Welcome back! I hope you and your family are enjoying the recipes and fun activities around cooking and food. I welcome the fact that many of you are sharing my Blog with your friends and relatives. You don't have to be a single parent to follow the Blog. I started it for single parents, yet realize that many people want fun ways to prepare food and involve their children.Today we are going to work with a pork loin. This should give you a few recipes to prepare, that taste great and don't take a lot of work. Pork comes from farm raised pigs. You can discuss farming, and the pig in general. You can look up pig farmers on Google and watch videos on raising pigs. I do not suggest you watch the videos where pigs end their lives and become a food source unless your children are teen aged and can handle the stark reality. There are many foods prepared from a pig and knowing that it's just not bacon is important.Let's dive in!
Butchering a pork loin- you can pay a lot of money buying pork chops, with a bone in or out, center cut or not. I suggest that you buy a pork loin. A pork loin with out a bone is what I prefer, so I am not paying for the weight of the bone. I'm paying for the weight of the meat and some fat that is helpful in adding flavor. Place the pork loin on your cutting board, fat side up and visualize a measuring ruler runs along the edge of your cutting board. Slowing draw your sharp knife across the top of the fat, marking a line in the fat every 1 inch, until you have marked 4 inch chops. Now cut a light mark 2 inches apart, twice, so you have marked for 2 chops 2 inch thick. You can now cut threw each mark and yield 4 equal sized 1 inch pork chops, and 2 each of 2 inch thick chops. You notice the loin has an end that is left odd shaped or at an angle when you marked off the cutting lines, you have the remaining section as a pork loin roast. Be sure to leave the fat on, for moisture and flavor. Done? Now wash your knife carefully with HOT soapy water, your cutting board and your hands thoroughly. Let the knife and cutting board air dry.
NOTE TO YOU FOLLOWERS- a pork TENDERLOIN is different than what I am cooking with today. A TENDERLOIN is much smaller, thinner and can be sauced with anything, from soy, teriyaki, BBQ, orange marmelade, ginger, jerk, or lemon pepper sauce, then baked for 30 minutes at 350* or internal temperature to 165*F, sliced and served with a starch and vegetable. We are not using a pork TENDERLOIN. Althogh you now have a few cool ways to prepare them when they go on sale.
Version 1
Pork Chops
Child- Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray over the sink, always
Parent- wash a bunch of asparagus, 3 per person, and cut and remove one half inch off of the bottom of each stalk and discard. This leaves you with a stalk and the tips intact.
Child- place the asparagus in the bottom of the baking dish, lined up like soldiers.
Child- sprinkle 1 tsp. garlic powder, ground fresh black pepper, onion salt and fresh or dried basil leaves on top of your asparagus.
Child- turn the oven on 400% F to pre-heat the oven
Child- Place 1 pork chop per person directly on top of the asparagus.
Parent- slowly and gently dribble a little bit of olive oil over the pork chop.
Child- rub the olive oil gently into each pork chop
Parent- Lightly sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic powder on top of pork chops
Parent- place the dish of pork chops into the 400*F oven and bake 30 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 160*F. You may have seen that light pink pork is now popular in restaurants. You may not like that, so you can cook until the internal temperature is 170*. Cooking more than 170*F is not healthy.
Parent- Remove chops from the oven and allow to rest in the hot dish for 5 minutes. With tongs or a fork, plate the pork chop and criss cross the asparagus on top of the chop. Serve with 3 ounces of your favorite starch.
Substitutions- you can substitute SAGE as a seasoning, instead of basil. You can substitute slices of fresh 1/4 inch thick cut apple, pear, broccolini, silver dollar sliced zucchini or sweet potato instead of the asparagus. You can brush the pork loin with teriyaki sauce instead of the olive oil. You can also substitute Italian salad dressing or low fat Catalina salad dressing for the olive oil. Also, never forget, the good old Shake N Bake in a bag. Kids love to help and it does make a good pork chop, if you just follow package directions.
Feel like upscaling this? Maybe you have a date coming over to the house? Follow the original recipe, yet with 20 minutes into cooking, remove the pork chops and cover, each chop with 3 sun dried tomato slices and one slice of pre-cut provolone cheese. Place back into the oven for the remaining 10 minutes.
Version 2
2 inch Stuffed Pork Loin Chop
Parent- Heat a frying pan with 2 TBSP of olive oil on medium heat.
Parent or child over 12- Add a 10 oz. bag of fresh spinach, a half an onion small dice and 1 clove of garlic or a tsp of minced prepared garlic. With tongs, lift and flip to get all ingredients cooking.
