Pork Roast - Home-made Luau.. well... sort of.

So all the health obsessed books I've been reading lately have been telling me that out of all the "red" meats out there, pork is the lesser evil. I've avoided pork for a long time due to the fact that we were required to dissect a baby pig in high school biology. It scarred me for well over 6 years. But the health kick part of me said: why the heck not. Oh the smell that immediately permeated my home! I knew this was going to be a winner immediately. It reminded me of a luau except juicier. Despite the fact that I'm valiantly fighting off a cold, from all the playing in the snow that I did, (hey - last major snowfall in Texas was 1994 - who could blame me?) I was able to swallow my entire serving - it hurt so good.

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin for roasting 

3 tbsp salt

3 tbsp black pepper

1/4 cup of dijon mustard

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

6 sprigs of thyme

3 stalks of celery 

1 onion

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a roasting pan and line the bottom of the pan with the celery and onion (sliced). Place the sprigs of thyme on top of this lining in the center of the roasting pan.

Salt and pepper your pork tenderloin on all sides. Set it on top of the thyme in the roasting pan. Mix together the mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, and chopped rosemary. Coat the tenderloin with the mixture. Place in the oven for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, loosely cover the tenderloin with foil and roast in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Be sure to check the temperature of the meat with a meat thermometer to ensure that the inside is cooked to your desired temperature.

Take the tenderloin out and let sit for about 10 minutes then carve.

I served the tenderloin meat to my family with cheesy mashed potatoes toped with chopped chives. I made a separate bowl of mashed potatoes minus the cheese for myself :-)

For Diabetics:

Be sure to include the honey and mustard when you are counting your carbs. You can do as I did and separate your mashed potatoes from what you will serve to others. Or alternatively eat the meat with a fresh salad.

From the Calorie King:

2 tbsp of honey - 34 g carb

Kitchen File: Panko Crusted Pork Chops

Crazy for Panko! Panko is a Japanese bread crumb commonly used in tempura. It's just about the most awesome form of bread crumbs that I've come by in all of my years in the kitchen and it's cheap! You can usually find Panko in the Asian section of your grocery store or at a typical Asian super market, for anywhere between $0.85-$2.00 a bag. It just so happened that I was raking my brain over what to make for dinner tonight when I came across a bag of Panko in my pantry left over from a Mac & Cheese dish I recently made (post to come later).

What resulted from my sudden flash of genius is a Panko Crusted Pork Chop. While a familiar family dish, the Panko adds that umph that makes you think, "gee, this tastes differently good!"

Ingredients:

Pork Chops - however many you want

1 cup of flour

2 eggs

1.5 cups of Panko

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Set aside three bowls.

Pour the flour in one bowl.

Mix two eggs together in the second bowl. Salt and Pepper the egg mixture.

Pour the Panko in a third bowl.

Take each pork chop and dip it in the flour, then the eggs, and then coat with the Panko.

Brown the pork chops on both sides with a skillet on the stove.

Put the browned pork chops into a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until done.

Serve with any type of sauce that fits your taste - Bon Appetite and fall in love with PANKO!