Pork Tenderloin and Cumberland Sauce

The madness is over!! No more over eating (until New Years Eve!!). I didn't make a huge dinner on Christmas night because it was just the four of us, but we did have a nice pork tenderlion, which we grilled and then I made a Cumberland Sauce to go with it. I made the sauce seven years ago when I first saw it in the Southern Living Holiday magazine, and we had remembered it was good, but never got around to making it again.

The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of port as the main ingredient, and also red currant jelly. Get your red currant jelly early in the year, because the only jar I could find was made by Trappist Monks and was really expensive at the Safeways! We had to divide the recipe in thirds, because we knew we had port, but discovered we barely had one cup. Our wonky thirding made the measurements a bit off, but it still turned out really nicely. I would highly recommend this sauce! Apparently it's nice with turkey as well and can be used as a ham glaze

2 1/2 cups port wine, divided
1 (10 1/2-ounce) jar red currant jelly
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Bring 2 cups wine and next 8 ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring constantly; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 20 minutes.Stir together remaining 1/2 cup wine and cornstarch until smooth. Stir into hot mixture; bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Remove from heat, and cool. Pour into hot sterilized jars, and seal. Store in refrigerator up to 1 month.****

Yield: about 4 cups

****or just pour straight into a gravy boat and serve!!

Sauce source

Gruyere and Parmesan Gougeres

These Gougeres (or cheese puffs) are so easy to make, and taste great. Don't let the fact that they are made with Choux dough turn you off. I always thought that would be really complicated, but it's so easy, just make sure you have all the ingredients out and ready to go, because once the dough comes together, you have to move quickly. This recipe is from Ina Gartens "Barefoot in Paris" book. I have made these a few times and it gets easier and easier.

Annual Pierogi Making

Every year for the last four years I get together with my friend Lisa and we make about 140 pierogies and split them. I freeze them and then bag them up and have a supply for about 4 meals. I love them, and it's fun to make them with someone!

It's very simple, but a bit time consuming (which is the whole point of getting together and doing it).The filling is just mashed potato with whatever you want in it. I like cheese and onion.

The dough is super easy:

Curried Carrot Soup

I was so over all the sugar from the 300 cookies I've made in the last two days, I was dying for the Carrot Soup tonight. It's another winner from Everyday Food. Quick, easy and delicious. I ended up mixing in my cilantro and it made it even better.

Serves 4
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon curry powder
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth (about 3 1/2 cups)
2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Directions
Heat butter in a Dutch oven or large (4- to 5-quart) saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, curry powder, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
Add broth, carrots, and 3 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover, and simmer until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
In a blender**, puree soup in batches until smooth; transfer to a clean saucepan. Add more water to thin to desired consistency. Reheat, if necessary. Stir in lemon juice. Serve garnished with cilantro, if desired.

**I used my immersion blender right in the saucepan, and then just left it on the stove to keep hot until I was ready to serve it, and I didn't need to add more water at all.

Cookie Fever Continued.. Chocolate Crackle Cookies

These cookies are also from the trusty Martha Stewart Holiday Cookie magazine from 2005. A little bit time consuming to make, but they always turn out and they taste great! I actually forgot to put in the 1/3 cup of milk, but they still turned out and tasted just like they always do. That's unfortunately what happens when a 5 yr old is "helping".

Makes about 4 dozen

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for rolling

Directions

Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl, or the top of a double boiler, over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. Into a small bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add melted chocolate. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk. Mix on low speed until just combined. Divide dough into quarters, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. On a surface dusted with confectioners' sugar, use your hands to roll each portion of dough into a log 16 inches in length and about 1 inch in diameter. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, and transfer to a baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes. Cut each log into 1-inch pieces, and toss pieces in confectioners’ sugar, a few at a time. Using your hands, roll the pieces into balls. If any of the cocoa-colored dough is visible, roll dough in confectioners’ sugar again to coat completely. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies have flattened and sugar splits, 12 to 15 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Cookie Fever Day 2: Lemon Flowers

I've adapted these cookies from Martha Stewart. They were originally Lime Flowers, but the first time I made them I only had lemon, so I substituted that, and they were a huge hit. The only problem with these cookies is that one batch of dough doesn't make enough!!

