Three Meat Stromboli

Like most of my recipes, this is a combination of a couple of different recipes I've used for stromboli in the past. I like the combination of spices in this version and the dough is quite simple. Don't let your dough rise or it will have hollow pockets and is a bit weird.

Bread Dough:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp yeast dissolved completely in 1 cup warm water
1 egg

Dissolve yeast in water. Add remaining ingredients and knead either by hand or in stand mixer for a couple of minutes (3-5). Roll out dough on floured surface into a rectangle shape (about 12x18").

Stromboli Toppings:

1/4 pound pastrami
1/4 pound deli ham
1/4 pound pepperoni
1/4 pound provolone
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp pepper


Arrange toppings over rolled-out dough (in no particular order). Roll up dough and tuck eggs under. Lightly beat egg. Smear egg over the top of the dough (or gently use a pastry brush - I like smearing myself). Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (until dough sounds hollow). Let sit a few minutes before serving.

I have used this stromboli dough for lots of types of stromboli. This is my favorite, but I've also really like chicken-alfredo stromboli or just a simple pepperoni and mozzarella combination.

Crock Pot Pork and Potato Stew

This is one of my favorite soups. The pork is so tender, it's unbelievable. Plus, it's a crock pot recipe, and is best if you start it early in the day. That's great, because my day's usually deteriorate into craziness as dinnertime nears. I got this recipe from a friend of mine, at our monthly "cooking club."

1 T. oil
1 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into cubes ( I usually use 2 pork tenderloins--I'm serious, the pork is really good! Plus, my kids tend to pick out mainly the meat.)
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced onions
4 medium potatoes, cubed
3 T. chicken bouillon
4 1/2 cups water
1 T. cider vinegar
3 T flour
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage

Season cubed meat with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Sear meat in hot skillet with oil. Make sure to only brown the meat, do not cook all the way. Add meat to crock pot, then dump in the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low 8 hour, or high 4 hours.

Spicy Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is one of our favorite cuts of meat--all three kids like it, a rare feat at our house. And this is one of my best recipes. I got it from Cooks Country a few years ago, and it is one of my very favorite go-to recipes for pork tenderloin. (Sorry my camera is MIA right now, so you'll have to do without one of my fabulous (haha) photos!)

1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 juice from about 2 limes
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 jalapeno chile, seeded and minced
2 pork tenderloins (12-16 ounces each, trimmed of silver skin--you know, that fatty membrane on the side!)
2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1. Stir pineapple juice, lime juice, brown sugar, molasses, cumin, cayenne, and jalapeno in small bowl. Pat tenderloins dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook tenderloins, turning until browned on all sides, 5-8 minutes total. Reduce heat to medium, add lime juice mixture, and cook, rolling tenderloins to coat, until mixture is thick and syrupy and internal temperature of tenderloins register 140 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 9-11 minutes. (The meat will still be a little pink if you stop right at 140 degrees--that's how you want it. Trust me. It's so much more tender, and cooks illustrated even included a nice little box detailing how safe it is to eat pork at this temperature!)
3. Transfer tenderloins to cutting board, ten loosely with foil, and let rest until internal temperature rises to 150 degrees, about 10 minutes. Cut tenderloins crosswise into 1/2 inch thick slices, arrange on platter, and pour glaze in pan over slices. Serve.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Do you have fresh tomatoes lying around? Probably you do. If not, your neighbor probably does. Go ask for some. This sauce is really fast, easy, and pretty healthy. Remember - olive oil is good for you!



2-3 pounds tomatoes, peeled and chopped (about 6-9 medium tomatoes)
1 medium green onion, minced (or about 1/4 cup yellow/white onion)
3 Tbsp fresh parsley or 1 Tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp fresh basil or 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/8 pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, sliced

About 3 hours or so before serving, mix first eight ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. After these have cooked for about an hour, heat olive oil in a small saucepan. Add garlic and cook until golden. Remove from heat and remove garlic. Pour hot oil over tomato mixture and mix well (sometimes I keep this over heat for 10-15 minutes). Cover, remove from heat, and let stand 2 or more before serving. You can add a little water if it seems too thick.

Just prior to serving, prepare some type of noodles and re-heat sauce. Serve. This sauce is hard to mess up - I've used canned tomatoes mixed with fresh when I didn't have enough, different spices, chives instead of onions, etc. It's always turned out good.

Sweet Pork Salad

This was the best dish I've made in a long time! We ate the leftovers for dinner the next night and we NEVER do that--usually I just send leftovers with Barry for lunch the next day. But I would have eaten this every night for a week. It's really that good. And don't leave out the tomatillo dressing--I toyed with the idea of just being lazy and serving it with ranch dressing, and I'm so glad I didn't because the dressing is amazing! I found the recipe at the sister's cafe http://www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com. They have some awesome recipes, go check it out!

Shredded Sweet Pork

3 lb pork roast

1 c brown sugar

1 c Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp powdered ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

2 Tb dried minced onions

Cook all ingredients in a crock pot on low all day (abt 8 hours). One hour before serving, remove roast and shred it. Dump out all cooking juices and place shredded pork back into crockpot and add...1 c brown sugar and 1 c red enchilada sauce

Cilantro Lime Rice

3 c water

3 c rice

4 cubes chicken bouillon

4 tsp garlic, minced

1 Tb canola oil

2 Tb fresh lime juice

1/2 bunch of cilantro

1/2 onion1 can green chilies

Blend cilantro, onion, and chilies in food processor. Bring water to boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Garlic Black Beans

1 can black beans

1/3 c tomato juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

2 Tb canola oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tb chopped cilantro

Heat oil then add cumin and garlic until garlic begins to pop. Add rest of ingredients and serve warm. *I would at least double this recipe--but I really like beans!

