Pineapple Stuff

How have we not posted this before? This is a family classic. It causes great excitement wherever it goes, and great disappointment if it gets dropped upside down on the carpet as soon as you walk in the door with it.

So don't drop it. You'll make people sad.

Pineapple stuff has four ingredients: 2 sticks of butter, one cup of sugar, four cups of white french bread all torn up, and a 20 oz can of crushed pineapple.

Melt the butter and pour over the torn-up bread in a large bowl. Then add the sugar and pineapple. Stir well. Dump into an ungreased 13 X 9 pan and bake at 350 for an hour, or until slightly golden on top.

Simple, right? And it keeps warm really well in a crock pot.

Oh and also, it's totally health food. Because it has fruit in it, people.

Slow Cooked, Seasoned Pulled Pork

This is the best way to prepare pork, ever. I dream about this dish. I have to make up special occasions to have an excuse to fix this for dinner. The original recipe is here, which includes instructions on cooking it in the oven. Since I'm a crock pot girl, I'm just going to do it my way.

You need to start this recipe the day before you want to serve it. You'll brine it one day, and cook it the next.

First of all, you'll need a big hunk of pork. If you can swing it, buy a large Boston butt. I usually buy a seven pound butt for 5-6 people, and that works out to just over $2.00 per person, which is really not bad. Make sure it has a nice layer of fat on one side and a bone running part of the way through. We need this for flavor.

Now, let's make the dry rub:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar (leave it out - you'll use it again later)
• 1 tbsp salt (ditto)
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp chili powder (get creative here with your leftover spices from the Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes)
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp paprika (or half regular and half smoked sweet paprika)
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper

Yes, it's rather like the sweet potato spice we just did. In fact, if you're like me and you're now keeping a container of prepared sweet potato spice on hand at all times, you could probably go ahead and just use that.

Now set that aside and work on the brine:

• 2 quarts cold water
• 1/2 cup salt
• 3 tbsp dry rub mix
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (you can put it away now)

Stir the salt into the water until completely dissolved, then add the brown sugar and dry rub mix and keep stirring. Finally, add the bay leaf. Find something large enough to hold the pork but small enough to fit in your fridge. You can use a large pitcher, a bowl, or a giant Ziploc bag. Make sure the pork is completely covered in brine solution. Leave it in the fridge for at least eight hours. I usually do more like 20 hours. I put it in the solution in the morning, then turn it before I go to bed.

If you're serving this for dinner, then you want to start cooking it first thing that morning. Take it out of the brine solution, and pat it dry with paper towels (this will help the dry rub stick). Then roll up your sleeves and press that dry rub onto every inch of the roast. Get it in all the little crevices. Don't skimp. Odds are there will still be some left when you're done. Keep it. You can mix it in with the finished product for some extra kick when you're done.

Now that your butt is sufficiently rubbed and covered in spice (that's a sentence I don't write every day), go ahead and drop it in the crock pot. I like to add about 1/4 cup water, but I don't think it's necessary. Now turn it on low and let it cook for ten hours or so. If you don't have ten hours, start it on high and switch to low after a couple hours.

When this thing is done, you won't need to pull it apart. You just look at it, and it separates. Your only job is to try and remove all of the bone and most of the fat. And to taste lots of samples and lick grease off your fingers.

Serve this however you want. I'd eat it plain, but we usually do sandwiches. This is supposed to be enough for lots of leftovers, but don't count on it.

It serves exactly as many people as there are.

Ultimate Chili

It has chocolate and four kinds of beans. That makes it ultimate, right? This is, so far, the only chili that I really care for. It's so rich that you could probably omit the meat entirely without any ill effects, which is why I'm tagging it vegetarian.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground meat
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1-2 jalapenos, or a can of green chilies
  
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 15-oz cans of beans, rinsed. Pick out whatever combination you have on hand, or whatever sounds good at the time. I used pinto, kidney, Great Northern, and red beans.
• 1 28-oz can crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 15-oz can corn
• 1 15-oz can chicken (or vegetable) broth
• 2 tbsp oil
• 5 tbsp chili powder (yes, that's tablespoons. I used about three, plus another tbsp combined ancho chili powder, chipotle chili powder, and New Mexico chili powder, left over from my sweet potatoes)
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Sauté the onions, garlic, bell pepper, and jalapenos in oil until translucent, then add the meat, cook through, and drain. If you want to cook this in a pot, go ahead and do this in the pot you want to cook with. If not, dump everything into the crock pot now.

Stir in the spices. Stir in the tomatoes, beans, corn, and broth.

As soon as it gets hot enough, be very brave and stir in the chocolate chips. Or, if you're me, resist the urge to dump in the entire bag.

Simmer gently for as long as possible. The longer it cooks, the better it tastes.

If using a crock pot, start it on high for an hour then switch it to low.

This is even better the next day. And it's super good for Frito chili pies.

French-style Green Beans

We're going to call this French-style because I found the recipe on a French website. And translated it for your dining pleasure. Really, though. It's now my favorite way to cook green beans. Actually, I wasn't a big fan of green beans before, but I could eat these every day.

It's the onion. I'll eat anything that has caramelized onion in it. I'd eat caramelized onions on ice cream.

The cream doesn't hurt, either.

Oh, and the almonds are great.

