Grandpa's Home Cooking

Roasted Maple Pork Tenderloin, Braised Red Cabbage, & Black-eyed Pea Salad

Here's the finale! A delicious and tender roast pork tenderloin. Serve this roast with a braised red cabbage and a black-eyed pea salad and you'll have a great dinner. (Scroll down or use the index to find the recipe for the braised red cabbage and black-eyed pea salad sides.) 

This is a delicious meat option that is often overlooked. Although called tenderloin, the meat may not be tender if not carefully prepared. The cook can influence the outcome. The tenderloin is the leanest cut of pork. As you know, without fat, meat may end up being really tough--unless you prepare the meat to achieve a better result.

Great grandma used her muscle power and a great big sharp kitchen fork to tenderize lean meat. You can do the same--or--you can use a modern hand tool, such as a Jaccard Tenderizer, to get a super result. Put the tool on the meat and push down. This tool has many blades to penetrate the meat. Secondly, great grandma didn't overcook the meat. When she looked in the oven, and she may have even poked the center of the roast with her index finger, she knew when the meat was done just right. Great grandma may have also used her carving knife to make a cut in the middle of the roast to see if it was still slightly pink.

A roast ought to be still slightly pink in the center to be done just right! You lose the pink and you've over-cooked the meat and it's going to be d-r-y and t-o-u-g-h. Fortunately you and I have the option to buy an instant read thermometer and check the roast temperature often enough to make sure we do not cook the meat beyond 160 degrees. That is done! If you don't have an instant read thermometer--use your eyes to look for doneness, your index finer to feel the doneness, and cut into the center of the roast with your carving knife to see if the center of the roast is still a little pink! Suit your self on doneness, but I prefer to serve the meat at a bit less than 160 degrees (155 degrees), but still done. To each his own. 

The picture is of 1/2 of a 3lb pork tenderloin roast I prepared. Spoon some of the liquid from the pan on the roast (I didn't do this for the photo to keep the picture clear.) I spooned baked Granny Smith apple chunks around the roast.

Three pounds will serve 6. If you buy a prepackaged roast, as I did, and you have a small family, you'll probably have enough meat for two dinners. We like to prepare enough food for two meals. 

Here's how to prepare a pork tenderloin roast.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 to 3 pound pork tenderloin roast
• 2/3rds cup maple syrup
• 3 Tablespoons dijon mustard
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider (or whatever juice you've got)
• 1 Granny Smith apple chopped 
• 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
• Salt and pepper (I like to use my mix* of salt, pepper, and garlic powder)

* Combine 1 cup of salt, 1/4th cup of black pepper, and 1/4th cup of garlic powder in a jar. Cap the top and shake. Use your fingers to sprinkle the seasoning mix over the meat. Keep your jar handy and use the seasoning mix often. 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small mixing bowl, mix together the maple syrup, mustard, apple cider, apple chunks, and soy sauce.

Get your cutting board and tenderizer tool out and set them on the counter. Put your pork tenderloin roast onthe cutting board and use your tenderizer to puncture the entire roast! Use a big cooking fork if you do not have a tenderizing tool.

Put the meat in a roasting pan. Pour the sauce over the roast. Season the meat to your liking. Roast the meat at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Baste the meat every 15 minutes or so. After 30 minutes when the meat starts looking near done, start using your instant read thermometer to check the temperature. The meat will be done at 160 degrees.  (I prefer the meat to be roasted to 150 to 155 degrees).  When the roast is done to suit your taste, let the meat sit for 10-15 minutes before you start carving it.

Country Sausage & Fried Taters

This old *Hoosier still likes to make and eat Country Sausage and Southern Fried Taters! Yep. Just like Pappy used to eat, except this batch was made from shredded taters and on-yown instead of sliced tater rounds and shredded own-yons. I still like to fry up sliced taters, but I think the country sausage and shredded taters looks pert good together in my cast iron skillet.

Yes, I fried the taters with yellow onions in my cast iron skillet just like my great grandmother fixed 'em for pappy. And they tasted real good. Although, I must admit, I think I like to eating the sliced fried tater rounds a  bit more. Why? I don't know. They just seem to be more like the real deal. Maybe it's because they're a little greasier. (Oh I can hear the howling clear down here in NC.)

