Pork Tenderloins with Mushroom Sauce

This recipe was found in a James Peterson cookbook, 'Cooking.'  If you didn't read my blog about cookbooks, James Peterson's cookbooks are fabulous.  The first time I made this recipe, I ignored the quantity of mushrooms for the sauce and probably doubled the amount; I love mushrooms so why not have more?  Well, the answer to that is your sauce ends up being more of a mushroom pudding than a sauce.  I do not recommend that.

INGREDIENTS:
2 pork tenderloins, 12-14 ounces each
salt, pepper
10 oz cremini or white mushrooms OR
    5 oz cremini mushrooms for the sauce and 5 oz wild mushrooms
1 T. demi-glace, softened in 3 T. hot water
1/2 C. heavy cream
4 T. olive oil
1 t. wine vinegar, or as needed

INSTRUCTIONS:
1.  Trim the silver skin from the tenderloins.  Cut tenderloins into 1" thick rounds.  Season both sides with salt and pepper.  If possible, let the the pork sit at room temperature for one hour before cooking.

2.  Chop half the mushrooms coarsely and quarter the other half of the mushrooms.  If using both cremini and wild mushrooms, coarsely chop the cremini mushrooms but leave the wild mushrooms whole.

3.  Put the chopped mushrooms in a saucepan with the demi-glace & water and the heavy cream, bring to a simmer, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and pour into a blender and process for about 1 minute or until smooth.

4.  Rinse out the saucepan, strain the puree into the pan and simmer gently until it thickens, careful not to let it become too thick.  Set aside.

5.  In saute pan or skillet, heat 2 T. of the oil over high heat.  Add the remaining mushrooms and saute for about 7 minutes or until well-browned.  Place in a low temp oven to keep warm.

5.  In a saute pan just large enough to hold the tenderloin slices, heat the remaining oil over high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the pork and brown for about 2 minutes.  Turn the heat down to medium and continue cooking for another minute.  Turn the slices over, turn heat back to high and cook for 2 minutes.   Transfer to a platter.

5.  Return the sauce to the saute pan and reheat gently.  Season with salt and pepper and add the vinegar.  Taste and add salt, pepper, and/or vinegar as needed.

6.  Take the mushrooms from the oven and sprinkle over the pork.  Spoon sauce over pork and serve.

Too many mushrooms in the sauce:                             

The RIGHT amount of mushrooms:

Spicy Green Beans with Sesame Seeds

I'm always trying to find good side dish recipes so we can eat something besides 'steamed vegetable of the day.'  I found this one in 'Best American Side Dishes,' another cookbook from the editors of 'Cook's Illustrated.'  It is a bit on the spicy side but it's pretty quick and simple to prepare.  The recipe calls for cooking the green beans on the stove.  I cheated and bought the green beans that steam in a bag in your microwave.  Also, this recipe would be good with a variety of vegetables:  broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, maybe even corn.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb green beans

1 t. toasted sesame oil

1 1/2 t. Asian garlic-chili sauce*

2 T. minced fresh cilantro

1 T. toasted sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Bring 2 1/2 quarts water to boil in a large saucepan over high heat.  Add 1 teaspoon salt and the beans and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  (or see my cheat above!)

2.  Toss green beans with remaining ingredients and serve.

* I sent my husband to the store and for the life of him, he couldn't find the garlic-chili sauce.  So as an FYI, this is what you're looking for:

Easy Chicken Flautas

I've made these a couple of times now and they are quite tasty.  I would serve with a variety of condiments to dip into: sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Rotisserie chicken
1 t. paprika
1 t. kosher salt
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. chili powder
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
3 C. spinach
1 T. olive oil
10 9" flour tortillas
10 oz. Queso Quesadilla, shredded
cooking spray

Oven 450

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Remove the skin from the rotisserie chicken and discard.  Pull the meat from the bones and discard the bones.  Put the chicken in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.  Add the paprika, salt, garlic powder, cumin, & chili powder to the chicken.  Mix until chicken is shredded and spices are evenly distributed.

2.  Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium-high.  Saute jalapeno until fragrant, then add the spinach.  Keep turning spinach over to mix in the jalapeno.  When cooked (about 3 minutes), remove from heat.  Press spinach between paper towels to remove excess moisture.  Coarsely chop the cooked spinach.

3.  Take each tortilla and cut about 1" 'half moon' from opposing sides so the tortillas will be more rectangular.  On one long edge, spoon 1/10th  of the chicken mixture.  Repeat with spinach and cheese.  Roll tortilla around mixture and place seam side down on a cooking sheet that's been coated in cooking spray. Repeat with the remaining 9 tortillas.