2 cups flour (plus more for work surface)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners sugar

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

Put granulated sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 1 minute. Add butter and mix until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in vanilla and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in flour mixture.

On a lightly floured work surface, halve the dough. Flatten each half into a 10 inch disk, and warp each in plastic. Freeze until firm, about t 30 mins.
Preheat oven to 325F. Working with 1 half at a time, roll out dough on parchment paper to 1/8 inch thick. cut shapes from dough with a 3 inch flower shape cookie cutter. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Cut a hole in centre of each with a 1-inch round cutter, repeat with remaining disk. Warp scraps in plastic. Freeze 30 mins, reroll, and cut.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until set, about 12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Before serving sift confectioners sugar over cookies.

UPDATE: Dee let me know that I had a typo and had 1/2 cup lemon juice in the cookie batter and it should be 1/4 cup. So sorry to anyone who made it and the batter was too runny or too lemony!!!! If it worked with 1/2 cup let me know!!

Cookie Fever

Today was day one of Cookie Fever season. I had to make sugar cookies for my 7yr old's class party (they are going to decorate them) and I also needed at least 22 cookies for my neighbourhood kids cookie decorating party on Wednesday. I got out my trusty Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies magazine from 2005 and made the Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies. The recipe says "makes about 20". I doubled the recipe and I was going to make a 3rd batch if needed. 97 cookies later..... That dough just went on and on and on.

This is the recipe for 1 batch, which I'm sure you could get about 45 cookies out of. I use a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop to drop the dough and it makes a perfect sized cookie.

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
Sanding sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Put sugars in the bowl of mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add butter and mix until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Using the ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Flatten cookies slightly; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.

Bake cookies until golden about 15 minutes.

Braised Short Ribs

I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out. The recipe calls for dumping the carrots and onions and then making a sauce out of the liquid, but slow cooked carrots are too nice to throw away, so I just made the vegetables a side dish along with the leeks and potatoes.

I have adapted this from Everyday Food, October 2007

Braised Short Ribs (about 2 hours to prep and cook)

1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper
5 pieces of short ribs (about one pack)
1 tablespoon oil (I use Olive)
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
1 onion quartered
1 big slurp of red wine
3/4 can chicken broth
thyme
1 can whole peeled tomatoes in puree

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place flour in a medium blow; season with salt and pepper. Toss ribs in flour mixture until well coated; shake off excess.

2. In an oven proof dutch oven or saucepan, heat oil over medium - high. Cook ribs turning until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes, and then transfer to a plate.

Add carrots and onions to the pot. Cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits, until vegetables are lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add a good slurp of wine, chicken broth, thyme and tomatoes,( breaking them up). Arrange ribs in the pot, bring to boil. Cover and then transfer to oven and cook for 1 hour. Reduce heat to 350F, cook until fork-tender (but not falling apart), about 1 hour more.

Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer ribs to a plate and keep warm

This is where I differ from the original recipe. I just scoop out the veggies with a slotted spoon and use them as a side.

To make the sauce if you wish (I don't do this, because it's just as good with the vegies and some liquid), strain the remaining liquid through a fine-mesh sieve (discarding solids); return to pot. Bring to a boil; cook until sauce is slightly thickened and reduced to about 1 cup, 10 to 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve ribs with sauce.

Potato and Leeks

Dice up the potatoes. Clean the leeks thoroughly and slice up. I used about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and added the potatoes, leeks and salt and pepper and sweated them on a low heat for about 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally.

Roasted Tomato Lasagna

Last night I made my own recipe lasagna, with a topping of roasted tomatoes and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

I used Campari Tomatoes (which I get from Costco), and I just halved them, sprinkled with kosher salt, drizzled with Olive Oil and then roasted in the oven at 400F for about 1 hour. Keep checking them, they might be done before the hour is up - depending on your oven.