The sausages were broiled. I always broil sausage rather than fryin' them to cut back on eatin' grease. You get enough grease from eating the taters:-) And all together, it is an unbeatable combination. Specially if you put a little catsup on your plate and pull your fork full of taters, onions, and sausage through the catsup on the journey up to your mouth.  Try 'em. This is the way to put a little taste of the South in yo mouth!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 peeled and sliced potatoes or a bag of shredded potatoes
• 1-2 yellow onions, sliced (white onions are too sweet)
• Crisco:-) or vegetable oil
• 1-2 pounds of country sausage (as much as your bunch can eat)

Instructions:

Turn the heat under a heavy skillet to medium. Put enough Crisco, vegetable oil, or saved bacon grease in your skillet to fry the taters golden brown. About a fourth cup will do just fine. Use a spatula to keep turning the potatoes now and them to get them to brown evenly. When I fry round potato slices I look to fry them to a uniform golden brown. As the potatoes start to brown I turn the flame down as slow cooking is the best way to get the potatoes golden. 

I prefer to broil the sausage. Set a rack on a pan. Put the sausages on the rack. Then put the pan in the oven under your broiler. Use tongs or a spatula to turn the patties now and then until they are fried just right--just like you see them in the picture. I put the sausages on the potatoes and then set the cast iron skillet on the dining room table for folks to serve themselves.

This is another one of those meals that serves well with a glass of ice cold milk, a glass of red wine, or a cup of hot coffee. Whatever suits you! Make sure to set a bottle of catsup on the table because this provides a a fine taste to round out the meal.

*Hoosier:

Just what is a Hoosier. That's a person who was born and raised in Indiana. This old Hoosier, as were others my age, the children of ancestors who moved up from Kentucky--or in the case of A. Lincoln, folks who moved down to Indi-aner from Illinois. What does Hoosier mean? I don't know. There are many theories on this. The one I like best is that it was a quick, slurred salutation exchanged by town folk--"Hows Yor?" -- Meaning, how are your kin doing.

It has been said that Hoosiers were folk who moved up from Tennessee or Kentucky to get flat farm land or to find jobs in manufacturing. I suspect both are true, except southern Indiana is beautifully hilly.

And by the way. There is a southern state that no one considers southern. It's Indiana.

Country Sausage & Rice Casserole

This is a great one dish hearty supper. And it is easy to fix. Use any ground sausage you wish, but if you can find bulk country sausage it is wonderful in this dish. Around here the place to buy it is Cliff's Meat Market. But you can find packages of country sausage at the supermarket too.

I haven't had sausage this good in years! There is nothing to compare with fresh farm prepared country sausage. 

Ingredients:

• 2pound of bulk country sausage, browned 
• 6 cups of cooked rice (2 cups of uncooked rice cooked will yield 6 cups)
• 4-5 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 large sweet onion chopped
• 1 Green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup (or more) of chicken broth
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley

Note 1: My daughter, Stephanie, makes this dish and she adds a can of the Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles (mild).  This sounds very good to me!

Note 2: I love white basmati rice. You can buy it in bulk at Whole Foods. Try it. The aroma and taste is wonderful.

Instructions:

1. Chop the vegetables and set them aside.

2. Cook the rice. Rinse the rice with water in a strainer several times. Then pour the rice in a saucepan. Add water to be one index finger knuckle above the rice. Boil until the water is level with the rice. Put a lid on the pan and turn the heat to low. Do not take the lid off of the rice until you're instructed to do it:-) Cook the rice on low for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, set the pan off the burner for an additional 15 minutes to allow the rice to steam. Then take the lid off the pan and use a fork to fluff the rice. Pout the cooked rice in a casserole bowl and set the dish aside.  

3. Brown the sausage in a frying pan over medium heat. Drain the excess oil. Use a spatula to move the sausage into the casserole with the rice. Stir the sausage and rice together. Set the casserole aside.

4. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

5.  Sauté the celery, onions and bell pepper in butter in a frying pan over a low medium hot burner. Add salt and pepper as desired. When the vegetables are cooked through, use the spatula to transfer the vegetables into the casserole dish with the rice and sausage and stir the ingredients together.

6. Pour a cup of chicken broth over the rice, sausage, and vegetables and stir. 

7. Put a lid on the casserole dish and put the casserole in the oven and heat for 30 - 40 minutes. If you need to keep the casserole warm for more time than is needed to reheat the dish, add a little more chicken broth if it is needed and reduce the temperature of the oven to 225 degrees.

