Arugula with Apples and Prok

Super simple and delicious.

1 1/2 cups arugula
1 Apple, cut into pieces
2~3 oz pork, cooked and chopped
Balsamic vinegar, olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Toss everything together and serve.

(P.s. Chicken or shrimp would work just as well)

(Actual) Chili this time

I can seirously get down on a bowl of classic chili.

Ingredients:

• ½ pound ground pork
• 2 cups of assorted beans (I used red and black, that I froze from Red Beans and Rice and black beans from when I made Deconstructed Chili)
• 2 slices Applewood Smoked Bacon
• “Marinara” Sauce from Calzones (Check)
• 3 cloves garlic
• Ancho Chili Powder
• Smoked Paprika
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1) Chop bacon and garlic. Add to a pan.

2) Once bacon has rendered, add ground pork.

3) In a pot heat tomato sauce.

4) To sauce, add beans and about a cup of water if there’s not enough liquid.

5) To ground pork add paprika and ancho chili powder to taste.

6) Once pork is cooked through add to tomato sauce and beans.

7) Add salt, pepper, and more chili powder to taste.

8) Simmer until some water has cooked off and chili has thickened.

Serve with chopped onions and grated cheddar cheese (optional).

Cost breakdown:
Pork: $2.40
Bacon: $0.46x2= $0.92
Beans: $0.32+$0.25= $0.57
Marinara Sauce: Negligible since the cost was already absorbed into the Calzones
Garlic: $0.06x3= $0.18
Chili Powders: So hard to calculate -_-

Total: $2.40+$0.92+ $0.57+$0.18= $4.07 +small cost of chili powder for multiple servings
Side note 1: The total cost will be slightly more if making the tomato sauce fresh, or if using the optional garnishes. 

Braised Pork

 Braised is such a fancy sounding word for being such a simple cooking technique, lol.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 lb Pork Shoulder
• ½ bell pepper
• ½ onion
• 6 oz Tomato Sauce
• ½ Jalapeno, seeded
• ½ cup polenta=
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup cheese
• Italian seasoning

Side note I: I know there’s green beans in this picture… I was going to initially going to cook them, but then 

I changed my mind as I was cooking. So just ignore that.

Braised Pork

1: Liberally cover pork in salt and pepper.

2: In a pan (I used a grill pan) sear off all sides of the pork

3: Slice bell pepper and onion. Add to a pot with a little bit of oil and sweat the vegetables.

4: Once the vegetables are sweated out, add tomato sauce and an equivalent amount of water. Also toss in Italian seasoning and some salt and pepper.

5: Once pork is seared off, place in pot. Turn to low heat and simmer for 30~40 minutes or until pork is cooked through.

Polenta:

1: Chop up jalapeno

2: Boil milk with ½ cup of water.

3: Throw polenta into milk and water.

4: Add jalapeno, salt and pepper to polenta.

5: Mix in cheese

Cost breakdown:

• Pork: $3/lb x 2/3 lb= $2
• Bell pepper: $0.30/2= $0.15
• Onion: $0.20/2= $0.10
• Tomato Sauce: $0.89x 2/3 can= $0.60
• Jalapeno: $0.08/2= $0.04
• Polenta: $1.69/lb x ½= $0.84
• $0.84/2= $0.42
• Milk: $0.30/cup x ½= $0.15
• Cheese: $3 x 1/3= $1

Total: $2+ $0.15+ $0.10+ $0.60+ $0.04+ $0.42+ $0.15+ $1.00= $4.46 for two servings
Total per serving: $4.46/2=$2.23 per serving

I seriously think I'm Southern.

Pulled Pork Sliders (because if it's tiny it's fancy, right?)

