Grilled Pork Tenderloin?

I really want to try grilling pork tenderloin but I don't have a clue how to do it. Do you marinade it first? What do you marinade it in? How long do you grill it? Do you wrap it in tinfoil or put it directly on the grill? I have cooked pork tenderloin many different ways but I have yet to attempt it on the grill. Please share your ideas and recipes with me. I have a pork tenderloin in the freezer just waiting to be used! Thanks!

my fruit stand find...

i was beyond curious when i saw a sign that said strawberry popcorn at a local fruit stand.

they were the most lovely shade of red and i begged the cashier to tell me more about them. she said the ear of corn they come from is shaped like a strawberry and they have the most beautiful red color. yes, indeed. so....


we took them home and put them in a pan with a shallow layer of olive oil. we turned the stove to high and let the oil heat up. we added some fresh minced garlic, salt and pepper and put a lid on it. at first i thought it was burning because the red kernels tend to get really dark. after it was done popping i couldn't resist some butter and parmesan cheese... it was beyond lovely, we were in love and i am off to find more to fill in glass jars and place around the kitchen...

a royal birthday cake...

the barking orders for a birthday cake this year were chocolate double cake with chocolate frosting.
simple enough, but i hate a plain cake with plain old frosting.

i almost never eat it unless i know it was fancied up by the baker, so.....

i bought a cake mix let my mind wander.

it called for 1 1/2 cups of water. ugh, how boring. so i had some creme fraiche on hand and used 3/4 c of that and the rest water. i followed the rest of the called for ingredients and baked as directed in 2 9 inch pans. it made for the most moistalicious cake.

then....

i thought about how good a cream cheese filling would be. so i used 1 brick of softened cream cheese, with 1/2 c of ganache frosting (recipe forthcoming) and 3/4 c powdered sugar. i put those in the blender and put them in a ziploc and froze it for a few minutes to firm it up.

the ganache..
first, might i bear my testimony of it?
okay, i love the gloss, the taste and the ease of cooking it, i love how i dream about all of the things it could go on. okay, done.

it is 2 parts chocolate to
1 part cream.
i used 2 cups of hershey's chocolate chips (milk chocolate)
and
1 cup heavy whipping cream.
stir with a whisk on medium heat until chocolate starts to get shiny. remove from heat and set aside.
{you can use this for cupcakes, just dip those pretty little tops in it, or a fondue dip also.}

to assemble:

cool your cakes and cut the tops off making a flat surface for the cakes to rest on top of one another without falling over.
you can see i put the cake on a square serving dish with sides so the ganache wouldn't spill over.
so, put your first cake down and clip the tip of the baggie you stored your cream cheese filling in. i piped this in a big circle and then spread it with the back of a spoon. add your second layer of cake on top of that.
{make sure both cake surfaces that were cut are facing each other. so the first cake should have the uncut surface as the side touching the plate, the bottom of the second cake should be the cut side so the top doesn't get crumbs everywhere.}
make sure the ganache isn't too hot to the touch but not too cool. about body temperature, dip your finger in to test {and lick your finger too ;)}
i spread the ganache starting in the middle of the cake, pouring it from the pan and working from the center to the edges, letting the ganache drizzle down the sides until it filled the corners of the plate. this was especially nice because it covered any crumbs or filling spills. i refrigerated it for a few minutes to help the ganache firm up a bit.

i fanned some strawberries by slicing them thin from bottom to top in 5 or 6 slices per strawberry. they sure looked pretty. and i thought this was a fabulous taste and something different. we served it with vanilla ice cream.

Quick Summertime Dinner: Pesto Pasta Salad

What is the perfect summer recipe? Well, there are several criteria: 1) No oven involved, 2) should take no longer than the amount of time to cook pasta, and 3) should be eaten and enjoyed by all family members. A tall order indeed, but this week, I found a new favorite summer dish: Pesto Pasta Salad.