Child- Measure and then add 1 tsp of each, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano thyme and basil.
Parent- Cook on high heat on your stove top for 5 minutes.
Child- Add 1/2 cup of washed fresh mushroom slices, diced small. Cook another 5 minutes.
Parent- Drain all liquid off by pouring mushroom/spinach mixture into a colander.
Parent- Take the two inch cut pork loin chops and cut a pocket into the middle of each 2 inch chop 3/4 way through, starting at the side opposite the fat. You do this by poking a sharp knife into the middle of the pork chop's thin side and slowly pushing in, moving the knife slowly back and forth, you create a slit.
Parent- Remove the cooked drained vegetables with a spoon, and stuff the vegetable mixture inside the pork chop slit. It will not all fit, that's ok. Some will hang out of your slit/pocket, no worries!
Child with Parental guidance- Cut up 2 string cheese rolls into thin buttons and also stuff them in with the vegetables.
Child- Pre-heat oven to 400*F
Parent or Child- Wrap 2 strips of bacon around the exterior stuffed chop so the ends of the bacon are on the bottom of the chop.
Child- Spray a baking dish with a non stick spray and place the pork chops into the baking dish, bacon ends side down, or else the bacon will curl up when cooking.
Parent- Place the baking dish in a 400*F pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Parent or child over 12- Remove dish from the oven and rest on a pot holder on a level counter or table top.
Child- Pour one jar of pizza quick sauce on top to cover all chops.
Parent or child over 12- With a hot glove or oven mitt, return the baking dish to oven and bake at 400*F for an additional 15 minutes.
Parent- Remove the baking dish and allow to rest until the pasta is cooked.
Child over 12- Measure and bring 4 cups of water, 1 TBSP of olive oil and a TBSP of salt to boil.
Parent or child over 12- Add 1/4 of the box of pasta for each 2 people being served a chop.
Parent- Cook thin angel hair spaghetti for 8 minutes, stirring in a figure 8 to avoid sticking.
Parent- Drain pasta into a colander and plate the pasta on a dinner plate.
Parent or child over 12- Cover each plate of pasta with a stuffed pork chop and cover the pork chop with sauce and any vegetable stuffing that fell out.
All- Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve with a side of tossed salad or slices of fresh Roma tomato and fresh basil leaf sprig.
Substitutions- You can substitute pork flavored stove top stuffing instead of the vegetable stuffing. Follow stove top directions on the box. You can substitute a jar of mushroom gravy instead of the pizza sauce so your stuffing and chop will retain moisture. You can substitute a buttered yolk-free noodle with your stuffed pork chop and mushroom gravy, so you have an American inspired meal instead of Italian inspired meal.
Version 3
Pork Loin Roast
Child- Measure then rub 1 TBSP of olive oil or canola oil all over the exterior of the loin roast
Child- Measure then sprinkle 1 TBSP of garlic powder and ground black pepper all over the exterior of the loin roast
Child- Measure then rub 1/2 cup of Dijon Mustard all over the exterior of the loin roast
Child- Pre-heat oven to 400*F
Child or parent- spray a glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray
Child- Measure and pour 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese into a large bowl large enough to fit your roast.
Parent- roll your mustard glazed loin roast in the grated cheese to try to get the entire exterior covered
Parent- Place the cheese covered loin roast in the sprayed baking dish
Parent- Place the roast in the 400*F oven for 40 minutes
Child- Get 10 oz bag of pretzel sticks and place bag inside large zip lock type bag and close bag.
Child- squeeze, squish and smack the bag to break up the pretzels into crumbs
Parent- remove loin roast after 40 minutes and sprinkle to coat the exterior of the loin roast with pretzel crumbs. Pile it on, its ok.
Parent- Return roast to the oven for an additional 15 minutes.
Parent- Remove roast from oven and allow to rest 10 minutes before slicing.
All-Serve with 90 second brown rice or microwave vegetables of your choice.
Substitutions- You can omit the mustard, cheese and pretzels and just add cinnamon apple sauce at the time the pretzels were to be added. You can omit the mustard, cheese and pretzels and just roast the loin with the seasonings. You can substitute teriyaki, Caribbean Jerk or BBQ sauce for the mustard, cheese and pretzels.
I am excited to hear back from you about your adventure into butchering and cooking various meals with a pork loin. Take your time with the knife, and know that you can always cook and eat your mistakes, so don't be too serious. Have fun, build confidence in the kitchen and share that with your family.
Thanks again for sharing your time with me. Until next time.....Be the best person you can be, always!
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