Perfect Pork

     I don't impress myself easily when I cook, but tonight I think I made the best pork I have ever eaten, and Coco loved it too.   And I have eaten a lot of Pork!   It is my favorite.  I am not a huge beef eater except for slow cooked beef dishes.  I like chicken, but if its not cooked perfectly then I can be picky.  I don't like lamb at all, and all other meats are not the type of things you put into your regular repertoire of cooking. (as much as I would love to eat duck, venison and braised oxtail weekly)  So thus, pork is a huge staple in our household.  It comes in so many forms, is very versatile, and cooks quickly.  Gone is the pork of my father, who grew up eating pork from the pig farms in nearby Secaucus, NJ where the pigs lived and ate in the garbage dumps.  My father cooked dinner many nights when I was growing up and he would broil pork chops until they were like eating hockey pucks to make sure he didn't poison us, but somehow it managed to stay tasty. Pork is well fed now and fairly low in fat.  A 3 oz serving of boneless pork chop has 5 grams of fat. ( from the national pork board web site).  So tonight the Cuban Roast Pork, page 468 was delicious.  It was a pork loin roast, marinated all day in garlic, olive oil, orange and lime juices, pan seared and then roasted.   The dish took about 45 minutes, and was tender and served with the reduced marinade as a sauce.
      I accompanied this by Collard Greens Miniera, page 540, which is chopped collard greens cooked with bacon.  Incredibly simple and yummy.  Collard Greens are very high in vitamins. 1 cup of collard greens is 800% of daily vitamin K, 118% vitamin A, 57% vitamin C and many more. ( info from whfoods.com).
     Finally as tomorrow will be leftover night and a day off from blogging.  Since I won't be home for dinner, I made Coco some Old Fashioned Chocolate Pudding, page 824 to have with his leftovers for dessert.  How did cook and serve pudding ever get invented might I ask ?  Fresh pudding from scratch takes about 2 minutes longer than box pudding to make.  I really don't get why anyone would bother with a box.  I do make it with skim milk though, because that is really all we keep in the house, and it keeps the fat way down of course.  This recipe is mostly cocoa powder, and you could even leave out the chocolate pieces to keep the fat down.  I licked the spoon and it was good.  Hopefully Coco will enjoy the treat tomorrow.
     Happy cooking everyone!   As I continue clean out my freezer for end of summer, I will probably be on to something with ground beef for Thursday.