Pulled BBQ Pork Sandwich

2-3 # Pork Loin

1 C. Chicken Broth

2 Tb. crushed garlic

1 teas. pepper

1/2 teas. salt

Place Pork Loin in baking dish, pour chicken broth over the meat, coat with garlic, then sprinkle with generous salt and pepper. Cover with tin foil and bake in 300 degree oven. Go shopping for five hours. Pull out roast place on cutting board, wipe away any fat from the outside of roast, discard. Shred the roast by pulling it apart with two forks, set aside in lg. pan.

Add 1/2 C. drippings from roast to pan with shredded pork. Add up to two bottles (15. oz.) of Sweet Baby Rays or your favorite BBQ sauce. It's ok to add water to the bottle, rinse it out by shaking and adding to mixture. It's what we do! Mix all together and serve on your favorite bun. Whoo, that was easy! My friend Diane let me in on this one!

Smoked Sausage GUMBO

1/2 c. olive oil optional
2 c. chopped onion
2 c. chopped green pepper
1 c. chopped celery
2 T chopped garlic
1 lb. smoked sausage, thinly sliced (I've used the Jeanie O smoked turkey sausage - less guilt and taste good)
1 small can corn
1 c. frozen okra or collard greens
2 cans chicken broth (4C)
1 qt. water

1/4 c. Quinoa (optional, but why not)

2 C. peeled, chopped tomato (or one can)

1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. catsup
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. hot sauce and/or ¼ teas red pepper (or more depends on how spicy you like)
1 tsp. dried whole thyme
1 tsp. dried whole oregano

8 Cups of hot cooked rice

Combine oil in a large pan with onion, green pepper, celery and garlic, continue cooking until vegetables are tender. Add sausage and all ingredients except rice; bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 2 hours. If you can wait that long.

You can also stir in shrimp, crabmeat, and cooked chicken if you wish and continue cooking 10 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves. Serve gumbo over rice, season to taste with salt & pepper. Yield 11 cups

Stuffed Cabbage

I have to give credit to Sherry Gray for helping me make these the first time. I know I have probably changed some things that she has done, but that's what will make it a "Tuttle" recipe to pass on.

Ingredients

2 heads cabbage (three make it easier to find nice leaves, but you have leftovers)

FILLING

2 cups uncooked long grain rice, scalded

3 lbs lean ground beef

1 lb lean pork sausage (I prefer "Old Folks Sausage-Medium")

1 pound ground Veal

1 C onions, minced

1 C bell pepper minced

1 C celery minced

4 eggs, beaten -

1 cup water

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

1 garlic clove, minced (1 Tb minced)

STEWING SAUCE

2 (28 ounce) cans canned diced tomatoes

2 (28 ounce) cans canned crushed tomatoes

4 cups tomato juice or V8

1 C minced onions

1 C minced bell pepper

1 C minced celery

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 lb bacon, cooked (I bake this in the oven on a cookie sheet till crispy, drain on a paper towel then crumble up)

2 lbs sausage, smoked

Directions

Core cabbage, heat in salt water in a large soup pot till leaves separate.

Remove each leaf and drain in colander or on a towel.

FILLING--(2nd ingredient group):

To scald rice: Heat a generous amount of water in a heavy pan that will hold the heat. Make sure that the water will be more than enough to cover the rice. Make sure the water is at a rolling boil, if rice is not scalded enough it will be crunchy! Add the 2 C of rice to boiling water, pull off the heat. Let stand for at least 5 minutes. Rinse with cold water, draining with sieve. Add rice to the rest of the filling ingredients in a very large bowl and mix well.

Now fill the cabbage leaves with filling mixture; folding leaves like a burrito. I'm a sissy and used an ice cream scoop, but the piggys were a bit too fat.

While husband is rolling pigs (ha), start cooking the stewing sauce in another pot.

STEWING SAUCE--(3rd ingredient group):

Mix group together, bring to a boil, then simmer 5 to 10 minutes.

TO ASSEMBLE:.

Line the roaster with: layer of pigs, sauce, sprinkle with left over cabbage cut up into chunks, sauce, layer of pigs, layer of sauce, cabbage, smoked sausage chunks and the rest of the sauce.

Set oven at 350°F.

Cover roaster, and once all comes to a kind of a boil-probably about an hour, reduce temperature to about 300°F so it doesn't boil over.

Cook about 2 more hours. It's actually taste better on the second day, so I make it ahead of time. The recipe is so large, I usually end up with zip lock bags full of piggys for a lazy day to put in the freezer.