8. Sprinkle fresh chopped parsley over the top of the ingredients in the casserole and serve. 

Serves 4-6. Multiply the ingredients as is required to serve a crowd. Make this dish for a church pot luck dinner, covered dish dinner, or bake an extra large casserole in an aluminum pan to take to the community shelter.

Apple & Berry Stuffed Pork Loin Roast

 

Ask the butcher to butterfly a pork loin roast twice to result in having a piece of meat that is in one long, evenly thick rectangle (the term is "butterflied twice"). There are butchers who are happy to do this for you. My experience has been that Whole Foods butchers respond with a smile and tell you they'll be glad to do it. The butcher starts with a nice round roast and cuts the meat so it will become a flat piece of meat of equal thickness. See the first picture below. Make sure the butcher leaves a piece of fat on top for roasting to keep the meat juicy. 

You're going to prepare a stuffing that you'll lay evenly over the top of the piece of meat. See the second picture below.

Then you will simply start at one end and use your hands to roll the meat back into a round roast. You will then secure the roll by tying butcher string tightly around the roast at each end, and with another one or two stings in the middle if your doing a big roast. This is what you see in the picture above.

Ingredients:

• A pork loin roast equal to the size you need to feed those at the table (6-8 oz per serving)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 2 tart apples, chopped in cubes (such as Granny Smith)
• 1 Cup dried berries (raisins are good. I used dried tart cherries and apple juice infused dried cranberries)
• 8-10 fresh sage leaves
• 2 cups bread cubes
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 Slices of Applewood bacon (optional)
• Chicken broth (You'll need 1/2 to 1 Cup, but it's good to have more available if needed)

The above ingredients are enough for a 3 1/2 to 4 pound roast.  The roast pictured is only a 2 pound roast, so I cut the recipe in half. Double the recipe if you're going to fix a 6 or 8 lb roast.

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a heavy deep skillet, heat the olive oil using a medium-high heat setting. Add the onions and apples and stir the ingredients well. Add the berries and stir them in. Finally, gently stir in the bread cubes. When the ingredients are cooked just to the point of being soft, gradually start adding chicken broth until the ingredients are nice and moist.  Turn the heat off and move the skillet off the hot burner. Let the ingredients cool.

Lay the roast out flat on a board and start spooning the cooled stuffing ingredients on the meat from one end to the other until there is a nice even layer of stuffing. Then use your fingers to start rolling the meat up into a mice round roast. Tie butcher string tight around each end to hold the roast together. Then add 1 or 2 more strings in between only if they are needed to hold the roast together. You can buy a small quantity of butcher string at supermarkets or at stores that sell kitchen utensils.

You may want to consider topping the roast with 2 strips of Applewood bacon for moisture and flavor. 

Cook the roast for about an hour and a half at 375 degrees until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the roast registers 160 degrees. If you do not have a digital meat thermometer it is a good idea to buy one, along with a replacement battery or two for back up. It's not way cool to need your thermometer and discover the battery is dead.

Let the roast rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing it. 

Here are photos of the butterflied roast and two of the preparation steps.

Pork Chops ala Rusty Pipes

Here are four pork chop recipes for your dining pleasure. The first recipe is  for Mom's Pork Chops followed by three recipes I came up with over the years. I made my updated Mom's pork chops for dinner last week. Here is a picture of two chops fixed with applewood bacon.

Here are four pork chop recipes:

1. Mom’s Fried Chops: Heat olive or canola oil in a skillet to medium high. Put the flour in a wide dish. Mix in a generous dose of salt and pepper. Then dredge both sides of the chops in the dish. Transfer the chops to the hot skillet. Fry them until they are browned nice on both sides. This is just old fashioned, country boy pork chops and they can’t be beat.

I’ve updated this recipe to cook strips of applewood bacon on the chops. It’s all about adding flavor. And, the fried bacon is good to eat. You’ll see the applewood bacon in the picture.

Serve the pork chops with homemade apple sauce. See my recipe for crock pot apple sauce.

2. Baked Pork Chops: Just pour some white wine in the bottom of a broiler pan and put the top on the pan. Don’t use rot gut wine—it ought to be a wine you’d be mighty proud to drink. Take a sip from a glass to make sure you like it. Then put the broiler rack or top on the pan.

Salt and pepper both sides of the chops. Black pepper will be the choice for most cooks, but I like to cover my chops with Cayenne pepper. Oh yeah! The rest of the family chooses a very light dusting of black pepper.

