The Unofficial Cook

This is my favorite fall recipe.  I found it in a cookbook Stepson’s former girlfriend gave me for Christmas and I’ve made it a staple. It’s one of the easiest things to cook and always comes out perfectly no matter what you do with it.  The original recipe calls for turkey breasts but I thought some pork chops would go even better with the apples and so it has been for us ever since.

You can serve this with rice or potatoes, either way is good.  It’s also great as is, like in the photo I have here. (more…)

Ahhhh…this turned out really good for something I was sure would be a disaster.  I was very low on cooking ingredients because Spouse and I are off on a business trip this week (by the time this post comes out anyway) and I like leaving the refrigerator clean when we go out of town. 

My intention was to use up the unstrained Orange Raspberry Preserves I previously made.  There was a 2-lb, 2-piece pork tenderloin sitting in my freezer and I’ve been wracking my brain thinking what to do with it.  Since I’m getting used to the pork with fruit combination that’s more common of Western cuisine, I thought - dilute the preserves with orange juice and it would be perfect with the pork.  Well, guess what….I was out of orange juice!  I had no choice but to substitute with Arizona Tea with Lemon, which was the only non-alcoholic beverage I had in stock. (more…)

Alright…I’ve been good about eating healthy the last few days and now I deserve some pork chops!  I’ve been thinking of doing a stuffed pork chop recipe for ages but never tried it.  I’ve found several recipes online and in a couple of my cookbooks.  But this is the recipe I finally chose (with my usual revisions) because it has a good mix of ingredients and does not involve any frying…perfect.

Look at that pork chop…it’s almost saying “EAT ME!!!”….don’t you think?  This was easy and looked and tasted like it was made by some professional in the kitchen.  Highly recommended. 

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It was nice and cool the other day so I went ahead and cooked this barbecue ribs in the oven instead of taking out the grill.  I used half a bottle of Cattlemen’s Authentic Smokehouse Barbecue Sauce for about 2 pounds of pork ribs.  It’s the best I’ve tried so far. I like the hickory flavors of course and there was just a little kick to the sauce which you’ll only?notice afterwards.  Nice. Spouse and I had a pleasant time laughing at each other’s barbecue moustache after lunch. (more…)

This ground pork omelette was a regular packed lunch item when my siblings and I were in elementary school. I can still remember that scent when you first opened your plastic lunch box at the school canteen.  It was a mixture of the pork, the bell peppers and the plastic. This always came with steamed rice and a good serving of catsup.  I still cook this today and Spouse usually takes it with salsa and steamed rice or as a sandwich. (more…)

This is another quick  recipe that will be on your dinner table within an hour of starting it. Serve it with a light, green salad and you’re ready.

For this recipe, I used Sweet Italian Sausage flavored with fennel.  I find the hot sausages a little too spicy for me. I prefer sprinkling red pepper flakes in the sauce so I have better control of the heat.  Spouse and I are not big fans of hot spices. (more…)

Filipinos usually call this dish “Pork Steak” which I always thought was a misnomer.  It’s  based on the Filipino favorite “Bistek” which uses beef.

The basics of this manner of cooking is marinating your meat or fish in a soy sauce, calamansi, black pepper marinade for at least an hour.  The meat or fish is then fried…nice and crisp for the fish (usually “bangus” or milkfish) and fast, high-heat, stovetop grilling for the meat. (more…)

Adobo is the acknowledged Philippine national dish.

When Eldest Sister went on a diet years ago, you could ask her kids what her favorite dish was and they’d all say, “Adobo Kangkong.” Yup, you can cook vegetables, meats, seafood (mussels adobo is fantastic) and fish using this method.  You’ll probably find this dish anywhere you might  land on any of the 7,100 islands of the Philippines.

Chicken and Pork Adobo is the most common and favored.  I came up with my own version a couple of years back.  It’s nothing complicated, just a last minute splash of balsamic vinegar before turning off the heat.  Then a sprinkling of extra virgin olive oil before serving.  But my goodness…it does make a difference. The Ilocanos in northern Philippines must be familiar with the taste.  Balsamic vinegar tastes very similar to basi vinegar of the region.  This recipe is the regular adobo. (more…)

Dinner tonight was a German-style meal any Greta or Liezl can be proud to call their own. 

Unfortunately, veal was not available at the commissary this week so I had to subsitute my wiener schnitzel with breaded pork chops.  But red cabbages are always available in any supermarket and that was enough to build on the German-style dinner I had in mind. There was a sale on Andre Spumante and Champagne that day we were at the base exchange so I grabbed a bottle of Spumante for $3.45 especially for this meal.

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