Month: November 2007

This is a REALLY old (2002?) recipe from Southern Living magazine, but it is definitely a keeper. The sauce is slightly sweet, but the berry flavor is not overpowering at all.

Pork Medallions with Blackberry Sauce

2 (1 pound each) pork tenderloins
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp. coarsely ground whole allspice (I just used 1 tsp. ground allspice)
1/4 cup butter, divided
1/2 cup minced shallots (about 3 large ones)
2/3 cup dry white wine (I used a Chardonnay)
3 Tbsp seedless blackberry fruit spread
(the “seedless” part is important – I ended up having to strain mine and it was a HUGE pain)
Optional garnishes: fresh blackberries, fresh thyme sprigs.
(I didn’t use the garnishes, because the brussels sprouts that I served with this already had fresh thyme in them and it’s not blackberry season here.)

Sprinkle pork evenly with salt, black pepper, and allspice. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Grill pork over medium-high heat (350 to 400 degrees) for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest portion registers 160 degrees, turning pork once (I had to turn it more than once). Remove from grill, and let stand 10 minutes.

Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat while pork stands. Add shallots, and saute 5 minutes or until tender. Add wine; cook 13 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Reduce heat to low; whisk in fruit spread and remaining 2 Tbsp. butter. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Cut pork into 1/4 inch thick slices. Drizzle blackberry sauce over pork. Garnish, if desired.

I served this pork with these brussels sprouts (Boy’s special request) and some mashed Yukon Gold potatoes (put some fresh garlic in the water while they boil, then add some butter and half and half when you mash them – Mmmmm). Big hit with both kids and especially Hubby.

I tore this recipe out of Family Fun magazine about 6 years ago, but I just tried it for the first time. I don’t know what I was waiting for – it was REALLY yummy. I made this popover recipe go with it. They were also very yummy and were quite easy. The kids enjoyed watching them rise in the oven. The soup is very rich; it would probably make a better starter (serving very small portions) than a “meal” next time. This would also correct the problem (in my opinion, anyway) that there’s not a green veggie in this meal, because you could just serve a salad afterwards, with whatever your entree is.

“Frothy” eggs. Full martini.

Batter resting. Slightly less full martini.

Popovers, right out of the oven, 30 minutes later. Martini? What martini?

As those who know me well have heard me say, I believe that avocado is proof that there is a God and that he wants us to be happy. How something so wonderful could be around in such abundance, without some sort of Divine Plan, is beyond my comprehension. My 2nd favorite use (after guacamole) for avocados is in a sandwich. This one had avocado, turkey and smoked fontina cheese on multigrain bread. Gluttonous? yes, of course. But, yummy? Oh, most definitely. I would have liked it even better with some lettuce and/or tomato, but I didn’t have any at the time. Also good: turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and LOTS of avocado.

I found this recipe while searching for a kid-friendly recipe that would utilize the chicken tenders that I had in the freezer. I didn’t have any “Cheez-it” crackers on hand, so I used Goldfish crackers. I didn’t grind them as finely as the recipe called for, so I needed a bit more than the 3 oz that was called for. I added Baby Bam (of course) to the spinach. The tenders were pretty good, for an interesting novelty. I was afraid that the taste of the cheese crackers would be overpowering, but it really wasn’t. The fact that they were baked, rather than fried, made them pleasingly crunchy and not greasy at all. If I make them again, I would probably use chicken breasts, cut into strips and pounded thin, rather than the tenders, because the tenders were very small and thin, so they dried out a bit during cooking. Girl enjoyed telling her teacher that the breading was made of Goldfish at lunch the next day (she had some leftovers in her lunch).

Mmm…this was the cover recipe from the October (2007) Bon Appetit magazine.

Hubby LOVED this. It would really be better once the weather’s colder, but we live in Texas, so we could be waiting for a while for that to happen. I buy my short ribs at Costco and they don’t have them all year – they arrive when the weather starts to get colder. When I first saw this recipe, they didn’t have them yet, so I’ve had this recipe in my “want to try” pile for a while now.