The roasted tomatoes gave it a great flavour and it's a slightly different take on regular lasagna!

1 lb ground beef - fat free as possible
8-10 campari tomatoes roasted (see above)
6 lasagna noodles ( I like the oven ready ones - they are really easy) - if not oven ready follow package directions for prep.
2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 medium onion diced
1 clove of garlic or 1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano and 1 teaspoon dried basil
Olive Oil
Mixture of grated mozarella and parmesan for the topping

Prepare lasagna noodles and then place them in the baking dish. I used a 2qt (11"x 7" x 1.5") size and the noodles fit nicely.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and then add the diced onion and the garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until onions are cooked through and then add the ground beef and cook until it is all browned. Add the diced tomatoes and the basil and oregano. Cook on low for about 15 minutes until cooked through. Try and make this mixture as dry as possible or there will be too much liquid when you try and serve it. I made the mixture of adding a couple of slurps of red wine and it was too wet, but I've made it before without the wine and it's been fine.

Meanwhile, mix together the ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella and season with salt and pepper.

Lay out a layer of lasagna noodles in the baking dish and then put down the meat sauce. The spread the cheese mixture on top of the meat sauce. Lay down another layer of lasagna noodles. Place the roasted tomatoes evenly spaced apart on top of the noodles and then cover with the grated cheeses.

Bake at 350F for 30-40 mins or until hot and bubbling.

Vanilla Fairy Cakes

I adapted these vanilla fairy cakes from Nigella's basic Fairy cake recipe from Domestic Goddess. They are very easy to make and are delicious! I also doubled the recipe to make 24.

½ cup unsalted butter, softened
7 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
¾ cup self-rising flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract ( I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to make them very vanilla) 2-3 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 400F

Put all ingredients except milk in the food processor, and process until smooth. Pulse while adding milk down the funnel, to make a soft dropping consistency.

Spoon mixture into cupcake papers and try to fill each cup equally.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the fairy cakes are cooked and golden on top.

Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Mrs Names is having a tailgate party in her driveway today for the big Redskins/Cowboys game. She's a diehard Redskins fan and her husband feels the same way about the cowboys.

The icing is confectioners sugar, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and then water for the right consistency. I used the Wilton concenrate food colourings. It was really difficult to get the right colour for the Redskins, I used a lot of food colour and it's still not exactly how I wanted it, but it's close enough!

Chocolate Cheesecake Torte

I also made a chocolate cheesecake to take to Mrs Names tailgate party. I took it straight from Domestic Goddess, with only a small alterations. And the reason I'm calling it a cheesecake torte is because it really fell in the refrigerator overnight and is not as tall as when it came out of the oven. However, who cares what it looks like really, it's totally delicious.

(those hands separating the egg are my husbands !!)
This recipe needs and 8" springform pan and the cheesecake is cooked in a waterbath.


1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon or 4 ounces of graham crackers*
1/4 cup very very soft or melted unsalted butter
18 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2-1 teaspoon lime juice (to taste)**
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted***

*I used the precrumbled Graham cracker crumbs, but I needed 1 cup of crumbs and 1 stick of butter to make the base.

**I used 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice

*** If you have never melted chocolate before in the microwave, you only need to have it in there for about 1 min 30 seconds, and then just keep stirring until it's all melted. That way the chocolate won't burn in the microwave. You might need to pop it back in a for a few more seconds to help it, but no more than that.

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Process the crackers and butter together and press into the bottom of the pan, then stick the pan in the refrigerator until the filling is ready.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then mix in the sugar. Add the eggs and lime juice and beat until smooth and creamy. Gently fold in the melted chocolate. When I did this the mixture was cold and the chocolate started to harden up the minute it hit the cold mixture. It wasn't exactly a marble effect, which is what I think Nigella is going for, but it still turned out nicely.

