The Food Brie Cooked and Baked

Can I just tell you how much I love my slow cooker? And butternut squash? (Yes, I suppose I can tell you. It’s my blog.)

I seriously love that I can put some food in my little kitchen appliance in the morning, and when I come home from work, it’s done! Love that.

And squash? Fall is just not fall without squash. This squash was picked fresh from BP’s garden.

These ribs were super easy. Put country-style ribs in the slow cooker with a bottle of BBQ sauce and turn it on low for the day. When you get home from work, eat.

For the squash, I cut a triangular hole in the large end (so it doesn’t explode) and bake at 400 for approximately one hour.

BP and I topped it off with some (store-bought) hot apple cider. Mmmmmmmm.

BBQ ribs and butternut squash

Recipe source: Allrecipes.com

Mmmmmmm …. feta. BP and I love feta.

And this is the most perfect way to eat pork chops.

Garlic, tomatoes, basil, a little balsamic vinegar – add the feta – and there you have it. Pork chop perfection.

I served the chops with some roasted red potatoes on the side.

pork chops with fresh tomato, onion, garlic and feta

Recipe source: originally from a print issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray, but now it’s online

This is our go-to taco recipe in the summer. As soon as the cilantro from our garden was ready, it went into this dish. And next week, we’re doing it again! And you know if I’m making a recipe twice in two weeks, it has to be good.

Little Brother loves this recipe, so we always invite him over when we make it. And next week, I’m also inviting my cousin and her daughters over because she asked about it last time I saw her. I’d made it for her about a year ago, and it’s that delicious that people remember it!

So go, cut some cilantro from your garden and eat.

a close-up of the corn-cilantro salsa

the whole mess - tortilla, cheese, pork, corn salsa

Recipe source: Real Simple

This soup was simple and easy to put together (even though I did drop the chunk of pork on the floor and had to wash it off – ha!), but it was just okay on taste. It could have used some more flavor. I probably will not make this again.

beer-braised pork and black bean soup

Recipe source: Simple & Delicious, January/February 2010

This was as bland as it sounds (and looks). I’m not really even sure why I decided to try this recipe. It was a lapse in judgment. It won’t happen again.

And don’t let “mushroom sauce” fool you into thinking it was something gourmet. The sauce was a can of cream of mushroom soup with a few other ingredients added to it.

pork chops & potatoes in mushroom sauce

Recipe source: The Noshery

For this soup, I used the leftover pork from yesterday’s supper, as suggested by the author of the recipe.

It was a great suggestion. The soup was delicious. Even BP’s three nephews liked it and requested seconds.  I’ll be making this again, for sure.

posole: pork and hominy soup

Recipe source: The Noshery

These tacos were way better than the regular ol’ beef variety.

I heart my slow cooker. The meat cooked all day while I was at work, and when I got home, all I needed to do was fry it up to make it a little crispy. Delicious.

carnitas

Recipe source: Simple & Delicious, January/February 2010

Eh. I’ll eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, but they’re not going on the “make again” list.

The best thing about these wraps was that I used, for the first time, my newly acquired cast iron skillet for cooking the pork. Those chops slid right in and out of that pan like it had been coated with butter (it hadn’t been).

sweet onion slaw pork wraps

Recipes source: Simple & Delicious, January/February 2010

This one is definitely a keeper. I used the leftover pork from the slow-cooked pork verde I made earlier in the week. I don’t own a panini press, so I used a nonstick skillet and flipped the sandwiches a couple of times while heating.

BP raved about this one. The mayonnaise-based spread for the paninis was really good and could be used on any number of sandwiches. He also used it to dip the spiced fries into.

pork panini & spiced fries

Recipe source: Simple & Delicious, January/February 2010

This was a really good meal. It took me less than 15 minutes to put in the slow cooker before I left for work this morning, and maybe another 15 minutes to finish up the sauce before supper.

The sauce consisted of carrots, black beans, green enchilada sauce and cilantro all cooked in the slow cooker; the pork roast created the cooking juices for the sauce.

BP and I like Jasmine white rice, so that’s what we ate with the pork. The sauce was equally good spooned over the rice and the pork.

slow-cooked pork verde with white rice