Christine's Pantry: ground pork

Showing posts with label ground pork. Show all posts

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Shepherd's Pie

Casserole cookery has been around since prehistoric times, when it was discovered that cooking food slowly in a tightly covered clay vessel softened fibrous meats and blended succulent juices...With the addition or subtractions of leftovers or inexpensive cuts of meat, the casserole is flexible and economical in terms of both ingredients and effort. The classic casserole, a French dish, was originally made with a mound of cooked rice. Fannie Merit Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cook Book (1896) had one casserole recipe, for Casserole of Rice and Meat, to be steamed for forty-five minutes and served with tomato sauce. In the twentieth century, casseroles took on a distinctive American identity. During the depression of the 1890s, the economic casserole provided a welcome way to stretch meat, fish, and poultry. Certain items were also scarce during World War I and leftovers were turned into casserole meals. The same was true during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New York] 2004, Volume 1 (p. 194)

1912... There is no doubt that the fashion of cooking in casseroles or earthenware dishes has come to stay in this country; and it is hardly a matter of surprise when the advantages of this form of cookery are really understood, whether it be actual casserole cookery, so called, or cookery in fireproof utensils. Cooking "en casserole" is a term which signifies dishes cooked and served in the same earthenware pot or utensil, though, as every one knows, the original French word is the generic name for a stew pan or a saucepan. The old idea of a casserole was some preparation of chopped fish, or vegetables enveloped in a crust of cooked rice, macaroni, or potato. Properly speaking, however, a casserole is a dish, the material for which in many instances is first prepared in the saute or frying pan and then transferred to the earthenware pan to finish cooking by a long, slow process which develops the true flavors of the food being cooked. The sooner the casserole utensil becomes an indispensable part of our everyday kitchen outfit the better...When casserole cookery is thoroughly understood, many combinations of food and many inexpensive viands will be put to use and very palatable results obtained.
How to Cook Casserole Dishes, Marion H. McNeil [David McKay:Philadelphia] (p. vii-viii)

By foodtimeline.org/foodfaq.html#casseroles

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork

extra virgin olive oil

1 can of sweet corn, drained

1 medium onion, finely chopped

6 medium potatoes

salt and pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

6 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup milk

Directions:

Pork: Add enough olive oil to cover bottom of skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add ground pork, break meat up while cooking. Add onions, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke and garlic powder. Mix together. Cook until pork no longer pink.

Potatoes: Peel and slice potatoes 1/4 thick. Cook in boiling water for approx 15 minutes or until fork tender. Whip potatoes with electric mixer, mix until moderately smooth. Don’t over beat them, a few lumps are fine. Add 1/4 cup milk, 6 tablespoon butter, salt and pepper to taste. Whip until mixed. Adjust seasonings and milk, if desired.

Corn: Sprinkle garlic powder, salt and pepper

Spray a 9x9x2 inch pan, or any similar casserole dish. Add meat to casserole dish. Then add corn. Then add potatoes. Place the dish under preheated broiler, until heated through. Enjoy!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Pork Meatballs With Sauce

Nobody is sure where the meatball originated and early recipes are difficult to find. It's easy to ascertain though, that meatballs as we know them, made with ground meat, were not possible until meat grinders were invented. Early meatballs would have been made from leftovers and hand-shredded. Or pounded with a heavy object and minced with primitive tools.

Food history tells us that meat was rare across the world and was enjoyed mostly by the rich. It was precious, so it can be assumed that it was never wasted, and no parts of a cut of meat or the leftovers would have been thrown away. Simply put, meatballs was a way to utilize this extraneous meat and squeeze another days' meal from it, not to mention another days' nutrition.

The type of meat prepared as meatballs was varied and influenced by geography. In China, for example, the mainstay was the pig, so their meatballs were likely made from pork. Similarly, in North Africa the Berber were shepherds of wild sheep whose fatty tales were prized. Whatever the meat, whatever the region, many recipes indicate some form of meatballs across the globe.

By www.suite101.com

Pork Meatballs With Sauce

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 (18 oz) barbecue sauce ( I used honey barbecue sauce)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking pan with foil, then spray with nonstick cooking spray. In mixing bowl, add ground pork and remaining ingredients, except barbecue sauce. Mix well ( I used my hands to mix). Shape into 1 inch meatballs, making sure all meatballs are the same size. Place on baking pan about a inch apart. Bake 23 to 25 minutes, or until no longer pink in center. In a large nonstick skillet, add barbecue sauce, then add cooked meatballs. Simmer until heated through. Stir occasionally. Enjoy!

Note: Take one meatball and cut in half, just to make sure they are done.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Egg Rolls

Egg rolls (and their lighter counterpart, spring rolls) date back to ancient China. Wonton (thin unleavened dough with fillings or as noodles) are a traditional part of the Chinese diet. It is quite likely that egg-roll type foods were made and consumed in the USA by the first Chinese settlers in the mid 1800's. It is also just as likely that most Americans never heard of them until about 50 years ago. Vietnamese spring rolls employ different tastes. Why are they called egg rolls? The dough is traditionally made with egg. Spring rolls are lighter, omitting the egg.

Egg rolls are thin coverings of upraised dough, wrapped around various meat, seafood and vegetable mixtures, and then usually deep fried. Originally, these were special snacks served with tea when relatives and friends came to visit after Chinese New Year. Since the time was early spring, they came to be known as spring rolls...the egg roll, said to have originated in Canton and more familiar to Westerners, is larger...thicker. Egg rolls are served either as hors d'oevres or with dinner at any time of the year.

Spring roll...An Asian-American appetizer made of crisp dough wrapped around a filling of various ingredients such as vegetables, meat, shrimp, and seasonings. Sometimes synonymous with "egg roll," it is considered somewhat more "authentic" and delicious than the latter. The name, which dates in English print to 1943, comes from the Chinese tradition of serving them on the first day of the Chinese New Year, which is also the first day of the lunar year's spring.
Info by foodtimeline

Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

vegetable oil

1 (16 oz) bag slaw mix

1 (16 oz) package egg roll wrappers

soy sauce, for dipping

Directions:

Place just enough oil to cover bottom of skillet, over medium heat. Add ground pork, ginger, garlic powder, salt and pepper, cook until pork no longer pink. Cool slightly. Open and place slaw mix in a bowl, add pork, and gently toss. Place 1 egg roll wrapper on flat surface with one corner pointing toward you, lightly brush corners with water. Spoon about 1/3 cup of pork mixture in center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold bottom of corner of wrapper over filling.Then fold right and left corners over filling. Tightly roll filled end toward remaining corner, press gently to seal. In a deep fryer, add enough oil to a depth of 2 inches. Heat oil to 350 degrees. Fry egg rolls (cook in batches) about 2 to3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Serve with soy sauce. Enjoy!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Vegetable Pork Soup

It's been so cold here lately. I just want to stay home and have a bowl of soup.

Ingredients:

1 pound of ground pork

1 medium onion, chopped

1 box of frozen corn

1 box of frozen green beans

1 large potato, chopped

1 cup uncooked macaroni

1 14.5 oz can ro-tel*

1 14.5 oz can dices tomatoes

4 or 5 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce (add to pork while browning)

1 teaspoon liquid smoke (add to pork while browning)

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic

olive oil (just enough to cover bottom of stock pan)

Directions:

Add olive oil to stock pan (just enough to cover bottom of pan), add ground pork, add salt and pepper, worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke. Once the ground pork has browned, add remaining ingredients. Stir until blended. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.Taste and adjust the seasoning if desired. Enjoy!

Ro-Tel * is a registered trademark of Conagra Food Inc