Smothered Sweet Pork Burritos with Cilantro Lime Rice (in Rice Cooker)

WOW. Just wow. These were amazing!! I was pleasantly surprised at how much Jeff loved these. He quickly scarfed two of these babies down in about ten minutes. Very tasty!

Smothered Sweet Pork Burritos

YIELD: SERVES 6

You'll get more flavor if you use a pork roast that has a bone in - it can easily be removed once the pork is done cooking; however, this could also be made with boneless pork loin or a leaner cut of pork. Just keep in mind that it might not be quite as tender as a roast that has darker meat also. A note about the enchilada sauce, not all brands are created equal. I love the Herdez brand of green salsa or enchilada sauce (which I use interchangeably) so make sure you find a brand that tastes good (with a heat level you prefer).

INGREDIENTS

·       2 1/2 pounds pork roast like pork shoulder or butt roast

·       Salt and pepper

·       1 tablespoon oil

·       1-2 teaspoons liquid smoke

·       1/2 cup water

·       1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

·       2 (15-ounce each) cans green enchilada sauce

·       1/2 teaspoon chili powder

·       1 teaspoon salt

·       1/2 teaspoon pepper

·       Dash of hot sauce (optional)

·       1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

·       1/2 cup chopped cilantro

·       8 ounces Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese (or a combination), grated

·       6-8 whole wheat or white flour tortillas, burrito-sized

1.     Trim any excess fat pockets from the pork roast (it's ok to leave a bit here and there just trim the large pieces off). Cut the pork into 2-3 large pieces. Season each piece on all sides with salt and pepper.

2.     In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil until rippling and hot. Add all the pieces of pork and brown on each side, 2-3 minutes total. Transfer the pork to a 5-6 quart slow cooker.

3.     Add the liquid smoke and 1/2 cup water. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8 hours.

4.     While the pork is cooking, prepare the rice (see directions below).

5.     Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred into bite-sized pieces (discarding the bone, if needed, or any large pieces of fat). In a large bowl, toss the shredded pork with the brown sugar, 1/2 cup of the green sauce, chili powder, salt and pepper (add more salt and pepper to taste if needed). Add the hot sauce, if using.

6.     Stir in the beans, rice and cilantro to the pork mixture.

7.     Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and spread about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of the green sauce on the bottom.

8.     Scoop about 1/2 cup of the meat mixture into each tortilla and sprinkle with a bit of cheese (you'll want to leave some cheese for the top of all the burritos before they bake). Roll up burrito style (folding the ends in and rolling).

9.     Place the burritos seam-side down in the prepared baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the burritos and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

10.     Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until heated through and the top is bubbly and slightly golden. Serve immediately. Garnish burritos with toppings such as sour cream, lettuce, tomato, avocado. Enjoy!

Recipe Credit: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

CILANTRO LIME RICE (in rice cooker)

1 cup uncooked brown rice

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cube chicken bullion
2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro

Add the rice, water, garlic, lime juice, and bullion to rice cooker and turn it on. Cook until it’s done. Then fluff it with a fork and add the cilantro and sugar straight into the rice cooker. Stir to combine and serve hot.

Recipe Credit: Bless this Mess

Honey Mustard Pork Chops

1-2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Pork chops

¼ c. Dijon mustard

1-2 Tbsp. honey (or more if desired)

1 tsp. lemon juice

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Preheat iron skillet (or other oven-proof skillet) over medium-high to high heat.  Preheat oven to 375°.  When skillet is hot, add vegetable oil and let it get hot.  Place pork chops in pan, being careful to avoid overcrowding.  Brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, mix together mustard, honey, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, tasting and adjusting as desired.

When chops are seared, spread honey mustard sauce over top.  Place in hot oven until internal temperature reaches 155°.

Remove from oven and let carry-over heat cook chops to 160°.

Recipe Credit: Near to Nothing

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

Oh. My. Goodness. These are THE most delicious cinnamon rolls I have ever tasted. For the past few weeks, I have been having some serious cravings for those yummy cinnabon cinnamon rolls (the ones you only find at the mall)... So every time Jeff and I go to the mall, I BEG him to let me get one. He says no probably 99% of the time because they are so expensive, and because we could be spending our money on other good things (I guess... haha). Anyway, yesterday I decided to finally satisfy my intense cravings and make some of these babies from this copycat recipe. Wow! I could not tell the difference at all. They were like heaven on a plate, just like the ones at the mall. Give them a whirl; you will not be disappointed, that's for sure!

Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Dough
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1 package yeast (1/4 ounce) 

Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Filling
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Spread for Cinnamon Roll Dough
1/4 cup butter, softened

Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Icing
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt 

Microwave the milk for 45 to 60 seconds. Then, dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix well. Dust your hands lightly with flour and then hand knead the cinnamon roll dough into a large ball.

Put the ball of dough into a bowl that is sprayed with cooking spray.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for roughly 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.  We turned the oven on and then put the cinnamon roll dough on top of the stove.  The heat generated caused the dough to rise.