I cut the recipe in half, because the Costco short ribs come in a smaller package than the recipe calls for. They are also boneless, but they substitute just fine. Since they didn’t have bones, I sliced them to serve them, but they were so tender, they almost fell apart when I pulled them out of the baking dish. Everything else, I followed to the letter. I did use the “bake ahead” instructions, which was helpful, because after the ribs were refrigerated a while, the congealed fat could be picked right up off the surface. I know – ew- but it did make things easy – none of that skimming with a spoon and not catching it all. Don’t be tempted to skip the gremolata; it really does add just the right fresh, bright note. I reduced my sauce a bit too much and it was a bit thicker than it should have been. Other than that, this was fantastic! I added some green beans, but a salad would have been nice, too.

I used a pretty good quality Cabernet – Souverain Alexander Valley ($30+ per bottle) – better than I would normally use just for cooking – but it was really yummy and I had it left over (I’ve been saving it for a meal that I deemed “worthy”) from our Christmas Prime Rib dinner. I meant to get to the grocery store over the weekend and buy a “lesser” Cabernet to cook it in, and then I was going to serve it with the Souverain, but that didn’t happen, so I went with what I had on hand…. Of course, that meant that I had to buy a second bottle of the Souverain today to drink with it – we couldn’t cook the meat in something fabulous and then drink something inferior with it when we ate it! But this did mean that we had over $60 tied up in tonight’s dinner, just for the wine (not to mention the beef, gorgonzola, fresh herbs, etc.)! The really sad thing is that Hubby (who has no idea what the wines cost that I normally buy – usually around $12 – $15) noticed the difference in the wine quality instantly: “Mmmm… this is really good wine.” I guess you really do get what you pay for.

This is how we made the kid’s plates (food separated – very important). Girl liked the sauce and the gremolata. Boy preferred his meat plain.

This is a pretty good lasagna, if you’re looking for a recipe that is a step above just using jarred sauce and adding browned ground beef (and two steps above frozen). I’m experimenting with lasagna recipes at the moment and am looking for one that’s “just right”. I tend to like my lasagnas a little “saucier” than most people (and less “cheesy”), but if they’re too saucy, they won’t hold together when you cut them. If any of you have a recipe that’s just “perfect”, please let me know.

Pretty Good Lasagna

1 pound ground beef
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 Tbsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano leaves
1 1/2 tsp. Baby Bam seasoning, divided
1 Tbsp. whole fennel seeds
1 to 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 cans tomato paste (6 ounces each)
2 to 3 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup finely chopped white onion
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley, divided

one package dried lasagna noodles (16 ounces)

1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
(I used fresh mozzarella, since I had a big chunk of it on hand)
3 cups ricotta cheese (low fat is fine, but I don’t care for the fat-free)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
2 beaten eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook meat and onion over medium-high heat until meat is browned and crumbly, but still very slightly pink and onion is softened and translucent. Add garlic and continue cooking until meat is thoroughly browned. Drain fat and lower heat. Add basil, oregano, Baby Bam, fennel seeds, vinegar and tomato paste to ingredients in pan and stir to throughly combine. Add about 1 cup of the stock and continue stirring and cooking, adding stock a little bit at a time as needed, as you continue cooking the sauce until ingredients are thoroughly blended and desired consistency is reached, about 30 minutes. Taste the sauce (with a clean spoon) and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

While sauce simmers, cook lasagna according to package directions and set aside on waxed paper, keeping the noodles separate.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, eggs, half of the parsley and 1/2 tsp. of the Baby Bam.

In a 9 X 13 inch baking pan, assemble the layers in the following order:
1/4 of the sauce
3 noodles
1/3 of the ricotta mixture
1/4 of the mozzarella
3 noodles

Repeat these layers twice, and then top with the remaining 1/4 of the sauce and 1/4 of the mozzarella.

Bake for 45 – 60 minutes, uncovered, until cooked through and browned on top. Lasagna will rise slightly out of the pan, but shouldn’t spill over. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into serving portions.