Connie's sister has been visiting. I have a new toy. And, it's almost spring!
As it turns out, we eat fashionably late. Barbs eats dinner at 5:00. Usually at 5:00 we're still at the office and haven't even thought about heading home. By the time we get home at 6:30 or 7:00 we're ready to start cooking. And, if we eat by 8:00 we're lucky. She's been laughingly telling us we're starving her to death. Lucky for her we've got some wonderful smoked nuts to snack on. And, smoked cheese.
We went to a great party the first evening Barbs was here. Then, we ate at home for two evenings. Then, a last evening out at one of our favorite restaurants - with my mother joining us. Early in the week before she got here, I got my new toy. Eatyourbooks.com. For years now I've had a draft of a program I wanted to have written that would manage recipes. And, would manage a pantry. This does the recipes but not the pantry. And, it does a fabulous job with the recipes. You can start out with their library and enter the name of a cookbook or the author's name or the ISBN number. Then, you click a button and add it to your bookshelf. If it's already been indexed, all of the recipes are listed by name and ingredients and course and recipe type. The measurements and instructions are not included. You've got to go to the actual cookbook for those. It's funny how I had a total mental block on my cookbooks when I first signed up at the office. I started with Ina Garten and added several of hers to my bookshelf. Then, Cat Cora and Michael Symon. And a few others like the Joy of Cooking and The I Hate to Cook Book. EYB also indexes cooking magazines, blogs, online recipes and personal recipes. You can hunt multiple different ways. For example, cookbook recipes that I've marked "want to try" that have peaches as an ingredient.
That evening I went home and looked at my menu for the week. We were supposed to have penne alla vodka. I had three versions to choose from. Then, I thought about the sweet potato that needed to be used up. And, the asparagus that was getting old. Ah, ha! Time to test out eatyourbooks.com! I typed in sweet potatoes and a bunch of recipes came up. By a bunch I mean like a dozen. Now that I have 132 cookbooks entered, more than 200 come up!!! One with rosemary and orange caught my eye. From a Cat Cora cookbook. It's super simple and fabulous. In fact, we gave these a five. From there I hunted for asparagus recipes. And, up came a recipe for asparagus carbonara. Sold!
The menu for dinner the first evening Barbs was here was pretty much stolen from a friend. We went to dinner at their house a few weeks ago and the dinner was so good I told them I was going to make it for my sister-in-law. Of course, I made some changes but that's just the way I roll... The pork tenderloin was exactly like Al made it. The peas and mushrooms with thyme had a little extra thanks to our favorite mushroom recipe. And, the hasselback potatoes were made with sweet potatoes instead of russets.
The second evening I knew I wanted to make chicken thighs and kale salad. Barbs had talked about her aunt's au gratin potatoes so I knew I'd make my mom's version. For the other two I was back to eatyourbooks.com. About a dozen great recipes for chicken thighs were in the list. But I needed one that'd be great with au gratin potatoes. One from Giada's Weeknight Cooking with white wine, mustard and tarragon would work perfectly. And, a kale salad with pomegranate dressing and pomegranate seeds (replacing those with Craisins) would be a great side dish.
Sweet Potatoes with Rosemary and Orange (serves two)
Ingredients:
One large sweet potato
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Crushed rosemary
One large orange
Directions:
Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Score them lightly in a cross hatch pattern. Rub them all over with olive oil. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper and crushed rosemary. Roast them at 400 for about half an hour. While they're roasting, zest the orange. Then, cut it in half and juice it. Once the potatoes come out of the oven, put them on the plates and pour the orange juice over them. Sprinkle on the zest and serve.
adapted from: Cooking from the Hip by Cat Cora
Al's Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients:
Pork tenderloin
2 cloves fresh garlic per 2 lb tenderloin
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper (about 1/2 tsp for a 2 lb tenderloin)
Apricot jam
Directions:
Cut small slits in the top of each tenderloin. Cut the garlic into small slivers. Put a sliver into each slit. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and cayenne. Bake uncovered at 350 until the pork reaches 135. If you like your pork well done, you'll want a higher internal temp. But, we like our pork pink. Remove the pork from the oven and slather it with apricot jam. Put it back in the oven and bake it until it reaches 145. Remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. You may need to broil it for the last 5 degrees so that the jam caramelizes.
For the peas and mushrooms, I made our favorite mushroom recipe then added some frozen peas and a good shake of thyme.
