Category: Pork roast

Pork roast · Side dish

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

RefreshHer2 Comments

Pork roast and mashed potatoes with rich dark brown gravy. MMMMM. Sunday dinner at its finest. BUT what if you top that roast with a blueberry sauce? Yes, please. That was our Sunday dinner yesterday. Though the pork roast was a little on the dry side (maybe from being in the oven too long, I’m thinking), the blueberry sauce compensated nicely!

Menu
Pork Roast with Blueberry Sauce
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

For the roast, I simply seasoned it with salt and pepper, then browned it in a little oil. I place it in a roasting pan and added about a cup of chicken broth. Cook low and slow. 

Blueberry Sauce – (From Taste of Home) They served this with pork chops, but it was great with the roast, and they also suggest using this on chicken. I don’t think you could go wrong serving this on anything!

  • 2 cups blueberries
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon fresh sage or 1/4 teaspoon dried sage leaves

Directions

  • In a small bowl, combine the garlic, pepper, salt and cayenne; sprinkle over pork.
  • In a large ovenproof skillet coated with cooking spray, brown pork chops. Bake, uncovered at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160°. Remove pork and keep warm.
  • In the same skillet, add the remaining ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened, about 8 minutes. Serve with pork. Yield: 4 servings.

Later in the day, we had a Sunday school fellowship and I signed up to bring a side dish. I made this Mexican Cornbread Salad from Southern Living.  We love this salad, and this has a Mexican flair. You could tone down any heat by just using regular cornbread (which I did). I’d also suggest you mix the salad ingredients just before serving. This is how it is usually served so that the cornbread isn’t dry. It makes a pretty salad, and tastes just as good as it looks!

Southwest Cornbread Salad
  • 1 (6-ounce) package Mexican cornbread mix
  • 1 (1-ounce) envelope buttermilk Ranch salad dressing mix
  • 1 small head romaine lettuce, shredded 
  • 2 large tomatoes, chopped 
  • rinsed and drained
  • 1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained
  • 1 (8-ounce) package shredded Mexican four-cheese blend
  • 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled 
  • 5 green onions, chopped
Preparation

Prepare cornbread according to package directions; cool and crumble. Set aside.

Prepare salad dressing according to package directions.

Layer a large bowl with half each of cornbread, lettuce, and next 6 ingredients; spoon half of dressing evenly over top. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients and dressing. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

Have you had a Cornbread Salad? If not, you need to try this! What’s been cooking in your house this week? Any blueberry recipes?

Peanut butter pie · Pork roast · Roasted mashed potatoes

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

RefreshHer11 Comments

This is the beautiful morning I woke up to yesterday. . .

This time next week that tree will probably be bare.  ~Sigh~  I can enjoy its beauty today, though!

When I look at the seasons changing, I have to believe that God likes variety.  I do too! I get tired of hum-drum, so I love variety in lots of things, but especially my menu.  I pulled out a few tried and true things for Sunday dinner yesterday, but I mixed it up with some new recipes.

Harvest Pork Roast
Green Beans
Corn
Peanut Butter Pie


This picture isn’t pretty, but you’re seeing the browned roast and the apples that have cooked and turned the same color as the meat.  The meat fell apart from the slow cooking. =)



Harvest Pork Roast

2 lbs pork tenderloin, fat trimmed (I used a Pork Roast)
3 Tbsp canola oil
3 cups apple juice
3 Granny Smith apples – I tossed the apples with about 3 Tbl brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon before adding them to the crock pot.
 1 cup fresh cranberries (I used dried – they plumped up so nicely in the juice)

1.  Season roast with salt and pepper.  Brown roast on all sides in skillet in canola oil.  Place in slow   cooker.
2.  Add remaining ingredients.
3.  Cover.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.

I will refer to these Rosemary Roasted mashed potatoes  as “smashed potatoes” because that’s really what you do with them.  They are roasted in the oven, then smashed with a masher.  So they’re not a smooth consistency like mashed potatoes would be.  The addition of the sour cream, Parmesan cheese,  green onion and garlic make these delicious.  This is a great alternative way to have “smashed” potatoes for Sunday dinner.  I had them in the oven set with the timer, so when I got home all I had to do was dump them off the baking sheet into a bowl with the other ingredients.  They were very good and very quick!


I make this pie every couple of years.  Why not more often?  I love it too much!  Cream pies are just heavenly!  This is my favorite recipe for this particular pie!  A dear friend gave it to me years ago, and I’ll share it now with you….

Peanut Butter Pie

To keep the pie shell from shrinking, I put a piece of waxed paper in the crust, and use dried beans to weigh it down.  I take them out about 10 minutes before it’s finished so the bottom of the crust can get browned.

1 baked pie shell
1/3 C peanut butter
3/4 C powdered sugar

Blend until mealy.  Sprinkle 2/3 over pie shell.  This crumbly part makes the pie!  Yum!
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C flour
1/8 t salt
2 C milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 T butter
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 C peanut butter
Combine sugar,  flour, and salt.
Mix well and stir.  Add 2 C milk gradually and cook until thick.  Stir in a few tablespoons filling into 3 beaten egg yolks and then add to hot mixture.  Add 1/2 C peanut butter.  Cook 2-3 minutes longer.  Blend in 2 Tbl butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla.  Pour in pie shell.
Top with meringue or Cool Whip.  Sprinkle rest of crumbly mixture on top.

I pray you’re having a lovely fall day.  Before you leave, why not tell me what’s been cooking in your kitchen?  Have you tried a new recipe you loved?

From my parsonage kitchen,