Category: Pork

Easy Pork Curry

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Easy Pork Curry

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Did the word easy get your attention? It got mine when I first saw this recipe. Dinner for 6 in 75 minutes, I just had to try it. Turned out pretty good. So here it is.

Ingredients

  • Boneless pork shoulder roast (2 lbs) cut into 1inch cubes
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil (divided)
  • 1 small white onion chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp of ginger minced
  • 2 tbsp of curry powder
  • 2 cups of diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 can of coconut milk (light)
  • 1 cup of chicken stock
  • 4 cups of cooked basmati rice
  • Fresh cilantro
  • 1 lime cut into wedges

Directions

  1. In a large stock pot, over high heat, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and onion. Cook 3-5 minutes until onions are transparent.
  2. Lower heat to medium, add garlic and ginger. Stir constantly for 1 minute.
  3. Add curry powder and stir for 15 seconds.
  4. Add diced tomatoes, coconut milk and chicken stock and stir until well blended.
  5. In a large skillet, over high heat, add 1 tbsp of oil and cubed pork, working in batches if necessary. Sear pork on all sides, approximately, 1-3 minutes.
  6. Add pork to curry mixture and reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes .
  7. Serve with basmati rice and topped with cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 365
  • Fat 16 g
  • Sugar 7.4 g
  • Carbohydrates 20 g
  • Protein 37.2 g
  • Fibre 4.8 g

This was an easy recipe to make. If you are watching your carbs or need to be careful on what carbs you eat that might spike your blood glucose, you might want to switch the basmati rice for brown converted rice, or even a tortilla. The nutritional facts are with basmati rice. You can also make this with the other white meat, chicken.

Have fun and remember to make it your own.

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

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Honey Garlic Pork Chops

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Pork, the other white meat. It is easy to get in a rut with certain meats. Pork chops are one of them. I don’t know why but I usually end up doing the same way over and over again. This time I thought I needed to do something different. I was looking around the kitchen and started seeing this come together. It was quick, easy and ended up working out quite well.

Ingredients

  • 4 pork chops approx. 4 ounces (thickness will make your cook time vary)
  • salt and pepper to season
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 6 minced garlic cloves
  • 1/4 c of honey
  • 1/4 c of water or chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar (if you don’t have any you can use white vinegar)

Directions

  1. Season pork chops with salt and pepper and garlic powder.
  2. Heat oil in an oven proof pan or skillet (I use a cast iron pan) on medium high heat. Sear chops on both sides until golden and cooked through (about 4-5 minutes per side) Transfer to plate and set aside.
  3. Reduce heat to medium. Melt butter and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Saute garlic until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
  4. Preheat oven to broil with rack on top shelf.
  5. Add honey and water and vinegar. Increase heat to medium high and continue to cook until the sauce reduces down and thickens slightly (about 5 minutes) while stirring occasionally.
  6. Add chops back into the pan and baste generously with the sauce.
  7. Place pan in oven for 2-3 minutes or until edges are slightly charred and serve.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 332
  • Fat 12 g
  • Sugar 14 g
  • Carbohydrates 15 g
  • Protein 29 g
  • Fibre 0 g

The honey and garlic give this a nice change of pace. If you want a little kick to it, you can add cayenne pepper to taste. Add a little something green like parsley or cilantro or even curled cucumber. Just makes it pretty. Serve it with rice, vegetables, pasta, delicious  homemade multigrain bread (see recipe) and/or a salad. Be creative. Have fun and remember to make it your own.

Money Saving Tip – Economical Pork Chops

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Boneless pork chops are great. We love them. Versatile. The other white meat. Low Fat. You can bake them, grill them, pan fry them, the possibilities are endless.

The price of a boneless pork chop is not always affordable. This week, the boneless pork loin was on a sale for $4.14 a kilo or approximately $1.89 a pound. The chops were on sale for almost twice the price. The only difference was that the same roast was cut for you.

