Grillled Sage Pork Loin with Sweet Potatoes

We do like a good pig around here. Pork is good on so many levels! It's versatile, dependable, and, as the ads used to say, the other white meat. Nice to have variety when it comes to white meat, I always say (not really).
The other day when I went on my mission trip to the grocery, I found a pretty pork loin. I looked at it over the next few days in the fridge and came up with a plethora of scenarios on how to cook it. Finally today I decided that, after a little research, it would receive a sage rub. Sage isn't our favorite flavor, so I backed off quite a bit on the rub ingredients. These included: 2T. sugar, 1t. salt, 1t. sage, 1t. marjoram, 1/4t. celery seed, 1/4t. dried mustard (I used about 1/2t. sage). I cut the loin into four sections, added the rub, covered, and put into the fridge for about 4 hours.
Once  it was time to start the meal, I sliced up a couple of sweet potatoes, an apple, and an onion with a bit of butter. I wrapped this in foil and placed it on the grill.
Once the potatoes were pretty well done, I sliced the pork into medallions and put them on the grill. Once they reached 170 degrees, they were done.
I paired this with Shiraz; it made for a nice Sunday evening meal.

Lemony Peppery Shrimp with Couscous

Once again, kudos to the good cooks at Southern Living. This was another "oooo" observation from Tom as he quickly perused the September issue the other evening while waiting for that Netflix show to load. His "ooo" was right on the mark. It was easy to fix, quick to fix, and EXCELLENT. If you like the heat from red pepper, the refreshing astringent taste of lemon, and the richness of shrimp, you'll like this very much!

Once again, being the consummate cook that alters as she goes, I did add a little extra "heat" with probably 1/2 t. more crushed red pepper. I also used all the ingredients as listed and cut back on the amount of shrimp by about 1/4 lb since it was only for the 2 of us. Finally, we like garlic, but in small doses, so I omitted the cloves and used a little over 1/2 t. garlic powder. It gave it taste without overwhelming the other flavors.

Here's are the ingredients as originally written: 1 lb. raw shrimp, 3 garlic cloves, 2T. olive oil, 1/2 c. chicken broth, 1t. lemon zest, 3T. fresh lemon juice, 1/2t. dried crushed red pepper, 6oz. fresh spinach, salt & pepper to taste. (Note--one large juicy lemon will yield you the zest, the juice, and the slices for the beer--and fresh is key.)
To fix the shrimp, just heat the olive oil and add the garlic (or garlic powder). Once the oil is hot (not smoking--remember olive oil has a low smoking point, so don't turn up the heat too high) drop in the shrimp and cook, turning them over and making sure they get pink on both sides. (Don't used pre-cooked shrimp--they get really tough. Don't be afraid to use raw shrimp--they cook very easily and you can tell they are thoroughly cooked when they curl and turn pink.) Remove the finished shrimp and put on a plate.
Add the chicken broth, the lemon zest, the lemon juice, and dried crushed red pepper and cook until the liquid mixture is reduced by half. Add the spinach and cook until it is wilted. Then add the shrimp back in to the mixture long enough to warm the shrimp back through.

While the shrimp cooking is going on, chop up 1/2c. of roasted red peppers (I use the kind from a jar so no roasting), 1/2c. grated Parmesan cheese (use the real stuff), and 1/4 c. chopped parsley (once again, use fresh--it has a good, clean taste that compliments the lemon). Prepare a box of plain couscous according to the directions, then once it's done, add the chopped ingredients.

I paired this with Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss with a slice of lemon.  Enjoy!

Cheers to Jen! Welcome to the Community of Cooks

Today I celebrate, with other various friends and family, a wedding shower for my great-nephew's fiancee, Jen, a lovely young lady with some of the most beautiful red hair you'll ever witness. Added to this, her personality is the type that welcomes you into any conversation and picks up that conversation the next time you meet again...that's a good kind of person to be. So I thought Jen should be the focus of the food blog today.

When I received the invitation to the shower, there was a recipe card included. Mom also received one and immediately decided that the recipe for the Reese Cup pie would be her contribution. I know this will be greatly appreciated by Josh and Jen alike, since the Reese Cup pie is the star of the Christmas Eve buffet every year. 
After some thought, I wrote in the address of this blog on the recipe card. My first instantaneous response to this was that I was being somewhat narcissistic. It kind of rang of the flavor of a spouse putting a ribbon on his/her head and saying, "ta daaaa!" when wishing the other spouse happy birthday, anniversary, Merry Christmas, etc. Certainly not the impression I was hoping to achieve.

