Honey Glazed Pork Loin & Belly

It's hard to speak about the trivial things going on in my own life when such tragedies as today's events in Boston occur.  So instead of rambling about being tired, or being over-worked, or stressed... I'm just going to say I'm thankful.  We never know when our last day will come.  Nor do we know what tomorrow will bring.  So I'm thankful for my health, my sanity, my family.  And my prayers go out to all of the families affected by today's awful event.

Ingredients:

Pork Belly:

1 lb. pork belly
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 cups chicken stock
1-2 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb. pork loin, cut into 1 & 1/2 inch thick medallions
salt and pepper, to taste

Honey Glaze:

1/2 cup water 
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup honey
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon black peppercorns

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, paprika, onion powder, cayenne, and garlic powder. 

Score the pork belly and rub the spice mixture all over the pork belly, making sure to get in the creases of the scoring.  Tightly wrap pork belly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 275 F.

Unwrap pork belly and rinse off spice rub.  Pat pork belly dry. 

Heat a large oven-proof skillet under medium high heat and add olive oil.  Sear the pork belly, scored side first, until golden and caramelized.  Add enough chicken stock to the pan to come up halfway on the pork belly.  Transfer skillet to oven and cook until pork belly is nice and tender, about 4-6 hours.  Alternatively, you can do this step in a slow-cooker if you don't want to have your oven on for such a long period of time.

Combine the water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, garlic, and black peppercorns in a small saucepan.  Reduce mixture by half or until slightly thickened.  Set aside.

Heat a large saute pan under medium high heat.  Season the pork loin medallions with salt and pepper, to taste.  Add oil to the saute pan.

Add the pork loin to the pan and cook until caramelized.  Flip over and cook until at desired temperature.  About a minute or so before done, pour some of the glaze liquid into the hot pan and let the mixture thicken around the pork loin to coat it.

Brush some of the thickened glaze on the pork belly, as well.

We served this with some creamy grits and balsamic brussels sprouts.  Definitely a tasty meal.

I hope you all have a great rest of the week and remember not to take any day for granted!  Be safe!

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Happy Monday guys!  How was everyone's weekend?  Ours was busy busy busy!

We drove up to Indianapolis on Saturday for a graduation party.  We got to see folks I haven't seen in forever, and it was really great to see them! 

On our way up, we stopped at the outlet malls in Edinburgh and LOADED UP on spring/summer clothes.  We're definitely set for the season now!  And on our way back, we stopped to have dinner at Fogo de Chao. 

Now, if you haven't heard of Fogo de Chao, it's a chain of Brazilian steak houses - you're given a two-sided card (one side is green, and one side is red).  There are several different servers carrying around different cuts of meat on swords and if your card is flipped over to the green side, they keep giving you meat.  If it's on the red side, they bypass you.

All of my friends suggested we eat there, and heck, it sounded like a good idea.  Well... I must be the only person on Earth that didn't see what all the fuss was about (I know this, because a friend of mine that frequents there often said I was crazy for not liking it).  I mean, yeah, you get to gorge on a bunch of meat, but to me... most of that meat was flavorless and dry.  I don't know, maybe I'm a snob, but I just didn't fall victim to the gimmick.  I'd rather eat my meal for enjoyment, rather than sport.  I seriously just felt disgusting after all of it and more like the Man vs. Food guy.  And for the $114 price tag (that's not even including the tip!)... it was honestly just not worth it - to me, anyway.

But anywho, Sunday was spent relaxing (well Andy relaxed, I worked) and taking it easy.  I did manage to make these cupcakes (which won Friday's poll!) to take with me to the grad party.  I liked them because they were different - all of the cinnamon roll flavor, without all the cinnamon roll waiting!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Heat Oven to 350's recipe

Filling:

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 egg

Cake:

3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup water
1 & 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons milk
1 & 1/2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Grease the parchment paper with shortening/butter.

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon until smooth.  Beat in 1 egg until incorporated.  Spread mixture over parchment paper in an even layer (it won't cover the entire surface, but make as even of a rectangle as possible - I probably has 1 inch margins from the edge of the pan).  Set baking sheet in fridge until needed.

In a medium bowl, beat the remaining 3 eggs until they are fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the 3/4 cup sugar and beat for another 2 minutes.

