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Recently I was at a local food store when I spotted in their meat case a small pork shoulder perfect size for pulled pork for two people. While I have a vinegar based slow cooker recipe that I’ve been making for years, I found a recipe on the New York Times Cooking app for Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork by Margaux Laskey. She says she’s viewed pulled pork recipes online that call for a dark cola such as Dr. Pepper or root beer. This is the first that I’ve heard of this, but apparently it’s added because as it cooks infuses the pork with sweetness through caramelization. So, would you prefer a pulled pork with sweetness or tartness?
 
Here’s what I discovered on the website “Eat This, Not That” in their article “The 6 Types of Southern Barbecue in the US-and What Exactly Makes Them Different.” There’s the Eastern North Carolina style which is basting the meat in a vinegar-based sauce. Western North Carolina likes a barbecue sauce that has tomato or ketchup mixed in. South Carolina is the same as Eastern North Carolina but adds black pepper, salt and cayenne to their vinegar mixture. East Texas prefers barbecue marinated in a sweet tomato-based sauce, with South Texas using molasses in theirs. Alabama, uses a white mayonnaise sauce with a bit of tang. ​
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I’m just getting under the wire for Valentine’s Day recipes. Luckily, the ones I’ve made that I recently made take very little time and a bit of shopping.
 
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and what better way to start off the morning than with an easy to prepare Dutch Baby pancake.  You could make the batter the night before and remix Wednesday morning while you’re preheating the oven.  For this recipe you’ll need eggs, flour, milk, granulated sugar, nutmeg, unsalted butter and to bring it over the top, Woodford Reserve Bourbon cherries. I ordered mine from Walmart, but discovered that Total Wine in Eatontown, NJ as well as Amazon carries it. Contact or visit your favorite liquor store to see if they carry them.
 
The batter goes into a preheated oven proof pan (I used a cast iron fry pan) for 15-20 minutes. Before serving I dusted the pancake with powdered sugar and several cherries with bourbon syrup, delicious!
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This past weekend we finally celebrated both my and my son’s January birthday. My son requested dark chocolate chips with sea salt. After a bit of internet searching, I found a recipe on “Smitten Kitchen” website for Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies. For the recipe you’ll need unsalted butter, granulated sugar, turbinado (Sugar in the Raw), light or dark brown sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, fine sea salt or table salt, all-purpose flour, semi- or bittersweet chocolate and flaky sea salt to finish.
 
All the ingredients are mixed in a large bowl beginning by creaming the butter and sugars. Next in are the wet ingredients, egg and vanilla. Salt and baking soda follow with the flour last. I used Ghirardelli’s Premium Baking Bar Bittersweet Chocolate 60% Cacao that I chopped into small chunks and mixed in by hand. I used a scooped that was roughly 1-1/2 tablespoons to form the cookies. I flattened them slightly so that the Fleur del Sel salt would not slide off and baked them for approximately 11 to 12 minutes. ​
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Recently I’ve prepared some familiar recipes, but different versions. My last soup for the month of January was a Lentil Soup with Pasta, Bacon and Garlic by Marcella Hazan. Ms. Hazan was born in a fishing village on the Adriatic in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Her recipe is made with extra-virgin olive oil, chopped bacon, onion, garlic, celery, parsley, fresh ripe tomato, lentils, salt, pepper, short tubular pasta and Romano cheese.
 
Unlike the lentil soup with fennel and sun-dried tomatoes recipe which is on my website, this version uses a minimal amount of ingredients, but is very flavorful.  You’ll notice that the recipe calls for bacon, not pancetta or guanciale. The bacon is cooked in olive oil along with the onion, garlic, celery and parsley until a rich brown color. Then the tomato is added and cooked for a few minutes before adding the lentils and enough water covering the lentils by 1-inch. The soup simmers for 25 to 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Lastly, pasta is added along with salt and freshly ground pepper and cooked until the pasta is al dente. The soup should be on the thick side rather than thin. To finish the soup, adjust the seasonings and add grated cheese and some olive oil.
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​Pork is like chicken, a blank slate waiting for you to turn it into a delicious meal. In “Southern Living Magazine,” I found  a recipe for Pork Tenderloin with Apples. While I have an assortment of pork and apple recipes, this one seemed interesting with a fennel and apple combination. For the recipe you’ll need kosher salt , freshly ground black pepper, ground fennel, one pound pork tenderloin, butter, 2 Honeycrisp apples, a shallot, apple cider, orange zest and fresh thyme.
 
