Rootbeer Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Ingredients:  

1. 4 pound pork shoulder

1 giant bottle of root beer

1 (18 ounce) bottle Sweet Baby Rays

Also don't forget:

Buns

KFC Coleslaw

Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker. Drain well.  Shred pork and discard the bone.  Stir in barbecue sauce and cook for about another hour.  

Sweet, Spicy & Salty Candied Pecans

Sweet, Spicy & Salty Candied Pecans

By Jennifer Segal

These candied pecans are perfect to serve with cocktails or toss over salads, and the best part is that they take just 15 minutes to make!

Servings: Makes 2 cups

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Total Time: 15 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 4 teaspoons water
• 2 cups pecans (8 ounce bag of pecan halves)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the Confectioners' sugar, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, and water.  
3. Add the pecans to the sugar mixture and stir until the nuts are evenly coated.
4. Transfer the pecans to the prepared baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Do your best to make sure the nuts are evenly spread out (if they are clumped together, they won't cook evenly). Scrape out every last bit of glaze from the bowl and drizzle over the nuts. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the pecans are caramelized and the caramel on the baking sheet is a rich brown color but not burnt. (The nuts around the edges will darken first; watch closely so they don't burn.)
5. Immediately slide the parchment off of the hot baking sheet and allow the pecans to cool completely on the countertop (this stops the cooking process and prevents the nuts from burning). Once cool, remove the pecans from the parchment, breaking apart any clusters if necessary, and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.






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6. Note: If the nuts are sticky after cooling, that means they are a bit undercooked. Pop them back in the oven for a few minutes and let cool again.

Caramel Corn

Ingredients:

25-26 cups plain popped popcorn (use 1 cup popcorn kernels and then take out a few cupfulls)
2 cups dry roasted peanuts

2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Pop popcorn.  (6 tbsp oil and 1 cup popcorn kernels) in a large stockpot.  Pour most of the popcorn out in a giant bowl.  Place a cooling rack on a baking sheet and pour the remaining popcorn on the baking rack so that the seeds can fall through.  Caramel covered popcorn seeds are no bueno for teeth.  Make sure all seeds are filtered out and place the popped popcorn into a turkey roaster pan.  Add the 2 cups of peanuts to the popped corn. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees.   Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil on a VERY SLOW BOIL for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.  If your boil is too fast then the caramel mixture will be ruined.
3. Remove from the heat, and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pan, and stir to coat. Don't worry too much at this point about getting all of the corn coated.  It will all melt together as it cooks and you stir it every 15 minutes.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes, removing the pan, and giving them each a good stir every 15 minutes. Test for chewiness.  Line the counter top with waxed paper. Dump the corn out onto the waxed paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.
5. Note:  When cooled, can drizzle with white and dark chocolate.  Yummmmy!

Simple Sauteed Zucchini/Squash

Ingredients:

Zucchini/Squash
Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper
Dried Thyme (or Italian Seasoning)

Directions:

1.  Cut zucchini into 1 inch chunks
2.  Heat oil in a pan on medium until shimmery
3.  Sauce zucchini for 8-10 minutes
4.  Season with dried thyme (or another seasoning)

Baked Pork Tenderloin in a Garlic Herb Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

Italian Dressing
2 pounds pork tenderloin
2 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
2 Tablespoons diced garlic (optional)
5 Tablespoons Butter
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Trim fat off pork tenderloin
2. Marinate in about half a bottle of Italian Dressing (I marinated it for about 6 hours)
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.
5. Generously season meat with salt and pepper.
6. In a large pan, heat oil until shimmery.
7. Add pork to pan, and cook on all sides until dark golden brown (about 3 minutes each side)
8. Transfer to baking sheet.
9. Generously coat on all sides with Italian seasoning mix (1/2 Tablespoon per side, per tenderloin).
10. Cut butter into about 10 pieces.  Place pats of butter on top of the pork (about 5 pats per tenderloin)
11. Wrap in foil, bake until meat is 150 degrees internally at the widest, thickest part of the tenderloin (about 25 minutes.)
12. When pork has come to temperature, remove and let rest, tented with foil, for at least five minutes to lock in juices.
13. Slice against the grain and serve immediately with herb butter sauce.