My true intent of this motivation is to welcome Jen into the wonderful community of cooks. A good place to be. As this blog continues and picks up steam, I'm hoping more cooks will follow and then, in turn, share their thoughts, recipes, or their own blogs to widen the circle. From that Jen will be privy to an array of people who truly love cooking, food, and the whole human element of what food represents.

So, cheers to Jen; cheers to all the lovely cooks out there...what a wonderful world. Come join the blog, share your ideas, and allow us to learn from one another.

Blackberry/Apple Upside Down Cake

Tom was glancing through a magazine the other night while we were waiting for a Netflix movie to load. When I heard him murmur, "ooooooo," I took a peek at what he found. I must admit, I "ooooo'd" a bit myself. 

The picture showed a pretty upside down cake, but not just ANY upside down cake. This one had no pineapple as we tend to make the ubiquitous fruit of choice; it had apples and blackberries...different and intriguing.

The recipe itself come from Southern Living magazine, the September 2010 issue.  

Here's the list of ingredients and directions...

Let a stick and a half of butter set out and get softened before you start. Once it's soft, then toss the 1/4 c. in the microwave for about 25 sec. and melt to liquid. Pour the liquefied butter into a round cake pan, and then pat in 1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar and 1/4 c. honey. Slice up a couple of apples (I used 1 1/2) and lay them in a circular pattern around the pan. Then add 1 c. blackberries (the ones I used were frozen, so I just dropped them in). 

Next, I put 1 c. sugar and 1/2 c. butter into the mixer and beat it at medium speed. Then I added 2 eggs, then a mixture of 1 c. flour and 1t. baking powder alternately to the mixture along with 1/2 c. milk. Once all this was done, I stirred in 1 t. vanilla. I spooned the batter over the apples and blackberries and put in a 350 degree oven. I started testing after 45 minutes; it took a good hour for the batter to bake.

Once it was out, I let it cool a bit and then turned it upside down onto a plate. It's a pretty cake; add a little whipped topping and you're set.

Cucumbers and Crabmeat

Tonight's supper is going to be all about summer; these glorious days when the sun still has some heat in it, yet it's incredibly comfortable to be out on the deck. Tom and I have even starting braving the elements, i.e. cats and the dreaded occasional fly, and enjoying eating outside in the evening. Having a hummingbird stage show makes it all the nicer.
We both like cucumbers, and Tom has become a very good sport about chilled soups, so tonight I fixed a cucumber soup. Nothing is much easier to fix; all it takes are cucumbers (I used 1 1/2), a couple of green onions, 1/2 c. chicken broth, some salt and pepper to taste. You just take all these things (be sure to remove the seeds and peel from the cucumbers), dice them up a bit, and pour everything into a food processor and blend. I added just a bit of cream to make it more silky. It lightens it up a bit, but adds a nice subtle flavor. I put in in the fridge to chill a bit and it was ready to go once everything else was in place.
I had 1/2 a cucumber left, so I decided to try to deep fry it; thought it would go well with the cucumber soup. I figure we deep fry pickles, so what the heck? I used a nice Louisiana shrimp/vegetable mix that you wet down and then dip again in the dry mix. It works great on almost anything I've ever tried to deep fry.
For the main course, I made crab cakes. Due to the "land locked" position we find ourselves in, I made do with canned crab meat...it worked great. To the 2 cans of crabmeat I added about 1/2 c. of breadcrumbs (I had some French bread, so I just pulled it apart into tiny pieces, an egg, and a mixture of about 1/8 of finely chopped red bell pepper, some celery salt, and 1/8c. red onion finely chopped (I sauteed these three items just a bit to soften them). I heated some oil, patted out the cakes, coated them in some flour, and put them to fry on medium heat. While they were cooking, I make a sauce to use with the crab cakes and the fried cucumbers. This was made out of mayonnaise, Thai hot chili sauce, and a bit of lemon juice--mix to your taste.
Finally, a quick trip to the broiler for some sliced almonds to warm slightly--these were dropped on top of the cucumber soup.
The nice thing about any recipe is that you can modify to your heart's content; I know I did on these recipes this evening...so, feel free to play and enjoy!

