Dutch Oven Tenderloin

We love pork tenderloin, it's a very succulent meat that can be very juicy if cooked right.  Very flavorful as well.  Like you know, I've never been a huge fan of pork, but I have to say, this cut is actually pretty ok, to me at least.  My husband and son gobble it right up.

And yes, for this dinner, I cheated a bit.  I used part of a premade spice pack.  The pork tenderloin spice pack by McCormick actually.  I usually buy it to make cream sauce for perogies, but I decided to try it for it's intended purpose.  I only used about half the pack, but it turned out lovely.

First, I made a broth using the spice pack, olive oil, water, garlic powder, onion powder, color peppercorns, fennel seeds, and chopped onion.  I didn't take exact measurements, sorry……..so use your creative liscence!  Obviously, more water than oil…..haha

In a dutch oven, I laid two whole tenderloins around the edges, leaving a hole in the middle.  Remember to remove that yucky silver skin before putting your loin in!  I then drizzled olive oil over the loins.  Then, I added the broth, enough to almost over the loins, but leaving the tops dry.  Next, I used a color peppercorn grinder, and ground the pepper over the meat.  Last, I added a couple handfuls of chopped white mushrooms.  And it was ready for the oven.

Preheated to 350, I let the loins cook for about an hour and a half, making sure the temp got to 165 before it was done.  This is important, once you take the meat out, do not immediately cut into it!  Put the loins on a plate to rest for about 10 minutes.  Using a flat strainer, remove all the onions, seeds and mushrooms from the reserved cooking liquid and spoon over the loin.  Then, whisk cornstarch into the left over cooking liquid to make a gravy.  I like mine pretty thick, so I used about 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch.

And for my side dish, golden mashed potatoes.  I always mash them with salt and onion powder, a whole stick of butter, and heavy whipping cream.  That's the only way to do it, I'm telling you!

Cut your loin into medallions to serve, and drizzle the gravy over top.  My husband said it was the best cut of pork he has ever tasted.  And I gotta tell you, it made an amazing blended soup as well.  And that gravy!  I was eating that for days after.

Dole Salad Contest

Watching the Food Network, I saw a commercial for Dole Salad with Clinton Kelly.  He said there was a contest where you could write in something about salad that inspires you and win a trip to California. I thought, hey what the heck, I can write something up!

So I went to the contest page and read through the rules.  You needed to write a 350 word entry about how salad inspires you.  So I wrote up this awesome thing, tried to paste it into the submission box, and it didn't work.  I read again, and it said 350 CHARACTERS.  Yikes!  How was I going to condense all that into a paragraph?  Ah, I thought, a poem.

I wrote up a little poem in the submission box to make sure I didn't  go over my character limit, read it over, and submitted it.  I let my husband read it and he said, wow, I didn't know you could write like that, I bet you are going to win.  I thought he was just being polite.

A week later I got a call.  I had been chosen as a finalist!  Voting would be on facebook, and six winners would be chosen by popular vote to go to California on a 3 day culinary adventure.  Oh my gosh!  

So!  Here it is, the poem that won me a slot in the finals:

Were I Able

Taste is priceless, more lovely than words

Sensations to tickle the senses and more

Crisp are the leaves, so fresh and so light

That bring me to dine on a warm summer night

Wish that I could taste, not only to smell,

But health troubles forbade me, desires to quell

Oh lovely the sight of the dressing I see,

One day we shall dine, my salad and me.

And if you would like to vote for me, there is still time!  Go here .  Voting ends on 12/11.  Help send me on a culinary adventure!

Creative Coffee Cake

Who doesn't like coffee cake, am I right?  The richness of sour cream, the spice of cinnamon, the flaky, crumbly, streusel topping….mmmmmmm!

Well, I decided to get creative with a pretty simple recipe by merely adding a bit of coffee mate.  Yes, that's right, coffee mate into the coffee cake.  And what kind did I choose?  Pecan Praline.

Like, I said, all you have to do is add a little of the coffee mate, maybe a table spoon or two to your batter before you bake it.  I also added a little to the butter for my streusel, and instead of using pecans because Nick hates them, I picked a bunch of almonds out of a bag of trail mix I found in the cupboard and smashed them up with my rolling pin.

The result was a very moist cake with the essence of pecan, which made my house smell very festive.  Here is the recipe I used for the cake, but you can use any old recipe you favor.

Cake:
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
ADD 2 tbsp Pecan Praline CoffeMate

Topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsbp melted butter
1 tsp Pecan Praline CoffeeMate
1 tbsp cinnamon
ADD 1/2 cup crushed almonds

Cream the butter and sugar, mix in sour cream and eggs.  Add vanilla and CoffeeMate.  Mix in flour and powder.  Pour into a greased pie pan and set aside.