Line the spring-form pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil on the outside, and then tear off another and repeat. Stand the pan in a roasting pan and fill up the spring-form pan with the mixture. Pour hot water into the roasting pan to come 3/4-1 inch up the side of the cake pan and then put it in the oven to cook for 1 hour.

When the cheesecake's ready it should have browned a bit on the edges and the center should be just set on top. remove the cake tin from the waterbath, and take off the foil. Sit the spring-form pan on a rack to cool, then refrigerate before unmolding and let it get back to room temperature.

My cheesecake did flatten out in the refrigerator, but still looked good.

Salmon Tacos

Tonight was Salmon Taco night. Quick, easy and delicious. I don't have a photo because I didn't take one. I was going to rely on the photo from the Everyday Food website, but it appears they have taken that recipe down.

(this is from Everyday Food, Jan/Feb 2007)

1 1/4 pounds salmon fillet
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tblespoons fresh lime juice
4 scallions, thinkly sliced
1 cup packed fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
8 whole wheat tortillas
4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
2 medium carrots, peeled into strips

Place salmon in a 2 quart shallow microwave safe dish with a lid. Season with salt; drizzle with t tblsspoon lime juice. Sprinkle with scallions and 1/4 cup cilantro. Cover and microwave on high 7 mins until fish is cooked through

Pour off any liquid from dish: using a fork, flake fish.

Make Sauce: Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together sour cream, remaining tablespoon lime juice and remaining 3/4 cup cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

Assemble:

Arrange carrots and lettuce down centre of each tortilla

Top with salmon, Drizzle lightly with sauce and fold up.

Banana Cake

I make this banana cake a lot. It's a totally mixed recipe, partly my Grandmothers, partly Southern Living and partly came about because of a mistake I made one time, leaving an ingredient out, and it worked well, made it better really, so I kept making it the "new" way every time after that.

Ingredients

3 - 5 over ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip the banana's for about 5 minutes. Then add eggs and vanilla

Combine next five dry ingredients in a bowl, then add to the banana mixture.

Pour the batter in a greased and floured pan. Any size will do. This mixture will also fit nicely into 2 loaf pans.

Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes, and then check with a clean dry knife. If it comes out clean it's done. If not give it another 10 minutes and check again.

Icing:

I use a coffee flavoured icing for this cake. It might sound wierd, but it's really delicious.

1 cup of confectioners sugar
Drizzel in some coffee a little at a time and mix until you have the consistency you want, and then ice the cake!

Pappardelle with Ham,Pine Nuts and Rosemary Sauce

This is a quick, easy and delicious pasta recipe that I adapted from a “Dinner in 20 Minutes” recipe from the Washington Post ( 9/26/07).

I’ve made this three times now, once with plain pappardelle, and twice with Trader Joe’s Lemon Pepper Pappardelle, and it’s so much better with the Lemon Pepper pappardelle.

My Own Bolognaise Recipe

As you know, last night was Halloween, so I decided to do something easy that I could pepare earlier in the afternoon and then get cleaned up quickly so the Trick or Treating could start. I made my own recipe Spaghetti Bolognaise. I have been using this one for over 20 years, and some days are better than others, but it is consistently yummy.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1lb ground beef - as fat free as possible
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic chopped or 1 teaspoon of preminced garlic in the jar
1 can of diced tomatoes
Couple slurps of ketchup
1 lb of white mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup red wine (optional)
Dried oregano
Fresh or dried basil, 1 tspn each
Salt
Pepper
Shaved fresh parmesan cheese for topping

Spaghetti or any pasta!

Rough chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a saucepan, when hot add the onion and garlic, stirring until brown.

Add the ground beef and stir until all browned, turn down the heat to medium.
Add the can tomatoes, including all the juice.
Put in the few slurps of ketchup, add the wine, then the sliced mushrooms.
Add 1 tspoon dried oregano.
If using fresh basil wait until 5 mins before serving to add, if dried basil, add it now.
Simmer for about 45mins to 1 hour

Serve over spaghetti.

This sauce also freezes realy well, and this makes enough for 2 meals for 2 people.