Hasselback Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:
one large sweet potato
olive oil
2 T butter, softened
crushed rosemary (about 1/2 t)
chipotle chili powder (about 1/4 t - more if you like more heat)
lemon juice (about 1t)
Directions:
Put either chopsticks or pencils along both sides of the sweet potato. Cut them into very thin slices. Like an eighth of an inch. Rub them with olive oil and pour a bit into each cut. Roast at 400 until done (usually about half an hour.) While they're roasting, bring some butter to room temperature. Then, mix it with crushed rosemary, chipotle chili powder and lemon juice. Mix well to make a compound butter. When the potatoes come out of the oven, put about a quarter of a teaspoon of the butter between each slice.
Chicken Thighs with White Wine, Mustard and Tarragon Sauce
Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs (bone-in and skin-on)
4 T flour
salt and pepper
1/4 c olive oil
1 large onion, quartered and sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 c dry white wine
2 c chicken broth (I used Better than Bouillon)
1/4 c chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 c Dijon mustard
butter
Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. When it's sizzling, lightly flour the chicken thighs and put them into the oil. Brown them on both sides. Remove them to a plate and add the sliced onion. Saute it until it's lightly browned then add the garlic for about 30 seconds. Stir in the white wine and get the fond off the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken broth and tarragon. Put the chicken back in the pan. Cover and cook on medium for about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate (wash it in between if you use the same one!) and add the mustard to the pan. Mix about 2 T of the flour with about 2T of water. Stir that in and cook until the sauce is thickened - about 5 minutes. Serve the chicken with the sauce spooned over and some more chopped tarragon on top. This would be wonderful with either rice or a grain on the side to help sop up the sauce. But, that being said, without either helping, all of our plates were clean! Alas, this disappeared quickly with nary a photo to be had. Great excuse to make it again, don't you think?
adapted from Weeknights with Giada
Kale Salad with Pomegranate Dressing
Ingredients:
2T white wine or champagne vinegar
2t pomegranate molasses
1 shallot, minced
one bunch fresh kale, torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 c Craisins
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c chopped nuts (I used a mix of smoked almonds, pecans and walnuts)
2 oz. ricotta salata, shaved
Directions:
Mix the vinegar, molasses and shallot. Allow to sit for five minutes. Toss in the kale, Craisins and olive oil. Massage the dressing into the kale leaves. Serve topped with the nuts and the ricotta.
Since my photo was so lousy, here's a link to the original recipe on Bon Appetit: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/kale-with-pomegranate-dressing-and-ricotta-salata
Folks tend to either love or hate Guy Fieri. I'm in the love camp. The man can cook. And, he LOVES flavor. Lots of big, bold flavors. Maybe a bit more heat than I like but that's easily resolved. I've been reading his new cookbook, Guy on Fire. Loads of great recipes and for me, great ideas. So, we had leftover pork tenderloin from the pork tenderloin we made last week. I found a recipe I thought would easily adapt to the ingredients I had on hand.
Those of you who believe in making a recipe the first time the way it's written will be disappointed to know that Guy's recipe was merely the idea. I didn't bread and fry the pork since I was using leftover pork tenderloin. I used hearty rye bread instead of baguette since that's what I had on hand. The mayonnaise was not homemade bacon mayo made with 2/3 c of bacon fat but instead was Hellman's Light with olive salad and garlic. And, instead of arugula inside the sandwich, I used only one piece of bread per sandwich and topped the sandwiches with dressed greens. So, I'm not really sure I should be giving credit to Guy for this one, eh? Whatever you think, We loved these sandwiches.
Then, there was dessert. Last week I made a new dessert - gooey bananas. Tonight, I kicked it up a notch - or three. The original recipe called for bananas, chocolate, toffee bits and mini marshmallows. We had a few strawberries left from the batch we picked in our garden. And, a handful of chopped pecans. Betcha they'd be good with the bananas. Yup, they were.
Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
Ingredients:
Hearty rye bread
Mayonnaise
Green olives with pimentos, finely minced
Garlic, a good sprinkle of garlic powder
Sliced pork tenderloin
Roasted red bell pepper, sliced
Bacon, not too crisp
Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
Salad greens
Sherry vinegar
Sugar, just a pinch
Extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
First, here's a look at how the ingredients were prepped:
Mix the mayonnaise with the chopped green olives and the garlic.
