A favorite couple of recipes

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A favorite couple of recipes

Postby Venii on Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:29 pm

Valetudo quod Fortuna!

I rarely use a printed recipe, save as a guide to the proper ingredients. Most of my cooking is done "ala cabinet." I have a main ingredient (be it meat, fish, poultry, vegetable, fruit, dairy, bean, grain/grain product or what have you) and then see what I have in the cupboards to "dress it up." I do keep a log of these experiments, so I might replicate the good ones later on.

One of my favorites for cooking on the grill is very simple:

8 palm sized Portobella mushroom caps, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs - finely ground, 1 medium onion - grated, 8 cloves garlic - crushed, 1 tsp black pepper - coarse grind, 1/2 tsp smoked salt - coarse ground, 1 TBS Balsamic vinegar, olive oil sufficient to the task

Mix the breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, pepper, salt, vinegar and 1 TBS oil. Brush the outside of the mushrooms with oil. Divide the mixture into 4 portions and spread over 4 of the caps. Place the other mushrooms over the top of these. Let these sit in the refrigerator until the grill is ready. Brush the grill with some olive oil, and once that flareup dies down, cook the mushroooms over a medium flame (low charcoal bed)about 4 - 5 minutes each side.

Serve with: crisp salad (dark greens, with shredded celery & carrots and sliced radishes) dressed with fresh-squeezed lemon and sesame oil -- thinly sliced salami -- feta cheese -- black olives -- pita bread with some olive oil for dipping -- Drink what you like ,-)

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The following is a favorite of my wife's, most recently cooked as the centerpiece of the dinner I cooked for a Fall Turning observance. I used a "crockpot, set on "High." The pork took about 4 1/2 hours to properly cook.

Slow cooked Pork Loin, stuffed with Peaches, Raisins, with Mead and Spice Gravy.

Ingredients: a 5 - 6 pound pork loin roast (cut into the side of the roast to form a pocket) - 2 medium size, ripe peaches (peeled, sliced into 1/8ths and destoned) - 1/2 cup dark raisins - 1 1/2 cup water - 1 cup sweet mead (or sweet white wine) - 1/2 cup amber honey - 1 sachet of "mulling spice" - 100% cotton string - 3 Tbs corn starch

Process: Place the peaches, raisins and water in a sauce pan and bring to a slow boil. Add in the spice sachet, turn down heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add in the honey, while stirring and simmer a further 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and add in the mead (sweet wine). Let sit 10 minutes. Strain the fruit, saving the syrup and discarding the spice sachet. Stuff the peaches and raisins into the loin; wrap it with cotton cord so the pocket closes up. Place the roast into the crockpot on the high setting. Pour the spiced syrup over the meat. Leave the roast alone for 4 1/2 hours. Check the temp with a meat thermometer. If the internal temperature is not 170F, another 1/2 hour should suffice. Turn off the crockpot, use a baster to retrieve all the juices and let the meat rest while you turn the "pan drippings" into gravy.

For thickening the roast juices into gravy; I use 3 tablespoons corn starch dissolved into 1/4 cup of cold water. The juice is boiled for 5 - 6 minutes with the thickening agent.

I served the pork (in thin slices) and gravy with mashed potatoes, sweet corn in butter sauce, spinach with olive oil and garlic and
fresh baked bread.

My wife, friends and I accompanied the meal with a pleasant apple mead and thanks to the Holy for what is good in our lives, and for Luck in keeping healthy and safe during the upcoming winter months.

=========================================
In amicitia quod fides -
Lucius Horatius Venator Piperbarbus
Religio Septentrionalis - Poet

http://anheathenreader.blogspot.com/
http://www.catamount-grange-hearth.org/

May the Holy Powers smile on our efforts.
May the Spirits of our family lines nod in approval.
May we be of Worth to our fellows.
In amicitia - Venii

Fewer laws and more justice; these are the keys to a stronger Res Publica.
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