Place chops on the rack or top of the broiler pan and put the pan in a preheated  350 oven. Bake the pork chops for about 40 minutes until they are done and still juicy. The chops will taste wonderful and cooking them over wine will fill your house with a wonderful aroma.

Before putting the chops in the oven, fork some nice dark Garnett yams or sweet potatoes. You’ll bake the potatoes for a about and hour and 20 minutes. Be sure to prick the skin of the potatoes in several places on each potato with a fork so they don't explode in your oven. Put the chops in the oven when there is 40 minutes remaining. Put a plate of butter on the table for the sweet potatoes. Set a dish of my crock pot apple sauce on the table and you’ll have a fine autumn meal.

3. Broiled Pork Chops: Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops. Put the chops on top of the broiler pan. Now lay a big wide ring of sweet onion and a ring of green bell pepper on top of each chop. Finally, pour some Thomas or Sweet Baby Ray barbecue sauce in the center of the onion and green pepper rings. Put the pan under the boiler until they are done. The length of cooking time will depend on your placement of the oven rack under the broiler. Keep an eye on the chops. You’ll see when they are done. These chops are delicious.

You’ll see from the picture taken many years ago that this was one of the dishes I prepared for my wife when we were just married … when we didn’t even have a cookbook. Yes, I invented this recipe. Nancy named it “Rusty Pipes’ Pork Chop Aux Champignons.” I remember this being the first meal I cooked for Nancy in our new apartment in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. Here I am cooking in that apartment 33 years ago. 

4. Rusty Pipes' Crock Pot Pork Chops Aux Champignons

Ingredients:

• 2 or 3 Irish potatoes, peeled and halved
• 1 bunch of green onions, trimmed of roots and some of the green
• 2 cups fresh mushrooms, cleaned and halved
• 1 can Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup
• 1 can water
• Lawry's Season Salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Instructions:

Put the potatoes in the bottom of the crock pot. Place the onions (bulb with some of the green remaining) on top of the potatoes. Salt and pepper the pork chops with Lawry's season salt and put them on top of onions. In a medium mixing bowl, mix the contents of 1 can of Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup with a can of water and pour the soup mix over the pork chops. Put mushrooms on top of the soup mix. Cook for about 5-6 hours. When done, put pork chops on platter with the mushrooms and onions and potatoes and pour the gravy in a boat separate bowl. Serve with good black bread and butter. 

Ribs!

Grandpa's Ribs Are Juicy and Delicious

Tangy and delicious!

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Ingredients:

• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed tight
• 3/4 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 Tablespoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1-2 racks of pork baby back ribs
• Cookie sheet, covered with foil (Unless you prefer to clean up a mess!) 
• Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce

Instructions:

Mix the 10 rub ingredients in a bowl with a fork. This is enough rib rub for 2 racks. If your doing less than 2 racks, what the heck. Use it all:-) You can't have too much rib rub! Rub the meat side of the ribs with the rub mix. Move the ribs to the foil lined cookie sheet.  Put the ribs in a preheated 325 degree oven to slow cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. (The ribs take exactly 2 hours in my oven). When there is 20 minutes left, squeeze Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce on the ribs and return them to the oven. Be careful. You don't want to overcook the ribs or you'll be eating dry bones! 

Grandpa's Baked Ham

My dad, Lloyd Pipes, loved good food, and Mom loved to cook. Dad and Mom made sure we had the best food, even when money was thin. Dad loved hot baked ham sandwiches, and they were often served to family and guests. His spirit of giving to others started with his family, reached out to our extended family, and further yet to a wide group friends. Mom and Dad’s enthusiasm for sharing good food and their generosity resulted in meals being festive occasions that were celebrated by all who came to the table.

Baked ham dinners were a specialty and served with all of the trimmings, including Rosen’s Jewish rye bread, big egg rolls, Great Grandma See’s potato salad, Mom’s special baked beans, yellow and Dijon mustards, and a platter of midget sweet pickles, olives, and real kosher dill pickles that Dad cut into spears. Dad would make a platter of his famous fudge and Mother baked cakes and pies.    

Dad also loved taking the family out for a great ham sandwich at Weiss’s Deli or to Shapiro’s Deli for a giant corned beef or hot pastrami served on their delicious rye breads. And, he never passed up the fabulous desserts made in Shapiro’s bakery.

