Slow Cooker Pork Roast With Apples and Pears Recipe

The winter months are perfect for making anything and everything in your crock pot – and there’s no reason you can’t expand beyond beef stew or good old New England pot roast. Here’s a recipe I created based on one I read in Cook’s Illustrated for Braised Pork Chops. Because the flavor profiles of pork and fruit go so well together, it was a natural to combine them in a slow cooker. An added bonus? This is the perfect recipe for cheap, tough cuts of pork such as the blade or arm roasts.

Slow Cooker Pork Roast With Apples and Pears

(1) 1 pound bone-in pork roast

3 T. kosher salt

Water

1 T. olive oil

1 medium-sized white onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 medium-sized apple (variety of your choice), peeled, cored and sliced into twelfths

1 medium-sized pear (variety of your choice), cored and sliced into twelfths

½ t. whole allspice

½ t. minced fresh ginger

½ cup pomegranate juice

2 T. balsamic vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

Dissolve kosher salt in about one quart of water. Add the pork roast and allow to brine for at least an hour.

Meanwhile, heat your crock pot to high. Add oil, onion, garlic and bay leaf. Cook until slightly softened. Add apple and pear slices, bay leaf, allspice and ginger.

Remove pork roast from brine and pat dry. Sprinkle with black pepper. Place on top of veggies and fruits. Pour pomegranate juice and balsamic vinegar over all. Cook on high for one hour, turning roast over halfway through. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, covered, for 4 – 6 hours.

Serves 4

January 31, 2012: Cremini Mushroom Salad Recipe

In trying to find a new, light side dish to serve with baked fish, I turned to The Food Network online. After reviewing several recipes, I put together the best of them and came up with this recipe.

Cremini Mushroom Salad served as a side to coconut milk poached cod on a bed of couscous

Cremini Mushroom Salad

4 ounces cremini (baby Portabella) mushrooms

¼ large red onion

¼ small head cauliflower
8 baby Heirloom tomatoes of various colors, thinly sliced

1 t. dried parsley (or 1 T. fresh parsley)

2 T. olive oil

2 T. balsamic vinegar

2 T. soy sauce

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 arugula and 8 frisee leaves

Crispy cheese discs*

Using a mandolin, thinly slice the mushrooms, onion and cauliflower and place in a mixing bowl. Add tomatoes, parsley, oil, vinegar, soy sauce and black pepper; toss together. Allow ingredients to sit at room temperature for at least an hour.

To serve, divide arugula and frisee between four plates. Spoon a quarter of the mushroom salad on top of the arugula; top with cheese disc.

*To make cheese discs, grate about an ounce of Parmesan or mozzarella cheese. Heat a nonstick skillet to medium. Scatter the cheese in the pan and cook until crispy on the bottom, flip and cook the other side until golden brown (much like a sausage patty). Carefully remove with a spatula and cool before cutting into four pieces.

January 7, 2012: Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli With Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

Part of getting healthy and losing weight is incorporating more vegetables into your diet. I can do this easily as there are very few things I won’t eat but my husband has a harder time (to his credit, he hasn’t complained about our new eating habits and happily munches on salads and soups along with me).

While just about anyone will eat broccoli or cauliflower smothered in a rich cheese sauce, it’s harder to allow these vegetables to stand on their own merit. Roasting root vegetables at a high temperature, however, caramelizes them and gives them a different flavor profile that meshes perfectly with this vinaigrette.

Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli With Balsamic Vinaigrette

2 cups cauliflower florets

2 t. olive oil

1 cup broccoli florets

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/8 cup olive oil

1 ½ t. capers

1 T. finely minced shallot

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

½ t. Dijon mustard

¼ t. sea salt

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss cauliflower with olive oil. Place cauliflower on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes.

While cauliflower is roasting, make vinaigrette. In a small, heavy saucepan, heat olive oil to medium low. Add capers, shallots and garlic; fry for about 2 minutes, until vegetables are softened. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.

Toss broccoli with vinaigrette. Add to cauliflower and return to oven to roast for an additional 20 minutes.

Makes about 3 servings with 130 calories per serving.

October 18, 2011: Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe

Well, my resolve to eat lower fat foods didn’t last too long… When my husband got home after working out of town for a while, I wanted to give him a special dinner so I fixed his favorite steak sauce, baked a couple potatoes, and made these stuffed mushrooms as an accompaniment. Actually, this recipe isn't very fattening and if you use fat-free cream cheese (blah! yuck!) it might even be a good diet dish. :-)

Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 t. diced pimiento

1 green onion, minced (both white and green parts)

1 t. finely minced garlic

Freshly ground black pepper

8 – 10 white mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed

1 t. olive oil

Cooking spray

French fried onions (about 4 teaspoons)

Balsamic vinegar

Mix together cream cheese, pimiento, green onion, garlic and black pepper.

Spray inside the cups of the mushrooms with the cooking spray. Fill each with cream cheese mixture (go ahead and mound it over the top if you wish).

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium low. Add mushrooms, cheese side up, cooking for about 5 minutes, or until they begin to soften on the bottom. Splash a bit of balsamic vinegar in bottom of the skillet and cover. Cook another 5 minutes. Remove lid from pan and sprinkle French fried onions over the tops of the mushrooms. Place pan under broiler for about a minute, just enough to heat the onions.

Serves 2

September 26, 2011: Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

When you make my favorite Mixed Green Salads recipe, try your hand at making a homemade dressing to go with it. If you have a fairly well stocked pantry, you should have all of these ingredients on hand and it only takes a few minutes to whip up this dressing that is the perfect complement to the mixed baby greens, tomatoes, nuts and Gorgonzola cheese in the salad.

Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 cup mayonnaise (or substitute Greek yogurt if you want to cut down on calories a bit)

3 T. balsamic vinegar

2 T. lemon juice

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

2 T. olive oil (best quality)

1 t. finely minced garlic

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour into a jar. Chill several hours before serving to allow flavors to meld.

Note: This dressing will last a couple weeks in the refrigerator.

September 8, 2011: Garlic and Shallot Vinaigrette Recipe

This is a wonderfully light but very flavor-packed vinaigrette that is great on any salad. I used it as a marinade for thinly sliced raw mushrooms and yellow squash, adding a bit of finely chopped jalapenos (as pictured) and it was delicious!

Garlic and Shallot Vinaigrette

2 T. finely minced shallot (about 1 small bulb section)

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 T. fresh parsley, minced (or 1 T. dried/dehydrated parsley)

5 T. olive oil

1 ½ T. Dijon mustard

2 T. apple cider vinegar

2 T. balsamic vinegar

½ t. kosher salt

½ t. coarsely ground black peppercorns

Combine all ingredients in a small jar. Shake before using.

August 9, 2011: Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Salad Recipe

As we suffer through the hot “Dog Days of Summer” in August, the last thing we want to do is heat up the oven or eat a “heavy” dish. So here’s a very quick, light and refreshing dish you can serve as an appetizer, a salad, or just a side dish. Be sure to use the freshest ingredients you can find, such as tomatoes picked right from the vine in your garden, for the tastiest combination of flavors.

Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella (also known as Caprese) Salad 

1 heirloom or other fresh, meaty tomato
1 bunch large basil leaves
8 ounces fresh mozzarella
Balsamic vinegar
Black peppercorns

Thinly slice the tomato and the mozzarella. If the tomato is very large, cut the slices in half. On a small plate, arrange a tomato slice, topped with a slice of mozzarella and a basil leaf. Repeat until one third of all ingredients are used. Continue with remaining ingredients to make a total of three individual salad plates. Drizzle with a bit of balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Tip: For an artful flair, use a squeeze bottle for the balsamic vinegar and make a design on the plate with it, then stack the tomato, basil and cheese in the middle.

July 18, 2011: Tomato Salad Recipe

This is the time of year when we’re overrun with tomatoes from the garden and at the market. Plump and juicy, no matter the variety tomatoes are abundant.

I ended up with an excess of tomatoes recently because the ones I found at the farmer’s market were just too beautiful to pass up. But how to use them all up? Although my husband loves eating raw slices of them, I’m not that big a fan of raw tomatoes without any seasoning. So I made up this recipe to add a bit of different flavor and crunch.

Tomato Salad

1 large tomato, diced (about one cup)
5 small sweet peppers (red, yellow, or orange), thinly sliced
1 small red onion, (about half a cup), thinly sliced
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. olive oil
½ t. dried dill (or 1 t. fresh dill)
Black pepper and kosher salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients. Chill several hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.

Tip: This salad goes great with a breakfast frittata or just about anything cooked on the grill. It's a light summer side perfect for dinner on a balmy night. 

June 11, 2011: Balsamic Caramelized Onions, Peppers, and Mushrooms Recipe

This recipe is a really versatile one – it lends flavor, color and a dash of that “something extra” to nearly any main dish. I used this combination of caramelized veggies on top of the balsamic marinated sirloin steak sandwiches I shared with you yesterday.

Balsamic Caramelized Onions, Peppers, and Mushrooms

1 small white or yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 T. olive oil
½ bell pepper (color of your choice), thinly sliced
5 large mushrooms, thinly sliced
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Add onions and stir frequently, cooking just until golden. Reduce heat and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add bell pepper, cook until softened. Add mushrooms, cook a few more minutes, just until the mushrooms begin to release liquid.

Add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Continue to cook until almost all of the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes.

Tip: This topping is great served over meat, pierogis, fajitas, or fried potatoes.

June 10, 2011: Grilled Top Sirloin Sandwiches Recipe

Top sirloin is a funny kind of steak – it can be really tough or it can be pretty tender. It’s hard to tell what you’re going to get when you buy a package at the grocery store. Just to be on the safe side, I always marinate it. This recipe is for the marinated steaks and a mustard glaze that goes over the top during the last few minutes of grilling – and this combo is perfect for a hearty dinner sandwich (I served mine on pieces of a store-bought cheese loaf).

Grilled Sirloin Steak Sandwiches topped with Balsamic Caramelized Onions, Peppers, and Mushrooms and served with Parmesan Crusted Corn on the Cob

Balsamic Marinade

¼ cup balsamic
¼ cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ pounds thick cut top sirloin chops

Mix together ingredients in a nonmetallic dish. Add meat and marinade for a minimum of two hours. Remove from marinade just before grilling and sprinkle with sea salt.

Mustard Glaze

1/8 cup yellow mustard
1/8 cup Dijon mustard
1 t. citrus peel seasoning (look for it in the spice section; can substitute a mixture of freshly grated lemon and orange peel, dehydrated minced, crushed coriander seeds and sesame seeds)
1 t. minced garlic
½ t. salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients. Brush on both side of steaks during the last few minutes of grilling.

For sandwiches: Slice steak thinly and pile on top of bread. The mustard glaze is the only condiment necessary although you may wish to top the sandwiches with caramelized onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms (recipe will be posted tomorrow, June 11, 2011).

Tip: cook the sirloin steaks to medium rare then take off the grill and put on a platter. Tent with a piece of foil for five minutes so the juices don’t run off.