My Favourite Recipe Books

I thought I'd share some of my favourite books that I've been using for the past couple of years. I also feel that these books have made me into a better cook, and really make me want to make everything from scratch.

Topping the list is Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Herself. I have all five of her books and use them all the time. The best two are The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and Barefoot Contessa Parties!. I use recipes from those books over and over again.


I've also recently fallen in love with the Everyday Food: Great Food Fast from the kitchens of Martha Stewart. It's fantastic. I also have a subscription to the magazine. I can hear the groans - not Martha, it's too hard - but this is Martha for dummies. All the recipes I have tried so far have turned out great and are really easy. I swore off Martha for a really long time after the great Buche de Noel debarcle of Christmas 2000. That thing took me about 13 hours to make and everyone 6 mins to eat. I was beside myself, used every pot, pan, bowl, spoon, knife and cutting board that I owned, and had a miserable 4 month old who cried the whole time I was making it. The cake itself was delicious, but I was so mad with Martha for about 4 years after that whole experience.

Nigella Lawson is another favourite. I have Domestic Goddess and Bites. I've very successfully made the Sour Cream Chocolate Cake and the New York Cheese Cake from Domestic Goddess and a few lovely dinners from Bites. Someone even wanted to pay me to make the Sour Cream Chocolate Cake when I made it for Mrs Names' Superbowl party this year!

I also just got Giada De Laurentis' Family Dinner - but I've only made one sauce out of it so far.

Incredible

I was going to say that it's incredible that Jessica Seinfeld's book Deceptively Delicious is still number 1 on the Amazon.Com bestseller list, but I just checked and it's actually down to #2, because some snore about emerging real estate markets is now #1. How fickle is the American public?

Anyway, my love affair with Deceptively Delicious started on a Friday and ended on a Sunday two days later. I was convinced that this book and these recipes were going to change my life - a bit like when they brought out the Swiffer (I've gone back to the broom).

It was all too difficult for no pay off really. The kids didn't really enjoy it, and it was so much work to puree all the vegies etc. I have chronicled my experience here and Mrs Names' fun times with it here.

The only positive thing that came out of it was that Marc took the left over Mac & Cheese to work and some people there loved it and wanted the recipe.

I have not re-opened that book at all. And it held so much nutritional promise!

Menu Planning for This Week

It's not really "menu" planning, it's really dinner planning, and it's making my life so much easier. I just go through the books, choose what I want to make and then shop for the stuff, and make sure I thaw the fish or meat or whatever in the morning, so there's no rush at the dinner hour.

Last night I made Morocan Chicken Stew from Everyday Food October 2007.

Sadly, this is not my photo, because I forgot to take one, but this one from Martha Stewart is basically what it looks like, except that I have to put mine on rice because Marc doesn't like cous cous and also the kids will eat rice as well, so that covers everyone. I just cooked a plain chicken breast for the kids, because there is no way they would eat this. Which suits me fine because I get left overs for lunch!

The rest of the week we'll be having Talaipia Loins with Lemon Butter Sauce, my own recipe Spaghetti Bolognaise on Halloween, Parmesan Chicken with baked polenta and then Steak Sandwiches on Friday, which I'm sure won't be as tasty as these ones becuase I just can't make myself use that much butter!!

Food & Photos

This is my new blog about what I cook. Mrs Names totally encouraged me to do this blog, because we have been looking at lots of food/cooking blogs and the photos are the best thing, and if you are reading blogs and looking at food photos you are not eating snacks!! Although I have a LONG way to go on the photography. It's really difficult getting the lighting right on the food. The top photo came out really well, not so much on the cooked one.

So I'm going to try and document what I'm cooking and share some great recipes that I'm using.

This is the pizza I made on Friday for the kids before we went up to the Fall Festival at the elementary school. You need full stomach to endure that for a couple of hours!!

It's just your basic pizza dough and mozzarella and parmesan grated over the top of the fabulous Trader Joe's pizza sauce. I buy that 10 jars at a time.