Spicy Dr Pepper Pork Roast

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 I'm always looking for another great way to make a roast. I ran across this recipe and both the Dr. Pepper and chipotle peppers peaked my interest. The recipe was originally designed to make shredded pork tacos, but the family was in the mood for roast instead. So, Viola! Time to add potatoes and carrots and leave it chunky. The peppers definitely added a good kick that required a tissue by the end of the meal. So if you have little ones or ones that don't like a lot of spice, I would back down to only 1/2 a can of peppers. If you want to leave the recipe simply as shredded pork, omit the potatoes and carrots and follow the directions on my BBQ Pulled Pork recipe.   

Ingredients

• ~2 1/2 lbs pork shoulder, bone included
• 1 can (11 oz) chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
• 24 oz (2 cans) original Dr. Pepper - not Diet!
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
• salt (or Sodium-Free Mrs. Dash) & pepper
• 1 lb small red potatoes
• 1 lb baby carrots

Directions

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1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line large roasting pan with aluminum foil.
2. Cut pork shoulder into 2 inch chunks. 
3. Combine sliced pork (including bone), onion, garlic, Dr. Pepper, chipolte peppers including sauce, brown sugar, salt and pepper in roasting pan; mix well, and cover. 
4. Place in oven, stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes and carrots after the first 2 hours (to keep them from being too done/soggy). Cook for a total of 3 to 4 hours or until the meat, potatoes, carrots are tender (the meat will fall apart and off the bone when done). 
5. Enjoy!

Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman's Spicy Dr Pepper Shredded Pork
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Sun-Dried Tomato Zucchini Bake

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This recipe is my first true experiment for this blog. It is a twist to the Parmesan Squash Bake. I was hoping to incorporate balsamic vinegar into a zucchini casserole/bake and came across a bottle of Ken's dressing that was hanging out in the pantry asking to be used. So I decided to put the balsamic vinegar dream on the back burner for a little while and see how this concoction comes out. I have had great luck in the past with baking meats covered in salad dressing (another topic for another time) and decided to give vegetables with dressing a try. It turned out delicious! I can't wait to experiment with other combinations.

Ingredients

• 3-4 medium zucchini
• 1 medium sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2-1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2-3/4 bottle Ken's Lite Sun-Dried Tomato Salad Dressing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small pan, heat the olive oil. Pan fry the diced onion until soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Add in the garlic and fry for another minute or so. Pour the onion mixture into the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish.
3. Slice the zucchini into thin slices. Layer them into 4 rows across in the dish, over the onions. Slowly drizzle the dressing over the pieces until they are evenly coated.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top of the dish. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the veggies are soft and slightly golden brown.

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Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

Homemade Chicken Stock Pin It

  
• 9 cups chicken stock
• 2 chicken breasts - skinless, cooked and shredded
• 1 cup frozen yellow corn (or 1 can drained)
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can petite diced tomato
• 1 can Original Rotel Tomatos with Lime & Cilantro
• 1/2 yellow/sweet onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional depending on how spicy you like it)
  
• 1-2 limes, juiced
• 1 cup rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• salt (if desired) and pepper to taste
• Garnish:
• Avocado
• Mexican cheese
• Tortilla chips

Directions:

1.  Make Chicken stock



Simmering on stove

• You can either make this from scratch if you have the time (see my recipe for Chicken Stock Here) or buy pre-made stock. 
2. Cook Chicken, cool, then shred with forks.
• If you are buying raw chicken, boil chicken covered in water for 30-60 minutes until done.  If you are going to do this, you may as well make your own stock. See above.
• To save time, you can use either canned chicken or precooked chicken found in the deli case, or pick up a rotisserie chicken (tastes the best) from the deli at your grocery store.
3. In a large stock pot, combine stock, chicken, corn, black beans, tomato, Rotel, onion, garlic, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, cayenne (optional), salt & pepper. 
4. Bring to a boil then let simmer for 30-45 minutes (until the onions are almost tender).
5. Add cilantro, rice and water (the rice will absorb water/broth) and continue to cook for another 20-30 minutes, until rice is done. 
6. Serve garnished with avocado, cheese and tortilla chips. Enjoy! 

Finished product!

Inspired from Chicken Tortilla Soup II on Allrecipes.com and Six Can Tortilla Soup on Allrecipes.com
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Homemade Chicken Stock

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So easy, and so much more healthy than store bought! The only thing it takes is time!
 
Ingredients:

• 2 bone-in, skins on, "fryer" chicken breasts
• stock pot full of Water (I use a 7 QT pot)
• 1/2 large onion
• 3 stalks celery
• 3 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp whole peppercorns 
• salt to taste (the less you use, the lower the sodium!)

Stock strained through a coffee filter Pin It 

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients into large stock pot.
2. Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for at least 2 hours or longer if you have the time. 
3. Remove from heat.
4. Retrieve the meat with large fork/spoon and reserve to use for soups, chicken salad, etc.
5. Obtain another large stock pot/container and fine strainer/colander. Place strainer/colander into the 2nd stock pot/container. Slowly pour stock through colander( you may want to use a large measuring cup to scoop stock out of original pot) to strain the vegetables/spices out. Careful! It will be hot!
6. To separate the fat:
1. Either store the stock in refrigerator and let the fat separate out naturally. Skim the fat off the top once cooled OR
2. Place coffee filter in strainer and slowly pour stock through, leaving the majority of fat in the coffee filter. I had to change the filter for every 2 cups that I poured through.  
7. Keep refrigerated to use within the next day or two or freeze what you don't need immediately. I placed mine in 1 cup intervals into containers for the freezer. The next day, I removed from the stock from the containers and placed in vacuum bags for future use. Saves space in the freezer by placing into bags.
8. My batch yielded 14 cups of stock.

Recipe adapted from Chicken Stock by Margaret Price at Allrecipes
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Honey Mustard Chicken

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Ingredients:

• 5 chicken thighs - original recipe used breasts
• 3 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 3 tablespoons honey
• garlic powder, onion powder, salt & pepper to taste
• 1 - 1 1/2 cup breadcrumbs 
• The original recipe used panko - I only had roasted garlic regular breadcrumbs & opted to leave out the garlic powder.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a shallow dish, combine honey & mustard.
3. In another shallow dish, place breadcrumbs.
4. Season chicken with spices to your taste.
5. Coat chicken with honey mustard mixture.
6. Dredge chicken in breadcrumbs.
7. Place chicken on lightly greased baking sheet or casserole dish.
8. Bake chicken in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes (depending on thickness) or until done.

Optional Sauce Drizzle:

If you notice in the picture that there are 2 different colored sauces over the chicken. This came about because I wanted to have extra sauce on the chicken. I didn't want to use prepared honey mustard so I attempted to make it myself. Well, the first sauce listed below was ok by itself but I really wanted it to be tangier. It came out looking like a light yellow opaque sauce. So I tried again. The second sauce listed below I took from the recipe above. It is the darker, less opaque sauce. Still wasn't super happy with it as a stand alone. So, to keep from wasting both, I drizzled both on top of the chicken and it was an excellent decision! It turned out yummy and just was I wanted!

Sauce #1:

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey

 Sauce #2:

• 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 1 tablespoons honey

Directions:

1. Mix Sauces in separate bowls. Drizzle over chicken or dip as desired.

Recipe Courtesy of What's Cookin, Chicago? Sauce #1 Inspired from Life's Ambrosia

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