Pancetta Cups with Goat Cheese and Pear

recipe from The Galley Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 16 thin slices (about 1/2 pound) of pancetta (not paper thin)
• 1 large or 2 small pears, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 ounces mild goat cheese
• 1 Tablespoon half-and-half
• 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• Honey to drizzle

Snuggly fit the slices of pancetta into the wells of a mini-muffin pan.  To help keep their shape while baking, ball up a small piece of aluminum foil and place into a pancetta cup.  Repeat with the remaining cups.  Place the pan into a cold oven and close the door.  Turn the oven to 400º F and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pancetta is browned and crisp.  Carefully remove the cups, discarding the foil ball, and place them on a paper towel-lined rack to cool.  The cups will continue to crisp as they cool.

Meanwhile, toss the pears with the lemon juice in a medium bowl; set aside.  In a separate bowl, stir together the goat cheese and half-and-half.

Transfer the pancetta cups to a serving plate.  FIll each cup with a spoonful of pears.  Pipe using a piping bag or place dollops of the cheese mixture onto the pears.  Sprinkle with the thyme leaves and drizzle with honey.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

The real superstar of this dish is the Cilantro Pesto.  Don’t get me wrong, the pork medallions themselves are plenty tasty and simple enough to prepare (and I love cooking pork in medallion form!), but I could just eat this pesto by the spoonful.  It’s that good!  The Cilantro Pesto is creamy and spicy and sweet and and rich and bold all at once.  It’s a unique flavor combination that just works.  I found this recipe in The Primal Blueprint Reader-Created Cookbook (available for free at Mark’s Daily Apple), but don’t tune me out just because I started talking about all that Primal and Paleo stuff again!  My husband, who is decidedly NOT Primal (and isn’t called The Picky Apple for nothin’!), loved this meal just as much as I did.  I think you’ll enjoy it too!

Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Cilantro Pesto

recipe from The Primal Blueprint Reader-Created Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of pork tenderloin
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• Cilantro Pesto (recipe below)

Slice the tenderloin into rounds of 1-inch thickness. Mix oils and vinegar, add garlic and ginger. Marinate the pork slices in a non-reactive glass container for at least 2 hours or overnight, turning at intervals to marinate both sides of the slices.  To cook the pork, heat some coconut oil, lard, or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Quickly sear the slices, turning once, until just cooked through. Do not crowd the pan, cook in batches as needed so they sear and don’t steam. Keep each batch warm in a warm oven or covered in foil wrap.  Make pesto (see recipe below).

To serve: Put a few slices of pork on a plate with a little bit of pesto on each slice, or serve pesto on the side.  (A little pesto goes a long way, flavor-wise.) Serve with cooked greens with sesame seeds and sliced red peppers for a nice color combo.

Cilantro Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of cilantro, leaves only
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/4 cup olive oil (or less, to taste)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil (or more, to taste)
• 1/4 cup almond butter (Picky Apple Note: You can also use peanut butter!)
• 1 teaspoon honey (optional)
• 1/2 – 1 cup coconut milk
• sea salt to taste

To make pesto:  Blend sauce ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth, adding coconut milk until preferred consistency is reached.

The trouble with eggs is that they can be tough for an on-the-go breakfast.  Eggs and bacon are more a leisurely weekend type of meal.  And it seems like no matter how early The Littlest Apple and I wake up (it’s been around 5:15 for the last two weeks), we always have trouble getting out the the door on time.  So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I thought it would be just perfect for a make ahead, grab-and-reheat savory breakfast, full of all those savory things I’m craving these days.  To make these little beauties, you layer shredded hash browns in the bottom of a muffin tin to create “nests” or “baskets” for your eggs and other toppings.  Then you simply crack an egg into each basket and top with bacon, cheese and whatever else your heart or pregnancy cravings desire.  These turned out great!  The only thing I might do differently next time is scramble my eggs first….I prefer scrambled eggs to having the yolk all in one big yellow clump.  But maybe that’s just me.

Hash Brown Baskets with Egg, Bacon, and Cheese

recipe from The Domestic Mama & The Village Cook

Ingredients:

• 24 ounces frozen shredded hash browns, thawed (or grate your own!)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 12 eggs
• Toppings (bacon, shredded cheese, parsley, anything else you can think of!)

Take a bag (24oz) of thawed hash browns, mix in 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper, 2 tbs oil and about 1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese. Put then in a well greased muffin tin, and make a well in the center.

Bake at 425°F for 15-18 minutes, cover with foil if the edges appear to be getting too brown.

Now, lower the oven to 350°F. Crack a medium egg into each “nest” and top with bacon bits, cheese and parsley flakes or whatever else you’d like!

Bake for about 13-16 minutes.

Gentle slide a knife along the edges, and gently pull up with a fork.

What’s your favorite savory breakfast?

