What's for dinner

The Aussie and I had some friends over for dinner last night. No pictures, but I have some recipes to share.

Slow Cooker Pork Loin

Pork loin - I used a large 4 pound loin
1 packet of onion soup mix
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup red wine
1 T garlic powder
1 t fresh ground black pepper

I did things a little backwards. Some recipes call for you to brown the meat, some don't. So I didn't. But then I did. I started this out with part of the onion soup mix, garlic powder and pepper sprinkled on the bottom of the slow cooker. Then I put in the pork loin and sprinkled the remaining soup mix, garlic powder and pepper on top. I poured in the chicken broth and the red wine and set the cooker on low. During my lunch break I decided that it would be nice to brown the meat, so I took it out of the cooker and browned it in my cast iron skillet. Then I put it back in the slow cooker to continue cooking. This cooked for seven hours on low and was absolutely delicious. Falling apart tender, I had to lift it out of the cooker with a spatula. Serve the juice that it cooked in as a sauce.

Zucchini and Summer Squash Casserole

I'm calling this a casserole for lack of a better way to describe it.

2 medium zucchini sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 small yellow squash sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1/2 cup fat free half and half
mozzarella cheese - about 8 slices off of a round of cheese
parmesan cheese
bread crumbs
olive oil

Lightly coat the bottom of your casserole dish with olive oil. Spread half of the veggies in a thick layer. Pour on half of the half and half, sprinkle a little parmesan (I use the stuff that comes in a green container. The real stuff goes moldy on me.) Take a couple of slices of mozzarella, break them into pieces and cover the veggies. Layer the rest of the veggies on top, followed by the rest of the half and half and mozzarella. Top with bread crumbs and more parmesan to give it a nice crust. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.