In a separate medium bowl, combing flour and baking soda.  Slowly add in flour mixture to eggs until just combined.  Mix in water and 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

Pour batter over the refrigerated cream cheese filling and spread evenly.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cake is set.  Let cool only slightly.

On a clean surface lined with parchment paper, carefully invert the cake onto the paper.  Carefully peel away the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake. 

Using a pizza cutter, slice the cake into as many thin strips as possible (about 1/2 inch wide) - I think I got about 18 strips.  Heat Oven to 350 does a good job depicting this here (they made a cake though, so that's why their strips are wider and mine are thinner for the cupcake version).

Roll the strips jelly-roll style and place in cupcake liners. 

To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, milk, and clear vanilla extract in a small bowl.  Mix until at your desired consistency.  Drizzle glaze over top of cupcakes. 

See how easy that is?  Compared to actual cinnamon rolls that take hours to complete - because of all of the dough rising time of course! - this is a quick and easy version that's ready in less than 45 minutes!  You can't go wrong with that!

Have a great Monday guys!  I'll be back tomorrow with a garden update!

Samoa Cupcakes

Happy Monday guys!  Today was my first day back to work after vacation, and I'll have to say it wasn't too bad.  But I could use another week of vacation - just sayin'.

How was everyone's weekend?  I volunteered for the MS Walk downtown on Saturday and then came home to take a nap - which led to practically sleeping Saturday away (we didn't wake up until 6!).  Then Sunday we went to a Bats game - the minor league baseball team in town - which was pretty fun too.  I mean, you can't beat hot dogs and baseball, right? 

Samoa Cupcakes won the poll on Friday, so I figured I'd get started (and not make you guys wait a week or two) and post that recipe since I had time this weekend!

I'd have to say that these are pretty awesome.  I used my new favorite chocolate cake recipe (seriously, I'm never making chocolate cake any other way) and made a couple adjustments to a caramel frosting recipe - and the end result is something truly amazing.

Ingredients:

Cupcake:
Adapted from Foodess's recipe

2 cups sugar
1 & 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon clear vanilla
1 cup hot coffee

Coconut-Caramel Frosting:
Adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen's Recipe


2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons clear vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350F.  Line 2 muffin tins with paper liners. 

In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add in eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla.  Beat with a hand mixer for about 2-3 minutes, or until combined.  On low speed, slowly beat in hot coffee until just combined. (The mixture will be VERY aqueous, but don't fret).  Divide batter among paper liners, filling them halfway full (I ended up with roughly 34-36 cupcakes).

Bake cupcakes on the middle rack of oven for about 20-22 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Transfer cupcakes to wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in salt and brown sugar.  Allow mixture to boil, stirring constantly.  Cook over low heat for about 2-3 minutes until the brown sugar is completely dissolved.  Stir in milk and return mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. 

Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla.  Cool mixture to lukewarm, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once mixture is cooled, stir in about 3/4 cup of the toasted coconut.  Add in powdered sugar and beat on medium speed until at desired consistency.  My frosting never got to a very thick state (maybe it was the 2% milk I used, instead of whole milk??), but I actually liked it this way - it was more of a glaze.

Spread glaze on cooled cupcakes.

Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30 second intervals.  Place chocolate in a piping bag with a fine tip (or you can put it in a plastic sandwich bag with the corner cut off - I like this method because there's no clean up!) and drizzle chocolate atop glaze.  Then garnish cupcakes with remaining toasted coconut.

And then try to resist eating all 36 cupcakes.  I had to take several to work this morning, but I think I've still got about 10-15 cupcakes around here.  I've got to hide them from myself - in the fridge.  Which, considering I open my fridge every hour or two, it doesn't seem to be the best of hiding spots.

Hehe, but seriously.  These. Are. Delicious.  Have a great Monday guys!

Pineapple Chicken "Salad"

So happy it's Friday!  This is kind of a late Friday post, but it's been a hectic week!

I'm going to post the recipe first, and do a little bit of talking towards the end.  I must warn you... the end is a personal story.  Something that I've kept to myself for far too long.  And I really hope you read past the recipe, because it's me being vulnerable.  It's me being emotional.  And it's not something I do very often.

Ingredients:

Chicken:

2  chicken breasts
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups lettuce, chopped

Glaze:

1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
 

 

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, cayenne, and baking powder.  Rub mixture on chicken breasts.  

