Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe

Today is the final Tuesday of October's National Pork Month and my final Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe for awhile (I'll continue to post more pork recipes in the future but will be taking a break for a bit).  This week's recipe screams fall and uses a pork product I haven't used yet - pork brats!  I modified a Rachael Ray recipe to create my version of Harvest Brats.  I hope you enjoy it!

Harvest Brats

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil
4 pork brats
2 cups water
2 apples (your choice on variety - I like to use Fuji because it is my family's favorite apple)
1 onion
Salt and pepper
1 cup apple cider
1/3 cup brown mustard
2 Tbsp brown sugar
4 brat buns

Ingredient Line-up

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with some vegetable oil on the bottom of the pan.  Place brats in pan and brown both sides.  This will take 4-5 minutes.

Once brats are browned, add water so the water is up half way on the brats.  Cook brats for 8-9 minutes.

While brats are cooking, slice both the apples and onion.  Feel free to leave the skin on the apples.  I use an apple corer/slicer and then cut eat of those slices in half.

Once brats are cooked thoroughly, remove brats from pan and set aside.  Get rid of any excess water in pan and add apples and onion to pan.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until tender, 4-5 minutes.

Whisk apple cider, brown sugar and mustard together.

Add cider mixture to apples and onions and bring up to a bubble.

Add brats and simmer at low heat for 3-4 minutes.

Serve brat on a bun with apple and onion mixture over top.

Enjoy!

I hope you have enjoyed my National Pork Month recipes.  I've enjoyed sharing some of my favorite recipes and I hope you've enjoyed getting some new recipes!

Now it is time to announce last week's pig silicon pot holder winner - congratulations Sara!  I'll get your new pot holder out to you soon!

Now for this week I'll be giving away my last pig silicon pot holder.  To be entered into the randomized drawing, share your favorite new recipe in the comment section.  Thank you once again to the Iowa Soybean Association and the Soybean Checkoff for the pot holders!  The winner will be announced next week!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm happy to report that we finished combining on Saturday!  We now are working on finishing the rest of fall field work including fall tillage and eventually applying fall anhydrous.  So what does this all mean?  Well, it means that we're still busy in the field, but we know have time to eat supper as a family at home at the kitchen table (and not in our individual tractor or combine cabs)!  Here are a few photos from the past couple weeks of harvest.

LP practicing his tractor driving skills

My ride!  Tractor with catch cart

LP reading a tractor book, while in the tractor

Combine at night

LP being silly while getting ready to move to a new field

Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe

Once again I go another week with no other post besides my Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe!  But I am happy to report that, that, should change because we finished harvest!!!!  Well, I should correct that, we finished combining.  Which means that LP and I won't be in the field anymore.  Tomorrow I'm planning on posting some photos from the end of harvest.

Now onto this week's Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe in honor of National Pork Month.  I decided that this week's recipe should be all about comfort, so I'm sharing my recipe for Tater Tot Casserole.  It is nothing fancy but it is how I like to make the classic dish.  I love anything I can do in a 9x13 pan and that only takes six ingredients!  I also have to admit, growing up I never had Tater Tot Casserole very much growing up but whenever I did I loved it.  This recipe is something I completely threw together with ingredients that I thought should be in the casserole.  My family likes it, so I feel like it works.  I hope you enjoy!

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
1 - 32oz package tater tots (with onion if available)
1# ground pork
1 cup frozen corn
1 - 16oz container sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Ingredient Line-up

Place tater tots in greased 9x13 pan.

I don't find the need to line up the tater tots - I just throw them in!

Brown ground pork.

I cook the pork in the microwave and then reuse the dish to mix other ingredients.

Top tater tots with pork.

Top casserole with corn (or whatever frozen vegetable you like).

Meanwhile, mix sour cream and soup together.

Add cheese to mixture.

Mix well.

Spread on top of casserole.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes until brown and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Now it is time to announce last week's pig silicon pot holder winner - congratulations Nicole!  I'll get your new pot holder out to you soon!

Now for this week I'll be giving away another pig silicon pot holder.  To be entered into the randomized drawing, share your favorite "comfort" food in the comment section.  Thank you once again to the Iowa Soybean Association and the Soybean Checkoff for the pot holders!  The winner will be announced next week!

Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe

Things have been busy on the farm with harvest, obviously since I haven't blogged since my last Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe...  Anyways, as promised, here is another favorite pork recipe in honor of National Pork Month.  I figured I have done recipes with ham, bacon, and ground pork, so today I better do a pork rib recipe.  This is my favorite way to make pork ribs.  It is so simple (crock pot!) and the meat just falls off the bone.  Plus, I use my homemade BBQ sauce on the ribs.  I modified this recipe from a Pillsbury recipe.  I'm afraid no photos because I haven't been home to cook supper in the last week - I've been too busy in the field!

Slow-Cooked Hot and Spicy Pork Ribs

An adaptive version using Country Style Pork Ribs
click here for the recipe

Ingredients:
2 racks of pork ribs
3 garlic cloves, minced

BBQ Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2-3 spoonfuls minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1-2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt

Place pork ribs in slow cooker.  Sprinkle with garlic.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

About 30 minutes before serving, drain and discard juices from the slow cooker and pour or spoon BBQ Sauce over the ribs.  To make the BBQ Sauce combine all ingredients, mix well.

*** Special Ingredient Tip ***  Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce is bought in a small can.  You will never use the entire can in one recipe, so what I do is put the entire can (chiles and sauce) in a small food processor and mince till chiles are finely chopped.  Use in recipe as directed and put unused in a ziploc bag.  Freeze leftovers and thaw next time chipotle chiles in adobo sauce are needed in a recipe.  (I learned this from Rachael Ray!)

Now it is time to announce last week's pig silicon pot holder winner - congratulations Nicole!  Please send me your mailing address and I'll get your new pot holder out to you!

Now for this week I'll be giving away another pig silicon pot holder.  To be entered in to the randomized drawing, share your favorite crock pot recipe in the comment section.  How easy is that!  There were only two people that shared last week - they had a 50% chance of winning, so share this week and see if you win!  Thank you once again to the Iowa Soybean Association and the Soybean Checkoff for the pot holders!  The winner will be announced next week!

Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe

Me during the Pride of Iowa contest demonstrating
Fiesta Pork Soup (age 16)

It's Tuesday and time to share another Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe in honor of National Pork Month.  Now this week's recipe I decided to also honor National 4-H Week, an organization I am a very proud alumni of, as well as volunteer for today.  When I was in 4-H as a member of the Clear Lake Sailors in Hamilton County, Iowa, I always participated in the Pride of Iowa contest every year at the county fair.  The gist of the Pride of Iowa contest is that 4-Hers give a live cooking demonstration and the food they make must include an Iowa product in it.  One year for the contest, I made the recipe I'm going to share today.  I got the recipe from the National Pork Checkoff and fell in love with the recipe's simplicity and flavor.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Fiesta Pork Soup 

My kitchen helper

(This is a great recipe for kids to help with or for a teen to take the lead on.)

Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
8 oz picante sauce
1/8 tsp. ground pepper
2 cups (or 1 - 14 1/2 oz can) chicken stock/broth
1/8 tsp. ground cumin
1 - 11oz can condensed fiesta natcho cheese soup

Ingredient line-up

In medium saucepan, cook and stir pork until browned.  Drain.

Add chicken broth, picante sauce, cumin and pepper; bring to boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cheese soup; simmer until heated through.  Do not boil.

Pour into serving bowls; garnish with sour cream and tortilla chips.  Serves 5.

(I like to dip with my chips while
My Farmer likes to crunch up the chips as if they were crackers!)

Now it is time to announce last week's pig silicon pot holder winner - congratulations Dee W!  Please send me your mailing address and I'll get your new pot holder out to you!

Now for this week I'll be giving away another pig silicon pot holder.  To be entered into the randomized drawing, share your favorite soup to warm up with in the fall and winter in the comment section.  Thank you once again to the Iowa Soybean Association and the Soybean Checkoff for the pot holders!  The winner will be announced next week!

