STL-CargoShortsToday » Recipes

Greek-style Pork Tenderloin with Feta and Pita

akula51 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:56:07 +0000

1 pkg Pork Tenderloin (I get the 2-packs at Sam’s and freeze one for tenderloin sandwiches)
1 cup Greek-style Salad Dressing (Panera’s works well if you can find it, but can be pricy)
1 box (lb) Orzo Pasta
1 can (14-15 oz) Chicken Broth
1 can (14-15 oz) Water
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste (fresh ground pepper and coarsely ground sea salt work well here but table salt/pepper are fine too)
1 pkg (8 oz) Feta Cheese
1 pkg Pita (5-6 rounds)

Slice Tenderloin into medallions around 3/4″ thick. Cover and marinade in 2/3 cup of the dressing for 30 minutes – 8 hours…naturally the longer the better

Heat skillet to medium-medium/high and sear pork medallions, browning/sealing both sides of the medallion, but not cooking the medallion all the way through. Pour orzo, broth, water and remaining 1/3 cup dressing over the pork medallions and stir to ensure they are not sticking. Sprinkle seasonings. Cover pan and reduce heat to medium-low, just at a simmer.

Walk away.

Once orzo has cooked, it will have sucked up all of the liquid in the pan and be nicely tender. This takes around 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle feta over pork/orzo mixture in the pan (reserving a few tbsp for topping that nice salad you’re serving with it) and let sit covered for 3-5 minutes before serving.

(optional) Brush pita with some extra light or extra virgin olive oil and toast for the perfect accompaniment.

Serves 4-6ish.

Easy yet Devastating Queso…

akula51 — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:11:33 +0000

Always have a crock pot full of this at our gatherings, and we usually get a request or two for the recipe so…here goes.

1 lb Bulk Pork Sausage (hot or mild, your choice – or 50/50)
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Ro-tel (your choice – original is what we normally use)
2 lb Velveeta (room temperature)
1/2 – 1 cup Shredded Mexican Cheese

Brown sausage over medium-high heat in stock pot. Make sure to crumble well so there aren’t any large chip-shattering “chunks”. Once brown, add Ro-tel and evaporated milk and stir, reducing heat to low. Cut Velveeta into 3/4″ cubes and add to meat mixture, stirring every few minutes. Once all is melted, add shredded cheese until you reach your perfect consistency.

Once could drain the sausage grease, but well, it’s not exactly meant to be health food.

Don’t know Ro-Tel? http://www.ro-tel.com/index.jsp

Sweet and Sour Sauce

akula51 — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:41:12 +0000

It’s as simple as this. If you don’t have the rice vinegar, don’t bother until you do.

1/3 cup rice vinegar
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp constarch, mixed in
4 tsp water
5-10-15 drops red food coloring (optional, depends on how red you want it obviously)

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; add the cornstarch and water mixture. Bring back to a boil and let thicken. Add food coloring if desired.

This gets you enough for 3-4 folks to eat on a pretty decent sized stir fry meal, served over rice. Doubles well. Fresh pineapple makes a wonderful addition, along with onions, bell peppers, brocoli, cauliflower, water chesnuts – anythig you’d put in stir fry or you see in a Chinese restaurant. I’ve even used it as a marinade and glaze for ribs.