1/2 lb. penne pasta, cooked as directed and drained
1 15.5 can chickpeas, roughly chopped
1/2 of a jar of roasted red peppers, drained and thinly sliced
12 black olives (I like kalamata), pitted and roughly chopped
1 stalk celery, thickly sliced
1/2 cup steamed green beans
1 6-oz can tuna, drained
4 tablespoons homemade or store-bought pesto
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

In a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, red peppers, olives, celery, tuna, pesto, salt, and black pepper. Divide among individual plates. Voila!

And as you read through this recipe, you may be thinking, "Ew! Tuna?!" But, give it a try. You may just fall in love with tuna in a whole new way. My first heavenly encounter with tuna in a salad was eating a Salad Nicoise at a cafe in Orange, France, and I have never looked back. Dude, it's so good.

And here's a picture of Orange. I posted it just to remember myself, there, eating a Salad Nicoise. Sigh.

Peach Pie (my favorite)

I like to make pies quite a bit. I have made many, many pies, but peach still stands alone as my favorite. There's the sweetness of the peaches that only lasts a few weeks a year, the beautiful lattice top (or not!), and the late-summer-sit-around-the-picnic-table quality to eating peach pies, requiring any pie-eating participants to slow down, tell some stories, laugh out loud, and get that old familiar feeling that life is so good....ahhh...


We made a weekend of our late-summer peach pie by going to the orchards and picking our peaches. Some of the peaches were truly bigger than a baby's head. Have you ever heard the pregnancy descriptions of size, like during such-and-such week, your baby is the size of a walnut? Well, I think the 36th-week fetus is the size of an August Peach at Lyman Orchards. These peaches are enormous, and most branches were nearly touching the ground, being heavily burdened by the weight of these incredible peaches.


Ta da! Here it is! I opted out of the lattice crust for this one. Why? Well, one, I was feeling lazy. If I had the neat-o fluted pastry wheel from Williams Sonoma, there would be a much greater likelihood that I'd go for the lattice (hint hint husband).

But, heck, it's summer, which is meant for sipping lemonade and not fiddling in the kitchen with my pizza-cutter and a ruler to create a lattice crust. I'll save the pretty pies for Thanksgiving.

I used my favorite pie dough recipe, which I rarely stray from, it's on page 862 of The Joy of Cooking, Deluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough....how could this not be good, right?!

The key element of pie crust is the temperature. I cut up 2 sticks of UNSALTED butter and stick it in the freezer. Martha says to also put the flour in the freezer, which I guess could be helpful on really humid days, but seems to be just a tad much. You know how Martha can be sometimes...


I then get 1/3 cup ice water ready to go.

Next, I put 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon white sugar, 1 teaspoon salt in the food processor and pulse until mixed.


Then I put the butter and 1/4 cup of Crisco in the food processor, and pulse it just a few times until the butter is in pea-sized clumps.


I add the water next. This is the most tricky part of the whole process and can make or break your crust--too much water, and it's totally soggy, too little, and it's like eating flour. I remove the ice from the water, turn on the processor and stream the water in through the top until I hear what I call the crust rumble. It really is a rumbling sound that is the sound of the crust binding together. Here's what it looks like:


I take the dough out of the processor bowl and put it in 2 saran wrapped disks. I stick it in the fridge overnight.


The next day, I roll out the first crust, put it in the pie dish, and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. There's kind of a tricky way I transfer the crust so it doesn't fall apart on me during the move--I roll it around the rolling pin and unroll it into the dish.


In the meantime, I made the filling. My favorite peach pie filling is also from Joy, Peach Pie on page 876:
2 1/2 pounds peaches (5 cups peeled, pitted, and sliced 1/4 inch thick*)
1/2 to 3/4 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca or cornstarch (use cornstarch for a lattice pie)
3 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon salt.
2 to 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg yolk
1 to 2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine ingredients in a large bowl and let stand for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour filling into the bottom crust and dot with butter. Roll out top crust and cover filling, sealing the edges by fluting the edges with my knuckles. And here's the big secret to a beautiful-looking crust: I always mix 2 Tb. heavy cream with an egg yolk and brush it on right before I stick it in the oven. I'm telling you, it does wonders.

