Grilled Pork Steaks with Honey Mustard Root Beer Glaze

My brother-in-law had left some pork blade steaks the last time they were here and I’m only just finding them in the back of the freezer. Oops! I decided to combine my honey mustard marinade with my root beer mustard and the result was delicious.

These were fairly thin, so I grilled directly over the coals. They came out juicy with a sweet but tangy glaze. Yum!

Honey Mustard Glaze

4 pork blade steaks or pork chops
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
1 cup root beer (I prefer Abita Root Beer as they sweeten with cane sugar not high fructose corn syrup)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside ⅓ cup of the mixture to glaze the pork once on the grill. Pour the rest in a zip top bag and put in the pork steaks or chops. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Grill on a 350 degree direct fire grill for 7-10 minutes on each side or internal temperature is 145 degrees F. Baste with reserved sauce when you flip over the steaks.

Soda Bread Blueberry Muffins

I like the flavor of soda bread but I didn’t want to make a loaf. These muffins still have the flavor profile of soda bread but can be individually frozen. I used the King Arthur Flour recipe as my stepping off point but I didn’t have whole wheat flour, currents or caraway seeds. Michelle loves blueberries, so I converted the recipe to give her a happy treat for the holiday.

It is St. Patrick’s Day, so I topped them with a sprinkle of green sparkling sugar! The added sweet was more of a bonus for me but these are delicious muffins that are super quick to make.

2 ¼ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup blueberries
1 large egg
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Lightly butter a muffin pan, or line it with baking cups. This recipe makes at least 12 muffins, more if your blueberries are on the large size.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add the blueberries and stir to cover them with the flour mixture. This will keep them from sinking in the batter. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, and butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl the with dry ingredients. Gently combine the dry and wet ingredients just until everything is evenly moistened and there is no loose flour. Be careful not to over mix.

Spoon the thick batter into the baking cups. Bake muffins for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then move the muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Pi Day 2023 – Creole Cream Cheese Chocolate Chess Pie

Classic chess pie pairs a traditional buttery pie crust with a sweet, custardy filling. Michelle and I had a great version at High Hat Cafe that used Creole Cream Cheese. Country Roads Magazine posted the High Hat Cafe’s recipe a few years ago and we used that as the stepping off point for our pie.

I picked up the Creole Cream Cheese at Dorignac’s Food Center but you can make your own (recipe here) if you aren’t in the area. As chocolate makes everything better, we added a little cocoa powder both for flavor and to cut the sweet a bit.

The end result is a creamy chocolate pie with a slight tang. Delicious!

Creole Cream Cheese Chocolate Chess Pie

16 ounces Creole cream cheese at room temperature
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Hershey’s Special Dark), sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
pinch of salt
1 frozen deep dish or 10″ pie crust
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork and par-bake the pie crust for 15 minutes.

Drop oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Whip eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, butter and salt in stand mixer until well incorporated. Add in the Creole cream cheese and cocoa powder and mix until smooth. Pour into the pre-baked pie crust. Bake the pie for 60 minutes, rotating halfway through, until set in the middle. Let cool before serving.