Layers in June

Who knew that today would turn out to be a pretty nice day when the morning was so dreary? I was literally wearing a sweatshirt and two pairs of socks this morning, it was so cold. And again I thought of making crepes, but alas, there were only 4 eggs in the fridge, and that's just not enough to make my crepes fabulous. And since it was a Saturday, I didn't want ruin my family's weekend by experimenting with new Russian recipes so I decided to stick to things I know how to make on the weekends and turn my kitchen into a lab on weekdays. As an homage to the dreary June morning and my bundled-up self, I baked up some layered goodies for my family. Here's one, as I was only able to upload these pictures onto the computer before the system failed. What is a good way to get cell phone pictures from the phone to the computer? I've been e-mailing them...

Cheesy Pork & Potato Bake
Learned this one from my Mama when I first got married and it was hit with my hubby

1 lb. pork shoulder
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into rounds

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 onion, sliced

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded

salt & pepper

olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with olive oil.
2. Cut pork into 2 inch chunks and beat with a meat tenderizer until flat. Arrange in a layer in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.
3. In a mixing bowl, lather the potatoes with the mayonnaise. Arrange in a layer on top of the meat. Drizzle any remaining mayonnaise on top.
4. Cover the pototoes with a layer of the sliced onion, then cover the onion with a layer of the shdredded cheese.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Then, uncover and bake for another 15 minutes until top is golden brown.
   

Around noon, when the cheese atop the pork & potato thingy was happily bubbling in the oven, the sun came out and I could not resist chopping up some fresh veggies to compliment the baked dish. The quantities are what I used today and it made a nice medium-sized salad, but feel free to use as much of each ingredient as you want. Also, excuse my terminology...I have yet to learn the correct terms. Is "slivers" an appropriate term? I think I've only seen it on packages of almonds. Anyway, it doesn't matter how it's chopped, it's how it tastes, right? And it looks so pretty!

Cabbage, Radish, & Cucumber Salad

1/4 head of green cabbage, shredded
1 bunch radishes, chopped into slivers

1/3 English cucumber, chopped into slivers

3 scallions, chopped

salt & pepper

1-2 tbsp. sunflower oil

Combine veggies with sunflower oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Voila!

For my baked yummy dessert (layered honey-walnut cake!) wait for the next post. Still gotta figure out how to get the rest of my pics from my cell.