**********I served with brown rice and sautéed zucchini/squash**********

Mini Fruit Galettes

Sally's Baking Addiction:

Ingredients

• 
  2 unbaked Pie Crusts (use recipe on Risherrecipes)
  2 and 1/2 cups (about 350-400g) mixed berries or other fruit (see note)
  1 Tablespoon (8g) cornstarch
  2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
  1 teaspoon lemon juice or vanilla extract
  2 Tablespoons (30ml) whole milk, for brushing*
  optional for topping: coarse sugar and/or chopped/sliced nuts
  
  Instructions

1. Pie crust: I like to make sure my pie dough is prepared before I begin. Make pie dough the night before because it needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before using. (See note.)
2. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Make sure you have enough room in your refrigerator for these baking sheets because the shaped galettes must chill in step 7.
3. Prep the filling: Gently stir the berries, cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice/vanilla together in a medium bowl until combined. Place in the refrigerator, covered or uncovered, until step 5.
4. Shape the crusts: Working with 1 chilled pie dough at a time, place the dough onto a floured work surface. Roll into a large 12-inch circle. Use your warm hands to mold any cracking edges back together.  From the circle, cut rounds using a 5.5 or 6 inch cookie cutter. I simply use the rim of a bowl that’s about that size. Or you can use a ruler and cut circles with a sharp knife. You’ll have to re-roll the dough scraps a few times. Work quickly because the dough becomes much more delicate the longer it’s at room temperature. You’ll get about 5 rounds per pie crust.  For thickness, you can get 3 of the mini pie rounds on the first roll of the dough, then 2 on the second roll.  Repeat with 2nd chilled pie dough for a total of about 10.
5. Fill galettes: Arrange dough rounds on prepared baking sheets. Remove filling from the refrigerator and spoon about 1/4 cup into the center of each dough round, leaving any excess juice behind in the bowl. Gently and tightly fold the edges over the filling leaving the very center exposed, as you see in the photos and video tutorial above. Make sure the mini galettes are tight and compact so they don’t unfold themselves or lose shape while baking.
6. Brush the edges of the pie dough with milk, which helps guarantee the dough will brown. If desired, sprinkle with coarse sugar and/or sliced almonds/nuts.
7. Chill the shaped galettes in the refrigerator, covered or uncovered, for at least 20 minutes and up to 4 hours. The galettes will lose shape if they’re not chilled. You can preheat the oven as they finish up chilling.
8. Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C).
9. Bake chilled galettes for 25-28 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
10. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 5 minutes before enjoying. You can enjoy warm or at room temperature. Serve plain or with ice cream or whipped cream.
11. Cover leftover mini galettes and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

