Oriental Pork Soup

I have been doing the Spring Purge around here, even though Mother Nature seems to have missed the memo that Spring officially started last week!

I have a cupboard that I keep all of my cookbooks in.

I have TONS of the little magazine ones from ages ago, that I always feel I can't part with, but now with the internet and Pinterest, I never seem to dig out and dust off.

So, I told myself I had to weed through them and pull the recipes that I wanted to make someday out, and file them, and throw the magazines away.

I found one with coupons in it that expired in December of 1992.

(gasp!)

So, my cupboard took a breather, as did the one next to it, that took over part of the now empty one, and I found this recipe in a very old version of a Betty Crocker's Busy Day Crock Pot Meals Cookbook. I made it almost exactly how it was written but changed the ground pork to sliced, and the ginger root to ginger paste, because that was what I keep on hand.

Oriental Pork Soup

adapted from Betty Crocker

2 pork chops, sliced thinly

1 cup julienne strips of carrots, I used shredded carrots in a bag

1 clove minced garlic, or 1 teaspoon garlic puree

1 teaspoon ginger paste

1/4 cup soy sauce, I used reduced sodium

32 ounces chicken broth

2 cups water

1/8 -1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 medium green onions, sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 cup bean sprouts

Cook meat over medium heat in a small amount of oil for about 10 minutes, or until evenly browned.

Drain any excess fat.

Add all ingredients EXCEPT mushrooms and bean sprouts, to your crock pot.

Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

Stir in mushrooms and bean sprouts, cover and cook on low for one hour more.

Makes six servings.

**I browned my meat the night before and put all of it in the crock pot the next morning! **

Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy

To me, this is the ULTIMATE comfort food. It was one of my favorite things my Mom made me as a kid, and something that I still make to this day when I need a little "comfort."

Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy

4-6 Pork Chops

Flour

Salt & Pepper

Oil

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

2 cans of mushrooms (or use fresh)

1-2 soup cans milk

Heat oil a large skillet with a lid. (just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan)

Dredge pork chops in flour, sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Add pork chops to oil and brown well on both sides. 

Remove pork chops from pan and set aside.  

To drippings add about 1-2 cups of hot water and stir until bubbly.

Add soup, mushrooms and milk and stir to combine.

Replace pork chops, cover and simmer for about an hour, or until they are nice an tender, flipping occasionally so they don't stick.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Ah. 

My Grandma's Stuffing

My Grandma Czaplewski always had Thanksgiving dinner.

When she passed away, a month after I gave birth to my first son, Spencer, we moved it to my Mom's, but the dinner stayed EXACTLY the same.

Every year, my Mom says " should I make something different? It's like the same 'ol same 'ol."

I always reply "NO!!"  

I am a creature of habit.  

It is a dinner that I look forward to every year, and I want it EXACTLY the same!!

I swear that last year, I took a photo of the stuffing with intentions of posting this year on my blog.

Can't find the darn picture ANYWHERE!!

So I guess, I will take one this year and add it after the fact.

*added after Thanksgiving 2012

Speaking of pictures, 

in this day and age, we take pictures of EVERYTHING!

I guess it's because, at the very least all (or most all) of us have a camera phone at our ready disposal.

I had to search to find a picture to share with you of my grandma and me to post on this entry! 

My favorite thing (next to the way it tastes!) about this recipe, 

is that it's one of the few recipes that I have that is in my Grandma's handwriting.

my grandma's recipe written for my recipe box YEARS ago!

As a scrapbooker, a person realizes the importance of handwriting.

It can't be duplicated, just like the person doing the writing cannot.

I spoke with my Mom last night, and shared the recipe that my Grandma wrote down for me some 25 years ago.  She has made some variations to the recipe, but strangely, it tastes the same to me?

So, I will share both of their versions with you today.

My husband, Brian, (then fiance) my Grandma and me, in 1991 at Easter

Grandma Czaplewski's Thanksgiving Stuffing

My Grandma's Version as it is written by her:

1 lb pork sausage

1 cup diced celery

1 cup minced onion

2 qts croutons (unseasoned)

1 tsp sage

2 Tbs snipped parsley

In a skillet over medium heat, cook sausage, sage, celery and onion together. About 10 minutes, or until sausage is cooked.

Add to bread crumbs and parsley.

Stuffs an 8# bird.

(I guess I make or use a little more croutons but still use the same amount of sausage and seasonings)

My Mom's version of the same:

Turkey giblets

2 lbs pork sausage

2 large packages Peppridge Farm bread crumbs (1 Herb Seasoned, 1 Country Style)

 

2 cups celery, divided

2 onions minced, divided

1 tsp sage

2 Tbs parsley

1 qt chicken broth, divided

i stick of butter, melted

Place giblets, 1 cup celery and 1 onion in a saucepan, pour half broth, half water just to cover.  Simmer on low for approximately one hour, or until giblets are tender.

Remove from heat.

Brown sausage with sage until cooked.

Chop turkey giblets until minced well. Reserve liquid to use when you are making your gravy.

Combine giblets, sausage, celery, onion, parsley with your bread crumbs.

Working with your hands, add  melted butter and small amounts of broth until dressing is moist, and forms into a ball.

Place in bird.

Bake your turkey until it is done, and enjoy the MOST AMAZING stuffing I have EVER had!!

Gobble til ya wobble, friends!!