After talking about it for years, Shawn and I finally signed up for a farmshare/CSA type thing-y. Yup – in November. Not exactly prime harvest time here in upstate New York, but I’m determined to make it work. I figure as packed as my cabinets are, as long as I have a steady stream of fresh produce I won’t have any excuse not to cook a decent dinner.

Then, my first delivery came. And let’s just say it wasn’t exactly the easy-to-throw-together staples that I was expecting. Daikon? Turnips? Mustard Greens?!  I started by focusing on the familiar: apples, apple cider, garlic… those ingredients seemed to be calling for pork chops.

I started by brining my chops in apple cider. This is one of my absolute favorite ways to cook pork – it the brine infuses them with a subtle apple flavor and makes them incredibly moist and tender. I pretty much refuse to eat pork chops that haven’t been brined. Then I cooked them in a cast iron skillet and finished them off with a cider and cream sauce inspired by one I had at a Dairy Council event last weekend.

On the side, I served stuffing* with onion, celery, and diced apple and I sautéed the mustard greens in a little olive oil and loads of garlic. The the pork and the stuffing were earth and sweet, the bright, bitter greens served as a palate cleaner and really tied the dish together. Without them, the flavors might have been too muddled.  Mustard greens aren’t exactly the easier thing to find at the grocery store, but Swiss chard or even spinach would make a great substitute.

(No, it wasn’t stuffed into anything. And no, I won’t call it dressing. Stuffing 4 Life!)

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Pork Chops with Cider Pan Sauce

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 3 cups apple cider divided
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 8 fresh thyme springs divided
• cracked black pepper
• 2 pork chops about 1/2 pound each (or one large pork chop cut in half crosswise)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon butter
• ½ shallot minced
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Instructions

• In a saucepan set over medium heat, combine 2 cups apple cider, salt, brown sugar, garlic, 4 thyme sprigs, and cracked black pepper (about 1 teaspoon). Bring to a simmer and allow salt and sugar to dissolve. Let cool completely. Place the pork chops in a shallow container with a lid. Pour the brine over top. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
• When ready to cook: Remove the pork chops from the brine and pat them dry. Heat a heavy pan over high heat. When hot, add the oil. When the oil is sizzling, add the pork chops (don’t let them touch in the pan) and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the bottom is nicely browned, then flip and cook for another 5 minutes or until center is no longer pink and an internal temperature of at least 150. Transfer the chops to a 200-degree oven to keep warm.
• Pour off any fat and return pan to the stove. Melt the butter and sauté the shallot until softened, 1-2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 cup of cider and 4 thyme springs. Bring to a simmer and let reduce by half. Remove thyme stems. Stir in cream. Serve pork chops with the pan sauce.

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club,I was paired with Erin from The Spiffy Cookie. The Spiffy Cookie is mainly a baking blog but because I’ve been sharing so many sweets lately (and have another one that I’ll be sharing later this week) that I was determined to find a savory recipe that was easy enough to make for dinner after a long day at work.

Well, I definitely found a winner! These jalapeño popper stuffed burgers are fast, easy, and delicious (And you know how much I love putting jalapeño popper flavor where it doesn’t belong… jalapeño popper mac and cheese anyone?). I’ll spare you the close up photo of the inside, but these burgers are filled with a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar, and jalapeño peppers. It was spicy, melty perfection.

Served on whole wheat buns with lettuce, red onion and a side of baked sweet potato fries, these burgers were a big hit! I think they’d be great made with turkey, too. I’m not normally a turkey burger kind of girl, but I have a feeling that these flavors would work really well.

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Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Burger

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 1 large jalapeño pepper chopped
• 1 ounce reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 ounce shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 pinch cumin
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• salt and pepper
• 4 rolls
• Optional toppings: red onion lettuce, additional cheddar

Instructions

• In a small bowl, combine the jalapeño, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic, and cumin. Mix well.
• Divide the beef into eight pieces; shape into patties about the same diameter as your rolls, pressing the centers very thin but leaving a 1/4-inch ridge around the edges. Divide the filling evenly between four patties, spreading it evenly to fill the center of the burger. Top with the remaining 4 patties, flipping them over so the thin center forms a pocket over the filling. Press the edges to seal.
• Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat until very hot. Reduce heat to medium-low. Place the burgers in the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. If desired, top with additional cheddar cheese.
• Serve on rolls with lettuce and thinly sliced red onion.

