The Other White Meat (with Bread Crumbs!)

In throwing together a last minute New Years Eve dinner soiree with some friends, I picked up an inexpensive 5 lb. pork loin. Figuring, just get it in the oven early enough and with a lil seasoning... "Wah Lah!" a simple, wintry piece of meat to top your plate! The Internet proved super successful as per usual with the inspiration. I kept seeing bread crumbs, in my pork loin recipe searches and with a box of Panko in the cupboard, I was sold on the recipe below.
Pork Loin w Panko Crust
inspired by myrecipes.com
5 lb Pork Loin
1/4 c. of olive oil
1 c. Panko bread crumbs
2 tbs fresh parsley
2 tbs fresh chopped garlic
Bake at 400 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours
Mix bread crumbs, oil, parsley and garlic in a bowl. Salt and pepper the loin. Then roll the loin in the bread crumb mixture completely covering it. Place the loin on your roasting dish or your sheet. My loin was elevated on a rack placed in the bottom of the roasting pan, for an even cook. Leave uncovered for 20 minutes in the begining. Then continue cooking it for an hour to an hour and half. Let the loin finish cooking uncovered so the bread crumbs can get toasty. Its always hard to tell when it is done. You want an internal temperature reading of 155 from the thickest portion of the loin. Otherwise, slice that bad boy open and give it a look. Simple and super tasty. I believe the bread crumbs and the elevated rack in the roaster allowed for the moist meat. I have never had such tasty pork, I am used to dry pork tenderloin. Not this time!
Happy New Year! See you in 2013!

Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a nutritious vegetable... so why not cook it more often, Quinn?! I found a simple and delicious recipe for a maple syrup glazed sweet potato. I used agave syrup, maple flavored for the glaze instead of the sugary option of pure maple syrup. My mother was in town visiting and she very much enjoyed the potato dish. We all commented that it was light, as though the agave mixture baked right into the roasted potato dish. Delish. Enjoy.
Agave Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Inspired by Eating Well
3 large bulky sweet potatoes
1/3 c. agave syrup maple flavored
2 tbs melted butter
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper, to taste
*If you are wanting to play around, lower the amount of syrup and butter a little. We were thinking you would get a crispier potato this way.
Preheat oven to 400. Dice and peel potatoes, quarter sized. Mix agave, melted butter, lemon, salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Pour mix over potatoes and evenly distribute. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Until tender or browned.

3 Ingredients for Christmas

When trying to decide what to bring to Christmas dinner (I was assigned a vegetable) we thought the Brussels Sprout was a good idea. Whole Foods determined, that there was no better way to prepare Brussels Sprouts. Oil, salt and pepper, roasted, BOOM. 

Roasted Brussels
Brussels Sprouts
Salt
Oil
(oh and a dash of pepper at the end)
Slice in half and put them belly side down. Flush with the baking dish. Roast at 375 for about 30-40 minutes. Take out when tender. Couldn't be more simple and more delish.

Smitten Kitchen's and Ina Garten's Lemon Bars

Smitten Kitchen, a great food blog I heard about on NPR a couple months ago, is well known for her lemon bars. She adapted her recipe from The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Gartner.

I had a mini catering gig (which my friend and I worked on together) and one thing we had to create was the Lemon Bar. I immediately searched Smitten Kitchen's recipe.

What a nice treat, I mean really, really nice! The pasty crust was an interesting tackle. I don't have a mixer so I was working the dough by hand. Hello hand cramp! Cutting that butter in, aye! Nonetheless, what a delicious, lemony, sweet treat. My friend was so sold on the recipe she's making them for the holiday week ahead.
Lemon Bars
9x13 1/2 in pan 350 degrees
For Pastry Crust:
1c butter (room temp!)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt
Lemony Layer:
6 eggs
2 1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs lemon zest (4-6 lemons)
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup flour
And confectioners sugar to top
With the crust, cream together butter and sugar preferably with a mixer however, if you are using your hand we used a fork. Mash up the room temp butter and slowly cut, add in the flour. Roll the dough out on a floured board and press the ball into a well greased baking dish. Chill the crusted dish while you prepare the wet. Bake the crust dish first for 15-20 minutes (til lightly browned) by itself.THEN, add the wet mixture (whisking all ingredients in a bowl). Pour over the baked crust and bake again, for 30-35 minutes. Top with a lil powdered sugar and ENJOY, it's hard not to!