Place a 12-inch cast iron frying pan in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Next, combine the pepper and ground fennel in a bowl. Dust all sides of the pork with the mixture and let it rest while the oven heats up. Slice the apples and shallots. 
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Delving further into the “Soup Suppers” cook book, I came across a recipe for Tuscan Bean Soup. For the recipe you’ll need dried cannellini beans, extra-virgin olive oil, an onion (about 1 cup), a medium carrot (about 1/2 cup), medium potato (about 1 cup), chicken or beef broth, 2-3 fresh sage leaves or dried sage or marjoram, 3 large cloves garlic, 6 cups water, coarse sea salt, freshly ground pepper, frozen chopped spinach or kale, or freshly shredded kale or Savoy cabbage. Garnishes are thin croutons and extra-virgin olive oil. Once again, I used a quick soak method for preparing my beans. ​
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​I recently went through my ”Southern Living Magazines” from the fall and clipped several pages of recipes. One that caught my eye from the December issue was an article entitled, “Suppertime - Crowd Pleasers.” The assorted recipes were geared to serving a small crowd. Beef Stew Pot Pie looked delicious from its picture. It’s served up in individual casserole dishes. However, as I’m just feeding two people, I cut the recipe in half and tried it in a cast iron skillet (The recipe gives directions for this option.)
 
For the recipe you’ll need a package (17.3 ounces) frozen puff pastry sheets, 2 pounds top sirloin steak that’s 1-1/2-inch-thick cut into 1/2-inch pieces, black pepper, kosher salt, unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, tomato paste, fresh garlic cloves, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, fresh thyme leaves, 2 (10 ounce) frozen mixed vegetables (green beans, peas, corn and carrots), 2 cups frozen cubed hash brown potatoes and 1 large beaten egg.
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I hope everyone had a nice holiday and with a new year,  I needed something to get me going.
 
I have a nephew, who when younger (he’s turning 31 next week), his fraternal grandmother made beef barley soup for his birthday celebration. It was the highlight of the party as it was thick and heartwarming. His grandmother hasn’t been well the past few years and I wanted to see if there was a record of her recipe. I reached out to her daughter who was able to locate it. Her recipe contained a handful of ingredients and minimal seasoning, but I was able to duplicate it and add my own touches. His grandmother prepared the soup in a crock pot, which I had, however, the next time I’ll prepare it on the stovetop. For the recipe you’ll need beef chuck meat, 1 package of oxtails, soup bones, flour, canola oil, butter, 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes, pearl barley, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, soup vegetables.
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Christmas cookie baking is over and what I did make has mostly been given away. I have a few biscotti left as I made several varieties such as anise seed, Biscotti di Prato, Cappuccino Biscotti, and Biscotti Napoletani. I was intrigued by a recipe in The New York Times for Peanut Butter-Miso Cookies by Krysten Chambrot. It just so happened that the white miso I had left, was just the amount needed for these cookies. For the recipe you’ll also need all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, unsalted butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, chunky peanut butter, an egg, vanilla extract and Demerara sugar.
 
After reading the comments of other cooks where some reduced the amount of sugar, I decided for the first go round to follow the recipe accordingly. I heeded the advice of the recipe’s creator to chill the dough before rolling. Also, I used creamy peanut butter as that’s what I had. ​
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Both my daughter and a friend of mine love struffoli. Instead of making the recipe that I've made for years, I tried Lidia Bastianich's recipe that included both orange and lemon zest. For the honey syrup, she adds sugar and water to the honey, heats until it foams and turns a shade darker. This honey syrup clings better to the struffoli and doesn't sink to the bottom of the dish.

I really like the addition of the zest; it adds a lovely nuance to the taste. I now prefer this recipe over my other one. However, we'll have to see what my daughter and friend think. Enjoy!


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

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