Pork Tacos with Pomegranate Molasses and Pineapple

I looove pork tacos. I decided to sweeten the filling whilst on my never-ending quest to find my favorite salsa. I might need to be making my own. Hmm. Different story for a different day. I added some fresh pineapple and some pomegranate molasses. I love that stuff on brussels sprouts. Ahhh: stay. on. topic.

The Three Bite Rule - Pomegranate Pork Taco

Ingredients:

pulled pork shoulder (a great use for leftovers)
2-3 slices of fresh pineapple, chopped
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
flour tortillas
shredded white cheddar
lettuce
white beans
salsa/pico de gallo
guacamole

Directions:

Saute the pork with pineapple and molasses over medium heat. The goal is to warm the pork through and soften the pineapple a bit…about 5 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - Pomegranate Pork Taco
Taste, and add more pomegranate molasses, if necessary.
Fill the tacos with the pork/pineapple, lettuce, cheese, white beans, and salsa.
The Three Bite Rule - Pomegranate Pork Taco
Top with guac, and enjoy!

I loved the sweetness to these tacos! The pineapple was a nice touch of sweetness and tartness. The fruity touch was so great, and different than flavors we typically have. I added in some white beans, partly because I had them and it felt like they’d go. The little one eats beans but I’m always trying to use them before they get slimy.

I found my favorite guacamole and now I’m wanting better salsa. I want fresh salsa. It’s often too thick or too sweet. I like restaurant-style salsas. Sal-sa. I’ll have to work on that. Aren’t the taco stands so cute? I love my tacos upright.

Crockpot Cassoulet

I didn’t mean to disappear. I was all like, 5 years, not going anywhere blah blah blah. Work is just nutty right now. Now until Thanksgiving I’m up to my eyeballs in pie. 20,000 pies for Thanksgiving is no joke. As busy as it is I reallllly wanted something delightful to come home to in the crockpot. I borderline feel bad for the dogs to salivate all day, but it’s usually worth it. I prepped most of this the night before then dumped in the crockpot and came home to it.

The Three Bite Rule - Crockpot Cassoulet
I made a quick cassoulet before, which I think I prefer to this crockpot one, but it was good and nice to come home to with some bread for dipping.

Crockpot French Cassoulet

based on NY Times Slow Cooker Cassoulet
Ingredients:
white beans, dried
4 garlic cloves
2-3 potatoes, chopped
3 carrots, pealed & chopped
1 white onion, chopped
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 cup ham, chopped
3 chicken sausage links
1 cup pulled pork shoulder (or substitute seared duck legs)
2 tbs dijon mustard
1-2 cups canned diced tomatoes
1-2 cups chicken broth
salt & pepper

Directions:

Overnight, soak the dried white beans.
Also prep the garlic, potatoes, carrots, herbs, ham, sausage, pork and mustard.
The Three Bite Rule - Crockpot Cassoulet
Add everything into the crockpot for 6-9 hours.
The Three Bite Rule - Crockpot Cassoulet
Taste and add salt & pepper as needed. Serve with some baguette for dipping.
The Three Bite Rule - Crockpot Cassoulet
It was a bit too tomato-y for my taste. I liked it a lot, but it didn’t seem like cassoulet to me. It was a great stew with some good flavors. I read the NY Times recipe (which also includes duck which I didn’t have) and the comments were it was lacking flavor. I think amping up the herbs and getting the mustard in there was good for this.

I found bake-at-home baguettes which were so good. There were 2 in the pack and I froze the other one. That’ll be in handy with the leftover cassoulet I froze for next time. I’ll probably stick to my quickie cassoulet the next time I go to make it.
cassolet_bowl_590_390

I never really work with dried beans. The overnight soak worked well. I was afraid I’d come home to a crockpot full of overcooked veggies with hard beans. They all were cooked fine! My little one ate some and loved messing with the carrots, potatoes, beans and the sauce. Now, what’s the next crockpot idea for next month?

Crockpot Pork Tenderloin

I’m gently hovering between “it’s crazy time and we need to be eating more prepped freezer things” and “it’ll be crazy time and I need more prepped in advance in the freezer”. I need to do some better analysis of what’s there. One thing I’ve hung onto for months was a pork tenderloin. I almost defrosted it for the grill but then I knew I was months behind on wanting to make more crockpot things. The problem is, so many crockpot foods are beef and I don’t eat red meat. Or they’re weird things people put in the crockpot that don’t get better from cooking all day. I wanted this to be pork-onion-apple-y but forgot about the real apple idea until we were 2 forkfulls into this.

