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by snebbu

Mushrooms Gone Wild! Top 10 Mushroom Concoctions

Yes. Wife and I went through enough mushrooms already that I can confidently say we are experts. The stinky veggie that leaves us all coming back for more: mushrooms. Mushrooms are a versatile veggie that can be thrown into pastas, pureed into soups and sauces, or be substituted as “meat” for our vegetarian foes. Anywho – here you have it: our top 10 mushroom recipes.

1.Balsamic Mushroom Flatbread

So tasty and “fancy-looking,” while it is so quick and easy. Garlic, mushroom, balsamic and cheese. BOOM.

2. Beef & Blue Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

If you have a complaint about these savory bites, you can go to hell. That’s all.

3. Mushroom Stroganoff

Back when we were trying to eat healthy, we had “meatless mondays.” Sometimes we had successes, others not so much. This dish was always considered a success. I don’t even miss the beef in this dish.

4. Pork & Mushroom Ragu Over Polenta

To soothe the soul on a winter or fall day, try this dish full of tenderness.

5. Oyster & Shitake Mushroom Alfredo

The shitake and oyster mushrooms add the right amount of earthy notes and a bit of sweetness with the creamy sauce.

6. Brioche Stuffing

I believe brioche bread can make anything better. Rather than picking the most stale bread around (hell, even croutons), why not make a stuffing that matches the gluttony of the rest of the meal?

7. Braised Hunter’s Chicken

One of my favorite dishes that my wife makes. Start the tradition of Sunday dinners with this!

8. Mock Bolognese

Again we find that with the right dish, mushrooms can replace beef! Trust me, I’m surprised too.

9. White Winter Truffled Mac & Cheese

Impress your friends. You’re welcome.

10. Mushroom & Blue Cheese Farrotto

Yes, we found yet another way to take something full of calories and make it healthier without compromising the flavor. BANG BANG.

by snebbu

Top Ten Things to Do With Your Leftover Wine

I’ll admit it – we don’t always finish the entire bottle of wine. Sad, I know. Then, we’ll get into something else like beer or booze, and suddenly about one glass of wine has been sitting in the bottle for at least a week. We try another wine, and another glass sits in that bottle. The problems of a first world citizen… Well, here at ES, we look to solve those first world problems, which is why we bring you the top things to do with your old wine.

1. Make Vinegar

Your mother makes good vinegar. But really…you can make your own vinegar with just some old wine, “mother,” cheese cloth, and a glass vessel of the appropriate size. If you have a party where there is left over wine, or tasted a few wines, you can even mix them together to fill a bottle and then use that to create your own homemade vinegar. Or, you can buy a bottle of wine to make vinegar (I vote for the other option). Once you get your mother, add the wine, let it sit, add more wine, let it sit, add more wine, let it sit, wait a month.

2. Port Wine and Fig Poptails

While this is not necessarily the “spoiled wine” route, let’s be real – nobody ever finishes a bottle of port. Wine and figs all in one! I’m typically not a fan of port, but I think I could get behind this – no matter what season!

3. Roasted Pork Loin Over Pumpkin Risotto

I know we’ve seen this one before, but it’s important to point out that even white wine can be used in cooking!

4. New York Sour

It won’t be as easy for your friends to call you an old person with this drink. Instead, they’ll be like, “oh shit, your so cool!” …Maybe not, but it’s good.

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by Emily

Farro Pilaf with Pork Ragu and Butternut Squash

Farro is one of my favorite fall/winter grains to cook with, and in my opinion it is vastly underused. It’s hearty, nutty, toothsome, and is packed with fiber and iron, and boasts a good serving of protein as well. Way better than rice, as far as I’m concerned! And because it’s so hearty, it’s the perfect grain to stand up to robust cold-weather flavors and textures. Nuts, meats, gourds, cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens… oh and let’s not forget cheese. Mmm.

Awhile back, I had some leftover pork ragu from my tasty Pork and Mushroom Ragu over Polenta recipe, and I obviously wasn’t going to let it go to waste. Wanting to mix it up from my polenta, I grabbed a bag of quick-cooking farro and got to work. The ragu, made from Smithfield Slow Roasted Golden Rotisserie Marinated Fresh Pork Tenderloin, was so flavorful thanks to the pre-marinated pork and worked beautifully with my farro. All I had to do was toss the ragu with the warm grain and some roasted butternut squash, wilt in some kale and shaved parmesan, and dinner was served! And if you don’t have leftover ragu? It was so easy to make it in the crock pot, just set it in the morning and it will be ready for this recipe by the time you’re ready to prep dinner.

Looking for a quick yet deeeelicious meal to get you through the holiday hustle and bustle? This simple farro pilaf has you covered, my friend.

