Succulent Braised Pork

I watched the series on Food Network: "The Next Food Network Star" and fell in love with Melissa D'Arabian.  To my great surprise she won.  I made her Cafe Green Salad in the past and loved the flavor that her dressing had.  Today, I slow roasted her recipe of Succulent Braised Pork.  Once again, the flavor was a winner, my husband eagerly headed in for a second helping.  Always a good sign.  I think I will use the leftovers to make my Shepherd's Pie next time!  The flavors of the gravy are wonderful.  I served them with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables to round out the meal.  The one change I did make to her recipe is that I used more than one carrot.  My family loves roasted carrots, so I put in about 7 large carrots and it cooked up just fine!  Once again Melissa -- a great recipe.  You can also find the recipe at the Food Network website.


Succulent Braised Pork - Melissa D Arabian Food Network

Ingredients
2 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 6 large chunks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup red wine
1 1/2 cups beef stock or broth
1 bunch parsley stems, tied with string
2 bay leaves
1 cup water

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and working in batches brown the meat on all sides until a golden crust forms. Transfer the pork to a plate. To the pan add the onion, celery, and carrot and sweat until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat another 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes to cook off the raw flavor and caramelize it. Sprinkle with the flour and cook another 2 minutes to cook off its raw flavor. Whisk in the wine and reduce it by half. Return the pork to the Dutch oven, then stir in the beef stock, parsley stems, and bay leaves. Add the water if liquid does not come up to the top of the pork. Do not cover the pork with liquid. Cover the pan and place it in the oven to braise until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

Prep Time: 25 min
Cook Time: 3 hr 30 min
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 4 servings plus leftovers

Aunt Helen's Strawberry Crepes

My Aunt Helen is a wonderful cook.  I had the honor of living with them briefly when I was in College and she would make these wonderful Strawberry Crepes for dessert.  This was the summer that I met my husband.  I still like to make these from time to time and now my children enjoy them too!  Today I made them for breakfast.

Strawberry Crepes
Makes 12 crepes-Serves 4 (3 Crepes per serving)

For the CREPES:
1 cup bisquick mix
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
For the SOUR CREAM SAUCE:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup brown sugar

1-2 pints sliced fresh Strawberries

Grease a 6-7 inch non stick skillet lightly; heat until hot.  Beat baking mix, milk and eggs with a hand beater or whip until smooth.  For each crepe pour 2-3 Tablespoons batter into the skillet and rotate until the batter covers the bottom.  Cook until golden brown.  Gently loosen edge with spatula, turn and cook other side until golden brown.  Stack placing waxed paper between each; keep covered to prevent them from drying out.  Mix 1 cup sour cream with 1/4 cup brown sugar.  Hull and slice 1-2 pints fresh strawberries.  Place 1 Tablespoon sour cream mixture across center of each crepe.  Sprinkle with sliced berries.  Roll and place on plate or serving platter.  Repeat;  Top with additional sour cream and berries.  Enjoy!


For the crepes, I combined 1 cup Bisquick mix with 3/4 cups of milk and 2 eggs.

I use my favorite non stick pan.  As I pour in the batter I rotate the pan so it is as thin as possible.  I did add about 2 Tbps of milk in addition to the milk to make the batter a little thinner.
This helps the crepes to be very thin.

I have the sour cream and brown sugar mixture close at hand to fill the crepes.

And the strawberries as well

As I finish cooking the crepes I put them directly on the plates for serving, I find this  slightly easier to assemble and then later I do not need to transfer them from a platter.  While the next crepe is cooking I assemble the crepe and roll it and keep an eye on the crepe that is cooking so it does not overcook.

I put about 1 Tablespoon of the sour cream and sugar mixture down the middle of the crepe.

 

Next I put a few spoon fulls of sliced strawberries on the sour cream sauce

 

I roll up the crepe and place it to the side of the plate so I make room for the other 2 crepes.

 

After the crepes are finished I drizzle more sour cream sauce over the top of the crepes and add some more strawberries.

Set the plate aside while you finish the other three servings and present your loved ones with a treat that will keep their bellies smiling for a few hours.

This makes a great dessert for special guests, or a great brunch treat.

I did once make these for a gathering of 20 people, but my back actually started hurting from making the crepes.  I would double this recipe, but making crepes one at a time for a larger group is not something I will do again.

Enjoy!