Harvest Blogger's Tour 2012

For the 2nd year, Franklin County Tourism, Franklin County Farm Bureau and Latham Hi-Tech Seeds, hosted a Harvest Blogger's Tour.  This year's Harvest Tour took place over this past weekend and had bloggers from Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and New Hampshire.  This is a great opportunity to showcase Franklin County, Iowa from agriculture, to entertainment, to great food!  There are two requirements of the bloggers that participate:

1. They must find a way to get themselves to Hampton, Iowa for the weekend.
2. They must blog about their experiences.

If they do those two things, the entire weekend (Friday-Sunday) is taken care of for them - lodging, food, entertainment, etc.  A few things the bloggers did over the weekend this year include going on a tour of the Old Stone House, toured the REA plant, went star gazing while sampling wine from a local winery (Town's End Winery), went on a tour of the Franklin County Historical Society Museum and Grandpa's Farm, went shopping in downtown Hampton, went to the Windsor Theater for a live Vaudeville show, and participated in the Harriman-Nielsen Historic Farm Fall Festival.

I was happy to be able to join the group for awhile on Saturday while they focused on agriculture.  To start with, the group traveled to Latham Hi-Tech Seeds and heard from the North Central Iowa Ag in the Classroom staff about the program, as well as went through a couple of the lessons that they do for kids in local schools.

Ag in the Classroom

Then the group went on a tour at Latham's.  Following the tour, the group went to the Roy Arend's Farm, where they got to go on tractor and combine rides.

Blogger group with the Roy Arend's Farm Family

It was great to interact with the bloggers.  They had a lot of great questions about agriculture in Iowa.  The Harvest Blogger's Tour is a great opportunity to not only promote tourism to Franklin County and Iowa, but it is a great chance to spread the messages of agriculture to new audiences through the bloggers followers.

I can't wait to see what results from this year's Harvest Blogger's Tour and I can't end this post without linking my requested Sweet & Spicy Hog Wild Baked Beans recipe!

Farm Friday

This week we've been busy harvesting corn.  Since we started harvest a little over four weeks ago we really haven't had a break, meaning we haven't had any measurable rain that has really slowed us down.  There has been maybe 1 1/2 days total that we've been out of the field due to rain.  I know I'd love a day of rain to not only settle all the dust and soil in the field, but also to give everyone a day of rest!

I love helping out in the fall!  Now sometimes that means I have to run for parts to fix our equipment and sometimes that means I get to work in the field, usually driving the tractor with the catch cart.

LP and I riding in the tractor with the catch cart.
LP likes helping out with harvest too!

Having someone in the field running catch cart allows the combine to "dump on the go" so it never has to stop.  I follow along the combine when it is full of grain and then it empties out the grain into the grain wagon that I'm pulling in the tractor while still harvesting.

Combine "dumping on the go" on the tractor with catch cart

The corn harvest this past week has been going pretty well.  Yields are slightly better than we expected this summer before fall work started.  We can't complain about that - especially with this summer's drought!

Lastly I wanted to share a photo of our farm team.  Rarely are we all in one field but earlier this week, one evening before calling it a day, everyone was in one field discussing the plan for the next day.

L to R:  Rusty, Merlin, LP, My Father-in-law and My Farmer

My 100th Blog Post!!!

I just noticed that my last blog post, Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe, 

was my 100th blog post!  

(I created this word cloud through Wordle - a free word cloud website.)

Just had to celebrate!

Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe

In honor of National Pork Month, my first installment of Tuesday Tasty Pork Recipe for the month is one of my favorite pasta dishes that includes two pork products - ham and bacon!

Val's Sicilian Pasta Sauce
(One of my favorite restaurant's growing up was Valentino's, an Italian restaurant, which has a great Sicilian Pasta.  So this is my rendition and take on it!)

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. bacon
2-3 Tbsp. margarine
2-3 cloves garlic, grated
3-4 Tbsp. flour
2 cups whole milk
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 tsp. chopped parsley
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 cups diced ham
2 cans sliced mushrooms
2 cups Italian shredded cheese

Cut bacon into bite-sized pieces and fry.  Once bacon is fried to your liking, set aside.

Add margarine to bacon grease.  Let melt and then add garlic.  Cook for one minute and then add flour to make roux.

Slowly whisk in milk to make sauce.

Once sauce is made, stir in bouillon cube, parley, Italian seasoning...

and the ham, bacon and mushrooms.

Finally add the cheese and let sit over medium heat for a couple of minutes.

Serve sauce over choice of pasta.  My family's preference is rotini or radiatori noodles.

What's your favorite pork product to cook with - ham? bacon? ground pork? pork chops? ribs? roast?  Share the name of your favorite pork product to cook with in the comment section and you'll be entered to win a pig silicon pot holder from the Iowa Soybean Association and the Soybean Checkoff!  The winner will be announced next week!