Farro with Pork Ragu and Butternut Squash

Farro Pilaf with Pork Ragu and Butternut Squash

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by Emily

Roasted Pork Loin over Pumpkin Risotto

Tis the season to impress your friends with your culinary prowess at a holiday dinner party. Enter… Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork! I kid you not, I made the BEST meal the other night and all my guests raved about it, but it was secretly was easier than it looked, thanks to this pork tenderloin.

I’d been craving risotto (which is truly way easier to make from scratch than it sounds, don’t be scared!) but I wanted some protein to round out the meal. This bacon-encrusted pork tenderloin was the perfect companion to the slightly sweet, rich risotto – and because it was preseasoned all I had to do was put the tenderloin in the oven, then take it out and slice it when it was done, throw it on top of the homemade risotto, and enjoy my masterpiece. Talk about elevated comfort food at its finest!

The other star of the show? That gorgeous purple cauliflower, which added such a beautiful pop of color alongside the pink pork, green beans, and orange risotto. But if you can’t find rainbow cauliflower at your local grocery store, of course regular ol’ white cauliflower will taste just as good.

Roasted Pork Loin over Pumpkin Risotto

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by Emily

Pork and Mushroom Ragu over Polenta

I think we can all agree that November = prime fall comfort food time. It’s also starting to turn into prime busy time with holiday prep, days that are shorter and darker (ugh), and trying to wrap up all sorts of projects before the end of the year. You know what this means: it’s slow cooker time. Aw yeah!

Slow cookers make everything easy, but Smithfield is taking fall cooking simplicity to the next level with their marinated pork. You seriously don’t have to do anything besides cook it, and you have a flavorful main dish ready for anything you want to pair with it! I made this tasty ragu with a marinated fresh pork tenderloin, so it’s a bit leaner than some other cuts of pork, but still packed with protein… it’s still so tender and it’s a great slightly lighter option in these pre-Thanksgiving days.

This recipe is simple comfort food at its finest, and you’re not going to feel weighed down by the cooking process or the dish itself. Score!

Pork Tenderloin and Mushroom Ragu over Polenta

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by Emily

Cuban-Hawaiian Mashup Pork Sliders with Hatch Chile Pimento Cheese

Sometimes you just want every flavor at once, you know? Late August is so hot and steamy that I can’t get enough fresh, fruity tropical flavors… pineapple, I’m looking at you! But it’s also hatch chile season in the southwest and these smoky, delightful lil peppers are everywhere, and everyone in Texas looooves cooking with them.

I had a beautiful Smithfield Teriyaki Marinated Fresh Pork Tenderloin and I was craving a Cuban sandwich, so I figured, why not incorporate the teriyaki flavors and give it a slight Hawaiian flair by adding some sweet grilled pineapple into the mix? Then I also realized I had a bunch of the aforementioned hatch chiles to use, and thought about how much I love spicy and sweet together… and decided to give my sandwich a Texas twist by whipping up a swiss & hatch pimento cheese spread instead of your traditional slice of swiss cheese.

Then I realized that these were going to be HUGE flavor bombs and made them into little sliders instead of giant sandwiches, which was a great choice. (I also realized that making sliders meant I could use my very favorite soft Hawaiian slider rolls, and who doesn’t love that?) These Cuban-Hawaiian-Texan pork tenderloin sliders have so much delightful texture and flavor going on, little bite-size morsels are perfect. And while they might sound a little cray-cray, they don’t take all day-day (ha) to make. Even though they taste complex, they took me under a half hour from start to finish! Serve these alongside a cool, crunchy salad for a summertime dinner, or maybe as an app at your next cookout.

Cuban-Hawaiian Mashup Pork Sliders with Hatch Chile Pimento Cheese

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Rib-tato Salad with Smithfield Pork Spareribs

by Emily

Rib-tato Salad to the Rescue!

Rescuing what, you ask? Rescuing you from getting stuck in a boring recipe rut for your next picnic or BBQ.

I was recently hosting a big birthday cookout for Rob in our backyard and obviously meat was the #1 priority on the menu. Fortunately I had two racks of succulent dry seasoned pork spareribs from Smithfield on hand and I couldn’t wait to show off their deliciousness to all our friends. We smoked ’em on the grill for a couple hours and the smell had everyone at the party drooling.

We devoured some of the ribs as-is, straight off the serving board, but I wanted to do something a little more creative with the rest of the meat. I knew these smoky, sweet ribs would be such a great complement to traditional picnic sides…

A thought dawned on me. I was about to throw together a potato salad. What if I just mixed the rib meat into the potato salad itself? A little sweet, a little salty, a little smoky, a little chewy…. yeah, it was basically the best idea ever. To really play up the sweet and smoky, I added some sweet potatoes into the mix and garnished with BBQ sauce. It was a hit and I have an inkling I’ll be making this dish for plenty of upcoming potluck parties.

Rib-tato (Rib + Potato) Salad

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