Pork Curry with Peppers and Asparagus Rice

Ingredients Pork Curry:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds pork loin
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt (guessing on this, adjust to taste)
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
Black Pepper

Ingredients Asparagus Rice
2 1/2 cups Water
1 cup Long Grain Rice
2 teaspoons "Better Than Bouillon- Beef" (or one bouillon cube)
1 pound Asparagus

Directions Pork Curry
Cut pork into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes and place in a ZipLoc bag
Add 1/3 cup oil, curry powder, salt a sprinkle of black pepper and shake until all the pork pieces are well coated.
Cut peppers into roughly 1 inch square sections
Dice the garlic cloves

30 minutes before serving...
Add some oil and garlic to a wok or frying pan and bring up to temperature.
When garlic begins to brown, add pepper, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes
Add coated pork and continue to stir occasionally until the pork is cooked (about 20 minute)
Add oil as needed.

Direction for rice
Trim the asparagus spears as normal.  Then cut off the tips and slice the remaining stalk into 1/4 pieces.
Bring water to a boil, add bouillon and stir until dissolved.  Then add rice, asparagus tips, and stalk pieces.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Simmer until water is absorbed and the rice is tender (30 to 40 minutes).  Stir a couple times while simmering to mix the asparagus with the rice.

Quick Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients
250 grams spagetti
1 lb raw medium size shrimp shelled and cleaned
1 lb fresh plum or cherry tomatoes
butter
oil
TUONG OT TOI VIET-NAM Chili Garlic Sauce

Prepare the spaghetti as directed on the package.  Keep in mind the sauce will take about 30 minutes.

For the sauce...

Chop the tomatoes into 1/2 inch pieces (if cherry tomatoes, cut them in half)

Put 2 table spoons of oil into a frying pan and heat slightly.  When the pan is warm (not hot) add the chopped tomatoes (if the oil is hot it will splatter when you add the wet tomatoes).

Add salt, black pepper, a table spoon of Chili Garlic Sauce, and a table spoon of butter.

Simmer the sauce on medium heat to cook down the tomatoes (not so hot that you evaporate the liquid) for about 20 minutes.

Add the shrimp and cook until they are cooked through.

Serve over the spaghetti.

Quick Pineapple Ham with Rice (about 35 minutes)

Actually the rice will pace this dinner which takes about 35 minute.

Serve two.

Prepare 1 cup (uncooked) rice as directed on the package (typically 2 cups water to 1 cup rice. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer for 30 minutes)

You will need about 3/4 pound (give or take) of left over ham or a portion of ham steak (not sliced lunch meat...  the ham needs to be chunky)

one 8 oz can of Dole sliced pineapple (4 slices)
1 green or yellow pepper (or any type of whole pepper you prefer)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon back pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
butter
vegetable oil
2 table spoons honey

Open the can of pineapple, remove the slices and reserve the juice.

While the rice is simmering, brown the pineapple slices in a little butter in a none stick pan then set them aside.

While the pineapple is browning, chop up the green pepper into 1/2 inch pieces.

Add the cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt to the reserved pinapple juice

Chunk up the ham into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces

Using the same pan, used above add a table spoon of oil and sauté  the pepper for about 5 to 10 minutes then add the ham and continue to sauté the combination on low.

About 8 minutes before the rice is done, add the pineapple, pineapple juice and honey to the pan and simmer on low.

Serve the mixture over rice when the rice is done.  A little soy sauce is good with this dish.

Super Simple Pot Roast

We tried to do a pot roast with minimal preparation for a weeknight dinner.  Minimal slicing and dicing.  This turned out surprisingly well and got rid of some left over pasta sauce at the same time.

Beef pot roast  (about three pounds)
Salt
Pepper
1 bay leaf
4 garlic cloves
3 celery stalks
2 medium onions
1 cup of beef boulion or beef stock
1 cup of pasta sauce

Salt and pepper the roast then brown it on both sides in a dutch oven (about 10 minutes per side).
Cut the two onions in half and add to the pot.
Add the celery stalks and four whole cloves of garlic and a bay leaf.
Add one cup beef boulion and one cup of past sauce.
Place in oven at 325 for about 3 hours.
Remove meat and vegetables and thicken the remaining sauce with a little flour and water to make a gravy.
Serve with mashed potatoes.

Pepper Steak Sauce

I scribbled this down a week ago and want to get rid of the sticky note, so here it is in the blog now...
(revised Jan 26, 2021 rice vinegar and honey added)

Pepper steak sauce mix,

In a cup or bowl add...
1/8 cup fish sauce
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup sesame oil
1/8 cup of peanut oil (assuming no one has a issue with peanuts...)

1/4 teaspoon rice vinegar 

1 table spoon honey
2 cloves of garlic crushed
ground pepper
About a 1//2 inch of ginger root trimmed and diced

Note this sauce was used with steak, peppers and onions.

The peppers and onions were stir fried in a wok with a little peanut oil.

The above sauce was added to the wok about 5 minutes before serving.

I also threw in a 1/2 cup of slivered almond that I had browned before searing the steak.   I used the steak pan for this.

Steak was seared in a separate pan and added to the wok just before serving (added and stirred in to coat the meat with sauce).

I also deglazed the steak pan with a little wine and added this to the wok as well.

Considering I was winging it, it turned out petty well.

March 2nd Beef Stew

Ingredients:

2 cups red wine
1 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
1.5 to 2 pounds stew beef
2 medium onions
3 cloves of garlic
Vegetable oil
2 slices of bacon
1 cup flour
Salt pepper
Ziplock bag
4 medium to large potatoes
3 carrots
1 cup boiling water
1 beef bouillon cube
3 celery stalks
2 bay leaves


Place the 2 cups wine in a sauce pan and bring to a steady boil.  Continue boiling until the wine has been reduced to one cup.  Set aside.

Add one bouillon cube to 1 cup of boiling water.  Set aside.

Place 1 cup of flour in a Ziplock bag.  Add pepper and salt.
Coat the cubes of beef by placing them in the bag and shaking until the beef is evenly coated.
Remove the beef from the bag an set aside.

Place a couple tablespoons of oil in a Dutch oven and heat on medium.  Add the bacon strips (lay flat) and fry until the bacon is fully cooked then remove the bacon and set aside.

Place the beef in the Dutch oven brown the cubes.  You may need to do this in two or three batches.  Do not crowd the beef in the Dutch oven. You also may need to add more oil if the pan begins to dry out.

While the beef is browning, chunk up the two onions and the garlic cloves.  When the beef has been removed from the Dutch oven, add the onions and garlic an brown them lightly.

While the onions are browning, peal and cube the potatoes.  Also peal and chunk up the carrots.

When onions are lightly brown add the following to the Dutch oven:
- Beef
- Bacon
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Wine
- Bouillon broth
- Celery
- Bay leaves
- Tomatoes

Sprinkle with pepper and cover.  Simmer on the stovetop for 2 hours (checking occasionally to assure it does not dry out. ) Alternatively place in oven at 320 F for 2 hours.

Serve with good bread.