 Ingredients:

For Pulled Pork Sliders:

• 1/3 lb pork shoulder
• 2~4 tablespoons sugar
• 2~4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2~3 ounces tomato sauce
• Chili Flakes (optional)
• 4 Biscuits (from Southern Fried Chicken, not pictured)

For Peach Slaw:

• 1/8 head nappa cabbage
• 1 carrot
• 1/8~1/4 cup milk
• ¼ jalapeno, ribbed and seeded

1) Cut pork into 1 inch cubes.

2) Place in pan and sear off all edges.

3) In a small pot add all remaining ingredients plus about 3 ounces of water. Taste concoction; add more sugar or soy sauce depending on personal preference.

4) Add meat. Simmer for about an hour.

5) Once cooked and tender take two forks and pull meat apart.

Side note I: If you want you can use your hands or just use a knife to chop the meat up.

6) Place an equivalent amount on each biscuit, split in half.

While pork is simmering:

1) Chop nappa cabbage, peach, carrot, and jalapenos.

2) Combine vinegar, sugar, and milk.

3) Combine everything. Let sit until pork finishes cooking.

Cost Breakdown:
Sliders:

• 1/3 lb pork: $3/3= $1 
• Sugar: I’m assuming everyone has on hand…
• Chili flakes: $0.02?
• 1/3 can Tomato Sauce (8oz):  $0.69/3= $0.23
• 4 biscuits: $0.10x4= $0.40 (Check this for full breakdown)

Sliders Total: $1+$0.02+$0.23+$0.40= $1.65 for four

Per Slider: $1.65/4= $0.41

Peach Slaw:

• Nappa Cabbage: $1.27/8= $0.16
• Carrot: $0.07
• Jalapeno: $0.08/4= $0.02
• Peach: $1.15/3= $0.38 
• $0.38/2= $0.19
• Milk: $0.30/3= $0.10
• Vinegar: Uhmm.. The bottle doesn’t have serving sizes but I’m assuming not much.

Slaw Total: $0.16+$0.07+$0.02+$0.19+$0.10= $0.54+Vinegar

Meal Total: $1.65+$0.54= $2.19

Asian (?) Pork Stew

One pot wonder dish.

Ingredients:

• ½ pound pork ribs
• 2 medium russet potatoes
• 2 small/medium carrots
• ¼ small head nappa cabbage
• 1 tomato
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce
• ½ cup Thai Jasmine Rice
• a large chunk of ginger
• a few stalks of green onion

1) Chop up potatoes and carrots

2) Take a small pot of boiling water and dump potatoes, carrots, and pork in.

3) Once potatoes and carrots have softened and pork is cooked add tomato sauce and rice.

4) Grade/chop up ginger, add to pot.

5) Roughly chop green onion and nappa cabbage. Add to pot.

6) Once rice is cooked through, stew is done. Serve and enjoy!

Cost breakdown:

• ½ lb pork ribs: $2.11/2= $1.05
• Potatoes: $0.06x2= $0.12
• Carrots: $0.07x2= $0.14
• Nappa Cabbage: $0.52/4= $0.13
• Tomato: $0.25
• Tomato sauce: $0.69
• Jasmine Rice: $1.32/2= $0.66
• Ginger: around $0.40
• Green onion: $0.25/3= $0.08

Total: $1.05+$0.12+$0.14+$0.13+$0.25+$0.69+$0.66+$0.40+$0.08= $2.21
Total per serving: $2.21/3 maybe 4, $0.50~$0.70 per serving

I still wish I was Southern (but really).

So… Within my friend group it’s no secret that I love Popeye’s (but really, it’s the best fast-food fried chicken that you can get) and one of the reasons why I love Popeye’s is their red beans and rice.

But I thought I could do one better.

Ingredients:

• ½ pound of Pork ribs
• 1 Cup red Beans
• 1 Cup long grain rice
• ½ red bell pepper
• ½ onion
• a few stalks of celery
• ¼ can of tomato sauce 
• Italian Seasoning
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Salt and Pepper

Side note I: If I was doing this the right way, I would be using ham hocks. But I couldn’t justify buying the extraordinary quantity that each package of ham hocks was in. I just don’t need that much. So I decided to use ribs instead since they still have bones (which is where the yummiest meat is on almost all animals) and a decent amount of fat that will lend flavor to the final product.