The Three Bite Rule - Pork Crockpot
I cooked the marinated pork tenderloin with carrots and onions in chicken broth & beer. I know. Sounds like a lot going on. I was sort of concerned it might be a bit too spicy for us so I wanted everything else to be flavorful, but to tone down the heat.

The Three Bite Rule - Pork Crockpot

Ingredients:

pork tenderloin, marinated
3 carrots, pealed and cut into 3 inch chunks
1/2 onion, quartered
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
1 bottle beer

Directions:

Put everything in the crockpot, on low for 5-6 hours.
The Three Bite Rule - Pork CrockpotOptional: put a few apples ontop of the pork. (They’ll become mushy if they’re on the bottom and cooking all day.)

Serve over brown rice.
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Pork Crockpot
The pork is perfectly tender. I liked how juicy it was and I used a little drizzle on the rice. Mr. J is a gravy man so he made some gravy for his. You could remove some of the cooking liquid and strain/thicken it a bit if you wanted more of a sauce.

It worked out well, but probably wasn’t the most amazing thing ever. It was possibly the easiest thing ever. Leftovers worked well and the pups didn’t seem to salivate all day long.

What I Ate: Grilled Sausages on Pretzel Rolls

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

My grocery store started carrying pretzel rolls back in April and I was so excited! I got some when I was making Smokehouse Burgers with caramelized onions, smokey aoli, mustard, and havarti cheese. Yum. That’s a repeater, for sure.
The Three Bite Rule - Smokehouse Burgers
The bakery still had had long shaped ones that I hadn’t gotten yet! I thought were just calling out for hot dogs, then I decided maybe they were too hefty for dogs so I went for grilled sausages. They were perfect!
The Three Bite Rule - Grilled Sausages on Pretzels
Sausage, peppers, and onions with dijon screams summer-baseball park-easy dinner to me. This isn’t rocket science, just a reminder that some things (i.e. rolls) need further thinking for the best fit (i.e. sausages versus hot dogs).

Ham & Havarti Melt

As much as most dinners at the Three Bite Rule are grilled in the summer, I’m still always striving for them to be varied and unique. Paninis are definitely a go-to category for me when I want to be sure I’m planning some quick ones that don’t heat the whole house up. I was proud this was so quick, especially now that the little one is so active and squirming all around during dinner/dinner prep time! I meant to use some raspberry jam but forgot to add it to the grocery list. I substituted Lingonberry jam, courtesy of Ikea, as my fruity spread.

The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havardi Melt

Ingredients: (per sandwich)

2 slices of sourdough bread
1-2 tbs dijon mustard
2-3 slices of honey ham
2-3 slices of havarti cheese
2 tbs jam: raspberry/strawberry/cranberry/etc

Directions:

Preheat a panini press, grill plan, or flat skillet to medium high heat.
Spread some mustard on the inside of one slice of bread. Then top with ham then cheese.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havardi Melt
Spread jam onto the inside of the other slice of bread and close up the sandwich.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havarti Melt
Brush the bread lightly with olive oil, then flip the sandwich cooking that side down. Brush the top slice with olive oil and close the panini press.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havarti Melt
Grill or fry until crisp and melted. Flip regularly to avoid burning!
Enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havardi Melt
I loved this. The Lingonberry jam is my jam. Pardon the pun. It has a tartness that is so perfect with salty ham and gooey cheese. Uhh I could eat this all the time. There’s something about it that says breakfast to me as well. Maybe that’s the not-wanting-morning-sweets in me. Anyway you look at it, this sandwich is good. Reallll good.
The Three Bite Rule - Ham & Havardi Melt
You could make a ton of these and keep them warm in the oven if you have a crowd to feed. Or make just one and you don’t have crazy ingredients hanging around. I think the jam and the sharp mustard are really necessary here…don’t skip ’em!

I served this melted masterpiece with some Cape Cod Chips and some cherry tomatoes in balsamic dressing. It was my such a great summer dinner. Mr. J tolerated not grilling dinner one night. Maybe the oozing cheese had something to do with it?