               add pictures

Apple Pie--Simple Pleasures

As I was returning from the walk to the mailbox, the thought occurred to me that I needed to make an apple pie from the apples that were now falling from our tree. Even though I have backed off about 90% on the gardening/growing from my former life, I still get a kick out of walking in the yard and picking fresh blackberries, asparagus, or, in this case, apples.
These apples are tart; what type are they? No idea. Greenish-yellow. How's that for a botanical description? The happy news was that they weren't too faulty, i.e. buggy/wormy so I picked a dozen of them and headed to the house.
I'm a lot like my mom in the idea that I don't like eating crunchy apple pie; like those apples soft and a little bit caramelized. So, after dicing them up, into the pan they went on the stove along with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The smell was wonderful as everything slowly heated. I tasted them along the way (one of the many joys of cooking) and decided that they were really absorbing the spices, so a bit more sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg was applied. I also have my mom's habit of not measuring on things like this, but, if pressed, I'd say I added 1/4 cup of sugar, 2 t. of cinnamon, and 1/2 t. nutmeg. (A little nutmeg goes a long way.)
As far as the crust was involved for today, I skimped and used the Pillsbury frozen rolled up crusts...they're actually really good and handy to use. Sometimes I get the notion and use either my mom's or Julia Child's pie crust recipe--sometimes. I must admit I've become spoiled by the Pillsbury crust.

I always like to use a lattice crust topping so air can circulate and it looks pretty. It's not at all hard to do, but just remember when you're dealing with hot apples, the lattice strips will melt if left sitting too long and then they'll stretch and lose their shape.

Once the pie was ready, I added some dots of butter to the top and then put into a slow 325 degree oven. It seems that most pie recipes want you to start out at high heat and then turn it down; my mom and I agree that this isn't necessary...the 325 degrees work just fine...and you don't have to remember to turn it down.

The pie usually takes around an hour to bake. Once it's brought out, it needs to rest and cool a bit or it will collapse. 

And that's that...add a dollop of whipped topping or some good vanilla ice cream and all is well with the world--enjoy!

Comfort(able) Food

I decided today was the day I was going to fix a beef shoulder roast and it wouldn't come out looking like a mass of strings. Shoulder roasts and I go way back in the "not quite there" department (somewhat like not yet hitting on the "just right" margarita). So, today I decided to make a comfortable food meal. I'm not so sure it would fit the "comfort food" category, but roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans do indeed make a person feel comfortable.
So, I thawed the shoulder roast, then heated some corn oil and coated the roast (now cut into three separate pieces) in flour with some salt and pepper. I seared it and got the edges brown, then put the pieces into a small roaster with a bit of water and put it in a slow oven at 260 degrees (no method to that madness). I let it slow roast for about an hour, and then when it was time to bake a pie, I turned the over up to 325 and let it go for another hour. I removed it, let it rest for about 10 minutes with the roaster lid off so it wouldn't get a soggy outer edge, and then sliced it. The aroma was good and it wasn't nearly as stringy. Not a perfect cut of meat, but it was tender.
As sides, I fixed mashed potatoes with a bit of cream and butter (yep...cream and butter) and green beans from the garden in a bit of grease from the original meat searing and some onion, salt, and pepper. While the meat was resting, I made some gravy for the potatoes and meat. This was an easy kind with heating up the broth from the roasting meat, some flour, salt, pepper, and kitchen bouquet (the stuff that makes gravy a pretty brown--in small amounts).
The food can always be plated ahead and refrigerated for a later meal...how comfortable is that?

Jambalya and Grits

Every once in awhile, I get a real need for some jambalaya. My favorite part of this concoction is that there is not "purist" recipe--it's whatever you like or have on hand. For this batch, I looked at the freezer and fridge and came up with an all-fish type. I also decided to use grits instead of rice. That buttery, salty taste of grits just seemed like it would go well with the types of fish I cooked in the jambalaya. So...here we go:

I started with the two trinities, i.e. a bell pepper, an onion, a stalk of celery one as well as a couple of tablespoons of parsley,a couple of  bay leaves (since I used a little bit of hot peppers diced up, I didn't add the third spice-- cayenne pepper). A can of chicken broth went into the pot, followed by the veggie trinity diced coarsely, and the spices. To this I had a bit of frozen okra, so in it went as well, making a nice thickening agent.