After 75 years of operation, Indianapolis’ renowned Weiss’s Deli closed in 1995. Fortunately, Indianapolis still has the original, venerable Shapiro’s Deli in downtown Indianapolis. I believe that Shapiro's, which has been operating continuously since 1905, is the second oldest deli in the United States. Shapiro’s has another deli located in Carmel, Indiana, which is just outside of Indianapolis’ north side.

We went to Weiss and Shapiro delis often when I was a boy, and I still go to Shapiro’s when in Indianapolis. I frequented Weiss’s in the 1970s when I worked in downtown Indianapolis. On many sunny, cloudy, or even rainy days, I’d put on my old straw hat, leave my office on N. Illinois, and walk over to N. Pennsylvania to stand in a long line for a wonderful Weiss sandwich, fresh potato salad, and a slice of rhubarb pie.

Back in the wonderful 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and beyond, the men behind the counter at Weiss’ were positioned in behind the steam tables serving counters, with racks of ham positioned before them under infrared lamps for slicing. They’d trim off some (but not all) of the abundant browned sugared fat and drop chunks of fat into a stainless steel cylinder in the steam table.

As the orders came, the servers used big sharp knives to slice the ham and lay the juicy, succulent ham on your choice of Rosen’s fresh-baked rye bread or big egg roll. I recall some of the old-time customers in front of me pointing to the fat cylinder in the steam table and hollering to the server “And, put some of that nice fat on the top of my sandwich!”

The server would pile the ham high on the bread or roll, then use tongs to pick up a couple of big chunks of brown sugared fat from the steam table, carefully lay the fat on top of the ham, and then put the finishing slice of bread or roll on top of the sandwich before handing the plate to the customer.

You can still make one of these delicious ham sandwiches in your home. Finding a half or whole bone-in, pre-cooked ham that’s not spiral sliced will not be easy. I’m probably safe in saying you’ll not find one in a supermarket. You’re more likely to find one in a small, high-quality meat market. Around here, this would be Cliff’s Meat Market in Carrboro, NC.

Although some claim there are more slices per pound in a shank portion I, like my father, prefer to buy the half, bone-in, butt portion (or a whole ham when serving guests). I use the bone and the ham that remains at the bottom of the butt portion, to make old fashioned bean soup.

Ingredients:

• Half or whole pre-cooked, bone-in ham (not spiral sliced)
  
• Brown sugar (I like dark, but light is okay)
  
• Whole cloves
  
• Orange or pineapple juice
  
• Pineapple slices and maraschino cherries (optional)
  
• Hot baked brown-sugar fat (optional for sinners)
  
• Kosher rye bread and/or egg rolls
  
• Your favorite mustards
  
• Relish dish (kosher dill pickle spears, sweet pickle midgets, and olives)
  
• Potato salad
  
• Hot baked beans
  
• Ice cold Pepsi or root beer
  

Instructions:

I want to bake a ham that still has a nice layer of fat as well as some skin. I want a juicy ham. Use your sharpest chef’s knife to cut diagonal lines through the skin and fat, first one way and then the other, so you will see diamond cuts all over the ham. Plug each corner of those diamonds with a whole clove. Now pack a thin layer of brown sugar on the ham. You might also use toothpicks to pin pineapple slices and maraschino cherries on the ham. Put the ham on a baking sheet, cover it with foil, and put the pan in a pre-heated 350 degree oven.

 

When the baking process begins, the cloves and brown sugar will begin flavoring the fat and the meat and create a heavenly smell in your house. Warm a half of ham for about an hour (ask the butcher how long for the weight of the ham you are being sold). When 20 minutes remain, pull the pan out of the oven and remove the foil. Pour orange juice over the ham and return it to the oven for the remaining baking time. Remove the ham from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing it.

Put slices of fresh Jewish rye and egg rolls on the table, along with potato salad and baked beans, a relish tray, and a dish of kosher dill pickle spears.

Set up a carving end of the table. Lay a couple of terry cloth towels on the end of the table, and set the ham in a wire rack upright for slicing. You can find a ham rack in a specialty kitchen supply store. Otherwise, set the ham upright by positioning the base of the ham in a small saucepan. Then invite folks to the table. You might position yourself to stand behind the ham and be prepared to slice the ham with a sharp chef’s knife. Slice the ham evenly around the bone and onto bread or egg rolls. Enjoy your friends and a heavenly feast!