All you need is a sharp knife, about 5 minutes of time and be ready to package them.

I have a food saver machine as I’ve lost some food in the past to freezer burn or was surprised to what is in the package. (I did a post recently on shredded coconut pork)

As you see in the picture, my roasts costs 6.88 and 7.07. Totalling 13.95.  We serve 3 to 4 ounce pork chops in our house. This is usually sufficient for most people. I was able to make 24 chops out of the two roasts. This turned out to be $0.58 per chop. Where can you get 4 ounces of any meat for $0.58? I packaged mine 4 per package. I calculated that with the “sale” price on the chops, I saved approximately $7.00. On regular price I saved about $14.00. If serving a large group, or a large family or you just want to save a little money, this is the way to go. You can cut them to the thickness you need, larger if your diet demands more protein due to a very physical job or training. 

Saving money doesn’t have to be hard or complicated. You don’t need insane knife skills for this little hack. Hope you found this little tip helpful.

Coconut Shredded Pork

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Coconut Shredded Pork

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Oops, that is not a package of pork chops. Every four months or so, we thaw out our freezer. We rotate the meat and such and make sure to use the older stuff. In the last few months, I’ve been using a vacuum seal method which helps prevents ice formation in the packages. Well this week, when we did our freezer, I came across an older package that looked like pork chops. Upon thawing, I realized, oops, that’s not pork chops but a chunk of pork. Now what do I do with it? This is what I came up with. Coconut Shredded Pork.

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 lbs of pork chunk or shoulder
  • 1 cup of light coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 4 tbsp of blacked cajun sauce (I use Cool Runnings)
  • 2 tbsp of flour

Directions

  1. Cut pork into small pieces.
  2. Place in airtight container with the coconut milk and cajun sauce.
  3. Put in fridge for a minimum of 3 hours.
  4. Place everything in a dutch oven or thick pan. Add shredded coconut and flour and mix well.
  5. Cover with foil.
  6. Place in preheated oven at 275 for 4 hours.
  7. When you remove from heat, shred pork with two forks.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 280
  • Fat 12.55 g
  • Sugar 3 g
  • Carbohydrates 7.5 g
  • Protein 32.6 g
  • Fibre 1.6 g

You can serve this over pasta, rice, couscous. That is all up to you. The veggies are up to you. I did mine over jasmine rice and canned peas. The choices are limitless. Have fun and make it your own.

Honey Mustard Pork Chops

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Honey Mustard Pork Chops

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Pork chops are very versatile. Even this recipe, I’ve cooked in the oven and cooked on the barbecue. This takes a little extra time for the marinade. My suggestion, put the chops in the marinade before you leave for work and they will be ready to cook when you come home. Your side dishes might take you more time than the chops.

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless 4 ounce pork loin chops
  • 4 teaspoons of honey
  • 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon of white vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tsp of black pepper
  • 1 pinch of cayenne (or to taste)

Directions

  1. Heat honey in micro for 30 seconds. Stir in mustard, vinegar, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature.
  2. Place the pork chops in a large plastic ziplock bag. Add the marinade and seal the bag, squeezing out the air, turn to coat the chops. Refrigerate for 8 hours or more.
  3. Removing the chops from the fridge 30 minutes before grilling.
  4. Preheat broiler. Discard the marinade. Place the chops on the broiler rack and broil 3-4 inches from the heat until cooked through, 6-7 minutes per side.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 178
  • Sugar 2 g
  • Carbohydrates 2 g
  • Protein 26 g
  • Fiber 0 g
  • Fat 7 g

I sometimes cook these on the barbecue. Clean up is easier and that little char flavour adds a little something. I prepare my sides while I let the chops climatize to room temperature. As you see in the picture, I made biscuits and zucchini. Cayenne of course, is to your taste, it is completely optional. Have fun everyone and make it your own.

Baby Back Ribs

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Baby Back Ribs

  • Servings: 4 half racks (about 6 ribs each)
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Sometimes you just need a little time to do something nice. I always steer away from making this because of the time in the oven. We all lead pretty rushed lives but sometimes we need to just step back and take the time to make something easy but good.

