Pork Roasts

In the fall Pork is usually lower in price than Beef.  That is true this year. Also Pork is a lot leaner than it used to be so it can be a good choice to lower your fat intake and still have some flavor.  I just bought a nice Pork loin.  It was huge!! So I divided it into three smaller roasts.  The first one I cooked Sunday - that recipes follows.  However I will take one of the left over uncooked roasts and cut it into boneless pork chops.  The other one I will keep for smoking and making great shredded pork or just eat it as a roast.

Here is the recipe


2 - 4 lb boneless Pork roast
DAVIS DUST
2 oz of apple juice or water

Preheat the oven to 350

Rinse the Pork and pat dry.  Set it in a small roasting pan with the fat cap up. Sprinkle with DAVIS DUST and rub some on the ends too.   Add the apple juice to the bottom of the pan.. Cover with foil being sure to tent so that the foil does not touch the meat and it is sealed around the edges.

Bake for 1 hour or until the temperature is 145.  don;t overcook or it will be tough.  Remove form oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.  

NEW RECIPE!

I had to take some time off. I know it has been a long time between posts. But this blog is not set up to make money only to help.  I had to attend to some personal business.  I will start regular posts again.

Here is new recipe I just created for the second cookbook.

SOUTHWEST POTATO CHEESE BISQUE

© Wes Davis 2012 – all rights reserved

This is a variation of the recipe in the cookbook.  I have added some tips and steps to make it easier.

4- 8 small to medium potatoes

1 medium onion

5 stocks of celery

8 cups of water

1- 2 tablespoon of chicken base (I use Better Than Bullion –it is a great product and is available at grocery stores)

Peel the potatoes and rinse.  I use this size so that they fit through the feed tube of my processor.  Slice using your processor so that all the pieces are the same thickness.  Put in a large stock pot and add 7 cups of water.

Dice the onion and celery using the large blade on your processor and add to the pan.  Add the last cup of water to make sure that everything is covered by at least 1 inch of water.  For thicker soup at the end use less water.

Cook for 25 minutes on medium.  It just needs to simmer.  Check the potatoes – they should be tender but not mushy.  If you need to cook longer to get that result just add some more time and maybe some more water.  Since we did not rise the starch out you will notice that the soup is already taking on a thicker consistency.

Then add:

1 ½ Teaspoons of Cumin powder

4 - 4 oz. cans of diced green chilies you can also use whole and puree them

1 – 2 cups of Half and Half (what you thought this was going to be low fat??)

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

4 cups of shredded sharp cheddar I use white cheddar which makes the soup white rather than yellow cheddar but either will work

Mix and bring back to a simmer.  Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until it has the consistency of a bisque.  Taste for salt and pepper and adjust.  Serve with chopped green onions to top.

TIPS:  Try using a good white cheddar – I used Cougar Gold from the University of Washington.

If you want a really thick soup, add some left over mashed potatoes at the end.  Or use less water to cook the potatoes.  You can also use more cheese.

Using Dry Milk in Bread

The advantages of using dry milk in bread baking

As readers will know I have been doing a lot of experiments with different types of bread.  In some the recipes call for milk.  If you use regular milk you have to heat it to kill off some of the enzymes.  If you do that and then add it too soon before it cools to lukewarm, it kills the yeast.  That is one reason that professional baker use dry milk.  While there are many types on the market that can be costly, I find that regular fat free dry milk to work just fine.  The addition also helps with the rise and helps to keep the bread moist.

If your recipe calls for water that is fine. Just add about ½ cup of the dry milk with the flour.  If you recipe calls for milk – use the same amount of water and add the dry milk to equal the wet milk

Give it a try. I think you will see a difference in texture and how long the bread stays moist.