Green Tomato Pasta with Bacon

I made this for dinner tonight; a nice change from regular spaghetti. You have to love the split-personality nature of a recipe that has you frying things in a combination of olive oil and bacon grease.

• 6 slices thick cut bacon
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves pressed garlic
• 3-4 medium green tomatoes, diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 yellow sweet pepper, chopped
• 2/3 cup grated cheese (Romano, parmesan or mozzarella)
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 pound spaghetti

Fry bacon in skillet. Remove and drain on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon bacon grease, mix in olive olive. Saute garlic for 1 minute, then add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cook for 7-10 minutes. Add wine and chopped peppers. Cook for about 10 minutes, until sauce thickens. Add parsley and crumbled bacon; stir in just before removing from heat.

While sauce thickens, cook pasta to al dente stage. Drain, reserving some of the hot pasta water. Add cheese and sauce to pasta along with 1/2-1 cup of the water. Stir thoroughly and serve. Serves 3-4.

Sausage and white bean soup

A hearty bean soup for winter. I recently made this with the vegetable stock and the sausage cooked separately when taking a meal to a family of mixed vegetarian/omnivores.

• 1.5 pounds dried navy beans
  
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1.5 pounds smoked sausage
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
  
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
  
• 1.5 tablespoons minced garlic
  
• 12 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  
• 5 cups water
  
• 3 bay leaves
  
• 1 teaspoon thyme
  
• 1 tablespoon salt
  
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  

Soak beans overnight. Cook and slice sausage, set aside.  In bottom of soup pot, heat oil, then saute onion, celery and garlic.  Add beans, stock, water, salt and spices.  Bring to boil, cover partially, reduce heat and simmer 3 hours. Mash about half the beans with potato masher. Add sausage and heat through.  Top with shredded cheese, if desired and serve with bread.

Saucy Sausage Casserole

Wonderful for a brunch or a holiday breakfast.

• 6 oz. box long grain and wild rice
  
• 1 lb. pork sausage
  
• 1 lb. ground beef
  
• 1 chopped onion
  
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  
• 1/2 cup water
  
• 4 oz. can sliced mushroom
  
• 8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts
  
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  
• 3 oz. sliced almonds, toasted
  

Cook rice according to package. Brown beef and sausage with onion. Mix rice rice and meat mixture with everything except almonds. Spoon casserole into dish, sprinkle with toasted almonds and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Pork spareribs

Another dish from our New Year's dinner. Enjoy!

• 3-5 pounds pork spareribs

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 4 dashes Tobasco sauce

Bake ribs in 325-degree oven for 90 minutes. Drain. Cook onion in margarine for 10 minutes, then add rest of ingredients and bring sauce to a boil. Pour sauce over ribs and bake 45 more minutes.

All-in-one Pork Chop and Potato Casserole

I adapted this recipe when I was looking for a full meal casserole I could carry to my husband's elderly grandmother's house to serve for Christmas Eve dinner. It got the full approval of the family!

• 8 pork chops
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 14 oz can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 10 oz frozen peas and carrots (optional)
• 4 cups prepared mashed potatoes

Grill or pan fry pork chops, reserve 1/2 cup drippings (I like the George Foreman for this). Prepare frozen vegetables, if desired, drain and set aside. Place pork chops in large casserole dish. In skillet, heat butter with pork drippings. Saute onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add flour and stir until pasty. Mix in salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Gradually add chicken broth, then water, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly. Mix in vegetables and heat thoroughly. Pour over pork chops. Spread mashed potatoes over mixture, seal edges. Cook 25-35 minutes at 350 degrees. If refrigerated before cooking, allow plenty of extra time.

Pork Adobo

I've had a lot of fun experimenting with this recipe and have included a few variations below. It's good, but tends to taste very salty, so if you want to avoid that I'd suggest either using less soy sauce or salt or adding some slices potatoes or black beans to soak up the excess.

• 1 1/2 pounds pork roast, cubed
• 1/3 cup vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine everything in large pot or crock pot, soak at least 30 minutes. Cook at least one hour over medium heat until meat is tender, or slow-cook it all day in the crock pot. I like to shred the pork and serve it like barbecue over black beans and rice or in tortillas, but you can leave the meat chunky if you prefer.
Additions that are tasty and make it more stew-like:

• 1 large minced onion
• 1 chopped bell pepper
• 1-2 cans black beans
• several sliced red potatoes