Farmhouse Pork and Apple Pie

This is one of my favorite dishes to make during the cooler months when I don't mind having my oven on for a while.  This recipe makes a lot of food that is extremely tasty.  I will warn you, that I have written on my recipe that the preparation time for this dish is 1 1/2 hours and the cooking time is 2 hours, so it takes some time to put this on the table, but it is oh so worth it!

I tore this recipe out of a magazine years ago, but there is nothing on the page to indicate which magazine it came from.  Because this makes so much, I like to put some in one baking dish for my family and the rest in a disposable pan to share with another family in need.  It also freezes well.  My guys give this dish 8's and 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.

In a large skillet I fry the bacon, which I've cut into about 1/2-inch pieces, over high heat.

Using a slotted spoon, I remove the bacon from the pan and place on several layers of paper towels to drain.

I add the chopped onion to the bacon drippings, and cook until they are tender and translucent.

Using a slotted spoon, I remove the onions to the bacon to drain.

While the onions are cooking, I begin cutting the pork into 3/4-inch cubes.  Handling about 1/3 of the pork at a time, I dredge the cubes of pork in flour.

I then add them to the bacon drippings, adding oil if needed, and cook over medium heat until browned.

After fully cooked, I remove each batch to a large bowl.

To the pork, I add the bacon and onions, tossing to combine.

About this time, I preheat the oven to 325°F.  I then stir in each apple as I peel, core, and chopped them.

In a small bowl, I combine the rubbed sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Rubbed sage is different from any other dried spice I've ever used.  The best word I can use to describe it is fluffy, so it's a bit hard to mix with the rest of the spices.

I make sure I mix them well to ensure they are evenly distributed in the dish.

I then add the spices to the pork and apple mixture, stirring gently to combine.

The apple cider and water get added and stirred into the mixture.

This mixture then gets put into the baking dishes.

I cover the dishes with foil, whether freezing for a later use or baking immediately.  I place it in the oven and bake at 325°F for 2 hours.

About 1/2 hour before the baking time is done, I peel, cube and boil the potatoes and mash them with a bit of butter and salt.  When the dish comes out of the oven, I spread the hot mashed potatoes over the top of the dish and it's ready to serve!  The recipe says that 3 tablespoons of melted butter can be brushed over the top of the potatoes and then placed under the broiler for 5 minutes to brown the top, but in our house, the aroma is so enticing that my family never waits long enough for that step to begin eating!

I guess it would look prettier if it was browned nicely on top, because this way it just looks like a very full dish of mashed potatoes!

I usually serve this dish with a green salad and rolls.  To me, this is comfort food at it's best!  Enjoy!

Farmhouse Pork and Apple Pie

1 pound sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 medium onions, chopped

3 pounds boneless pork, cubed

¾ cup all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil, optional

3 medium tart apples, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 cup apple cider

½ cup water

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

½ cup milk

5 tablespoons butter, divided

Additional salt and pepper

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp.  Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.  In drippings, sauté onions until tender; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Dust pork lightly with flour.  Brown a third at a time in drippings, adding oil if needed.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl.  To pork, add bacon, onions, apples, sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Stir in cider and water.  Place mixture in an oven-proof baking dish and bake at 325°F for 2 hours or until pork is tender.  In a large saucepan, cook potatoes in boiling water until tender.   Drain and mash with milk and butter.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Remove baking dish from oven and spread potatoes over pork mixture.  Optional:  Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and brush over potatoes.  Broil 6 inches from the heat for 5 minutes or until topping is browned.

Apple Raisin Muffins and Cinnamon Butter

When we were invited with a group of friends to spend the weekend at the home of friends who had moved away, we each took a meal that we were in charge of.  I got breakfast on the Sunday morning.  I  thought a lot about what I could make that was great, but didn't take much time to prepare or clean up from because we were all going to church afterward.  I finally decided on these mini muffins because all the work was done at home!  They were a huge hit that weekend and as the same group of friends attends our annual beach trip weekend, I now make these muffins each year to take along.

I originally saw Paula Deen make these muffins on one of her shows, so I went on line to get the recipe.  On the show, she ate them plain and they're terrific that way, but I "Paula Deen" them by serving them with homemade cinnamon butter (recipe included below)!  The cinnamon butter can be used straight from the refrigerator if it is being applied to something hot like toast, but for use on these muffins, I bring it to room temperature before using it.  The only down side to this recipe is that you have to have plenty of time to prepare them.  The prep time in itself isn't long, but there are 2 steps in the process with a lot of cooling time needed in between!  Don't get me wrong -- the time investment is totally worth it!

The first step is to grate the apples.  I give them a good wash and then grate them with the peel on.  I have found it easiest to grate around the apple first to get through the peel, then grate it vertically the rest of the way.

As you can see from the photo above, I grate it right down to the core.  Usually, 2 medium apples yield the 2 cups needed for this recipe.

The easiest way to grate nutmeg, I've found is to use my microplane.  Holding the handle, I rest the tip on my surface and run the nutmeg along the side until I get the amount I need.  It's a very handy kitchen tool that can also be used to zest lemons, limes and oranges or grate ginger or parmesan cheese!

In a large saucepan, I place the butter, sugar, raisins, apples, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  Don't worry if the apples have begun to darken, they are perfectly fine and they won't even be distinguishable by the time this mixture is cooked!  I turn the heat on high and once the butter begins to melt, I can stir the ingredients to combine them.  

Once this mixture begins to boil, I turn off the heat and remove the pan to let it cool.  This is when the waiting begins.  Depending on the time of year and how warm it is in your kitchen, this could take hours!  I usually do this part in the morning, so I can bake the muffins in the afternoon.  The mixture does need to cool completely before the next step.

I use muffin tin liners in my mini muffin pan, but if I'm out, the tin can also be greased.  One friend is allergic to nuts, so I use different liners for 6 of them to distinguish the nut-free muffins just for him!

In a large bowl, I combine the flour and baking soda.  Then I add the cooled apple and raisin mixture.

This makes a fairly stiff dough.

Using my Pampered Chef medium scoop, I fill the 6 liners with the nut-free dough.

Then I add in the pecans and mix to combine.  I fill the rest of the muffin tin and it's ready to go into the oven.  Of course, the nuts can be added before the apple/raisin mixture if you don't have any nut allergies to worry about.

These muffins don't rise much, so they should be filled to the top.  Using the scoop, it looks as though the dough comes above the top of the tin, but this amount is perfect.

You can see in the photo above, that they rise a bit and are a perfect golden brown when they come out of the oven.  I let them cool a couple of minutes before removing them from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.  I store them in Tupperware with wax paper separating the layers when taking them to the beach.  This recipe makes 5 dozen, so if you don't plan to use them all at once, they freeze very well.

 

We love to eat these tasty little treats at breakfast time and they are especially good warm (they can be heated in the microwave), and they're great as a snack, but we're used to having them on our beach trip weekend as we visit with very good, long-time friends!  Enjoy!

Apple Raisin Muffins

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

2 cups grated apples

2 cups raisins

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup chopped pecans

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Combine the water, sugar, apples, raisins, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a large saucepan; bring to a boil.  Remove the pan from the heat and cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  In a large bowl, stir the baking soda and nuts into the flour.  Add the cooled mixture to the bowl and stir until blended.  Grease miniature muffin tins or line with paper liners.  Fill muffin tins with batter to the top.  Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F.  These muffins are great served warm or at room temperature and they freeze well.

Cinnamon Butter

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 heaping teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add cinnamon; combine thoroughly.  Store in refrigerator.