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Rack of Pork

thestlouiscooks

Happy New Year! We’re back at it with a holiday favorite, the rack of pork which is a pork loin with the bone in. I never had a rack of pork until later in life. This cut of meat is so succulent and flavorful. We love it when Fall hits and Costco starts selling this meat which is typically around Thanksgiving. Preparing the rack of pork is super easy. The challenging part is making sure it’s cooked to perfection while in the oven. All it takes is a close eye and a little TLC.

We celebrated the New Year with the rack of pork. The second time this holiday season. Cheers to the New Year!

Rack of Pork

  • Difficulty: Medium
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Ingredients:

  • 5-6 lbs. Rack of Pork – Pork Loin Bone In
  • 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil or enough to rub the whole rack
  • Rub pork with minced garlic – don’t hold back
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoon of Rosemary
  • Season with Salt and Pepper to your liking

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and prepare a broiler pan lined with foil.
  2. Place the rack of pork on the pan and rub with olive oil.
  3. Season with rosemary, salt, and pepper.
  4. Place the pork in the oven and cook in 450 degree oven for 15 minutes and then reduce to 350 degrees for 70-90 minutes or until an internal temperature of 145/150 in the thickest cut of meat. Halfway through cooking the pork, flip the rack to ensure proper cooking and browning on all sides. At some point, you may have to foil the bone part of the rack so not to brown too much.
  5. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting. Eat and enjoy with your favorite sides.

Family, Food

Pumpkin Spice Cake

thestlouiscooks

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Wow!  The trees are amazing colors of red, yellow, and orange.  It’s sweater and boot weather.  We had another red October and its football season. Yes, that’s right its Fall here in St. Louis and it’s beautiful.  One of the best things about living in the Midwest is the change of seasons.

Nothing goes better with the Fall season than pumpkin although I’m not a fan of pumpkin…at all! However, I must tell you that this was delicious.  It doesn’t taste anything like pumpkin pie. The pumpkin in this cake makes it very moist. It’s a must try during the fall season or better yet, a great desert for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin lover or not, this one is a keeper.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients:

  • 3 Cups of Flour
  • 1 Tablespoons of Ground Cinnamon
  • 2 Teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
  • 1 Teaspoon of Salt
  • 1 Cup of Butter, softened
  • 1 Cup of Sugar
  • 3/4 Cup of Brown Sugar, firmly packed
  • 5 Large Eggs
  • 1 Can (15 oz.) Pure Pumpkin
  • 1 1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
  • 3/4 Cup Whipping Cream

Icing

  • 5 Tablespoons of Butter
  • 1/4 Cup of Pure Maple Syrup
  • 1/4 Cup of Whipping Cream
  • 2 Cups of Powdered Sugar

**Optional – Candied Pecans to Top

Directions:

For the Cake –

  1. In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; Set Pumpkin before icingaside.
  2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars at medium speed, scraping the bowl often.
  4. Add eggs one at a time beating well in between.
  5. Beat in flour mixture alternating with cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
  6. Pour batter into a 12 cup bundt pan that has been lightly coated with Pam.  Bake in the oven for approximately 50 minutes or until a wooden tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  7. Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes.  Invert cake onto a wire rack to fully cool.

For the Icing –

  1. In a small saucepan, combine butter, maple syrup, and cream over medium-high heat; bring to a boil.
  2. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
  3. Slowly whisk in powdered sugar until smooth. Let cool until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
  4. Drizzle over cooled cake. Optional – Sprinkle with candied pecans.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Cake 5

Family, Food, Garden

Stuffed Zucchini on the Grill

thestlouiscooks

Zucchini Boats

Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables especially in the summer. I grew up eating zucchini all the time, but I have never eaten them stuffed.

On this particular night, we had one of those great meals…marinated, grilled flank steaks, pasta salami salad, and stuffed zucchini on the grill or zucchini boats.  It was our first time making them.  I must admit they were so easy.  Plus, we love it when the majority of our meal can be grilled.

Last year I could have used this recipe, because I had an abundance  of zucchini from the garden.  However, this year the moles took over and decided they liked my zucchini 😦  I had to buy this batch from our local grocery store, Dierbergs, but they always have wonderful produce.