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Notes

1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Pie dough, whichever you use, can be made ahead of time and chilled in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months, too. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling out and filling. You can assemble the mini galettes in steps 5 and 6, then chill in the refrigerator in step 7 for up to 4 hours. I don’t recommend longer than this because the crust could become soggy. Baked and cooled galettes can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator then bring to room temperature, if desired, before enjoying.
2. Fruit: You can pretty much use any fruit here. Rinse, peel, slice/chop, and pat dry as necessary. Make sure the fruit is in thin slices (apples, peaches, pears, plums) about 1/8 or 1/4 inch thick or bite-size pieces. I suggest using berries or at least some berries in the filling. I used 1 and 1/2 cups strawberries and 1 cup blackberries. I recommend slicing strawberries as I did in these photos so they’re flatter slices and you can layer more into each. See my blog post above for different fruit filling ideas. Fresh fruit is best, but you can use frozen if needed. For best results, thaw the fruit first. Blot dry as much as you can before using in the filling.
3. Lemon Juice or Vanilla Extract: You can use either. Think about which will pair best with the fruits you’re using. I like using lemon juice with berries.
4. Milk: I recommend whole milk for brushing on the crusts, but you can use lower fat, nonfat, buttermilk, half-and-half, or even heavy cream (which will be very thick, thin with a bit of water). You can also use nondairy milk.
5. Half Batch: For about 5 mini fruit galettes, use 1 pie dough disc and save the other for another time. (See pie dough recipes linked above for freezing instructions.) Halve each of the filling ingredients. All assembly, chilling, and baking instructions remain the same.
6. Chilling the Baking Pans in the Refrigerator: If you’re nervous to chill the baking sheets in the refrigerator then bake them (which can cause warping), you have two other options. You can simply assemble the galettes on parchment paper or silicone baking mats, lift the parchment/baking mat as a whole and place on another baking sheet or directly onto a shelf in the refrigerator. After chilling, carefully lift up and place the entire parchment/baking mat onto the baking sheets for baking. Or you can use a thin spatula and very carefully transfer the assembled unbaked galettes to a large plate to chill.

Fruit Filling Ideas

Use 2 and 1/2 cups of fruit in the filling. You can pretty much use any fruit. Fresh fruit is best, but you can use frozen if needed. For best results, thaw the fruit first. Blot dry as much as you can before using. Here are my favorites:

1. Mixed Berries: Use any combination of mixed berries for a total of 2 and 1/2 cups. I used 1 and 1/2 cups strawberries and 1 cup blackberries. I recommend slicing strawberries as I did in these photos so they’re flatter slices and you can layer more into each.
2. Single Berry or Dark/Sour Cherries: Use 2 and 1/2 cups of one berry such as strawberries, blackberries, or blueberries. Or use dark or sour cherries. Avoid using all raspberries. Instead, combine them with other berries. They’re particularly juicy on their own.
3. Apple, Peach, Pear, Plum (or combination): Use 2 and 1/2 cups of 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick slices. If the slices are particularly long, cut them in half. Feel free to use brown sugar in the filling and/or add a little cinnamon or other spice you enjoy.
4. Banana: I’ve tried this! Use 2 and 1/2 cups of sliced banana. No need to mix with cornstarch unless you are using banana and another fruit listed above. Add a dash of cinnamon, the lemon juice (to prevent browning), and use brown sugar instead of granulated sugar.

Pie Crust

Sally's Baking Addiction:

Ingredients

2 and 1/2 cups (315g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
6 Tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
3/4 cup (148g) vegetable shortening, chilled
1/2 cup (120ml) ice water

Instructions

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the butter and shortening.
2. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter and shortening into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal (pea-sized bits with a few larger bits of fat is OK). A pastry cutter makes this step very easy and quick.
3. Measure 1/2 cup (120ml) of water in a cup. Add ice. Stir it around. From that, measure 1/2 cup (120ml) of water– since the ice has melted a bit. Drizzle the cold water in, 1 Tablespoon (15ml) at a time, and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon after every Tablespoon (15ml) added. Do not add any more water than you need to. Stop adding water when the dough begins to form large clumps. I always use about 1/2 cup (120ml) of water and a little more in dry winter months (up to 3/4 cup).
4. Transfer the pie dough to a floured work surface. The dough should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the fats. Form it into a ball. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half into 1-inch thick discs (about 4 inches wide) using your hands.  Makes a double pie crust.
5. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (and up to 5 days).
6. When rolling out the chilled pie dough discs to use in your pie, always use gentle force with your rolling pin. Start from the center of the disc and work your way out in all directions, turning the dough with your hands as you go. Visible specks of butter and fat in the dough are perfectly normal and expected!
7. Proceed with the pie per your recipe’s instructions.

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Notes

1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare the pie dough through step 4 and freeze the discs for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using in your pie recipe.