4.  Spray the tortillas with cooking spray (I prefer olive oil spray) and place into oven.  Cook for 9-10 minutes, or until the edges begin to slightly brown.

Enjoy!

Golden Chicken: The Results

So last week's Golden Chicken dinner turned out...fine.  The chicken was moist and tender but the 'sauce' was definitely lacking.  For one, it needed salt.  It also could use some sort of thickener; even though Cream of Chicken soup was used, it was still very watery.  It would also do better if served with rice rather than egg noodles.  For the record, my husband did enjoy it and helped himself to seconds.  I ate for lunch the next day and, again, it was fine.  But really, this is not something I'll probably make again.  Easy, yes.  Tasty, meh.

Golden Chicken with Noodles

        Let me preface this by saying, I made the mistake of buying the new and improved Williams Sonoma slow cooker cookbook and have yet to use it for one recipe. The recipes, while possibly delicious, are pretty complicated and involve a LOT of prep work and time searing meats and so forth. I got my slow cooker so I could have an easy, hassle-free method of enjoying a home-cooked dinner after work. I certainly didn’t get it so I would have to wake up an hour or more early to get the ingredients prepped and assembled!
       That being said, this is what’s in my slow cooker today. It’s from a Campbell’s Soup cookbook so it’s pretty straightforward and doesn’t require a lot of prep work which is the exact kind of recipe I look for when using my slow cooker.
        I cleaned the chicken breasts last night, then sliced the carrots and combined the carrots with the water, lemon juice, mustard, & garlic powder. This morning, I dumped the carrot mixture into the slow cooker, added the soup, mixed well, added the chicken breasts, stirred it until the chicken was covered, and started the timer. Here’s hoping!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
½ C. water
¼ C. lemon juice
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 ½ t. garlic powder
8 large carrots, thickly sliced
8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Hot cooked egg noodles
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all ingredients (except noodles & parsley), cover, and cook on low for 7-8 hours (or high for 4-5 hours). Serve with noodles & sprinkle with parsley.

Company Chicken

My mom has been making this for years.  I'm guessing that it came off a soup can or some such.  While it takes a good amount of time to cook (3 hours), it's super easy to assemble and pop in the oven.  It's not a fancy-schmancy recipe but it has stood the test of time.  Perfect served with a green vegetable and a bit of bread or rice to soak up the extra sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg. dried beef                                            

6 boneless chicken breasts                 

6 strips of bacon

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup                   

8 oz cream cheese

oven 300º

INSTRUCTIONS:

Lightly grease casserole dish.  Lay down 2 pieces of beef per breast.  Roll chicken from small side; wrap each with 1 slice bacon (secure w/ toothpicks if needed).  Place each chicken roll on top of the slices of beef.  Mix cream cheese & soup together.  Pour over chicken.  Bake covered for 3 hours.

**Note: it may be a good idea to precook the bacon a bit - still pliable but partially cooked.  Also, I will be trying this in a slow cooker.

Oven Baked Shrimp & Orzo

This was our Sunday night dinner and it was delicious.  It turned out beautifully but, wow, we have a lot of leftovers.  I would definitely halve this recipe in the future unless I was cooking for more than two people.  Even halving would leave us both with a nice size lunch for the next day.  The recipe comes from the cookbook, "Best of America's Test Kitchen 2007."  The saffron is quite good and the recipe is reminiscent of paella.  My only caution:  be careful when pouring into the baking dish as your dish will be quite full.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 lbs large shrimp, peeled & deveined

salt and pepper
1 red onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, & cut into 1/2" pieces
1 t. EVOO
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb orzo
pinch saffron
4 C. low-sodium chicken broth
1 C. water
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 C. frozen peas
4 t. minced fresh oregano
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:
1.  Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 400 degrees.  Pat shrimp dry and season with salt & pepper.

2.  Combine onion, bell pepper, oil & 1/2 t. salt in a large Dutch oven.  Cover and cook over medium-low heat until vegetables have softened, about 8-10 minutes.  Stir in the garlic & cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in the orzo and saffron and cook, stirring frequently, until the orzo is coated with oil & lightly browned, about 4 minutes.

3.  Stir in the broth and water and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the grains of orzo are mostly tender yet still slightly firm at the center, about 12 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes, peas, oregano, and shrimp.

4.  Pour into a 13x9 inch baking dish and sprinkle the feta evenly over the top.  Bake until shrimp are cooked through and the cheese is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Wilted Spinach Salad

About the only nice thing I can say about my ex (fortunately)-sister-in-law is that she gave me this recipe. It's easy, it's tasy, and I love it.  If you wanted to make it a meal, just add some grilled chicken or fish. 