Toast the bread lightly.
Slice the pork tenderloin. Yes, we like ours pretty pink!
Fry and drain the bacon. I always sprinkle mine with garlic powder and freshly ground black pepper as it's frying.
Slice the roasted red peppers and the provolone.
Now, let's look at how the sandwiches were put together:
Schmear the olive mayonnaise on the toasted bread.
Top with sliced pork tenderloin.
Then, the sliced roasted red bell peppers
And the bacon.
Last, by the provolone.
Broil until the cheese has melted.
Toss the salad greens with a bit of sherry vinegar, a pinch of sugar and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Thanks to Guy on Fire for the basic idea!
Our friends are retiring in droves. The first one who really got to me was Chris. Every once in a while we take a long weekend trip with Chris and Mark. All of the sudden, we didn't have to abide by a teacher's schedule. That's when it finally dawned on me that I have less than ten years to my own retirement. Oh, my. I absolutely love what I do so I'm not sure I'll ever totally retire. But, there will be a time I'll slow down because there are so many other things I'd like to do.
We'd had a busy week. Monday was Memorial Day so there was a family party at brother John's house. He did ribs on the grill I brought the other stuff. All too often he does the ENTIRE dinner and I feel like a freeloader so I was totally thrilled that he actually let me bring almost everything. I took David's cheese dip, Brown sugar shrimp from Gastro Grilling, brie with brown sugar and pecans, Casa d'Angelo Salad, Aunt Bebe's Bean Bowl, vinaigrette potato salad, deviled eggs and Strawberry Torte.
Tuesday night we were actually home for burgers on the grill smothered with onions and mushrooms.
Wednesday was a retirement reception for our friend Phyllis Geeslin who has done such an incredible job as executive director of the Benjamin Harrison House. Thursday was dinner out with our dear friends George and Steve and Ellen. We were celebrating Ellen's retirement. Are you seeing the pattern here??? So, Friday evening we were going to celebrate our friend Brenda's retirement. Brenda and Janet used to sit behind us at Colts games. They were some of the first friends we made as a couple lo those many years ago when Connie and I first met.
My wonderful housecleaner, Debbie, hasn't been here for a couple of months. Between her mom's surgery and getting engaged and all kinds of things, life has interfered with her visits to my house. Needless to say with our schedules at work and the fact that it's spring and our yard is VERY needy, the interior has been sadly neglected. The dust is thick and it's obvious we have a dog and a cat cohabitating with us.
Now, what would you do? I've been out all week with the exception of one evening. I really wanted to eat dinner at home. But, we were supposed to go out with Brenda and Janet. And, my house wasn't quite ready for prime time. Good friends ignore the dust and the dog fur. Indeed they do! Instead of going out, we ate at home. What a lovely, relaxing evening.
I marinated pork tenderloin in a fabulous marinade from Cuisine At Home magazine. That's going on my list of go-to marinades. Then, I did fingerling potatoes in a foil packet on the grill.
And, corn on the cob with a mustard/maple/thyme glaze. I've made that before. It was the star of the show. We had a salad of lettuce and strawberries from the garden. It also had asparagus, orange segments and toasted pecans. Last but not least, I took an idea from Food Network magazine and ran with it. Bananas grilled with toffee bits, chocolate and mini marshmallows.
All in all, between Memorial Day and Friday, there wasn't a bad recipe in the bunch. I do love the story behind David's cheese dip. Son number one, David, pulled a deli container out of the fridge and told me he'd found this FABULOUS dip at the store. It was kind of expensive - like $8 for a pint - but he loved it. I tasted it and it tasted for all the world like swiss cheese, red onions and mayonnaise. I read the ingredient list and yup, that's what it appeared to be. So, next time we went to Columbus to visit the kids, I started at Sam's Club. There, I bought a mongo wedge of Jarlsberg and a bag of red onions. Shredded part of the cheese, minced the onions and moistened the whole thing with mayonnaise. Exactly alike. And, maybe 25% of the cost...
Here's where to find the recipes that I've already included in this blog:
Casa d'Angelo Salad
Aunt Bebe's Bean Bowl
Strawberry Torte
Corn with Mustard/Maple/Thyme Butter
Now, on to the new recipes:
Brown Sugar Shrimp. This recipe actually had two dipping sauces with it. A cocktail sauce and a white horseradish. Both were good but I felt that both detracted from the shrimp. This recipe came out of a cookbook called Gastro Grilling. I've made it about halfway through the cookbook and want to try just about everything in it. Actually, we've made another recipe and it was equally fabulous. And, as you'll note, no photos...
