SUNDAY EVENING FARE

 Sunday night dinners in our house are a bit festive. After having a large breakfast we are quite full until later in the day. This gives me time to plan and cook our Sunday dinner.  I usually make something that will last for at least a couple of meals for the up coming week. One of my husband's favorite recipe is this pork roast. I coupled that with mashed yams, cheesy green beans and added a healthy cabbage salad. We washed all this down with a nice glass of Zinfandel.

Pork Loin Rib-End Roast with Apricot Glaze

2- 2 1/2 Lbs. pork loin
1 Medium onion roughly chopped
1 Clove of garlic minced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 Tsp. cumin

1/4 Tsp. curry
1 Tbsp. tomato paste diluted with  1/2 Cup red wine

1/4 Cup orange juice

8-10 dried apricots

Braise the pork on all sides in oil with onions, garlic and spices. Return it to an oven safe baking dish. Dilute the tomato paste in wine and pour over the pork. Add orange juice and the apricots. Cover with aluminum foil, bake in 350 degrees oven for 1 hour. Remove roast from the oven and place it on a platter. Drain the cooking liquid from the baking dish to a pot using a strainer. Add 2 tbsp. butter to this mixture and cook until bubbly. Turn off heat and pour the sauce over the sliced pork.

STEAMED GREEN BEANS:                                           

Cut both ends of green beans and place them in a steamer. In a medium size bowl, mix 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon each grated Asiago and Parmesan cheese stir well. Add drained beans to this mixture and toss well.

MASHED YAMS:

4 Medium size Yams or sweet potatoes 

1/2 Cup whole milk

2 Tbsp. of Maple syrup  

2 Tbsp. of butter

1/4 Tsp. ground ginger

Peel and boil yams in a pot until soft. Drain and return to the same pot. Add butter, ginger and milk and maple syrup.  Smash until smooth.