Creamy Pork and Mushrooms

My friend made a crockpot meal last week with pork and cream of mushroom soup, something my mom made all growing up. It was so yummy and I've been craving it ever since. My only thing was that I really wanted to cook from scratch and not use a cream of mushroom soup. My mom is in town visiting and we looked up some recipes online and then came up with something of our own. I found this recipe that used sour cream, which I already had that on hand, and we just modified it to our liking. I really wanted a shredded pork but I rarely cook pork so I didn't know what cut to use. We went with Boston Butt and it worked well. This was delicious!!! I will definitely be making it again. It almost tasted like a pork stroganoff.

One thing I'll note is that there was a lot of fat that wouldn't blend into the sauce. We drained it off a little bit. My mom actually took paper towels to soak up the grease and that seemed to work well.


Ingredients

• 3(ish) pound Boston Butt Pork Roast
• Garlic Powder, Paprika, Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 8 oz Baby Bella Mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 8 oz sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons flour

Directions

1. Place onions and mushrooms in the bottom of a crock pot. Add Chicken Broth.
2. Season pork with garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Place on top of onions and mushrooms fat side up. Cook on low 9 1/2 hours.
3. After 9 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 170 degrees. Remove the pork from the crock pot into an oven safe dish. Place in oven to keep warm.
4. Mix sour cream and flour. Add to the juices in the crock pot. Cook on high for another 15-30 minutes on high until it's thickened and creamy. Serve over egg noodles and enjoy!

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Oven Baked Risotto

Matt's been sick so I wanted to make something that would be comforting. My mom makes a baked beef flavored risotto the she and my dad love. That got me interested in finding a recipe for a baked chicken risotto.  I wanted a quick recipe that wasn't as time consuming as typical risotto.  I found one recipe from Martha Stewart and one recipe from Ina Garten. I used both of these recipes to come up with my own recipe. The flavor was great.  It was so easy to make and definitely a comforting meal. I've never had a true risotto so I'm not sure how it compares. But I enjoyed this dish a lot. The recipe can be easily modified to whatever you want.  Use beef broth and stir in beef at the end. Add shrimp instead of chicken. There are many possibilities!

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 5 cups chicken broth, separated (4 cups and 1 cup)
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup  + 4 Tablespoons dry white wine, separated (1/2 cup, 2 Tablespoons, and 2 Tablespoons)
• 4 Tablespoons butter, separated (3 Tablespoons and 1 Tablespoon)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 8 oz Baby Bella mushrooms
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack set in center of the oven.
2. Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook several minutes until onion is tender. Add the rice, stir to coat in oil and cook for 1 minute.
3. Stir in 1/2 cup dry white wine.  Cook for about 1 minute until all the liquid is evaporated.
4. Stir in 4 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for about 45 minutes. Most of the liquid should be absorbed. The rice should be tender but still slightly firm.
5. While the rice is baking, melt 1 Tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and garlic powder and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add 2 Tablespoons white wine and cook until liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat.
6. When rice has finished baking, carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven. Stir in remaining 1 cup of chicken broth, 2 Tablespoons white wine, 3 Tablespoons butter, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, chicken, and mushrooms. Risotto should be creamy. If more liquid is needed, add either more chicken broth or white wine. Serve immediately.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf and Cottage Potatoes

It's been chilly lately which had me craving some comfort food. I haven't had meatloaf in years so I decided to find a yummy recipe. After some searching, I finally decided to try this recipe from All Recipes. I was originally thinking of doing a side of scalloped potatoes but when I found Paula Deen's Cottage Potatoes I knew I had to give them a try.

The meatloaf was really good. I might saute the onions before adding them to the meat next time. The recipe has you put the glaze on the bottom of the pan and the meat on top. I actually put 2 slices of bread in the pan, then the meat, and the glaze on top. I added the sliced bread because I heard they soak up any grease. I added ground mustard and Worcestershire sauce to the glaze and decreased the brown sugar to 1/4 cup. It was pretty sweet still so I'm glad I cut it down. Half a cup would have been way too sweet.

The potatoes were really good and easy too! I sauteed the onions before adding them to the potatoes, which was a good decision. I also had some white cheddar cheese which I grated and added to the top. It was good with the cheese but it would have been just as good without. Delicious!!! I will definitely be making these again.


Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 cup finely seasoned bread crumbs
• slices of bread

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.
2. Place bread slices at bottom of pan. (I used 2 pieces.)
3. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard. Set aside
4. In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the bread slices. Cover with ketchup mixture.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.

Paula Deen's Cottage Potatoes

Ingredients

• 3 large Idaho potatoes
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 onion, diced
• Salt and pepper
• Paprika
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Scrub the potatoes, slice them, and put in a pot with water to cover. Boil the potatoes until tender, then drain and mash them with 2 tablespoons of the butter.
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and saute onion until tender.
4. Add the cottage cheese, onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir the mixture gently, and then put in a greased casserole. Dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and sprinkle with paprika. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Add the cheese after 20 minutes of cooking.