While the vegetables were simmering, I pulled some raw shrimp, cod, and flounder out of the freezer and dropped their little frozen carcasses into some lukewarm water to get the chill off. Once this was taken care of, I went back to the simmering pot and added some fresh tomato chunks. Then in went the now thawed fish and shrimp once it was coarsely diced as well. From there, it was on its own to simmer slowly and gain richer and richer flavor. The aroma was great as it did this.

I skimped on the grits and used the instant type; they work great. Once everything was done, I let the jambalaya cool just a bit so I could get a good taste and see if it needed any salt/pepper adjustment. With all the good flavors, it needed very little.

Once again, a good way to cook an easy filling meal--and clean out the freezer and fridge which is always a handy thing to do :).    

              

Flat Iron Steak Marinade with Irish Whisky

For some time, I had read about flat iron steak, but had never found a piece locally. The last trip to the grocery store yielded one and a pretty one at that. Flat iron is a really versatile type of steak; it can be fixed in variety of ways. I decided this time I would marinade it and then grill it my favorite way---low and slow. I put together a marinade of whiskey, olive oil, garlic powder, soy sauce, pepper, diced onion, parsley, thyme, and rosemary. Then I cut the steak into fourths, split each piece like a filet, and let it marinade for an hour.

While the steaks were marinading, I cut some carrots into slices, added some yellow squash, diced onion, dropped it into some olive oil and butter. A bit of salt and pepper was added. Into the foil packet it went and onto the grill.

While the carrot dish was grilling, I prepared a green leaf lettuce salad and put together a dressing of olive oil, some dijon mustard, a bit of salt, pepper, some capers and caper juice.

The steaks went on the grill for about 10 minutes; I turned them three or four times so they wouldn't burn since they were pretty small.

Once the steaks were finished, I brought them in and let them rest while putting the carrot dish in a skillet and adding some bread crumbs and a bit of butter and putting under the broiler until the crumbs got slightly browned. All done and ready to eat. Easy and not too time-consuming. A good malbec or cab sav would pair right along; however, after a warm trip home from our weekend outing, Tom's classic g&t fit the bill perfectly.

To the Grill...Low and Slow

After a long day of being in Indy at session, the drive home, the trip to pick up the car, and the return home--all in 95 degree weather--Friday night was telling me it was time to keep it simple...and I am a good listener.
Thank God for grills. We just traded our $88 Charbroil in for an $88 Brinkman model. I'm convinced that grills have little to do with the quality of grilled food. I think as long as you pay attention to the food, a $1K grill and an $88 grill will do the same job. (Thankful for that, too!)
So...I fired up the grill and started some hot Italian sausages low and slow...my favorite way to grill. Once the skins were browned on two sides, I split them lengthwise and put them raw side down on the grill to cook slowly, keeping the flame away with a squirt of the water bottle as needed. Once they were browned and glistening, they were done.
While I was cooking the sausages, I cut an onion and a bell pepper into skinny slices, added some butter and olive oil and a bit of powdered garlic and wrapped them in a foil packet and put them on the grill as well. Usually by the time the sausages are cooked, the peppers and onion will be done. At the last moment, before uncapping the Guiness, I dropped the hoagy buns onto the grill to toast just a bit.
As an accompaniment, I had some little red potatoes that needed to be used, so I grabbed the foil once again, sliced them thinly, sprinkled with some salt, garlic powder, and paprika. I sliced up some more butter (mmmmm) and dropped it on the potatoes, wrapped them up, and on the grill they went.
Take a drink of that Guinness, a bite of that sausage and a forkful of those potatoes and man...that's livin' on a Friday night!

Aaaahhhhh Peppers!!

Have you noticed lately how cheap bell peppers are in the stores? You can buy some a big as a softball for small change. When my mom calls and casually mentions that she has a bag of bell peppers in her fridge "if I want them" I almost am there at her back door before she hangs up the phone. THESE THINGS ARE GREAT!!