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

3 tomatillos, peeled and quartered

juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 c buttermilk

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/2 c sour cream

1 pkg dry buttermilk ranch dressing

1 c fresh chopped cilantro

6 green onions with ends, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tsp sugar1 jalapeno, sliced thin - add to taste

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender and mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

To assemble salad: Grate cheese onto a tortilla shell and place in oven under broiler until cheese is melted and shell is puffy. Top with romaine lettuce, beans, rice, and pork. Garnish with tomatoes, avacado, pico de gallo, whatever you like. Top with dressing and crispy tortilla strips.
*The recipe calls for cotija cheese, but I used sharp cheddar.

Pineapple Chicken

This recipe was actually created by my husband. My dad didn't even pour the cereal himself while I was growing up, so it was a pleasant surprise to marry a husband who can cook! He is a never-follow-a-recipe sort of cooker. It seems to work for him. I like this dish because I can put it all in the saucepan and then let it simmer. Anything requiring that I stay in the kitchen gets a little tricky at our house.

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. chicken breast, sliced in strips or chunks (whichever you prefer)
1 can pineapple chunks
1 green pepper, sliced
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 medium onion, sliced
3/4 - 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. teriyaki sauce
Cooked rice (However much your family will eat and prepared the way you prefer)

Directions:

Put chicken breast, green pepper, and onions in a large saucepan. Brown chicken slightly (I usually cook it until there is just a little uncooked skin showing).



Once the chicken is browned, add about 1/2 of the can of pineapple plus about 2 Tbsp of the pineapple juice, carrots, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and about half the brown sugar.


Now this is the easy part - just put on a lid and simmer for about 20-30 minutes. About halfway through, add the rest of the brown sugar. There's really no reason that you can't add it all at the beginning - I just do it that way because I always check it part of the way through and decide it needs more brown sugar (it will depend on how thick you want your sauce). Here's what mine looked like after it had simmered about 15 minutes and I added more brown sugar:



The cooking time can vary depending on when you are ready to eat, when the rice is ready, and how tender you want your vegetables. Once you are ready, just scoop a bunch of sauce over the rice and enjoy.

Paprikash Chicken

I got this recipe from my brother-in-law, who got it while serving his mission in Hungary. I like it because it’s easy, cheap, and yummy!

1 medium onion, diced
1-3 cloves minced garlic
1 T. olive oil
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vegeta (Hungarian seasoning—it’s tough to find, so I’ll give you some if you’re interested!)
2 Tablespoons paprika
2 15 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
4-6 chicken drumsticks (or however many you want—it doesn’t matter! You could use breasts or thighs if you’d like, but try to use bone-in, it works better than boneless for this recipe)
1-2 C. chicken broth
2-3 sliced hungarian sweet peppers

Saute onion, peppers, and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Take off heat and make a paste with the paprika, salt, and vegeta. Coat drumsticks in the paste. Put back on heat. Add tomatoes and chicken broth. Add another teaspoon vegeta and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer with lid about 30-45 minutes.

Serve over any kind of noodles, or else make your own:

1 C. flour
2 eggs
Add water to make it a consistency between pancake batter and bread dough. Drop by scant teaspoons into boiling water and cook for 5-10 minutes. These are not the kind of noodles we’re used to, they’re kind of like little dumplings. They look ugly, but they taste good!

Macaroni and Cheese

My husband's gone this week, which means I will be cooking very little. While he's away, this dish and Shepherd's Pie are about the only things I cook. Two things that are not really my husband's favorites, but the kids both devour them. So here it is...

2-3 cups dry elbow macaroni (I usually use about 3)
2 Tbsp butter
1 clove minced garlic
3 Tbsp flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mustard
2 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cook macaroni and set aside. Melt butter in medium saucepan and add minced garlic. Saute. Stir in flour, salt, and dry mustard. Cook one minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in 2 cups cheese and macaroni. Place in a baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for ten to twenty minutes - until cheese is browned and cheese is bubbly.

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chili

This is one of my favorite recipes. It's easy and fast, really good for you, and DELICIOUS! I often make this soup at the first of the week and then eat it every day for lunch.

1 T. olive oil
2C cholpped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 C water, divided
2 T. sugar
2 T. chili powder
2 T. worcestershire sauce
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (15 1/2 oz) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 0z) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (I sometimes double the kidney beans)
1 (15 0z) can pinto beans, rinsed and drianed
1 (6 oz ) can tomato paste

1. Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes or until tender. Add 3 cups water and next 8 ingredients, stirring to combine.

2. Combine remaining cup of water and tomato paste in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended. Stir tomato paste mixture into bean mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated through. Serve with shredded cheese, if desired.

* You can use any combination of beans that you like--cannellini, great northern, etc. These are just my favorites.

nutritional info per 1 1/2 C. soup (this is a good sized portion--very full bowl!) Calories 276; Fat 3.5 g (sat .3g, mono 1.3g, poly 1 g); Protein 12.7 g; Carb 49.7g; Fiber 14.7g; Chol 0g; iron 4.2 mg; Sodium 587 mg; calc 107 mg.

Original recipe published in Cooking Light (hence the nutritional info--no, I don't have a scientific analysis lab in the kitchen!)