are marinated in orange juice before they are steamed. Yum. Today for sides we just had our frozen mixed veggies, spinach salad with carrots, cheese and dried cranberries, and sliced bread. Also, the curry is not very strong in this recipe, if I want to really taste the curry I would add a bit more, but I think it tastes fine with the amount called for.

Sweet & Sour Pork over Rice

Sweet & Sour Pork
From a ward newsletter

• 1 lb boneless pork
• 2 green peppers cut in 1" squares
• 1 can pineapple chunks (drained dry)
• 1/2 c cornstarch
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste
• Rice
  

Marinade:

• 12 T soy sauce
• 1 T cornstarch
• 1 T cold water
• 1 egg yolk

Sauce:

• 3 T vinegar
• 4 T cold water
• 3 T cornstarch
• 1 t sesame oil (found in asian food section)
  
• 4 T catsup

Pound pork to tenderize and cut in 1" squares. mix marinade and soak pork for at least one hour. Mix ingredients for sauce and set aside. Heat oil in large frying pan. Cook port until brown and done (about 2 minutes.) Remove from oil. Optional: Heat oil to fry the pork until crispy.
Remove port from frying pan. Drain all but 2 T oil from pan. Fry green pepper and pineapple, stirring constantly. Add sauce, continuing to stir until thickened. turn off heat. Add port and mix well. Serve immediately over rice.
Serves 3-4 people