Brown Sugar Shrimp
Ingredients:
shrimp, tail on, shells removed, deveined
bourbon
butter
brown sugar
Directions:
Put the shrimp in a bowl and pour bourbon over them. You don't necessarily need to fully cover them as long as you toss them every couple of minutes. We used frozen shrimp so didn't worry about refrigerating them. Marinate them for about fifteen minutes. Toss the bourbon or use it to cook with as long as your'e going to heat it but do not drink it! Pat the shrimp dry. Now, the recipe calls for dipping the shrimp in butter then refrigerating it again. I didn't have time to do that so here's what I did - Dip the shrimp in melted butter then roll it in dark brown sugar. Put it on a grill pan. Refrigerate it until you're ready to grill. Grill on both sides. You'll have lovely golden brown shrimp that just melt in your mouth.
Soy Marinated Chinese Pork Tenderloin. See the gorgeous char on that pork tenderloin? It tasted equally good. I can see this on ribs, burgers (pork, beef or turkey,) pork loin, pulled pork, chicken... Just about anything. Even a really meaty fish would be fine with this marinade.
Chinese Soy Marinade
Ingredients:
1/2 c low sodium soy sauce
1/4 c packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c purchased barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays and doubled this)
2 T sesame oil
2 T minced fresh ginger
2 T dry sherry or mirin
1 T chili garlic sauce
Directions:
Mix and marinate your meat for about an hour. Brush on as you're grilling also. If you've set some aside, you can serve this on the side as a dipping sauce.
Gooey Bananas. I saw this idea on Food Network Magazine's calendar of ideas at the front of the magazine. They called for splitting the banana and stuffing it with toffee bits, chocolate and mini marshmallows. Ummm, great idea but there's not enough STUFF. So, I peeled the bananas and laid them on heavy duty foil (you do NOT want to use a pan you've got to clean later or you will be scrubbing from now until next May...) Then, sprinkle them liberally with toffee bits, chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Seal the packets and toss them on the grill. You'll need to peek and see how they're doing. Once the chips have melted and the marshmallows are nice and gooey, you're good to go.
We've had a couple of really fun cooking adventures recently. Actually, I've had more than Connie. He played bridge while my friend, Stacy, and I fixed a German meal. But, that's not what came first. The truffle came first.
It'd been another of those killer weeks. Monday I was sick. Like come home from the office at 10:30 and go to bed sick. Tuesday I had to feel better since I was teaching a Social Security class in the evening. By the time everyone left the office about 9pm I was ready to collapse. Fortunately, we'd taken along Cobb salad fixings so we'd had a good dinner before class. I'd used my favorite blue cheese dressing which I discovered, much to my consternation, was not on here. Now, we first made this in 2006 long before I'd thought about blogging. Consequently, there's an image of a recipe with no attribution. And a REALLY old photo... So, here it goes:
Blue Cheese Dressing
Ingredients:
2/3 c crumbled blue cheese
1/3 c sour cream
2 T mayonnaise
1 T milk
1/2 t Worcestershire
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t ground mustard
1/4 t garlic powder
Directions:
The original recipe calls for whirring all of the above in a food processor. I prefer to take about 1/4 c of the blue cheese and hold it out so I get nice, chunky dressing. I also tend to double/triple the ground mustard, Worcestershire and garlic. This is so easy to make and so much better than the jarred/bottled stuff!!!
Back to our adventures...
Wednesday it was time to meet our friends Pete and Shirley for dinner. Pete had decreed that he wanted us to try his favorite brew pub - BJ's Brewhouse. Neither of us was excited. It's a chain, after all. And, it's in a mall. But, it was Pete's turn to choose so we showed up at the appointed hour. Were we ever wrong!!! We had about the best mac and cheese ever. A little chipotle and bacon and a perfect sauce.
And, the pulled pork sandwich was almost as good. That's turkey club in front of the pulled pork. It was good but not worthy of a special trip.
Let me tell you, if there's time that mac and cheese is going to be lunch when I'm in my Greenwood office!