Once your dough has risen, it’s time to move on to the next step.  In a new, small bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.  Mix them well.  Spray a flat surface with cooking spray or sprinkled flour.  Roll out your dough ball into a 16″ x 21″ rectangle roughly 1/4 inches thick then spread a 1/4 cup of softened butter on the dough.  Next, sprinkle the rolled, buttered dough evenly with the sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture you prepared in your small bowl.

Roll up the dough starting with the longer side and cut into fourteen (14) cinnamon rolls (or more smaller rolls, if you prefer). Place the cinnamon rolls in a lightly greased 11″ x 15″ glass baking dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and let the cinnamon rolls rise until nearly doubled, which should take around 30 minutes.  Note that in our Cinnabon cinnamon roll recipe, we had made two (2) of the fourteen (14) cinnamon rolls consist of the “end” pieces that weren’t as developed or good as the other twelve (12).  

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.  Once your cinnamon rolls have risen, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, approximately 18 to 20 minutes (we used a professional General Electric gas-range oven at 20 minutes exactly).  The dough should still be soft, though fully cooked, especially toward the center of the rolls.  

  

As your cinnamon rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and salt for the Cinnabon cinnamon roll icing.  The icing should be spread on your cinnamon rolls when they are still warm, shortly after being taken out of the oven so that the frosting melts into the cinnamon rolls.  This is reportedly part of the official Cinnabon process according to some of the employees.  

When the cinnamon rolls are still warm, serve, and enjoy!

Recipe Credit:

http://www.joshuakennon.com/cinnabon-cinnamon-roll-recipe/

Butterhorn Rolls/Orange Rolls

Oh wow, the first time I tasted these I thought I had died and gone to heaven. YUM!!!!! When Jeff and I were first dating, and he would rave on and on about his mom's famous rolls, I thought sure, they're probably pretty good. Wow, was I wrong. These are the best rolls I have ever tasted, hands down. I could eat like 20 of these in one sitting, no joke. Every time we eat these, I literally have to have Jeff set a limit for me and make me stick to it. I just can't handle the yumminess of these delicious heavenly things. SO GOOD.

Butterhorn Rolls

1 pkg. dry yeast (approx 1-2 Tbsp.)

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

3 eggs, well beaten

3/4 tsp. salt

3 1/2-4 cups flour

1/4-1/2 cup milk powder

Dissolve yeast, warm water and sugar together. Let set until yeast ferments. Combine yeast, melted butter, and eggs. Mix in salt, flour and milk powder. (Dough should be sticky.) Cover, let rise double in bulk (2-4 hours). Knead dough. Separate dough into 2 or 3 parts. Roll out into a circle; dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. Spread with butter. Cut like a pizza into triangles (a pizza cutter works best). Roll up each triangle starting with the large end (like a crescent roll). Let rise again. Bake on greased wax paper on a cookie sheet so bottoms don't brown too much. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen (16 rolls per circle when dough is made into 2 parts).

Orange Rolls

1 recipe Butterhorn Rolls dough

1 cube butter, melted

3/4-1 cup sugar

1 orange peel (2-3 Tbsp.), finely grated

Mix butter, sugar and orange peel. Spread out Butterhorn Roll dough as though making Butterhorn rolls. Instead of spreading the dough with butter, spread with the orange spread. Cut and roll dough as in Butterhorn Roll dough recipe. Bake as directed in Butterhorn Roll recipe.

Recipe Credit: Lynette Olson

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream (Version 2)

2 cups whipping cream (I use heavy cream)
1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt  
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1/2 package Oreo cookies, crushed into chunks

In a bowl, stir together cream and milk. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until the sugar is dissolved, 3 - 4 minutes. There should be no visible graininess left in the bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Keep cold until ready to pour into ice cream maker. (This is a good time to pour the cookies into a large zip-lock bag and, with a rolling pin, crush them into pieces.) Pour cream mixture only into the mixing container of your ice cream maker and freeze (or hand-crank) according to manufacturer's instructions.

Once the churning is almost through, add the Oreo cookie chunks and churn a bit more until well blended. Pour soft ice cream into containers. (I like using rectangle pyrex pans as they fit so easily into the freezer. Lightly press plastic wrap directly on the surface of ice cream to avoid any freezer burn. For longer storage, wrap a tinfoil layer on top to secure.) Freeze 2 - 5 hours longer and serve.

adapted from Williams-Sonoma vanilla ice cream recipe
*makes about 1 quart

Thick and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces, or 115 grams) butter, softened
2/3 cup (125 grams) light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon table salt (I often use a half teaspoon, but I like more salt in my baked goods)
1 1/2 cups (120 grams) rolled oats
3/4 cup (120 grams) raisins
1/2 cup walnuts (65 grams), chopped (optional)

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins and walnuts, if using them.

At this point you can either chill the dough for a bit in the fridge and then scoop it, or scoop the cookies onto a sheet and then chill the whole tray before baking them. You could also bake them right away, if you’re impatient, but I do find that they end up slighly less thick. Either way, heat oven to 350°F (175°C) before you scoop the cookies, so that it’s fully heated when you’re ready to put them in.

The cookies should be two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (your baking time will vary, depending on your oven and how cold the cookies were going in), taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

Recipe Credit: Smitten Kitchen