March Madness Results Round 1: Meaty

First 4 recipes from our “meaty” category–turkey, roast beef, gyros and pork chops!  Let’s see how they stack up…

Totally Tender Turkey

They were both tender and flavorful.  They are equally easy to make and both in the same area budget-wise.  We ended up picking the turkey as the winner in a buzzer beater!  (But really you should make them both, they are awesome)

Perfect Roast Beef

Final Score:
Beef Gyros:  84
Pork Chops:  64

Smothered Pork Chops

Alice said that, “It took bacon for my 9-year-old son to eat pork. Haha. These chops are rich, with a big R. They weren’t my favorite by far, but if the young one likes them, then in the rotation they go. This recipe was a bit complicated and messy, with all the dipping and crisping. I am more the dump-it-in type. And although not called for in the recipe, I used the bacon drippings to brown the chops.  This may have helped with the “get my son to eat pork” thing. He loves bacon but claims he hates pork. I guess I’ve just never tried the trick of browning them in bacon grease. I also have to admit I left out the onions. I do love onions, but again, that darn kid. In the end, the chops were nice and tender, but the gravy was very rich and thick. We served them separate to allow for dipping, instead of spooning it over. It worked very well, but I have to admit the chops were a bit much for me as I’m not used to heavy foods. But I only ate a half while the boys chowed down the rest. I call that a win. If chops go on sale and we have some leftover bacon, I could see making this again. Most of the ingredients I have around.”

Beef Gyros at the office!

“Since
there was no way my son would ever touch something called gyros, I decided to
try this one as a work project. It’s a 5-hour dish, perfect for a noontime
potluck. Putting the simple mix of olive oil and a few spices and also the yogurt
sauce (or buy it at Trader Joe’s) together the night before, I took the meat,
spices, yogurt and my trusty crockpot to work on Valentine’s Day. At 7 a.m.,
threw it all in (easy peasy), cranked it to low and by 10 a.m. it was hard for
anyone to concentrate. It just smelled so good! By noon, others arrived with
all the fix-ins (flat breads, cheese, lettuce, tomato) and even some chips,
hummus and brownies. Meat was tender and ready. It was a home run. We will
definitely do this again. I am also going to try this one at home – it’s very
simple. I may add a few more spices since it’s a bit on the bland side (but
that’s good for a large group). At home, we like it with a little kick. I can
imagine leftovers would be just as good, but we didn’t have any. I guess that
tells you something. I used a thin cut as noted in the recipe, but can see how
a roast would take a bit longer. Also it’s not something I would make every
week – definitely not lean. But once a month, and with less oil, oh yes.”


So the Turkey Breast will go up against those delicious Gyros next round!  Stay tuned to see how that contest goes down…