Time to get creative with using food from the freezer! Patrick and I have done a pretty good job of "stocking up" on meats and veggies in the freezer. This particular hunk of ground pork was from our CSA; Brinkley Farms also offered meats (we're excited for the spring CSA to start back up). Ground pork must lend itself to yummy porkloaf just like beef, right? Well of course! I was inspired by
this recipe from food.com. I'll have to admit I didn't really read the recipe. I was most interested in what glaze to put on the loaf so I read that and was pleased. I'll note what I did throughout the recipe
in Italics!
Pork Loaf
from food.com
Servings:4-6
Loaf:
4 -6 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion , chopped
1 small bell pepper (green or red bell, seeded and finely chopped, or use half a pepper of both!)
1 ½ lbs ground pork
1 lb smoked ham, finely chopped (omitted this)
1 cup whole wheat crackers or 1 cup saltine crackers , crushed (used plain breadcrumbs)
1 cup milk
2 large eggs, slighty beaten
salt and black pepper
Glaze:
½ cup orange marmalade (we had some apricot preserves in the fridge)
½ cup Dijon mustard
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
Directions:
1. Set oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.
3. Add in onions and bell pepper/s; cook until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally (about 8-10 minutes) then cool the mixture completely.
(I did not do this; just threw the chopped the veggies in the mix, next step.)
4. In a large bowl mix together ground pork, ham, crushed crackers, milk, eggs, pepper, salt and the cooled onion/pepper mixture; mix well to combine.
5. Shape into an approx 9x5-inch loaf, and place onto a shallow greased baking pan.
(I used an 8x8 baking dish.)
6. Using a long knife, make shallow criss-cross (diamond) pattern in the top of of loaf.
(Didn't do this).
7. Bake for 30 minutes.
8. Meanwhile for the glaze blend the orange marmalade, Dijon mustard and brown sugar in a small bowl.
9. After 30 minutes of baking remove from oven and drizzle about 1/3 cup glaze over loaf and return to oven to bake for another 15 minutes.
10. After 15 minutes, drizzle the remaining glaze over loaf and bake for about another 22-25 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the center of the loaf reads 165°F.
11. Transfer the loaf to a platter; let stand for 10 minutes.
12. Pour the pan juices into a small bowl and whisk to blend.
13. Slice the loaf and serve with the pan juices.
Also serve with steamed broccoli and pineapple.
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I thought the pork lended itself to pineapple as a side and this meal had a nice Hawaiian flair! |