So yes, it's just generally a good recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of your favorite green beans - whole, French cut, regular cut, whatever. Use fresh if you want to. It's all good. Use two cans if you're really hungry. Use three if you have company.
  
• 1 onion, caramelized. The original recipe called for, like, 1/4 of an onion. As if.
• Slivered or sliced almonds. I use half of one small packet. Use as many as you like.
• 1-3 tbsp cream or coconut milk, depending on how decadent you feel.
  

Make sure you start caramelizing the onion early enough. Then start the green beans cooking and the almonds browning in some butter. Watch them closely. Do not burn them.

When everything is done, just drain the green beans (if all the liquid hasn't cooked away), mix everything in, and serve! It's a very pretty dish, as well as being super good and feeling way more indulgent than it really is.

Sweet & Savory Squash Casserole

This is adapted from a recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It's ostensibly a side dish, but it could be my whole dinner. And lunch. And breakfast. Seriously.

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 small butternut squashes (I'm sure sweet potatoes would work, too)
• 1 large, ripe pear
• 1 large yellow onion
• 3 tbsp bread crumbs
• 4 slices bacon, crumbled
  
• 1/4 c chopped walnuts
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
  

As soon as you think of it, start caramelizing the onion. I like to cook mine for about two hours over low heat, but do what you have to do.

Peel the squash (not as daunting as it sounds - just a regular potato/carrot peeler will do) and slice into 1/2" - 1" slices. Peel the pear, and use your best knife to slice it as thin as you can. Place one layer of squash into a baking dish, then one layer of pear. Repeat.

If you thought ahead and already have some beautifully caramelized onion, scoop that over the top now. If not, keep cooking and you can add it at the last fifteen minutes like I always do.

Bake - covered - at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the squash is nice and tender. Meanwhile, combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. When the squash is tender, take it out of the oven and spread your onions evenly on top, then sprinkle on the topping. Bake another 10-15 minutes uncovered.

Serves one. Unless you're not greedy like me. In which case it serves 4-6 as a side dish.

Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes

I love the name. I love the potatoes even more. I think the recipe originated here, but it's been making the rounds on lots of different websites. With good reason. They are sweet and spicy and creamy and completely addicting. Try them. Try them right now.

Ingredients:

• As many sweet potatoes as you think you can eat (and you'll be stuffing yourselves with them). My amounts will be for about 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes. Adjust as needed.
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt (I used no salt and substituted onion salt for onion powder)
• 1 tsp ground cumin (don't be scared, it tastes great in the end)
• 1 tsp New Mexico chili powder
• 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika (regular paprika, if regular and hot are the only two choices)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
  
• 1/4 tsp granulated garlic (I'm sure garlic powder would work, too)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
  

I found the chili powders and the paprika (and the granulated garlic) at The Spice Merchant in Wichita. I'm sure they're not too difficult to find. And they're worth it. Actually, the original recipe didn't call for ancho chili powder, but ancho chili powder is a bad idea never, amiright?

Peel your sweet potatoes and then slice them about an inch and a half thick. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in your sweet potatoes, be suspicious of any that sink, and boil them for 10-20 minutes, until they're smashable but not cooked completely through.

Take them out and let them cool.

Now, if you're adventurous, you smash them. You can do it right on the parchment paper (yes, you need parchment paper. They'll stick otherwise.) with a clear bowl so that you can see what you're doing. Use a spatula to slide the smashed potatoes off the bottom of the bowl. What we're doing here is making pretty edges, and giving them an opportunity to get sort of crispy and brown in the oven. Mine didn't, so I might not be smashing them next time. You could even do this to an entire sweet potato, but for that I would recommend smashing it, just to get more surface area for the spices.

Mix the spices in a bowl and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Melt the butter in small bowl, mix with olive oil, and then brush onto each potato. Sprinkle some of the spice mixture onto each one. Don't be stingy. Try gently patting the spices on to make sure they stick to the butter and oil. Flip each one over. They flip surprisingly well. Brush on the butter and oil, sprinkle with the remaining spices, and pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes. Take them out, flip them over (this does not work surprisingly well - it's kind of messy), eat all the crusty black caramelized sugar-spice from the spatula, and put them back in the oven for another ten minutes or so.

ETA: If you want a quicker and/or potluck appropriate dish, try it this way: Peel and slice your sweet potatoes like you're making scalloped potatoes (if you have a food processor with a slicing blade, it works just fine) and spread about half of them in a greased baking dish. Brush over some butter/olive oil mixture, then sprinkle a goodly amount of spice over them. Add another layer of potatoes and brush with butter/olive oil again. Sprinkle on some more spice. Bake, covered, until potatoes are tender - about 45 minutes to an hour. In the meantime, prepare some more spice mixture by combining it with equal part of brown sugar - we have a lot of surface area and we don't want it to be too spicy. Spread this over the top, put it back in the oven uncovered for another fifteen to twenty minutes to get the top all caramelized, and you're good to go. I think I may actually prefer them this way.

Fudge Frosting

This is my favorite chocolate frosting. It's very easy to make and has such wonderful homemade flavor. If you want it to be even more fudgy, add another square of chocolate.

2 (1oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/4 cup butter (not margarine)
3 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk, cream, or half-and-half
1 tsp. vanilla

In a medium mixing bowl, combine melted chocolate and butter, stir to blend. Slowly add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat well.