Bacon Wrapped Figs

recipe by me

Ingredients:

• 1 pint of fresh figs (mine were small figs)
• 5 slices of bacon
• 1/2 cup of goat cheese
• 1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Slice each fig in half, remove stem, and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Top each fig half with a 1/2 teaspoon of goat cheese.  Slice bacon in half lengthwise, then cut each strip into 4 or 5 2″ strips (just make sure the strips are long enough to wrap around the width of your figs).  Wrap each fig in bacon, pressing it down slightly into the goat cheese, and wrapping the ends under the fig.  Drizzle all of the figs generously with honey.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until bacon has reached your desired crispiness (I like mine crispy, but I probably cooked a little too long!).

Have you tasted figs?  What’s your favorite way to use them?

Spice Encrusted Pork

Recipe By Paula Deen
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
• 2 tablespoons garlic salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh cracked black pepper
• 1.5 lb pork tenderloins
• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided

Preheat Oven to 400.  In a small bowl combine seasonings. Rub the mixture evenly over the pork.  In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 Tb olive oil over med-high heat. Cook 1 loin for 2-3 min per side or until evenly browned. Repeat With remaining tenderloins.  Place into baking dish and bake for 20 min or until a thermometer reaches 155. Slice to serve.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

adapted from The Sisters Cafe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken or pork, cooked and shredded
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cans green enchilada sauce (use mild or medium, your preference!)
• 1 pound (16 ounces) cheddar jack cheese (or use pepper jack for an extra kick!)
• corn tortillas

To Make Sauce: Mix together honey, lime juice, chili powder, and garlic powder.  Add to pork or chicken and let the sauce soak into the meat for about 30 minutes.

Although it was delicious and hearty, our pizza was a little too meaty with not quite enough hash browns.  I’d also like to emphasize how important it is to create a TALL ridge of crust around the edge to keep the egg from running out.  I thought mine was tall enough, but then made a HUGE mess of my oven as the egg ran everywhere!  I’ll probably throw in some peppers or salsa next time for extra spice.

Breakfast Pizza

recipe by me

Ingredients:

• pizza dough (make your own or buy frozen dough)
• 8 oz breakfast sausage
• 4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2-3 cups of frozen hash browns
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• salt and pepper
• 1 jalapeno diced (optional)
• 1/2 cup salsa (optional)

Cook breakfast sausage until completely brown and crumbled.  Drain on paper towels, and set aside.  Cook hash browns until crispy.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Roll out pizza dough on pizza stone or cookie sheet.  Be sure to make the crust tall around the outside to help keep the egg from running out.

Sprinkle the ground beef and bacon over the pizza dough.  Then top with the hash browns.  Sprinkle jalapeno and/or salsa, if using.

In a small bowl, mix eggs with milk and salt and pepper until combined.  Then pour evenly over the sausage and hash browns.  Top with cheese.

Bake at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes or until crust has browned and eggs are set.  (And to be on the safe side, place foil underneath to catch any egg overflow.)

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Crockpot Asian Peanut Butter Pork

from A Year of Slow Cooking

Ingredients:

• 1.5-2lbs pork tenderloin
• 1 onion, sliced in rings
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (garnish; optional)
• 1 lime, cut in wedges (garnish; optional)

Use a 4-6 quart crockpot. Put onion slices into the bottom of your crockpot. Put the pork on top. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, and peanut butter. No need to stir–the peanut butter needs to melt before you can do so. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-6. The pork will be more tender the longer you cook it. 1 hour before serving, flip the meat over in the crockpot to allow the other side to soak up the peanutbuttery goodness. Garnish with chopped peanuts, and serve with lime wedges.

Pork Fried Rice

from Everyday Food, March 2011

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp plus 1/4 tsp soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 bunch scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 2 carrots, shredded (I used a handful of baby carrots instead)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups cooked white rice (about 3/4 cup uncooked rice)
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

In a wok or large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, lightly beat eggs with 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce to combine.  Add eggs to wok and swirl to coat bottom of pan.  Cook, without stirring, until almost set, 1 minute, then fold in thirds with a spatula.  Transfer cooked eggs to a work surface and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Add 1 tablespoon oil to wok and swirl to coat.  Add garlic, ginger, and scallion whites and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 30 seconds.  Add pork and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes.  Add carrots, peas, and rice and stir to combine.  Add cooked egg, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and vinegar and cook, stirring constantly, until rice is coated, about 1 minute.  Let cook, undisturbed, until warm, about 1 minute.  Top with scallion greens and serve.

Cuban Roast Pork

recipe from Foodie Tots

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4-pound pork shoulder (Picky Apple note: I used pork tenderloin)
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 blood orange, cut into eighths (Picky Apple note: I used regular oranges, peeled and sectioned)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• kosher salt
• pepper
• smoked paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 ounces salsa verde
• 1 bottle Mexican beer (Picky Apple note: I used Negra Modelo)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season pork generously with salt, pepper and a touch of smoked paprika and set aside. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat. Sear pork until browned, 4-5 minutes on each side. Spread onions around and under pork, and arrange orange slices around pan. Add bay leaves, salsa and the beer. Cover and cook in oven for 2 hours. Remove lid and cook 1 hour more, until pork falls apart when prodded with a fork.

Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes. Cut out excess fat, and slice a portion for the first night. Serve with rice, black beans, fresh cilantro and additional orange slices.

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients: