Sweet & Sour Pork

This is a hit!

From Betty Crocker

Sweet and Sour Pork

Enjoy this take out restaurant of fried pork, sliced carrots, green bell peppers and pineapple at home.

Prep Time 25 Minutes

Total Time 55 Minutes

Makes 8 servings

2 

pounds pork boneless top loin

Vegetable oil

1/2 

cup all-purpose flour

1/4 

cup cornstarch

1/2

  cup cold water

1/2 

teaspoon salt

1 

egg

1 

can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks in syrup, drained and syrup reserved

1/2 

cup packed brown sugar

1/2 

cup white vinegar

1/2 

teaspoon salt

2 

teaspoons soy sauce

2 

medium carrots, cut into thin diagonal slices

1 

garlic clove, finely chopped

2 

tablespoons cornstarch

2 

tablespoons cold water

1

  medium green bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

3 to 4 

cups hot cooked rice

1. Trim excess fat from pork. Cut pork into 3/4-inch pieces.
2. Heat 1 inch oil deep fryer or Dutch oven to 360ºF.
3. Beat flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup cold water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the egg in large bowl with hand beater until smooth. Stir pork into batter until well coated.
4. Add pork pieces, one at a time, to oil. Fry about 20 pieces at a time about 5 minutes, turning 2 or 3 times, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels; keep warm.
5. Add enough water to reserved pineapple syrup to measure 1 cup. Heat syrup mixture, brown sugar, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, the soy sauce, carrots and garlic to boiling in Dutch oven; reduce heat to low.
6. Cover and simmer about 6 minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender. Mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water; stir into sauce.
7. Add pork, pineapple and bell pepper. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Serve with rice.

Makes 4 servings

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I'm not the best with computer or blog tech, so my apologies for not figuring this out sooner.

You now have the option to print each recipe/blog entry on this blog!  There's a green "print" button  at the top of the right sidebar.  Careful, because if you don't click on a specific post and print from there then you'll end up printing a thousand pages or so of the whole site!  So, click on the specific entry that you want to print, and hit the green Print button when just that entry is loaded on your screen.

Print away!

"Instant Pot" BBQ Shredded Beef

My intent last week was to use the crock pot to slow roast a beef roast before shredding and adding other ingredients to make shredded beef for sandwiches, but I forgot to take a roast out of the freezer before leaving for work.  Ah, the dilemma.  But HEY!  I can cook a roast from frozen in the electric pressure cooker!

I had a 3 lb. sirloin tip roast, nice and meaty with no bone and little fat.  I got out my best kitchen knife, cut the frozen roast into chunks and sprinkled with my favorite rub. 

Directions:  Saute some onion in olive oil using the SAUTE function on the pressure cooker, add 1/2 c. beef broth and 1 cup BBQ sauce.  Add meat chunks and gently move them so they are covered with the sauce.  Cover with the lid and seal.  Set timer for 50 minutes and let it cook!

When done, let it release pressure naturally for 15 minutes, then release pressure quickly.  Carefully remove the lid.  Remove meat chunks to a plate to cool slightly, then shred the meat and add back to the pot.  You may want to add more BBQ sauce to taste.

Enjoy!

NOTE:  the liquid in the pot after cooking is watery, but still holds a lot of flavor.  You may choose to drain some of the liquid before adding more BBQ sauce.

Christmas Cookie Baking 2018: Christmas Cookie Sticks

These looked festive yet easy, so they were chosen for this year's baking.

Link:  Easy Christmas Cookie Sticks

Christmas Cookie Baking 2018: Raspberry Linzers

These take a bit of work but are well worth it!  A simple sugar cookie dough makes up into an elegant cookie!  I make star shapes because I have a small star cookie cutter that works perfectly with my larger star cookie cutter.  Any shape will do!

Raspberry Linzers
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
seedless raspberry jam/preserves
powdered sugar

Cream together butter and sugar for 4 - 5 minutes.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix.  Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the mixture.  Mix well.  Separate into three portions on pieces of plastic wrap.  Wrap and chill for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease several cookie sheets. On a floured surface, roll out one third of the dough at a time to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut dough with larg star shaped cookie cutter. Using small star shaped cookie cutter, cut out centers of half of the larger stars. Place on a greased cookie sheet, spaced about 1 inch apart. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. Dust top cookie with powdered sugar as soon as it comes out of the oven. Transfer to racks to cool completely.

Spread about 1 teaspoon of preserves in center of a star without a cutout. Place star with cutout on top, press lightly to create a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies; pack in a sealed container to preserve freshness.  Separate layers with waxed or parchment paper.

Christmas Cookie Baking 2018: Peppermint Mocha Cookies

This is an amazing cookie!  I've never made them before, but these are definitely going to be repeated in the future.

I found a recipe on Pinterest and tried it with enthusiasm.  As with all new recipes, I followed it to the letter.  The result was a disappointing mess.  The cookies spread all over the pan and had (to me) an overwhelming peppermint taste.  I walked away in frustration.  I thought about it.

Then I came back.  With a few changes, I could fix this!  This time I didn't melt the butter, I added 1/4 c. more flour, added baking powder, and added an egg.  I changed the baking instructions, too.  Here's the result.

Peppermint Mocha Cookies
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, at room temp
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. instant espresso powder, dissolved in 3 Tbsp. water
2 1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. (1 pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. not-quite-crushed (small pieces) of peppermint candies or candy canes (2 boxes needed).  Important to discard the peppermint powder created by crushing the candies and use only the small chunks

Cream together butter and sugars.  Add eggs, vanilla, and espresso.  Mix well.  Sift together flour, soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add to mixture and mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips and peppermint candy pieces.

Form 1 Tbsp. of mixture into ball and place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet or line the pan with parchment.  Bake in 350°F oven for 9 minutes.  Let cool for 1 minute on pan before carefully removing with a sharp spatula.  The peppermint candy is soft and can stick to the pan, so be patient.



Better yet, use peppermint chips (like chocolate chips but peppermint flavored) instead of the peppermint candies.

Christmas cookie baking 2018: Chocolate Crinkles

We are baking Christmas cookies today!  I'm going to share the recipes we're using.

Chocolate Crinkles are popular, and I previously shared a recipe for them using a cake mix.  Well, we didn't have a cake mix today.  I remember making them from scratch when I was a teen, so I searched my cookbooks until I found the recipe in a Betty Crocker Cooky Book.  Here it is!

Chocolate Crinkles
1/2 c. oil (use melted coconut oil if you don't want vegetable oil)
4 oz. baking chocolate, melted
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. powdered sugar

Mix together oil, baking chocolate, and sugar until well mixed.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix again.  Sift dry ingredients together and add; mix well.  Chill dough until firm, several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Roll 1 Tbsp. of dough into a ball and drop into powdered sugar; roll the ball around until well covered with powdered sugar.  Place balls about 2" apart on a GREASED cookie sheet. 

Bake 10 to 12 minutes.  Cookies may look moist and soft, but do not overbake.  Cool on a rack.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Note:  recipe is easily halved if you don't want 6 dozen.