Pork & Apple Stuffing

Thanksgiving dinner is just not the same without the stuffing. This year, you can make your own home made gluten free version that is just as delicious as the original.

Ingredients:

Croutons:

• 1/2 loaf gluten free bread, cut into cubes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp Bell No Salt Turkey Seasoning
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Stuffing:

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 apple, granny smith, peeled and diced
• 1 c chicken stock (plus a little extra if needed)
• 1/2 stick butter (promise)
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Bell No Salt Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions for Croutons:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place diced bread in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, tossing as you go for more coverage
Mix the spices in another smaller bowl to combine, then sprinkle onto croutons. Try to get even coverage
Spread croutons out on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted
*Note: These can be made ahead of time and stored in a sealed container for a few days until ready to use

Directions for Stuffing:
Brown ground pork and set aside.
In the same pan, add onions, celery, carrot and apple. Saute until all veggies are translucent and softened.
Melt butter/promise in with the veggies. Stir in seasonings and 1 cup broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan. Turn off heat.
Place croutons, ground pork, and veggie/broth mixture into a large bowl. Toss lightly to combine. If needed add more chicken stock or water.
This can stuff a turkey up to 15 lbs, or can be cooked separately in its own casserole, just get it into the stove about an hour before the turkey is done so it will all come out at the same time.

Note: If cooking separately, cover with aluminum foil and remove the foil 10 minutes before done to brown the top.

Saucy Stuffed Steak Rolls (Braciole)

This dish sounded so appetizing to me that I had to try it. Traditional Braciole (pronounced bra- jol) is an italian dish of stuffed tenderized beef, browned and then braised in tomato sauce. I decided to try to make a gluten free version with a veggie stuffing. Seems like a long list of ingredients, but it is only really about 3 steps.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bottom or top round steak (you can use chicken breast or boneless pork instead)
• 2 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 carrot
• 1 package chopped spinach, thawed
• 1/4 c. raisins or currents
• 3 tbsp shredded or grated parmesan
• teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dry oregano
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• pinch Splenda or Sugar
• tbsp canola oil
• optional: one package thicker rice noodles (like spaghetti or linguini style), to serve as a pasta in the sauce

Prep:

1. In a small bowl, mix garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, nutmeg and oregano. Set aside.
2. Prep onion, carrot, celery, spinach. Thaw and squeeze out the moisture from spinach. Grate carrot. Dice small 1/2 of onion and celery to go in the filling. Chop the remaining onion and celery larger for the chunky tomato sauce. Set aside.
3. Place meat between two sheets of plastic wrap. Pound the meat thin. If the piece of meat will be too large once stuffed, you might want to cut into 2 portions at this point, then prep two rolls.

Cook:

1. Heat up dutch oven and add 1 tbsp oil. Saute small diced veggies, spinach and half of each the raisins and grated carrot til tender but veggies are still intact. Add 1/2 the garlic and large pinch of dry seasoning mix, saute 1 minute more. Do not burn garlic. Turn off heat, remove veggies into a bowl.
2. Add all the parmesan to veggies. Mix together.
3. Lay out the pounded meat flat. Put filling onto half of the meat (towards yourself). Do not worry if you have extra filling, it can be added to the sauce later.
4. Slowly roll up the meat tightly, rolling in the ends a little to keep the filling in. Use butcher string to tie up the roll or use toothpicks to hold together. Season the outside of the roll with another large pinch of dry seasoning mix.
5. Heat up pan, add a little more oil if necessary. Brown beef rolls on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.
6. Add remaining cut veggies, grated carrot and raisins to pan and saute for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, crushing with your hands the whole tomatoes, leaving them chunky. Add all the liquid too. Also add in any remaining seasonings, splenda/sugar and any leftover stuffing mixture at this time.
7. Put beef rolls into the sauce, push them into the sauce so they are covered. Cover the dutch oven and slow simmer for 30 minutes.
8. At this time, prep noodles til al dente.
9. When sauce is done, turn off heat and remove beef rolls. Let sit for 5 minutes, then slice rolls to about one inch thick.
10. Add pasta to sauce and mix to coat. Let sit a couple minutes for sauce to absorb a bit into noodles.
11. Serve pasta topped with sliced beef roll. Add a little sauce and perhaps a little more parmesan cheese.

Cranberry Crusted Pork

Cranberry Crusted Pork

Many cuts of pork are really lean these days and compared to other protiens it is a bargain. This easy recipe smells great while cooking and tastes really good. Your family will praise you for this one!

Ingredients:

Pork chops (thick cut, 1 per person)
1 can jellied cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch pepper

Directions.

• Preheat oven to 350
• Line a cookie sheet or baking pan with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup), and top with a cooling rack.
• Use 1/2 the can of cranberry sauce into a bowl, mash it with a fork so it is loose. (reserve the other half to serve with the meal)
• Add garlic, oregano, garlic powder and pepper. Blend well
• Dip each chop into the bowl, then place the chop - dipped side down - onto the rack.
• Divide up remaining cranberry sauce to top each pork chop. Spread to cover the chop.
• Place sheet in oven. Let cook for 1 hour
• When it comes out of the oven let rest 5 minutes before serving

Optional:

• add and blend in 2 tablespoons of ground mustard to cranberry mash
• this same mixture can be used on pork loin or chicken breast. adjust cook time for these items

The cranberry mixture will easily cover 3-6 chops, add more cranberry sauce if making more chops..