Sunday, October 25, 2015

An Autumn Meal

Tonight, I made a super simple Sunday supper that screamed "Fall is here". We had apple bourbon pork loin, a sweet potato, apple & pecan 'hash' and braised bacon Brussels sprouts served alongside some Harvest Pumpkin stuffing. Dinner was delicious and I had several friends on Facebook asking for the recipes. So, here they are! 


For the pork loin, I marinated it for about 20 minutes in a packet of McCormick brown sugar bourbon made as directed along with 2 tablespoons of apple cider for a little kick. Then I seared the loins in a cast iron skillet and once done I transferred them to a stoneware dish. I baked the pork loin at 350*F for 45 minutes until it reached 170*F. 
While the pork was cooking I peeled and diced a few sweet potatoes and granny smith apples. In my cast iron skillet, I melted 3 tablespoons of coconut oil and cooked the sweet potatoes for about 8 minutes until they were beginning to soften and starting to turn golden brown. I added the apples next and continued cooking them until they were browned. A couple teaspoons of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice were added to the apple and potato mixture. Then I tossed in a half cup of pecan halves and a cup of Craisins (soaked in warm water for 5 minutes, then drained before adding to the hash). Stirred it all together and cooked for about 2 more minutes. Then you're ready to put it on the table.

Bacon braised Brussels sprouts are probably one of my favorite go-to dishes during the spring, fall and winter. Bacon makes everything better. I take a bag of frozen Brussels sprouts and cook them partially in my Pampered Chef micro-steamer. Meanwhile I'll dice and begin to cook 3 strips of thick-cut bacon in another cast iron skillet. Once the sprouts are done in the microwave, drain and cut them in half. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the sprouts in a bowl and season with some McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning. Then scrape the sprouts into the skillet with the partially cooked bacon pieces, mix together and cook alongside the pork loin for the last 20 minutes at 350*F. The harvest pumpkin stuffing I found at Aldi's in their seasonal aisle and made it according to the directions on the box. Dinner was simple enough, on the table in about an hour and gobbled up by my boys. 
Hope y'all enjoyed my take on an autumn meal! 

No comments:

Post a Comment