If the crust seems warm and starts to stick, put it in the fridge for a half hour. If it seems nice and firmed and chilled, go ahead and slip a baking sheet underneath the pie and cook it for 30 minutes at 425. Reduce the temperature to 350 and continue to bake for 30 more minutes.

*I have tried the boiling water technique for peeling peaches, and, to me, it's all too much work, sloshing around boiling and freezing water everywhere. I find that peeling peaches with a vegetable peeler, especially when they are a touch firm is faster and less wet.

And who doesn't love a big dollop of whipped cream?! I just dump a cup of whipping cream with a 1/4 cup of sugar and a little vanilla if I think of it, and whip it in my KitchenAid on the highest setting for a minute or two. Whoop, there it is.

Southwestern Chicken Wraps

We've been really loving these wraps lately. It seems like every time we've had them we've also had impromptu guests who have also enjoyed these. Good thing it makes more than what Paul and I could eat! Try these...but be warned that they may attract visitors to your door at mealtime! :)

Oh yeah, and full credit goes to Everyday Food magazine for this one.

Dressing:

3/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
2 Tbsp. chopped pickled jalapenos (find these by the green chilies at the grocery store)
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
Freshly ground pepper and coarse salt

4 Sandwich Wraps (10-inch), We've used whole wheat and tomato basil but any kind is fine.
3 Cups baby spinach
3 Cups shredded, cooked turkey or chicken
1 Can (15 oz) drained and rinsed black beans
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 avocado, thinly sliced

Combine sour cream, jalapenos, lime juice and salt and pepper in a bowl. Spread sour cream sauce on the wraps, leaving a 2 inch border. In center of wraps, layer equal amounts of baby spinach, shredded chicken, black beans, tomato, onion, and avocado. For each wrap, fold two sides of wrap over filling, then roll tightly, ending seam side down.

baked beans...

and the beauty of a good baked bean recipe.

please, never open a can of baked beans and leave them naked in a dish somewhere. let us all save the beans and dress them to perfection. you will get mounds of compliments on this recipe my sweet grandma helen found. i think they are the best i've ever had.....well, truthfully, i didn't like any until i found these years ago..


apple sausage baked beans

3 14 oz cans pork n beans ( i used bush's honey)
1/4 bottle BBQ sauce ( i use kraft honey)
1 lb. jimmy dean sausage ( i used sage or maple, make sure either are spicy. if you double the recipe, try both - delicious)
1 lg. onion chopped (save your tears. i used dried, about 3-4 TB.)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 green pepper chopped finely
2-4 TB. Worcestershire (i err on the side of more here, i like the flavors)
2-4 TB. prepared mustard (repeat above, i like the bold flavor 4TB gives it)
1 c. apples (about 2 apples, you can grate them with the grater or chop them real fine)

brown sausage in onion and green pepper. mix all ingredients together and bake at 325 for one hour.

(don't try to crock pot these, they turn to mush, don't over cook, don't under cook. i once made these for 200 people, i multiplied the batch by 6 and baked them in a roaster oven at the above cooking instruction)

my love....

was discovered on a hot and muggy new haven, CT day. and not any day, but BBQ sunday. the lovely and talented becca introduced me to key lime pie. it didn't help that i was pregnant and about to move cross country shortly. translation is i was in search of a good comfort food. becca made me a very traditional and classic key lime and i had to call her in my "missing the hood so bad" phase and tell her how i dream of her key lime pie. i was so large and pregnant, really i was, i couldn't dream of putting a lot of time into recreating it, but i found it was so easy i couldn't resist.