Stuffed Zucchini on the Grill

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients

  • 4 medium Zucchini
  • 1/2 cup chopped Bacon (we prefer real bacon as opposed to bits)
  • 1/4 cup chopped Black Olives
  • 1/2 cup diced Green Chiles
  • 1/2 cup minced Red Onion
  • 1/2 cup chopped Tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Tablespoon of fresh Basil from the garden

Directions

  1. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp to about 1/4 inch from the skin.  Chop the pulp.
  2. In a bowl, mix the zucchini pulp, bacon, black olives, green chiles, onions, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese.  Season with fresh basil and salt and pepper.
  3. Stuff the zucchini halves with the mixture. Seal each half with aluminum foil.
  4. Prepare the grill. Place packets on the grill over indirect heat. Cook approximately 15-20 minutes or until tender.

With stuffed zucchini, you can get creative with the mixture but I don’t think we will deviate from this recipe.  It was so delicious – stuffed zucchini or zucchini boats whatever you prefer to call them!

Enjoy!

Family, Food, Kids

Avocado Pineapple Blueberry Salad

thestlouiscooks

Perfect Summer Salad
Perfect Summer Salad

During the heat of the summer, I love trying different salads, however I can’t take credit for this one. My husband pulled this one together. We seem to be on an avocado kick right now so sticking with that theme, here’s a great refreshing salad with or with out avocados.

Avocado Pineapple Blueberry Salad

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 6 cup of mixed Greens
  • 3/4 cup of diced Pineapple (fresh or canned) – can grill if time permits
  • 3/4 cup of fresh Blueberries
  • 3/4 cup of diced Avocados
  • 1/4 cups of thinly sliced Red Onions
  • 3/4 cup of Lemon Vinaigrette
  • Dash of Salt and Pepper
  • Fresh Parmesan Cheese

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, toss the mixed greens with dressing; reserving 3 tablespoons of dressing.
  2. On five to six separate plates, evenly disperse all the greens.
  3. In the same large bowl add the pineapple, blueberries, avocados, onions, and remaining dressing;
  4. Disperse the mixture evenly over the greens. Add seasoning and sprinkle with cheese if desired. Serve immediately.

This salad was a hit with the family, however the kids preferred the salad with out the avocado’s. We also kept it very simple by using bottled Lemon Vinaigrette, but you can make your own or use any kind of Citrus Vinaigrette.

It’s a quick and yummy summer salad! On this particular night, we didn’t have enough time to grill the pineapple, but I do highly recommend grilled pineapple.  We love it!

Family, Food, Garden

Garden Success – Basil

thestlouiscooks

Fresh Basil
Fresh Basil

I’m a city girl who just started gardening. Last year, I had so much success that I couldn’t wait for Spring of 2013. This year we tried out a few herbs, basil being one of them. I left the herbs in pots thankfully so because I have some creature taking over my garden that I planted in the ground (will give you more details about that in another post).

Back to the basil, I was craving a salad to accompany my meat loaf, conveniently so, I had a box of Near East Taboule Wheat Salad Mix on hand. I decided to follow a Greek Taboule Salad recipe that also called for fresh basil. I was so excited to cut my first batch of basil. Holy cow, it smelled so good. I cut my basil leaving the bottom leaves in tact so that I could ensure more growth in three weeks.

It’s pretty awesome enjoying the sweet success of planting your own seeds, not to mention a tasty quick Taboule Salad with fresh basil!

Greek Taboule Salad
Greek Taboule Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 package of NEAR EAST Taboule Wheat Salad Mix
  • 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 cup of crumbled feta cheese ( I like the Athenos Garlic and Herb variety)
  • 2 large Roma Tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 cup of cucumbers, chopped
  • 1/4 cup of fresh basil
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • Lettuce Leaves
  • Lemon wedges

Directions

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine wheat salad mix and contents of spice packet.
  2. Stir in 1 cup of boiling water and oil. Let stand for 30 minutes.
  3. Stir cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lemon juice into wheat mixture. Cover and chill for 2 hours.
  4. Serve on top of lettuce leaves with fresh ground pepper if desired.

This quick salad was so good. Do you have any good recipes using basil? I’d love to hear them.