Notes

Adapted from The Spiffy Cookie

Doritos Locos Taco Bake. Yup, I went there.

And you know what? I don’t regret it at all.  Those folks at Taco Bell were really onto something.

I’ll be honest – Taco Bell totally grosses me out. I stopped eating there long before the whole “our meat isn’t even meat” scandal and I don’t  have plans to start any time soon. But I just had to see what all the fuss about Doritos Locos Tacos was about, so I took matters into my own hands.

Taco bake is one of my most popular recipes, and all it took were a few small tweaks to give it a new look and feel. WOW. Where has this been all my life?

Unlike the tortilla chips that my original recipe calls for, baked Doritos stay nice and crispy even after they’re topped with meat, beans, salsa, and cheese. Their cheesy flavor is also bold enough to stand up to other big flavors, so beef works much better in this version too (I prefer to use ground chicken in the original). I like to keep the flavors big and bold by using the hottest salsa I can bear – usually a mix of half of a generic store brand hot salsa and half Mrs. Renfro’s Ghost Pepper Salsa. Top it off with some Cholula and sour cream, or some guacamole and chow down.

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"Doritos Locos" Taco Bake

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 2 ounces Baked Doritos about 24, plus more for serving
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Onion chopped
• 2 Garlic Cloves chopped
• 2 Jalapeno Peppers chopped
• 1 pound Extra Lean Ground Beef
• 2 Tablespoons Taco Seasoning
• 1 can Black Beans drained
• 1 cup Hot Salsa I like to use equal parts hot salsa and ghost pepper salsa
• 1 cup shredded Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese
• Optional: Additional toppings such as jalapenos sour cream, olives, or guacamole

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350.
• Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic and jalapenos. Saute 5 minutes, or until soft. Add meat and taco seasoning. Cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, for about 5 minutes. Add beans and salsa. Mix well and continue to cook until salsa thickens.
• Line the bottom of a casserole pan with tortilla chips, pressing down on them lightly to break them into bite-sized pieces. Spread the meat and bean mixture over the chips and top with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and gooey.
• Cut into 8 servings. Top as desired. Scoop up with additional chips.

I started with a simple spice rub – it never ceases to amaze me how these relatively boring spices combine to form the unmistakeable flavor of barbecue. As soon as they’re mixed together to form a rub, there’s no question as to what your making. This blend goes equally as well with a mustard based sauce as with a tomato based sauce, which is nice because it gives you options. If you want to have a sandwich the next day but you don’t want to feel like you’re eating leftovers, just change out the sauce! Since the recipes yields so much, you can also freeze some of the pork and pull it out to use with whatever sauce you want later on.

Since pulled pork isn’t the healthiest thing on the planet, I balanced out my plate by eating mine open-faced on just half a roll and serving kale chips on the side. Together, it made a perfect meal!

Also, I also used Reynolds slow cooker liners for the first time when I made this – where have these been all my life?! I bought them forever ago but kept forgetting to use them. They really dead make clean up super easy.

Bourbon-Mustard Pulled Pork

• 1 Tbs smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 4.5 pound boneless pork shoulder (sometimes sold as pork butt)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1 Tbs Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp molasses
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 habenero, seeded and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled

Combine paprika, sage, mustard, salt and pepper in a small dish. Rub over all sides of pork. Set a large, heavy pan over medium heat. Sear pork on all sides until browned. Transfer to crock pot.

Whisk together stock, bourbon, mustard, an molasses. Pour over the pork. Add remaining ingredients to the crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours. By this time the pork should be extremely tender and should shred easily with a fork. Use a slotted spoon to transfer shredded pork to a serving dish, discarding the cooking liquid.

Serve with mustard sauce (below)

Yields approx. 17 3-ounce servings
Approx. 295 calories, 16 grams fat, 0 grams fiber, 30.5 grams protein

Mustard Sauce

• 1/2 cup dry mustard
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 Ts brown sugar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• dash cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Yields approx. 1 cup sauce