Thursday was a wine dinner at Chef Joseph's. We got to sit with our friends, Steve and Colleen so had a lively conversation and great time. Joseph did his usual amazing dishes. The most incredible was dessert. Goat cheese flan with lemon and pink peppercorns. Yeah, it was beautiful and tasted amazing. The evening was also a fund raiser for Little Red Door. They offer loads of services for cancer patients. We wound up with tickets to Theatre on the Square and a gift basket of wine and beer to go along with some beer signs and such.
Friday night after work we headed downtown to Goose the Market to pick up our truffle. We splurged and spent $23 on a fresh truffle. Home it came. Wrapped in a paper towel in a sealed container. We opened it and took photos and sniffed.
Didn't smell much like truffle. So, I shaved off a little piece. Kind of like eating a little nibble of wood. Not much flavor and very dry. Hmmm, maybe it'd be better cooked... So we made steaks with a cognac/truffle sauce and mushroom risotto with shaved truffle on top. Again, not much truffle flavor.
So, we tried again Saturday evening and made truffled scallops and crabmeat over butter lettuce and roasted beets. This time I put truffle oil and the dressing and viola we had truffle flavor.
Sunday we were meeting Chef Joseph and his partner, Juan, for lunch at the Lockerbie Pub. Time for some pub grub. Here are two photos from a couple of months ago when we flew by the Lockerbie and picked up tenderloins to go:
I took along what was left of the truffle along and handed it to Joseph. Was it good? Well, this time of year they are hard as rocks, he said. If you want to get some real flavor out of it, soak it in some brandy. Ok, now I know.
Sunday evening we were both still stuffed from our pork tenderloin sandwiches. I put some short ribs from Goose in the dutch oven and let them simmer away. I'd planned to make truffled mac and cheese but decided plain old smashed potatoes would be better. We nibbled at the short ribs and left most of it for lunch later in the week. That's ok. It'll reheat REALLY well. And, with the leftover hangar steak for another lunch and the leftover sauerbraten for yet another, we'll be having some fabulous lunches!
It looks like I'm running out of time and creating a monster post before even talking about our German feast So, let me say to be continued...
Not too long after I started blogging Connie came home from a bridge game and announced that Suzanne had a friend who blogged also. Well, now. That'd be fun to know another Indianapolis blogger. Her name was Liz and she wrote a blog called ThatSkinnyChickCanBake.
It turns out that Liz is not only a fabulous blogger but one of the most wonderful people you can ever hope to meet. She and her husband, Bill, live not too far from us. And, coincidentally, across the street from a friend from high school and his wife - who I'd lost contact with. Super double bonus. We meet Liz and Bill and Steve and Pam are now back in our lives.
So, let me tell you a bit about Liz. She and Bill are from Iowa. His work brought them here. They've got three kids. Tom, Katie and Nick. They're great kids. Not surprising at all given how wonderful their mom and dad are. She's super involved in the community. And, she's got LOTS of friends. Friends who've been friends for years and years and years. She's that kind of person. Once you know her you're her friend and you want to stay her friend because she's so delightful. I can't forget Lambeau. She's the family dog. She's an old lady but still loves to have company. You'll see her in the occasional post.
Her blog is amazing. I've never seen anyone who can not only master so many dessert techniques but who also does such a wonderful job with the other courses - appetizers, entrees, sides, salads... Now, because I'm not a dessert maker I love it when she posts the other stuff. And, I know it's going to be good because our tastes are so similar. When I'm in a position where I've got to fix dessert, the first place I go is Liz's blog. That's where I found the Mounds Bars cookies. Thank goodness the leftovers are in the basement freezer. If they were in the office freezer they wouldn't still be around... I'm not much of a sweets eater but those I'll make an exception for.
Now, imagine my delight when I got my Secret Recipe Club assignment. Liz. Wooo Hoooo!!! With the big change over at work going on time to cook has been scarce. I wasn't excited about getting a blog that didn't have fantastic choices. Not a problem here. I must've printed a dozen recipes before settling on this one for pork tenderloin. Actually, there's another that I'm going to have to make this week. It's a salad with beets, hearts of palm and blue cheese. I've got all the ingredients and just have to remember to cook the beets.
A note about Secret Recipe Club in the event you're not familiar with it. Every Monday a different group of bloggers posts for SRC. We're given our assignment about three weeks prior to the reveal date. Then, it's time to sit down and read blogs. We've had some fantastic recipes from SRC. I think Connie's favorite is the Irish Pancakes from Josie. I'm not sure if my favorite was the BBQ Chicken Dip or the Stuffed Meatloaf. It's a fun opportunity to get acquainted with other bloggers.