i was in love. the sharp lime taste and the sweet sugar that caresses your tongue was mesmerizing. so, when i found that lindsay at cafe johnsonia had the same obsession, i thought i was in heaven. our neighborhood had a little key lime contest and i entered 2 of lindsays suggestions. here is the first one that made me feel pretty good i was able to make this and not feel flustered with the concepts.

this is what mine looked like - tada!


lindsay has a great tutorial and recipe here
instead of the 2 smaller ones, i did the big one as you can see. i love her addition of sweetened condensed to the coconut reduction. the consuming of these morsels were other planet fabulous, try it, you'll like it!

how we cow....

i am no meat connoisseur, i leave that to todd and deanna. yes, they have corrected us of our overdone meat eating ways and introduced us to a whole new world of medium rare with NO steak sauce.

i am not up to the task of cooking this yet, so i rely on a favorite and trusted family marinade to appease me until i can get here to eat real meat.

flank steak is a great cut for this marinade. this cut can be tough and this makes it melt in your mouth.

1 c tomato juice
1/2 c oil
1 TBSP meat tenderizer
fresh minced garlic (and don't skip this, if you have powdered, okay, you win- 1TBSP)

let this marinate up to 3 days. the longer the better, but it is also good over night. cook to your liking on the GRILL. 7-9 minutes on each side suites me, but check with your company and see what it takes to retain the friendship. you might have to go longer here.

the tomato juice beats the meat into submission and calls it to tenderness. i have used a spicy organic V8 which i highly recommend in place of the plain tomato juice.

the chicken...

this is going to give you some moist chicken. it is so versatile, but you have to give it some time, okay. chicken is so temperamental and all, drying out like the desert if you don't pamper it. well, this chicken lets you abuse it, over cooking and everything. anyway.

marinate a part of a feathery friend in this savory liquid:
(i usually do a skinless breast or tender)
2 parts 7UP
to
1 part soy sauce
fresh minced garlic (maybe one to two cloves)

*and, maybe you like rosemary like i do. i think rosemary should run for office so i could see and smell it all the time. so, if you want to jump aboard the rosemary campaign to change the world, add it to your marinade.

now, if you can wait 2-3 days of this marinating in a nice ziploc in your fridge, put a star on your forehead and enjoy the most moist chicken EVER!

grill the chicken until no longer pink and enjoy a variety of ways, including and not limited to:

{atop a bed of lettuce with a savory salad dressing such as the shrimp one i posted about,

or

{throw some vegetables such as (mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, onion,carrot, sweet potatoes or asparagus) into the marinade as well and grill them in a nice metal grill cage for about 15-20 minutes. they come out crisp and so tender. the rosemary is especially nice to the veggies in this setting. they just might sing you a lullaby.

{we kind of like this chicken in a kabob with some fresh cut pineapple and a mushroom, all dripping in this marinade, grilled to perfection.

i love a good starch...

i see things on blogs and translate them into what i would eat and enjoy. mostly, what i would eat again. some things i see i try and say, no thanks. but, if you tweaked this and put that there, i would eat you over and over, giving no mercy. so, here is a heart attack in a platter quite honestly.


i boiled some beautiful red potatoes, boiled until my sweet little fork tenderly slid right on thru. then, i mashed them up a bit, smashed them with the bottom of a drinking glass. put some olive oil on the bottom of a glass baking dish with generous amounts of S&P then, i cooked up some bacon in a frying pan. put a little of that bacon all crumbled on the top and SOME OF THE (grease)smattered on the potatoes and shhhh. don't tell my dieting father who ate them up mercilessly, he would never, ever forgive me.

then, pop them into the oven on 415 until you see a good browning process going on, maybe 25-30 minutes. and maybe, you might get a big wet kiss from your hubby afterwards, they are sinful....

the best chicken secret

these my friends are a little secret becca told me about, i will now impart....

these beautiful things are chicken thighs. have you never ever?

reconsider....