Ingredients

  • 2-2.5 lbs of baby back ribs (1 Kg)
  • 4 tbsp of rub (see below for rub recipe)
  • 4 tbsp of bull’s eye bbq sauce (your favourite sauce is acceptable.

Rub ingredients

  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp cayenne (I might have added a little more)
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp cumin

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees
  2. If there is a thin membrane on the back of the ribs, remove. This will help the meat fall off the bones easier.
  3. Spread the rub over all the ribs on both sides.
  4. Place meat side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (for easy cleanup)
  5. Wrap in foil.
  6. Place in oven for 3.5 to 4 hours.
  7. Uncover and baste with BBQ sauce and put on top rack under broil for 5 minuets or so, until it caramelizes

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 463
  • Sugar 17.5 g
  • Carbohydrates 21 g
  • Protein 26.6 g
  • Fiber 0 g
  • Fat 30 g

These are very tender due to slow cooking and being covered in foil to prevent them from getting dry. Everything else is up to you. How you like your rub, spicy or not. Different spices. You could even use a simple cajun prepared spice or even a steak spice you like. Same goes for your BBQ sauce. Most sauces are relatively the same for calories and such. So besides the cooking, everything is else is up to you. Have fun and make it your own.

Skillet Pork Curry with Apples

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Skillet Pork Curry with Apples

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Pork is a very versatile and economic meat. Pork tenderloin is often readily available. If you don’t like pork, you can easily sub this with chicken or turkey breast.

IMG_1504

Ingredients

  • 1 to 1-1/2 pork tenderloin
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp of ground coriander
  • 1 tsp of ground cumin
  • 1 tsp of turmeric
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 large onion sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tbsp minced ginger root
  • 2 red skinned apples cored and cubed
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp of flour
  • 1 cup of low fat plain yogourt
  • 1 tbsp liquid honey
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
  • 1/4 cup of raisins
  • 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts

Directions

  1. Slice meat into small coin sized pieces by cutting twice length wide the tenderloin and then again into coins
  2. Heat a little of the oil in a non stick skillet and brown the pork on high heat
  3. Reduce heat to medium low, add remaining oil, coriander, cumin, turmeric, red pepper flakes stirring for about 1 minute. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often.
  4. Add apples, stirring frequently, approximately 5 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and stir in pork. Cover and simmer for about 3 minutes.
  5. Sprinkle flour over yogourt, add honey and mix well. Stir into pork mixture

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 320
  • Sugar 19.9 g
  • Carbohydrates 27 g
  • Protein 29.7 g
  • Fiber 3.8 g
  • Fat 11.4 g

This recipe is not overpowering in spice or very spicy. It’s is fine for most pallets. You can adjust as you need. The original recipe called for Chinese noodles, unfortunately those are extremely high in carbs. My suggestion would be over rice. A half cup of cooked rice is a good portion for a calorie reduced plan. Anything you chose, the key is portion size. Your choices are endless so have fun and make it your own.

Pork Tenderloin

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Pork Tenderloin

One of the cheapest cuts of pork is the tenderloin. Easy to overcook, can be dry, but when cooked well, it can be so tasty, low calories, good source of protein. I was getting a little tired of my same 20 or so ways of preparing, so I turned to Auntie Sebreena for suggestions on a flavourful rub. She is Texan after all. Here is her rub and my suggestion on cooking.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp of oil
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 tsp of cinnamon
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven at 375
  2. Rub meat with oil
  3. Salt and pepper your meat
  4. Mix all spices together and rub onto the meat
  5. Place in oven uncovered for 30 minutes or until internal temperature of meat says 175
  6. Let sit for 5 minutes and cut

If you like it real spicy you could add more cayenne. This was the basic recipe for the rub. Make it your own.

Thank you Sebreena for your contribution to another great meal.