For the topping, mix together all the ingredients until a crumble is formed.  Add more sugar if needed to get the right texture.  Sprinkle all over the top of the cake batter.  Bake at 350 for about 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  It took me a little longer because I'm at such a high altitude, but just watch it close so it doesn't get burned.

And hey, if you can use the Pecan coffee mate, go ahead and try all the other seasonal and not so seasonal flavors out there!  I bet you can come up with some pretty tasty treats.

Cornish Game Hen

I like to try new things.  So when I was grocery shopping today and saw these cute little game hens for sale, I couldn't pass them up.  I put two in my cart.

Surprisingly, they aren't that hard to prepare.  If you get them already cleaned up.  I just followed the instructions on the packaging, of course, adding my own twist.

You put them breast down in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil.  Then, you brush the tops generously with melted butter.  I like to put some water in the bottom of the pan as well, to keep things moist.  One hen I coated with a mix of garlic, onion, sage and smoked paprika.  The other, I used onion, thyme and rosemary.  This was to give the skin a spicy, crispy texture.  The cooking time was 1 1/2 to 2 hours, I leaned towards 2.  Every half hour, I pulled the hens out and basted them with their own juices.  Half way through, I put half a stick of butter in the pan, let that melt, and then basted again.

Then end result was super amazing smelling, crispy hens.

For a side dish, I made a sweet potato and parsnip puree.  This one is really easy too.  I cubed and boiled two sweet potatoes, and one very large parsnip.  When they were fork tender, I strained them most of the way, reserving a little of the water.  Then I pureed them with the water and about 4-6 tbsp of butter.  They turned out nice and creamy.  They should be served with a little black pepper and brown sugar.

And I have got to tell you, that was probably one of the best dinners I have had in a while.  Even Tristan loved it, we couldn't feed him fast enough, he just inhaled one piece after the other!

Best Cookies to Date

I'm pretty proud of myself for this one.  Nick told me hands down,  they are the best cookies I have ever made.  I'm going to call them, White Chocolate Chip Spice Cookies.

I saw a recipe the other day and thought it looked fun.  But a little bland.  I decided to tweak it.  The idea was to have a ginger snap with cinnamon chips.  And while that sounded great, I don't much care for the taste of cinnamon chips.  I know, what?  Weird right?  Me, who adds cinnamon to everything!

Anyhoo, I decided to make it more like a molasses spice cookie with white chips.  That sounded more creative.

So, here it is.

1/2 cup melted shortening
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup molasses
2 tsp baking soda
cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves
2 1/2ish cups flour
1 half package white chocolate chips
extra sugar

Cream the butter, shortening and sugar.  Add the egg, mix well.  Mix in molasses, vanilla, soda and spices (I never measure spices, I just use however much smells good).  Beat in the chips and flour at the same time.  The dough is going to be a little sticky still, that's ok.  What you are going to want to do is take spoonfuls, and drop it into a bowl of sugar.  Roll it around until it's coated, then put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake your cookies at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes, the tops should look cracked and the centers still a little gooey.  When you take them out, they will collapse, don't panic!  That's how it's supposed to be.

As soon as they are cool enough, eat up!  And make sure to store them right away as well so they stay nice and gooey and moist.  And trust me, they are simply amazing, I have been snacking on them all day!

Havarti Macaroni

About a week ago, we had my little brother and my dad over.  It was my brother's birthday, and we had a nice bacon cheese burger dinner with homemade potato chips and pumpkin cheese cake.  But, my dad brought me a gift.  When I was in college, he would always send me care packages from home, and one of his favorite things to include?  Havarti cheese.  He knew it was one of my favorites.  So that was my gift, a big package of cheese!

A few days later, my husband was rummaging around the cupboards trying to find something to eat.  I offered to make him baked mac'n'cheese, to which he agreed.  And I decided to make it with my havarti cheese, well, some of it.

I made a quick roue base with milk, butter and flour, browned some chopped onion, then added ripped up havarti cheese, mozerella, a little bit of Mexican blend, and then some cream cheese.  I always add onion powder, garlic powder and pepper as well.

I poured that over the cooked macaroni noodles before putting it in a greased pan.  For the topping, I used crushed up oyster crackers, because they aren't as sweet or salty as ritz.  And!  The best part, bacon.  I put bits of fresh cooked bacon all over the top.  Baked that for about 20 minutes, and let me tell you, it smelled great!

Nick said it was the best mac'n'cheese I have made yet.  I'm telling you, its the Havarti!

Plating

I just had to share this picture.  My husband did an excellent job plating this dinner.  It was grilled deboned chicken thighs, golden mashed potatoes and arugala salad.  Isn't it just pretty?  By the way, skin on deboned chicken thighs that have been grilled are probably the yummiest chicken ever!