Kate's Agave Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

A girlfriend is in town visiting for the holidays, so obviously we made her chocolate chip cookies with agave. MAN! They're delicious; agave is delicious. It does not taste any different and it is better for you than sugar! What a great substitute! She added walnuts and oats to the mix as well. Delish!

Kate's Agave Chocolate Chip
2 and 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup Earth Balance butter (soft)
1 cup Agave (its like a syrup and we used Domino)
1 tsp Vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup walnuts
1 bag of chocolate chips

Bake at 325. For 12 or so minutes. Mix the dry ingredients. Mix the wet. Slowly add the dry to the wet. Fold in the chips and walnuts. Flatten in your palm and place on un-greased sheet.  Bake and serve!

An Interesting Appetizer (that has to be shared)

At work the other day we were catering for a wedding and one of my jobs was to construct 150, Tomato Mozzarella Pipettes. I am not sure I loved the idea as it is sort of messy. The thought of getting a mouthful of olive oil, with a tad of balsamic is not very appetizing, personally. But the Chef assured me it was fancy and desired;)

A Cooking Class Final

In class on Wednesday evening (our final before the winter holiday break) we had to make a Peppered Steak with a Béarnaise sauce (Béarnaise is an herb flavored hollandaise, egg yolks and clarified butter, herbs and lil vinegar reduction). Tourne potatoes (tourne means: "to turn" so you are literally turning the potato, cutting it to look like footballs, or tournes) and a Cream of Tomato soup. The photos were taken rushed and in the middle of the final, so I apologize for the satisfactory representation.

I wanted to share the idea of the tourne potato, it hails from classical French cuisine. People used and do use the tourne cut on a variety of fruits and vegetables. I was also excited about the soup. We used an immersion blender to blend up tomato vegetable soup. I loved blending or pureeing it. I loved blending it because after the immersion blender had a go at the soup and before the cream was added, it was packed full of vegetable nutrients and thin. I now want to puree more of my soups in the future. The cream added a thick and tasty (fatty) flare to the soup, one I could have done without however for the sake of my grade, the cream was a must!

The Peppered Steak was done pretty rare. Reason for the steak juices blending with Béarnaise!

Flavorful Addition to Salad... HOMEMADE Croutons

BREAD! Bread crumbs! CROUTONS!

Easy. Cut the crusts off slices of bread. Then chop the crusts into cube shapes. Pan saute the bread in oil, salt and perhaps some garlic, or garlic salt. Top to any and all homemade salads.

A Fish Rub

I found this simple seasoning rub online and tweaked it to my liking. I'm pretty sick of baking salmon with just olive oil, salt and garlic. So I found this rub (a bunch of seasonings compiled in a bowl and rubbed on fish) and gave it a whirl. It's a sweet and spicy rub. Creates mega flavor depth for your fish. Give it a shot. You'll most likely already have the ingredients on your spice rack!

Salmon Rub
1 1/2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs chili powder
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tbs cumin
1/2 tbs paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Salmon

Hearty Salmon Nicoise Salad

I love tuna nicoise salad. When I have leftover french cut green beans in my fridge, my first thought is Nicoise! I had a piece of salmon that needed attention in my fridge, a must cook piece of wild caught Atlantic. So I made a rub (of which I will share shortly) and baked it at 400 degrees. While it baked for a good 20-25 minutes I made the salad. All this entailed was cutting and piling together. Salmon in place of the tuna, for the delicious hearty Nicoise.

Salmon Nicoise
inspired by life and leftovers
Arugula
1/4 red onion (a larger dice, inch long perhaps, for that strong onion bite)
1/2 box of cooked whole wheat penne pasta
1/2 large tomato
fresh shaved Parmesan (1/4 cup?)
1 can of large black olives (pitted)
1/2 bag of fresh french cut green beans (cooked, steamed for 2-4 min)
Cooked salmon
Assemble all the ingredients in a large bowl. Top with olive oil and toss. Plate and eat:)

A Simple Tasty Lunch

Tomato, basil, mozzarella and arugula on whole grain with olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Just assembling the sandwich is all there is to it. We warmed the bread. A filling but light and lazy Saturday luncheon. Along side a glass of white perhaps?

So I Got a Part Time Job...

That is reason my posts are fewer and farther between. I have grown quite fond of this medium and not posting or experimenting daily, is a bummer. However, employment is grand! I got a job working part time catering in the kitchen at an awesome historical museum downtown. At first I was not sure, but I am really am enjoying it. I'm moving and grooving, cooking and plating. WHOO HOO!