becca told me they were so wonderful, juicy and flavorful.

she was right.

honestly. i can't get enough of the things.
you must grill them. or your husband must. and, if he works nutty hours sewing people up, well, get inventive and come up with your own ideas.

i am scared the grill will revolt and try to cook me instead of my meat, so i tend to let scotty grill. so, one day, when my craving overtook any reasoning, i made my own.

do let the little thighs marinate in any bbq sauce you want. maybe a day or two, it just rocks this thigh. i turned the oven up to 375, placed a cookie rack below to save a smoky mess and cooked them for 1 hour.

the skin is so crunchy, the chicken dances in your mouth and begs you to eat more and more. the flavor is off the charts, so please, try a thigh....

Asian Spinach and Pasta Salad

I have a delicious salad recipe to share. I took it to a church activity and everyone loved it. You definitely have to try this one!

Asian Spinach and Pasta Salad
Toss together:
1 small bag of spinach
8 oz. bowtie pasta (cook, strain, cool)
2-4 Tbsp. Sesame seeds
1/2 C. Sunflower seeds
1 can sliced water chestnuts
3 chicken breasts - season heavily with lemon pepper, grill and cut into bite size pieces
1 C. bean sprouts

Dressing:
1/2 C. Canola oil
1/2 C. sugar
1tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp Seasoned Rice vinegar (unseasoned works too)
1/2 tsp sesame SEED oil
1 tsp grated fresh garlic
store in fridge. Return to room temp before combined.

aunt marion's shrimp salad dressing

i found this in an old cook book of my mom's that encompassed all of the ladies in the area growing up. they were all related and i knew marion personally. she was sweet. i love the idea of this dressing served in the prime of the 50's under a shady tree while the kids were playing out in the pool. ahhh.

i served this at my sister in laws shower as one of 3 salad options. i have to say, it was the hit.

i served it will marinated chicken and spinach and romaine.



the accompanying veggies were avocado, tomato and cucumbers. there is so much flavor in this dressing. made the night before, the flavors become more bold and wonderful!

2/3 qt. mayo
1 jar chili sauce (i used a small jar here)
2 cans small shrimp (fresh ones would be awesome too)
2 TBSP sweet pickle juice ( i only had sweet relish on hand, it worked great)
1 TBSP dill pickle juice
1-2 tsp horseradish sauce
2-3 TBSP lemon juice ( i did use a fresh lemon)
2-3 TBSP sugar
2-4 TBSP worcestershire

mix all together the night before. refrigerate and serve cold.

the pulled pork

always, always asked for this recipe. started with cafe rio, then kalee unlocked the secret and i made some up along the way to present this masterpiece to you.

cook for 12 hours on low.....some pork

i have used many kinds. i love a costco tenderloin roast. they are dark and small and really tender. but this recipe will make any cut of a large part of pork submit to goodness.

so get that crock pot out. put your little meat in ( i usually fit 3 small ones) and pour coke over it. thats right, as in classic. cola. mr coke. you could also add a jar of salsa. it does help with a depth of flavor that does make a difference.

i usually do this before bed. it will give you strange nightmares when you sleep smelling bold flavors like this. running from pigs all night and all.;)

anyway. 12 hours. then, get that pork outta there. discard the liquid. i put the cooked pork in a ziplock and put it in the fridge until i am ready to serve it. then, i move onto making the succulent sweetness that boggles your mind.

offenders below

i have come up with a simple and bold sauce that makes this sing even tho there was a recipe with exact measurements at one time.

equal parts of:
ketchup
BBQ sauce ( i use kraft honey or hickory or whatever)
and brown sugar.

mince a couple of cloves of garlic too. it will make you happy.

mix it all together and warm it in the crock pot. put it on one of those cute little costco dinner rolls that come in the big bags in quantities of 36 and you will say, thank you heidi.


or, eat it over a salad with beans and rice and cheese.

maybe, a burrito. just eat it......