 

Heat large skillet under medium high heat and add olive oil.  Add breasts to pan, cooking for about 5-7 minutes per side.  Finish in oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until white throughout.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan under medium high heat, add pineapple and apple cider.  Bring to a boil and add brown sugar and soy sauce.

Combine the corn starch and water and mix into a slurry.  Add to saucepan and bring to a boil.  Simmer for about 2 minutes and set aside.

Divide lettuce among 2 plates.  Top lettuce with chicken and spoon sauce over.  

 

This was simplicity at it's finest.  At first, I didn't think it was "complicated" enough.  I pretty much call this a "salad" because I didn't really have anything to make an actual side salad with.  And I didn't have any side dishes I could whip up very quickly, so I just decided to serve the chicken on a bed of lettuce.  But then Andy reminded me that things don't need to be complicated all the time.  Sometimes simple is just enough.  And he's right... this was a great simple meal!  Enjoy!

And now comes the part of this post where I really open up to you.  If you don't like emotional stories, or even sad ones... I don't suggest you read on.  But I hope that most of you do, because I don't open up like this very often, but I think this is something that I need to get off my chest.

First and foremost... I'd really like to thank you guys for letting me be a little "sappy" and sentimental this week on Tuesday's and Thursday's posts.  If you know me, I'm not one to be like that... at all.  I'm not a very outwardly "emotional" person.  But this week in November is always different.  I didn't think I'd be ready, or willing for that matter, to talk about this, but just allow me to be vulnerable, just once more.

6 years ago, on November 13, 2004... I lost one of my best friends.  Josh.  Josh was my boyfriend at the time.  We'd met eachother during our freshman year at college.  He was a musician, and I was a girl who had a fancy for musicians.  We fell in love and moved to Florida together, on a random whim after our first year of college.  It was the craziest thing I had ever done.  Leaving home, leaving all I knew, to be with someone and let him follow his dreams.  We were happy.  

Josh loved the ocean.  We would go to the beach almost every day.  To have the sun hit our faces and to let the waves crash into us.  It was our "paradise".  That November, my best friend Nick, came to visit us.  It had been 4 months since I'd seen any of my friends from back home, and it was awesome that Nick came  down to hang out.  

I had to work on November 13th, and so while I was working, Nick and Josh decided to go to a different beach, one farther down the strip and popular for it's "larger" waves.  I was about halfway through my shift, and I remember calling our apartment and no one answering.  At first, I thought nothing of it, but after 4 or 5 calls, and still no answer, I didn't know what to think.  I remember distantly hearing sirens while I was at work, and didn't think anything of them either, because we had a hospital that was nearby and sirens were normal.  But shortly after these, my friend Nick came frantically through the store where I worked with bloodshot eyes, just saying "Peggy, I'm sorry."  My heart immediately sank, and I didn't know what was going on.  He just kept saying we needed to go to the hospital.  That we needed to go.  I rushed out of work and sped to the hospital.  I prayed to God that Josh would be okay.  That this was just some freak accident that ended happily.  

Nick explained to me on our car ride that they were at the beach, in the ocean.  They had gone farther out than planned, and not knowing that the waves were especially strong that day, Josh had been taken under by a rip current.  It was too strong for him to get out of.  

Fortunately, a surfer named John Lane, had heard Nick's yelling for help and came to bring Josh's body back to shore.  After calling 911 and trying to perform CPR, they did all they could do to save him, but it was just too late.  They had rushed him to the hospital, but the doctors said that he'd already been gone.  

This was truly the worst day of my life.  I was 19 years old and I lost the one person that meant the most to me.  I was angry.  I had never lost someone... not even a grandparent.  This was something I believed I would never have to go through, and I did.  

It's been 6 years, and I don't think I've ever expressed this much emotion about this traumatic event.  It's hard for me to talk about it, but I feel it's easier to write.  It's a weight lifted off my shoulders, but I know it's something I will never forget.  I'm a person that believes that "things happen for a reason" and I believe that if Josh had not made an impact in my life, I wouldn't have ever stepped foot into the music store that Andy works at, and would never have met him.  I don't know.  It's a hard thing to deal with, but I know Josh would have wanted me to be happy.  And I believe I truly am.  

So today, I remember Joshua Allen Scurlock, and I'm glad you've let me open up to you.  That you've listened to my words.  Thank you.