So, how did we like the pork tenderloin? MMMMMMMM! Liz hit another home run with this. We marinated the pork overnight then grilled it for dinner. Leftovers wound up in sandwiches for lunch. I'll tell you more about the sandwiches in another post... This will now be the alternate to my favorite pork tenderloin from Back Home Again - a cookbook both Liz and I love. Here's the link to Liz's post: Maple Grilled Pork Tenderloin.
There's one fun note that I want to add. Connie's our wine steward. He'll ask what we're having for dinner then figure out the right wine. The evening we had the pork tenderloin he came up from the basement with a big grin on his face. A Chablis from Suzanne! It was perfect with the pork :-)
Maple Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins
1/4 c Dijon mustard
1 T chopped fresh rosemary
1 T lemon juice
1 T soy sauce
3 T maple syrup
Directions:
Mix the ingredients in a ziplock bag. Add the tenderloins and marinate in the fridge overnight. Grill until the tenderloins have reached your desired temperature. We like ours more pink than most folks... Liz serves hers with sauteed Granny Smith apples. Connie gripes if I feed him too much fruit. That and the fact that I had about a dozen tomatoes from the garden to use up tipped the scales in favor of parmesan baked tomatoes instead of the apples...
adapted from ThatSkinnyChickCanBake
Life is all about balance, isn't it? Right now I'm up in the sitting room on the alternate computer since the one I normally use is no longer working. The good news is that with the loads of bedclothes and rugs and regular clothes, we've probably got 10 loads of laundry to do this week. We've got company coming in next weekend so all of that's got to be done. The laundry room is next door to the sitting room. This means I don't have to traipse up and down stairs to change out the laundry. YAY! One bonus. Convenience balances out in-convenience...
It's our busy season and as Connie said today, he doesn't remember a busy season being so busy - ever. Neither do I. We both wake up in the morning talking about which dreams we had about the office. As my buddy Bob from my banking days always said, I can't tell whether I'm pitching or catching! How true.
So, we've got a house that's a mell of a hess, a to-do list at the office that's huge, plus we've had this lovely early spring and the weeds are just taking over. Oh, and did I mention that Mom's decided she's going to move from her condo to independent living? Time to clean out her condo and get it on the market. She's like us - tons and tons of pictures on the walls. Most of them need to be taken down and then the walls need to be spackled and sanded and painted. We've set a date to do that. She's very upset to be leaving some well-loved things behind. I think most of us are that way. I have a lot more clutter than Connie likes and it's not going to get better. The good news is that we've got the ability to store a lot of things for my niece and nephew. But, there will be plenty of things that come to my house - her china cabinet and a couple of side tables are the primary big things. Goodness knows where we'll hang all the pictures! Two wing chairs will go to the waiting area at the office. Into all of that, toss in a board meeting in Chicago for a couple of days, a due diligence meeting for a couple of days and a family vacation. I'm feeling more than a bit overwhelmed. That's when I'd typically bust out the cookbooks and try a bunch of new recipes because cooking does soothe me when I'm overwhelmed. But, there's been little time to even do that.
That's why tonight I made a concerted effort to try something new - banh mi sandwiches. I first read about them on Sommer's blog - A Spicy Perspective. Then, I'd catch blurbs here and there. They sounded great. Finally, last weekend on our way to our friend Judy's 70th birthday party I saw an article in Indianapolis Monthly about the Super 46 Sandwiches. We just hosted Super Bowl 46 and one of the things that happened was state-wide voting for the favorite sandwich. Well, a Banh Mi Thit Nuong from Saigon Restaurant was listed. Here's the description, "This standout brings together hunks of sweet grilled pork, thinly sliced pickled veggies, daikon, carrots, springs of cilantor and bits of fresh jalapeno that are stuffed inside the bun for the perfect contrast of flavors." We have a ton of cilantro in the herb garden and I've been itching for something to use it in. Next, I opened the new Food and Wine. There was a banh mi sandwich from Luke Nguyen. I combined ideas from both to make our sandwiches.
What did we think? As soon as we were done eating and Connie'd left to go play bridge, I headed to the kitchen and grilled the rest of the pork slices and sliced veggies so we can have these again for lunch tomorrow! You'd think with all the strong flavors that something would jump out and take over, but nothing did. Everything played nicely together. I love the fact that there's very little meat and a lot of fresh veggies. This will be a regular at our house!