Chicken Marsala

A dinner this good probably should have been served at a table. Sadly, we don't always use the table as you can see this plate presented on Tod's lap...He was impressed anyway and said "you need to take a picture"

Chicken Marsala and Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients
8 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless - Cut across so you have thin pieces
1 cup flour
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 teas Dried oregano
8 Tbsp oil
8 Tbsp butter or margarine
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cups Marsala wine

Procedures

1. POUND chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/4" thickness.
2. COMBINE flour, salt, pepper and oregano in a mixing bowl. Dredge chicken pieces in the flour, shaking off any excess.
3. HEAT 2 Tb oil and 2 Tb butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts on medium heat for about 2 minutes on the first side, until lightly browned. Turn breasts over to cook other side. Set the chicken aside and continue to sear the outside of the remainder of chicken, adding oil and butter as needed. When all the chicken has been seared (or browned) then add mushrooms. Add Marsala wine around chicken pieces. If you want a stronger Marsala taste - which Tod does - I'll reduce 4C of Marsala to two cups before adding to chicken by simmering in a pot first.
4. COVER and simmer for about 15 minutes or until chicken reads 180 degrees or higher.
5. TRANSFER to serving plate.

To complete this "Olive Garden" style dinner, I would add the Roasted Potatoes. I put 6-8 potatoes (punctured) in the microwave, covered and hit the baked potato button. This quickly pre-cooks them. I then slice up the hot potatoes into chunks, place in a large zip-lock bag with a package of French onion soup mix, 1/4 C olive oil, 1 teaspoon rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and some chunky veggies like onions and bell peppers. Shake it all up, place on a cookie sheet and brown the potatoes and veggies in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Grilled Salmon with Zucchini Relish

Relish Ingredients:

1		cup chopped zucchini
1/2		cup chopped onion- red was best
1		tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves or rosemary
4 1		tablespoons chopped bell pepper small tomato diced
2		tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 1/8		crushed garlic clove -or a teaspoon crushed garlic teaspoon salt
1/4		teaspoon pepper

Sauce Ingredients:

3		tablespoons light butter, melted
2		tablespoons chopped fresh basil or rosemary leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1		tablespoon lemon juice

Salmon Ingredients:

4

(6 ounces each) salmon filets

Combine all relish ingredients in medium bowl; mix well. Cover; refrigerate until serving time.

Make aluminum foil pan.

Stir together all sauce ingredients in small bowl. Brush both sides of salmon with sauce.

Place fish on grill in pan. Cover; grill, turning and brushing with sauce once, until fish flakes with fork (10 to 12 minutes). Serve with relish.

A version of this recipe was found on LandOLakes.com. This is with my changes and my picture. Very healthy and it was very tasty on a February day reminding me of a summer meal.

Chocolate Rasberry Truffles

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I haven't stopped cooking, just been very busy. I don't want to work right now....taking a break. I am taking these truffles to an event tonight, so when someone wants the recipe, I will direct them here because they are sooooo goooood!

24 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (4Cups)

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened

1/3 Cup Baileys

a couple of drops of raspberry flavor if desired

1 pound dark chocolate candy coating

white candy coating, optional

In a microwave safe bowl or double boiler, melt chocolate chips, cream cheese, Baileys and flavor. ( did three minutes at 50% power but it may be different in different microwaves). Mix well until creamy. Chill until firm enough to shape into balls. I chilled for a while, then used a melon baller to place little piles on wax paper on a cookie sheet. Then placed the cookie sheets in the freezer while preparing the candy coating chocolate. Melt the dark chocolate candy coating in microwave or double boiler. Dip balls (may use some reshaping by rolling in hands before dipping) and place on waxed paper to harden. I used two small spoons to dip. Don't worry about the mess, it cuts off when dried. If you have white chocolate, melt some of that in a sandwich bag in the microwave. It doesn't take long to melt. Kneed the chocolate until smooth, clip the corner of the bag off and drizzle white chocolate over the truffles for fancy look :) Makes about 3 1/2 dozen. They are rich, so you don't want them too large.

Pumpkin Pie (actually butternut squash pie)

2 Eggs

1/4 teaspoon Cloves

2 C Pumpkin (I use butternut squash)

3/4 C Sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 Can (1 1/2 C) Evaporated Milk

1 Pie Crust

Mix all ingredients (except the crust - duh), pour into crust, bake in a 425 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Top with whipped cream if desired.

I prepared the butternut squash on a different day. Just cut in half, scoop out the seeds, bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or so, until the squash is able to be pierced with a fork. I really didn't time that, so it could take longer. I did not cover the squash, just placed them faced down with a bit of water in the pan to help steam. Once the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the meat of the squash and mash with a potato masher. Pumpkin from a Can could be used, but it does not have any texture- I think it too much like baby food.