INGREDIENTS:
8 C. spinach
1/4 lb bacon
1/2 C chopped scallions
2 T. flour
2 C. thinly sliced mushrooms
2 hard boiled eggs cut into slices
1 C. beef broth
1/3 C. red wine vinegar
1/4 C. crumbled feta (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Place spinach, mushrooms, & egg into salad bowl and set aside.  Cook bacon in skillet until crisp.  Place bacon on paper towels to absorb grease.  When bacon has cooled, crumble and add to salad bowl.  (Note: if you have other things to cook, just set aside the skillet, reserving the bacon grease.  Do these last steps just before serving).  In hot bacon grease, add scallions and cook for 2 minutes.  Stir in flour and cook 1 more minute.  Stir in broth & vinegar; boil to reduce and let thicken slightly.  Pour directly over the spinach, serve immediately, add feta to garnish.  Easy-peasy and delish.

Orzo with Zucchini and Baby Portobello Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS:
¾ pound orzo pasta
1 med onion, chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
2 large zucchini
8 oz sliced baby Portobello mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil (basil infused if you have it)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
½ cup fresh grated Parmesan 
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste


INSTRUCTIONS:
1.  Bring 6 cups water or chicken stock to a boil and add pasta.  Cook al dente.


2.  Slice zucchini into matchstick size strips.  Sauté the mushrooms with chopped onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes then add the zucchini.  Sauté an additional 3 minutes or until the zucchini is a light golden brown.  Add basil to mushroom/zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and then remove mixture from heat.


3.  Combine with cheese and cooked orzo, salt to taste, serve warm or at room temperature.

For the Love of Dogs: Homemade Dog Treats

I honestly can't remember where this recipe originated but I've modified it and made it with different options so you can use the same 'base' recipe and then use different flavor options.  I have no idea how the dogs know when I'm baking for them, but they do!  They absolutely love these treats!

Base Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. white flour

1/2 C. non-fat powdered milk

1 egg

1 t. salt

1/2 C. molasses

1/4 C. honey

water (amount will vary).

Vanilla:

6 T. margarine

3 T. vanilla extract

Beef:

6 T. margarine

1/4 C. beef base

Chicken:

5 T. margarine

4 T. powdered chicken bouillon

Peanut Butter:

6 T. peanut butter

Oven = 350

Combine the base ingredients, plus the ingredients from one of the flavors.  Mix thoroughly.  If too dry, add 1 T. of water at a time until dough comes together, almost forming a ball.  If dough becomes too sticky, mix in a little bit of flour until formed without being too sticky.  Roll to 1/2" thickness and cut into shapes.  Place onto pizza stone or lightly greased cookie sheet (pizza stone works better).  For large shapes, bake 15-16 minutes.  For smaller shapes, bake 11-12 minutes.

**a fun variation for the vanilla and peanut butter flavors is to add carob chips (do not use REAL chocolate).  After placing the shapes on the pizza stone, I push carob chips into the top of the cookies before baking.

The Tasteful Olive

A friend on FB recommended a wonderful olive oil and vinegar store so I decided to check it out.  It is a local company (however, you can order from their website) that sells gourmet infused oils and vinegars, The Tasteful Olive.  The store is packed with numerous oils, vinegars, rubs, recipes, gadgets...it's a really fun store!  It's located in downtown old Overland Park, Kansas.  One of my favorite oils is their butter flavored olive oil.  Can you think of a healthier way to cook popcorn WITH flavor?  Yum!  But don't stop there.  They have quite a few herb infused oils that are great on roasted vegetables.  Their toasted sesame oil is amazing!  

Be sure to sign up for their newsletter as it usually contains some sort of coupon.  I don't normally sign up for stuff like this because I don't want to be inundated with junk mail.  However, this is one email a month and the coupon is worth it.


Check them out! 

Quick Chicken Fricassee

I saw this actually air on America's Test Kitchen in the episode titled 'Simply Chicken' and it looked pretty easy and tasty.  I was right!



Serves 4 to 6
Two tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley leaves may be substituted for the tarragon in this recipe.


INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound cremini mushrooms , stems trimmed, caps wiped clean and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1 medium garlic clove , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup sour cream
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon (see note)


INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Heat butter and oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, place chicken in skillet and cook until browned, about 4 minutes. Flip chicken and continue to cook until browned on second side, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to large plate.

2. Add mushrooms, onion, and wine to now-empty skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add flour and garlic; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add broth and bring mixture to boil, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add chicken and any accumulated juices to skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in breasts, 5 to 10 minutes.


3. Transfer chicken to clean platter and tent loosely with foil. Whisk sour cream and egg yolk together in medium bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly stir ½ cup sauce into sour cream mixture. Stirring constantly, slowly pour sour cream mixture into simmering sauce. Stir in nutmeg, lemon juice, and tarragon; return to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.