Banh Mi Sandwich
serves 2
Ingredients:
8 thin slices pork tenderloin
1/4 c Asian fish sauce
1 T honey
2 T sugar
1 t freshly ground pepper
6 scallions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 long, soft rolls, split
hoisin sauce
Siracha chile sauce
1/3 cucumber, seeded and cut into matchsticks (peel it if you'd like - we didn't)
handful of snack carrots cut into matchsticks
daikon radish, cut into matchsticks
handful of cilantro
Directions:
In the blender, prepare a marinade with the fish sauce, honey, sugar, scallions, pepper and garlic. Add the thinly sliced pork and marinate it in the fridge for 2-4 hours. When you're ready to put the sandwiches together you can either skewer the pork slices and grill them or toss them in a pan and broil them like I did. The grill will give you all the lovely grill marks and beautiful brown edges - and one less pan to wash, Christiane! The broiler has the benefit of being VERY quick and you don't have to mess with the skewers. Now, to assemble the sandwiches, you need to drizzle on the Siracha sauce. It's hotter than blazes so drizzle accordingly. I had a few dashes of the stuff on mine. Connie had a full drizzle on both sides of his sandwich. Then, you schmear hoisin sauce on. I decided to schmear only one side of the bread so we wouldn't have too much of one flavor. Next, lay your pork slices on the bread.
Top them with your veggies
and finally with a big bunch of cilantro. Press the sandwich together well and serve.
Sometimes our menu is dictated by what needs to be finished up. We'd had leftover pork tenderloin on salads for lunch. But the other pork tenderloin was sitting in the fridge and needed to be used up. So, that became the basis for dinner. Connie loves pears. I'd bought four and they were ripe. Another addition to dinner. Along with the pork and pears I was thinking couscous. There was a container of chopped green onions. And, a jar of tahini that needs to be used. A great addition to couscous.
Here's what I was thinking... We have a fantastic recipe for pork tenderloin. It's marinated in a mixture of whiskey, brown sugar and soy sauce. It's beyond fantastic. What if I switched a couple of the ingredients just a little bit and used Hangar One Spiced Pear and Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce with the brown sugar? We did a taste test beforehand. I mixed about a tablespoon of the proposed marinade and took a little sip. Wow. Lot's of alcohol. Connie took a swig. Sputter, cough. "Oh, that'll do." Really? You about choked on that? Yeah, I know but it'll be fine. So, I mixed the marinade and in went the pork tenderloin.
Down to the basement to the Kinect. I have once agained realized why I HATE the game of golf. It is boring. No, it is BORING. After playing RallyBall we switched to the Sports disk. And, I said let's play golf since we've not played that yet. Last time for me. UGH! No wonder I quit playing the stooooopid game about 1977!!!! We started with the three hole game and I left at the end of two. Mind you, we were tied but I had had more than enough. Ok, fine. You get the message. I don't like golf. Fortunately, I do like cooking.
Next up was brown rice to mix with a chopped red onion and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and Trader Joe's Cuban Style Black Beans. That's for lunch tomorrow. Then, I started assembling the couscous ingredients. Finally, the pork and the pears went on the grill.
What did we think? Grand Slam. We rarely give out five's. And I only remember one other time we've given every dish a five. This was truly a grand slam. Not only was it super easy and pretty darned low cal, but it was also VERY good.
Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Pears and Mediterranean Couscous
for the pork:
1 pork tenderloin (actually two will fit in the marinade if you so desire)
1/4 c Hangar One
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce
1 Bosc pear (Connie's favorite - use whatever you like best)
for the couscous:
1 c water
1 c uncooked couscous
1 T tahini sauce
1/2 can chickpeas
feta cheese
1 c diced carrots, cooked
1/2 c diced green onions
Directions:
Mix the marinade ingredients and pour the mixture into a gallon storage bag. Add the pork tenderloin, seal the bag and leave it on the counter for at least 30 minutes while you assemble the couscous ingredients. Put a cup of water in a large saucepan and put it on a burner. Don't turn the burner on yet, just get this ready to go. Then, measure out a cup of dried couscous and set it aside. Dice the carrots and cook them until very tender. Crumble the feta cheese and set it aside with the green onions. Open and rinse the can of chickpeas. Set out the jar of tahini and a tablespoon measure. Ok, you are now ready to assemble the couscous once the pork is cooked. It'll cook in five minutes and you can assemble the dish in about three so it's perfect to do while the pork rests after coming off the grill. Last but not least, you need to wash and halve and core your pear.