1) Chop up garlic and the holy trinity.
Side note II: I really should rename this since I always use the trinity in conjunction with garlic. The holy quad?

2) In a skillet cook the holy quad until vegetables are sweating and give off a beautiful smell (hence the vegetables being called aromatics). 

3) Add the pork pieces and brown off all of the edges.

4) In a pot take some oil (I used some butter) to toast the rice.

5) Add the holy quad and browned off pork.

6) Add red beans.

7) Add as much boiling water as needed to cook the rice through. Consistently stir.

8) Add tomato sauce and a generous helping of Italian seasoning as well as salt and pepper.

9) Once cooked, let simmer to allow flavors to develop.

10) Serve.

Cost breakdown:

• ½ lb of pork spare rib: $2.11/2= $1.05
• 1 cup red beans: $0.97/3= $0.32
• 1 cup long grain rice: $0.57
• ½ red bell pepper: $0.25/2= $0.12
• ½ onion: $0.20/2= $0.10
• Celery: $0.89/4= $0.22
• ¼ can tomato sauce: $0.99/2= $0.25
• Garlic: $0.03x3= $0.09

Total: $1.05+$0.32+$0.57+$0.12+$0.10+$0.22+$0.25+$0.09=$2.72
Cost per serving: $2.72/4? 5? 6? I’m not sure how much this should have served but I ate this for about three days straight. This will serve a lot of people. Or last a long time. Trust me. 

I'm fancy, huh?

Those fancy-shmancy chefs deconstruct things all the time, right? Well I wanted to fancy-shmancy. So I decided to deconstruct chili!

• ¼ lb of ground pork
• ½ can of diced tomatoes
• 1/4 can of tomato sauce
• New Mexico Chili powder (but any chili powder would work)
• ½ onion
• a few stalks of celery
• 3~4 cloves of garlic
• ½ red bell pepper (any color will work)
• 1 cup of black beans
• Salt and pepper
• Polenta Cakes from Chicken Cacciatore that I froze 

1) If you bought dried beans like me, take the steps necessary rehydrate them. If not, beans out of a can are totally fine.

2) Dice up garlic, celery, bell pepper, and onion. There should be about an equal amount of the latter three. Side note I: These three aromatics are commonly called the Holy Trinity of Southern/Cajun/Creole cooking, an alternative to the French mirepoix of celery, carrots, and onions.

3) In a skillet heat oil, and add garlic and the holy trinity.

4) Add salt and pepper.

5) In a bowl take the holy trinity and mix with black beans. Mash. Mash a lot. Form into patties (I got three). Form the patties to be about the same size as your polenta cakes.

6) In a separate bowl add ground pork, diced tomatoes (remember to drain excess water), salt, pepper, and chili powder. Also form into patties.

7) Heat two skillets. Add a little oil. Cook pork patties through. Cook bean patties to warm up and until they get a slight char on the edges.

8) In a sauce pan heat tomato sauce with chili powder.

9) Plate and serve!

Cost breakdown:

• ¼ lb of ground pork: $1.64/2= $0.82
• ½ can of diced tomatoes: $1.19= $0.60
• 1/4 can of tomato sauce: $0.99/4= $0.25
• 1 cup of black beans: $0.76/3 $0.25
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper:  $0.25/2= $0.12
• 4 cloves of garlic: $0.48/18= $0.03
•  $0.03x4= $0.12
• ½ Onion= $0.20/2= $0.10
• Celery: $0.89/4= $0.22
• Polenta: $0.30x 3= $0.90 (Check chicken cacciatore for full cost breakdown)

Total: $0.82+$0.60+$0.25+$0.25+$0.12+$0.12+$0.10+$0.22+$0.90= $3.38
Total per serving: $3.38/3= $1.12 per serving