Earlier today I froze several half pint boxes of diced and sliced red and green ones. Since they're local and fresh picked, when I use them later in the season, they'll still retain that great aroma and taste. And anything this easy to freeze, i.e. wash, cut up, throw in freezer box, put into freezer--sign me up!

I always though onions were pretty versatile in cooking, but the 'ol bells never let me down, no matter is it's Mexican, Chinese, Cajun, or whatever happens to land in the pan. And egg dishes...ah, the wonder!

No supper tonight...well, supper, but no cooking...the road beckons. More cooking fun tomorrow night or maybe another place to "research" the tenderloins :).

MMM...easy Szechuan Scallops

We love scallops...Tom LOVES scallops. So when I was at the grocery the other day and saw huge, beautiful scallops with, believe it or not, farmed in the USA on them, I bought them immediately. Scallops are horrifically over priced in most restaurants; once you feel at ease cooking them, you can have them two or three times at home for what you'd pay while out.
Tonight I decided that we hadn't had Chinese food in a while; we really like hot and spicy seasonings, so Szechuan seemed to fit the bill. When I cook Chinese food, I seldom have any plan in mind; that's what makes it fun to prepare and always good...you just put in the skillet what you like. I don't use a wok; a skillet seems to work just fine and doesn't take up near the pantry space.
Tonight I used fresh bell peppers and squash from Mom's garden; I sliced the peppers and did a large dice of the yellow squash. To this I added a yellow onion, a couple of carrots diced coarsely, and sliced mushrooms. I dropped all these pieces into a hot skillet, added a little oil, a bit of soy sauce, some Szechuan seasoning. Once these had some time to cook on higher heat, I then added the big scallops, turned down the heat, added a lid, and let all those flavors just soak in while the scallops cooked.
In the meantime, I had prepared some white rice; I diced a bell pepper and some green onion, added a little oil, soy sauce, and a spicy fried rice packet and sauteed this on medium high heat. Once they started softening, I took them out, cracked a couple of eggs, and fried them while chopping into little pieces while they were cooking. Once the eggs were finished, I added everything to the rice and folded it all together.
By this time the scallops had done their thing and were cooked without being overcooked--they had absorbed some of the juices from the vegetables and Szechuan seasoning. After plating, I added just a bit of hot chili sauce to each scallop to add just a bit more bite. I ladled the scallop/vegetable mixture over the fried rice, poured a little Sake, and Tom and I had a nice evening meal. For dessert, the strawberries are sitting out and warming up a bit with a hint of sugar to make them good and tasty.
This is a fairly easy meal to prepare and it makes good left-overs as Tom will attest to tomorrow when he digs into Szechuan scallops part two. Enjoy!

Welcome to My Little Foodie World...

Over the past few years, I've turned into quite a foodie. I always liked it, have a mom who is a magnificent cook, and always cooked for dear husband and son for the past 20+ years. But lately, I've allow myself to just get in there and really ENJOY it--the textures, the aesthetics, the smells--you get it. If you're a foodie already like me, you REALLY get it; if not, you will :). Stick with me and together we'll make some fun things that will knock the socks off your palate. From the simple to the sublime, we'll enjoy every aspect of food...and there will be pictures! What would life be without pictures? What more fun way to play with our food than making it the model?
So...to whet the appetite, so to speak...let's start with today's lunch...antipasti. You say antipasto, I say antipasti...let's NEVER call the whole thing off...LOL. Antipasto is the singular; antipasti is the plural--end of grammar lesson. And, although the word is Italian, antipasto/pasti can take on any of your favorite flavors. Its meaning is "before the meal"...it's a great light lunch also. Which is exactly what I prepared quickly and simply today. I stared into the refrigerator and found a green bell pepper, some kalamata olives, some cracked green olives, some pesto, some crumbled feta cheese, banana pepper slices, a slice of provolone cheese, and, from the window sill, a tomato. Simply cut the tomato into wedges, sprinkle some feta on it and a bit of good olive oil; slice the bell pepper, let the slice of provolone warm up to room temperature, and drop the other items on the plate as well. A bit of your favorite water, tea, etc., and you're set. I added a few Triscuit parmesan garlic crackers and lunch is served :). Enjoy!

**Remember that olives will keep for a long time in the fridge, so the initial investment will pay off for months to come. And they're healthy!