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!
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!
- 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
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.
Herb & Cheese-Stuffed Hamburgers w/Garlic Fries
We grilled out recently and made hamburgers, but not just any hamburger. These were Herb & Cheese Stuffed Burgers. The pictures posted today came from my plate. It tasted as lip-smacking as it looks! I saved this recipe to share with you today so you could have a super Labor Day menu to cook on your grill. (Can you believe that’s right around the corner?!) I found this recipe clipped in my file from a Taste of Home Magazine. One of my family members declared this hamburger to be “the best she’d ever eaten!” I think I may have to agree. It didn’t need ketchup, mustard or mayo. The tomato and lettuce were a lovely addition to all the great flavors in this delicious burger. Here’s the recipe:
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What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?
Grits. . . does not only stand for Girls raised in the south, but I think it also is an acronym for Great, really intensely terrific side dish! In the last several years, I have come to really love them! I’ve posted about cheese grits, but friends, I’ve found a recipe that just may top the cheesy version! I found a recipe on Pioneer Woman (super site…check it out!), then I did a little tweaking of the recipe to make it less fattening. We didn’t miss any of the other ingredients. My husband’s words were, “You knocked it out of the park with that, one, Baby!” I love it when he says that – it means he really likes it! If you’re tired of potatoes as a side dish, then try this!
As the main dish, I also tried Pioneer woman’s Pork Chops with Apples. Mmmmmm. So yummy!
My “tweaked” recipe for the grits was this, instead of using bacon fat, I did the bacon in the microwave and sauteed the onions in reduced-fat butter. I used 2% milk instead of heavy cream and I found that the grits were so good it didn’t need the cheese! Pioneer woman would die if she saw my version of her heavenly dish, but the reality is I don’t live on a ranch where I rope cattle and burn off all those calories! Something has to give, folks! =) I’m telling you, they were great even with these changes!
You can’t get a better salad than this…
Fresh tomato slices, on a lettuce leaf, and a spoon of cottage cheese on top. It’s pretty and delicious!
RefreshHer 