Proper pork meal.

Some days I enjoy making a complete cohesive meal and serving it to others. The hard part some days is to find that victim, I mean someone, to feed.  Last night, I trapped Kate!  

The menu?  Marinated pork loin, asparagus, chevre and chive mashed potatoes, finished with baked apples and vanilla ice cream. 

Marinated pork loin:

I started out by sneaking a peak at this recipe.  It seemed pretty easy, but as always, I had to tweak it a bit!

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce (I used reduced sodium)

1 T minced garlic

1/4 cup yellow mustard

1/4 t maple syrup extract

1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup sugar (more or less, regular or substitute)

2 lbs pork loin - roast or steaks

Mix top 7 ingredients in a ziplock bag large enough to hold meat.  Taste test.  Add more sugar as needed.  Put pork in, being sure to coat with the marinade.  Set in fridge for several hours to overnight.  Preheat over to 350F.  Reserve leftover marinate.  For steaks, bake 20 to 30 minutes (roast bake a bit longer), flip, add leftover marinade.  Cook 20 to 30 minutes more, or until center no longer pink.  Serves several (around 6).

Asparagus:

There is no real "recipe" to this. I snap off the ends of the asparagus (which Cocoa the dog immediately begs to eat!), start some water boiling, throw the asparagus in and boil for 7 minutes.  Drain, add a tiny bit of salt, and enjoy!

Chevre and Chive Mashed Potatoes:

1 lb potatoes

1/4 cup sour cream 

1/4 cup milk

2 oz goat cheese 

Chives to taste

Pinch powdered garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Dice potatoes.  Boil 15 minutes or until very tender. Drain off water.  Mash.  Add sour cream, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder.  Chop chive. Mix chive and goat cheese in.  Serves 2 to 3.

Baked Apples:

Preheat over to 350F.  Peal fresh picked apples. Core and slice apple into large chunks.  Place in covered baking dish with small amount of water.  Sprinkle sparingly with sugar and pumpkin pie spice.  Bake an hour or so, until soft.  Half way through baking, vent lid to baker to thicken apple syrup in bottom of pan.  Once baked, allow to cool, then top with ice cream and enjoy!