Once your pork is up to room temp and marinated, it's time to grill it. We like ours pretty pink in the center so rarely grill it past 130 since I know the temp usually goes up about 10 degrees after it comes off the heat. I'd actually prefer to take it off the grill at 125 but on occasion the grillmeister gets preoccupied and doesn't pay enough attention. cough, cough, cough. While the pork is grilling, put the pears on the grill cut side down. You'll either get lovely grill marks or slightly blackened pears. That depends on whether you remember to remove the pears from direct heat and move them to indirect or not. Your choice.
Turn the heat under the pan with a cup of water to high. Now, take your pork and pears off the grill and put them on a nice carving board and tent it and set it aside while you cook the couscous. The water should be boiling right about now. Remove the pan from the heat, dump the couscous in, stir it well, cover it and set it aside for five minutes. Tick tock, tick tock. Take a sip of wine. Make sure the candles are lit and the table is set. Ok, it should be ready to be assembled. Stir the couscous again. Add the tahini and stir it well. Then add the other ingredients and stir them in gently. Slice the pork and serve the pear and couscous. We loved a bottle of Due Uve with this. It's a mix of pinot gris and sauvignon blanc.
Up and at 'em early on Saturday morning. Heading east to Niagara Falls. First though, we wanted to stop and get some Barberton chicken. Supposedly the best fried chicken in Ohio. In our opinion, don't waste your money, time or calories. It was greasy, flavorless and pretty awful. Fortunately, that wasn't the case for most of the food we had on our vacation.
Several years ago, Connie was consulting at a bank in Buffalo. He got the whole team together for a trip to Niagara Falls. They ate a fantastic dinner at a place called the Red Coach Inn. We checked to see if they were still in business and found they're a bed and breakfast. Super double bonus. Reservations were made. When Connie ate there the first time, he had a swordfish dish that was so incredible that I wrote to the chef and asked for the recipe. He was kind enough to send it to me. Butterlfied swordfish is served on a bed of lightly sauteed spinach with roasted red peppers. It's magnificent.
We got to Niagara with just enough time to head to the Canadian side and see the falls. We parked at the American falls and walked the mile down to the Canadian falls. Absolutely amazing. I'd never seen them and they were on my bucket list so I was like a kid in a candy store.
Back to the Red Coach with just enough time to run in for our 8 pm dinner reservations. Unfortunately, dinner wasn't stellar. The chef was off getting married and whoever was in charge loved the salt shaker. I had to send my scallops on pasta dinner back. Connie soldiered through his lobster mac and cheese even though it was equally salty. My replacement was duck - overcooked duck. But, the flavors were marvelous. Breakfast the next morning absolutely made up for any misgivings I had about dinner. I had a crab benedict. The crabmeat was fresh and oh, so flavorful. The eggs were perfectly poached. And, the hollandaise was exactly right. YUM! Connie had a smoked salmon bagel - and some of my crab benedict. His bagel was so huge that we managed to make half of it our lunch!
If you're in the area, I'd highly recommend staying at the Red Coach. Our room was lovely. Everyone on the staff was so friendly. The whole place is just gorgeous.
For our recipe, let's skip back to Kara's birthday party. I knew there wasn't a lot of time to prepare a meal since I had an appointment the evening before that'd last way late and I'd be lucky to get home by 8pm. So, I went to pork tenderloin. It's so versatile and so easy. The tenderloins were still frozen after our three hour ride. Actually, they served as the ice pack for the rest of the dinner ingredients that needed to be chilled on the way. We butterflied them then slathered them with the marinade. A quick trip to the grill and they were done. Alongside we had the potato gratins we love,
roasted acorn squash with butter and brown sugar
and a salad with the last of the cherry tomatoes from our CSA and a good sprinkle of shredded gruyere along with a homemade mustard vinaigrette.
Mustard BBQ Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins
1/2 c dijon mustard
2 T soy sauce
2 t garlic salt
Directions:
Mix the mustard, soy sauce and garlic salt. Slather it on the pork and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Grill to your preferred level of doneness.
