Memphis Rubbed Pork Loin

This is a slow cooker recipe I tried because I started to eat pork again, and I simply love it! I have a new found respect for the pig. My mom's favorite rub for pork is her Memphis rub. I have included the recipe for it as well as what i did to create this yummy pork dish.

Ingredients:

pork loin

2 or 3 medium onions (pictured above I only had a small onion, but the more onions the better)

handful sized sprinkle of Memphis rub (recipe to follow)

teaspoon oregano

teaspoon garlic powder

pepper

water to come half way up the pork

2 bay leaves

What I did:

I put the pork loin in the slow cooker, along with the onions and all seasonings, water and bay leaves. I let it cook on low for 7 hours. Make sure you have enough water or some sort of stock in your slow cooker if it cooks hot, or the meat will be dry at the end. I learned this the hard way, lol.

Memphis rub:

¼ cup paprika
1 ½ tbsp black pepper
1 ½ tbsp firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 ½ tsp celery salt
1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 ½ tsp garlic powder
1 ½ tsp dry mustard
1 ½ tsp ground cumin

Kim's Ice Cream Sandwich Oreo Cake

I didn't get a picture because this was a work birthday lunch, but my friend Kim made this wonderful ice cream sandwich Oreo cake. She gave us all the recipe, and I wanted to blog it so everyone could try and make this wonderful dessert.

Ingredients:
24 Ice cream Sandwiches
1 package of INSTANT Pudding (your choice flavor) Can’t remember the size package but it was the big one, NOT 4-serving size)
1 package of Oreos
1 16Oz Cool Whip
2 tsp powder sugar


What to do:
Crush Oreos (I put them into a Ziploc and let my[Kim's] son hit them with the toy hammer)
Mix entire contents of the Cool Whip and Pudding and powder sugar together (powder sugar makes it thin out a bit which is good for spreading the icing)

Use 12 ice cream sandwiches for the bottom (2 rows)
Put a layer of Icing
Put a layer of crushed Oreos

Put in the freezer for about 30 minutes to harden again. If not it will be too soft for you to continue and it will move around.
Repeat process for the 2nd layer

This turned out amazing!!!

Butternut Squash Soup and Salad

I made this soup because all I had in the freezer was butternut squash. I didn't quite have enough so what I didn't have in squash I made up for in parsnips. This soup turned out spicy and very yummy.

This recipe came from Gourmet Made Simple, by Gena Knox. Her name is spelled different but she pronounces it just like my name. She is local to middle Georgia as well, I met her at the GA national fair grounds during the mistletoe market. I also made a salad that was inspired by a salad recipe in the cookbook.

What I used:

1 frozen box of butternut squash,

1 bag of parsnips, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove elephant garlic (or 3 regular cloves of garlic) chopped

pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon of ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 cups of chicken stock

1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

Sour cream or cream cheese for garnish

What I did:

The recipe called for roasting a butternut squash in the oven, but I had frozen squash so I defrosted it in the microwave (took about 5 minutes).

To a large soup pot I added the olive oil, onions, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes over medium high heat. This cooked for about 4 minutes until just browned. Then added the cayenne pepper and ginger, and cooked for a minute more.

After all the spices are combined I added the squash, parsnips, brown sugar, and stock. I brought this to a boil, then covered and simmered about 12 minutes until parsnips were soft. The squash was already pureed.

I then used my immersion blender and pureed the rest of the soup.

It turned out very good; spicy and creamy. I didn't have any sour cream to top the soup, but I did have cream cheese so I used that. You will need something to balance the spice, so a creamy topping of some kind is very important. The topping just melted in my mouth, yum!

I also made a mixed green salad topped with salted cashews, almonds and pecans (from a Mr. Peanut mixed nuts jar) and shaved Parmesan cheese.

I made a homemade salad dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar and honey. It was awesome! I am never buying salad dressing again. I used about tablespoon of honey, tablespoon and a half of vinegar and then streamed in the olive oil until I like the consistency of the dressing.

All in all, it was a nice dinner. I think I'll have the soup for lunch

the next day, maybe with a big piece of bread. Can't wait!