Honey Mustard Pork Chops

I'm going out for dinner tonight with friends, but I threw this together for The Big Geek and the little geek anyhow. He just gave me a bite and it was GOOD.

Mustard is one of The Big Geeks other favorite flavors (lemon being another, and then beer of all kind), so this recipe was perfect for him. It was also really easy, especially considering that all I do is put together the marinade and let the pork chops sit in the fridge and TBG has to grill them.

1 cup beer or ginger ale (I used Sam Adams Summer Ale)
1/2 cup prepared mustard (just the regular yellow kind)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp pepper
6 pork chops (recipe calls for boneless 1/2 inch thick, but I used bone-in pork chops because that's what I had).

In bowl, combine all ingredients except pork chops. Place pork chops in ziplock bag. Pour 1 cup marinade over the pork chops, seal bag (squish air out) and turn to coat. Place in fridge for at least 1 hour, turning when you think of it.

Reserve 1/2 cup of marinade for basting. Use remaining marinade as a sauce for cooked pork chops.

Cook pork chops (discard marinade from the ziplock bag) over medium heat for 15 minutes or until juices run clear, turning and basting occasionally with 1/2 cup marinade. Serve with reserved marinade.

It's tangy and sweet and really good!

I think this is from Taste of Home

Asian Pork Tenderloin

This is another easy way to get dinner on the table. If you prepare the marinade after your little geeks are in bed the night before, then all you have to do is remember to put it in the oven about 30 minutes before dinner.

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp lemon juice
4 garlic cloves, crushed (or minced)
1 Tbsp dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 to 2 lb pork tenderloin.

Mix together first 8 ingredients in a ziplock bag. Add pork, seal, and let marinate 8 hours or overnight.

Remove pork from marinade, discarding marinade. Place in a foil-lined roasting pan.

Bake at 450 for 25 min. or until a meat thermometer registers 160. Let pork stand 5 min. before serving.

A meat thermometer you can put in the oven, that beeps at the appropriate temperature, is a wonderful thing.

Slice and serve!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Tangy Slaw

Have I mentioned how much I <3 the crock pot? Because I really do. I have a few standard easy meals that use the crock pot, and this is one of them.

Here's what you do:

1. Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. You really should do this every time you use the slow cooker. Trust me.

2. Slice an onion and put it in the crock pot (optional).

3. Place meat in crock pot. I usually use pork tenderloin. I was too cheap to buy it this week, so I got pork shoulder roast instead. If you do the shoulder roast, you should trim off as much fat as possible before you put it in the crock pot.

4. Cover with your favorite BBQ sauce. We like Sweet Baby Ray's. You could make your own, but I am lazy.

5. Cook for 4-10 hours, depending on the meat, or until it is "shreddable."

Shred meat with 2 forks, place on bun, top with tangy slaw. YUM!

Tangy Slaw:

The Big Geek doesn't eat mayonnaise, so this was my solution. He still won't eat this. Damn, he is picky. However, it is good, so I still make it this way. Except when I'm extra lazy and buy the cole slaw kits. Which I've been known to do.

1 pckg shredded coleslaw mix, or shred a head of cabbage and some carrots, and maybe a red onion if you have it in the food processor.

Dressing:
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed (or omit salt and use 2 tsp celery salt)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 cup vinegar (I use cider vinegar)
2/3 cup vegetable oil (Canola works well)

Combine dressing ingredients and bring to a boil (or if you are lazy and/or don't read the entire recipe and are like, "oh, crap, but I wanted to just throw this together," toss the bowl in the microwave for 2-3 minutes--assuming it's not a metal bowl). Pour over cabbage and toss. Cool, then refrigerate (if you were one of the "oh, crap" people you CAN put it on your sandwich at this point--it's just better if it sits for a while).

Pulled pork is from me. Coleslaw is from about.com.

Fast & Easy Weeknight Meals--Gorgonzola Topped Pork Tenderloin

from Cooking Light

At first, you may think this recipe isn't easy. Trust me--it is.

1 (1 lb) pork tenderloin, trimeed and cut crosswise into 4 pieces
1 tsp vegetable oil
Cooking spray
2 tsp bottled minced garlic (or fresh if you're all fancy and a show-off)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup beef broth (in a pinch, I've been known to just use some bouillon dissolved in water)
1/2 cup dry red wine (TIP: I buy 2 buck chuck from Trader Joe's to use when cooking. You can freeze leftovers and defrost for later use.)
2 Tbsp crumbled Gorgonzola or other blue cheese

Place the pork between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap. Pound the crap out of it until it's about 1 inch thick. The shape doesn't matter as much as the thickness. You want it to cook evenly, so it all needs to be the same thickness.

Heat oil in a large skillet (this one is also good in the cast iron skillet) coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.

Combine garlic, pepper, and salt. Rub all over pork. Add pork to pan and cook 5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove pork from pan and keep warm (put foil over it).

Add broth and wine to skillet, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Increase heat to hight and cook until reduced to about 1/2 cup (between 6-10 minutes). Spoon sauce over pork (and mashed potatoes, if you have them, or rice, or onto bread--the sauce is damned good). Sprinkle with cheese.

See, that wasn't so difficult. It just messes with your head because of the fancy sounding ingredients.

Grilled Adobo Pork/Chili Rubbed Pork Chops

from Cooking Light

You should always read through an entire recipe before you decide to make it. Because if you don't, you may be surprised by something. Like how much work it is.

That's what happened to me with this recipe. I scanned the ingredients and though, "sounds good." Bought everything. Then read the recipe and was like, WHAT?? Who has TIME for THIS??

However, since I didn't want to waste the ingredients, I enlisted The Big Geek's help and went through all the steps to make the marinade and sauce, then let the pork marinate overnight, and then had TBG grill the pork. We had both decided that it had better be the best thing we'd ever eaten with all the work it took.

It was good. Really good. And spicy. But I'm not sure it was so good it was worth all the trouble. Especially because I have a different recipe that takes about 5 minutes and tastes REALLY similar.

But here it is anyhow:

Cooking spray
3 ancho chiles (they are dried)
1 garlic clove
1/4 small onion, peeled
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 tsp ground oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cumin
dash of ground allspice
2 Tbsp cider vinegar, divided
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 (6 oz) bone-in center-cut port chops (about 1/2 inch thick), trimmed
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

To make the marinade:

Heat a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Remove stems and seeds from chiles, tear chiles into large pieces, and place in skillet. Cook 15 seconds or until thoroughly heated, turning pieces occasionally (be careful not to burn chiles). Remove from pan.

Add garlic and onion to skillet (yes,just toss them in without chopping). Cook until browned (about 5 min), turning frequently.

Return chiles to skillet and add broth through allspice. Stir in 1 Tbsp vinegar. Bring mixture to a simmer, and then cook 5 minutes or until chiles are soft. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Place cooled mixture in a blender or food processor (you may need to do this in more than one batch). Process until smooth, then return to the skillet. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in salt and sugar. Cool completely.

When marinade is cool, combine 1/2 cup of marinade and remaining Tbsp of vinegar in a ziplock bag. Add pork chops, remove air, and seal. Squish them around so the marinade gets all over the pork chops and marinate 8 hours or overnight in the fridge.

Place remaining marinade in a diffferent (small) bag. Add orange and lime juice, squish to combine, and refridgerate.

The next day/8 hours later:

Prepare the grill. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray (reserve marinade). Grill 4 minutes each side or until thermometer registers 160, basting frequently with reserved marinade. Remove from heat.

While pork is cooking, heat the reserved sauce in a small saucepan (over medium heat until heated through). Spoon on top of cooked pork.

Some notes: I don't know what we did wrong, but our marinade either needed more liquid or cooked off more liquid than it was supposed to, because we barely had 1/2 cup total. So I just sort of divided it and did the best I could. The pork was coated, but there wasn't enough to baste. However, the marinade was thick enough that it didn't matter. I added more brown sugar to taste to the sauce b/c it was REALLY tart, but perhaps the amount of sauce I ended up with was wrong b/c I was just guessing.

So you can do all that and end up with some pretty good (and spicy) pork (either plan something different for your little geeks or don't marinate their pork), OR you could just do this:

Chili Rubbed Pork Chops (adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe I got from a friend):

1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp unpacked brown sugar
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder (I use 1 1/2 b/c I like garlic)
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
If you like it spicy, add 1 tsp Cayanne and 1 tsp red pepper flakes. Otherwise, omit.

4 1/2-inch thick pork chops (WW says boneless and lean, but with the bone is fine, too).

1. Preheat broiler and broiler pan coated with cooking spray (or grill)

2. In a small bowl, combine spices. Add Worcestershire sauce and stir until paste forms.

3. Rub paste all over pork chops.

4. Broil (or grill) 4 min on each side or until done (160).

That's it. If you want these to taste more like the Adobo pork you could add some lime juice (maybe 1/2 tsp) to the paste, and maybe some brown sugar (1 tsp).

I'm pretty sure we'll be opting for the quick and easy version in the future.

And if you care, the original WW recipe said to serve the chops over steamed green beans drizzled with lemon juice, so you could get the citrus flavor from there as well. The original recipe is 5 pts per serving.