January 18, 2020

Hello!!!  Another week in the books of 2020.  We are over halfway through the month already.  Wow! Just about 5% through the year; that's a crazy way to think about it.  No need to rush, though, this year should be a good one. 

Two keeper's this week - Cajun Pork Roast and Breakfast Casserole.  Alongside the new pork roast we made mashed potatoes.  Here's a tip: when you add the butter and dairy (milk, half and half, etc), melt the butter first and fold that in before you add the diary. If you add the milk first it will combine with the starch from the potatoes and become "gluey". If you add the butter first it will coat the potatoes and you will end up with a much smoother bowl of mashed potatoes!  My suggestion is that you keep using the recipe for mashed potatoes you know and love, just add the butter first when you incorporate the additional ingredients!  

We did have a flop this week - a new recipe for homemade rolls.  I suppose it is a bit of an exaggeration to call it a flop as the rolls were quite delicious!  The problem is that it was a double rise recipe, and it took over 2 hours each time to get the dough to rise and double!  In the end the recipe took much too long and wasn't worth the effort and it did not earn keeper status.  But we enjoyed 30 rolls for lunches and with dinner during the week!

We did have another flop; we never made it the horse therapy with Finn yesterday!  Such a bummer.  We were expecting snow around the evening rush hour, but right around 4pm the snow arrived and really got going!  We built in a little extra time to get to the therapy but it wasn't enough.  The traffic was crawling, and add to that an accident on the route we take and we just never made it to the barn.  Luckily Finn took it in stride; phew!  Next week, if there is snow again on Friday, we will leave with even more time and be sure to arrive so he can ride.  

It's looking like a busy week ahead so I am not sure if I am going to have time to experiment in the kitchen.  But hopefully I'll be able to carve out a little time - keep your fingers crossed that I do and we find a keeper!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipes
Cajun Pork Roast
Breakfast Casserole

Cajun Pork Roast

Ready to cook!  Look at that rub!

Ready to serve!  Yum!

Ingredients
* 2 lb boneless pork loin roast
* 2 tsp olive oil
* 2 tbsp paprika
* 2 tbsp dried oregano
* 2 tbsp dried thyme
* 1 tbsp garlic powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
* 1/2 tsp ground cumin
* 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
* 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions
1. Rub pork with oil.
2. Combine all remaining ingredients to create the rub.  Massage the rub into the roast.  Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
3. Place the roast in a pan and bake, uncovered, at 325 F for 90 minutes.
4. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
5. Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Notes
YUM!!!!  The house smelled great while this was cooking, and we loved it.  4 of us tried it, and 4 of us voted yes for keeper status!  I found this recipe in my recipe box; I have no idea how many years it has been waiting in there.  I am thrilled we tried it, and now that it's been added here and archived, I was able to recycle the original recipe!

I baked the roast in a greased pyrex pan, but you can put it in any kind of roasting dish you have on hand.  When I first read the recipe I was going to leave out the nutmeg, but then thought better of it.  The person who developed the recipe add it, and since I have nutmeg in the pantry I decided to add it.  And I marinated my roast in a zip top bag in the fridge; that was the easiest way for me.  We will definitely make this again!

Owen took the leftovers to school for lunch for two days and said it was still delicious!

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients
* 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, divided
* 1 1/2 cups of vegetables, sautéed
* 2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
* 1 cup milk
* 8 eggs
* 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 tsp onion powder
* 1/8 tsp of salt
* 2 lbs frozen tater tots

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Grease bottom of a 9 x 13 glass baking dish

3. Layer the vegetables 2 cups of the cheese, and 4 pieces of the cooked and crumbled bacon in the dish.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, pepper, onion powder and salt.  Pour this mixture into the baking dish.  (At this point you can cover this and place it in the fridge overnight and finish preparation in the morning if you'd like.)

5. On top of the egg mixture layer the tater tots in rows and columns.  Place the casserole, uncovered in the oven and cook for 35 minutes.

6. After 35 minutes, top the casserole with the additional cheese and reserved bacon.  Place back in the oven and bake for an additional 7-10 minutes, or until the sides are bubbling and the top is golden brown.

7. Remove and let the casserole rest for about 10 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

Notes

My brother-in-law introduced our family to this basic casserole on Christmas morning a few years ago.  I made it for this first time this year at the holidays.  His version includes pancetta and less bacon, but it is very similar.  The recipe that he based his casserole on called for breakfast sausage, but he leaves that out entirely; I have never even thought about adding that.  In my family everyone loves bacon, but not everyone loves sausage.  When we upped the bacon and added the sautéed veggies, it was a hit!  We always use peppers and onions for our veggies. Green onions/scallions might be a great addition!  Maybe broccoli, too?  Add whatever you and your family will enjoy! As for the potatoes, you can use traditional tater tots or tater rounds - whatever you can get your hands on or have in the freezer.  As for the milk - we typically have skim on hand so I use that but you can use whatever milk you have in the fridge.

Absolutely let the casserole rest before you cut into it to serve. When it comes out everyone is ready to devour it, but don't let them just yet.  In those few minutes it will finish setting and then be cooled off a little so no one burns the roof of their mouth.  It's worth the wait!