Enough about me and back to the recipe posting. But back to me (don't worry I'm getting there) I also did a side catering gig for a friends work party, 10 people. We kept it simple and made lasagnas (veggie and meat) and a big salad. I made my mother's veggie lasagna by way of my auntie. Its delicious. Do take a look...
Auntie T's Veggie Lasagna 
2 large zucchinis
1 cloves garlic
1 medium sized ricotta (15 oz)
4 cups mozzarella
1 cup Parmesan
1 large jar of marinara (I tend to get a higher priced marinara, more depth)
2 eggs
Portabella mushrooms
Spinach
No boil lasagna noodles (its just easier) (Barilla makes one for a 13x9 pan)

Shred the zucchini. Beat the two eggs and mix in ricotta and 3 cups of the mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan and minced garlic clove. Add the shredded zucchini to the ricotta mix, there is a photo reference below. In your baking dish, cover the bottom with sauce, a thin layer. Then begin your layering. Noodles, ricotta mix, mushrooms, spinach, sauce... REPEAT. Say it with me: Noodles, ricotta mix, mushrooms, spinach, sauce! And to finish, I ended with noodle, sauce, mozzarella cheese (in that order). Sprinkle that last cup of mozzarella, on the top. Foil cover and place in 350 oven for 50-60 minutes, just keep an eye on it;)
* Consider the cut of your mushroom, I tend to like them thin and bite sized.

Radishes?!?!

Never messed around with a radish before. I tend to avoid them. Not caring for radishes when they appear on a salad. Radishes are just OK in my book. That is, until now...

I bought them the other week (yes, they have a longer shelf life) at the grocery store because I wanted to find a way to cook these guys to my liking. And I did. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Roasted Radish!

The Roasted Radish
Radishes washed and cut in half
1 tbs butter
two squeezes from a lemon worth of juice
salt to taste
Slice radishes in half and place in a baking dish with butter and lemon juice. Cook at 400 degrees for about 20-30 min? Check tenderness with a knife. And what emerges from the oven is brilliant. I would guess its more of a summery side to a meal, but maybe not. One things for sure, its pretty and will certainly beautify your plate. It has that root-veggie-awesomeness and with the added lemon and butter, it's delish!

Here is a link to the article that pointed me in the right direction. NY Times article on roasting radishes! 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/dining/12appe.html?_r=0

Roasted Red Pepper instead of ...

Roasted red pepper in place of the tomato, for your meat sauce over pasta. And instead of doing a traditional pasta we played with the gnocchi! Fun lil potato goodness. I did this one with the boyfriend, team cooking, a fun relationship building exercise. We do love our food.

Cody's Roasted Red Pepper Meat Sauce over Gnocchi

1 package of lean ground meat

2 12oz jar of roasted red peppers (well drained!)

3 cloves garlic

half a small white or yellow onion

1 package gnocchi

salt and pepper to taste

1tbs of crushed red pepper (depending on how much heat you like really, we wanted ours to have a kick!)

Cook gnocchi. Cook meat (add a clove of garlic minced, salt and pepper and oil for flavor). In a food processor pulse (only pulse!) the roasted red peppers, (that have been well drained of the juice from the jar) garlic and onion. You want to create a sort of salsa here, less of a sauce. Throw in a lil salt and pepper for flavoring. Add the red pepper sauce to the meat on the stove top. We did not drain the meat for the extra flavor and liquid it provided. Mix the salsa/sauce with the meat. And top it to your cooked gnocchi. Parmesan cheese for additional flavoring if you like. Very simple. And very delicious:) A nice replacement to the red tomato sauce. Also, its homemade and requires little work! 

A Tasty Meal made by a Friend:)

Went to dinner last night at a friends and she made a delicious meal for the four of us. Great fun meal idea for a Friday night... a low key, wintery shin-dig:)

Corey's Turkey Reubens
Marble rye bread
Turkey
Sauerkraut
Swiss cheese
Homemade Thousand Island Dressing!!!

I don't know the ins and outs of how she put the sandwich together. The bread was toasted on the pan, this I do know. She baked some scrumptious potato fries to go along the sandwich and I brought the salad. Greens with Crasins, pecans, blue cheese and a homemade vinaigrette (red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper and honey whisked like mad in a mixing bowl).