Pork Tenderloin

Tonight for dinner I fixed pork tenderloin to go along with one of our favorite sides, Deviled Egg Coleslaw. I’ve posted the slaw recipe before, good luck finding it. :)

This morning, I got the tenderloin ready to sit for the day…

For the Rub:
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp basil leaves
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and cover the pork tenderloin with it. Once evenly covered, drizzle olive oil to set the rub. Wrap it up and put it in the fridge for the day. (Mine sat for 11+ hours).

Next, get the onions ready. Thinly slice a whole yellow onion, place in a zip bag and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and let sit in the fridge for the day.

When you’re ready to eat, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a shallow baking dish and pour the onions into it. Put the tenderloin on top of the onions and bake for 40 minutes.

Let the tenderloin rest (covered in foil) for 5 minutes and serve.

Bon Appétit!

Artichokes!

Artichokes are back in season in CA and many people have no clue what to do with them... so I thought I'd share what I do.

Tonight we had barbecued chicken with steamed/boiled artichokes. It was a delicious dinner. The weather is GREAT - perfect for barbecuing!

Artichokes:

Cut off top of chokes - about 1/4 - 1/2 inch from the top. Cut the tips off of any other sharp leaves.

Get 2 inches of hot water in a 8-10 quart sauce pot. Season the water with salt and place the artichokes into the boiling water. Bring the water back to a boil and cover. Cooking up to 50 minutes.

Depending on the size of the choke, you may need to cook it less or more. I always set the timer for 30 minutes and go from there. To check the done-ness, pull a leaf off the choke. Once done, the leaves will come right off the choke and the meat will be soft and easy to enjoy.

Crustless Quiche

My good friend, and fellow chef, pointed out that my blog is not organized by recipe, so it is hard to relocate a recipe in the blog if you don't save it the first time you read it. Good point! I've decided that going forward each blog title will contain the recipe name included in the blog making it easier for my blog friends to find the recipe they're looking for.

I made a delicious crustless quiche for breakfast. I have made many quiche in my day, but I must say this one is the best I've made to date. I hope you try it and enjoy!

Crustless Quiche

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

• Cooking Spray
• 2 Tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese

For the Filling:

• 1/3 of a yellow onion, chopped
• 1 medium broccoli head, chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of any water
• 1 4oz. can hot green chilies
• 1 cup chopped Canadian bacon
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 cup shredded Colby jack cheese (plus a little more)

For the Custard:

• 2 cups fat free half & half
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• A pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a pie pan with cooking spray and sprinkle the grated parmesan evenly on top. Place the pan on a baking sheet.

Saute the veggies until cooked through, add Canadian bacon, stir, and set aside.

To make the custard, whisk the half and half and eggs in a large bowl. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Spread half of the filling evenly in the pan, top with about half the cheese, repeat with reamaining filling and cheese. Pour the custard over the fillings. Top with more cheese as desired.

Bake until the quiche is set in the center, 40-5o minutes. Cool completely on a rack before serving.

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Today we are going to Concannon's Gatekeeper Spring Release. I'm sure we'll have a day of good food and good wine. We are looking forward to it and hope the sun comes out from behind those clouds!

Easter is over… When will Spring be here? This rain is killing me!

The past few days have been busy cooking days! On Friday night, I cooked a delicious and simple Salmon recipe:

Baked Salmon

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat a dry oven-proof sauté pan over high heat for 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, rub both sides of the salmon fillets with olive oil and season the tops very liberally with salt and pepper.

When the pan is very hot, place the salmon fillets seasoning-sides down in the pan and cook over medium heat without moving them for 2 minutes, until very browned.

Turn the fillets and place the pan in the oven for 7 minutes.

Enjoy!

*****
On Saturday, we had the McLarens and Biasotti’s over for an afternoon get together. I fixed mini sandwiches, a big antipasto platter and deviled eggs... and we ended up getting a pizza from Mountain Mikes. I think everyone had a good time eating, drinking, watching basketball, and just hanging out. Little Rocco went down a slide for the first time!

On Sunday, we went to Easter at the Whiteman’s in Lafayette. I brought deviled eggs and coleslaw for 20 people. Both were a big hit. I’ve shared my coleslaw recipe before on an earlier post; here is the recipe for my eggs. I don’t show quantities as I make these by eyeball/tasting my way through…

Deviled Eggs
~ Eggs
~ Light Best Foods Mayo
~ Dijon Mustard
~ Paprika

Place the eggs in a pan and cover with hot water. Bring to a boil, add a fair amount of salt to the water and boil for 12 minutes. Remove the eggs from the boiling water and let sit until you’re able to handle – about 20 minutes.

Peel the eggs and slice in half, putting the yolks into a bowl and placing the sliced whites on a plate.

Once all of the yolks are in the bowl, mash with a fork. Add light mayo until creamy. Add Dijon until the taste is right! Spoon a good amount of the yolk mixture to fill each white and sprinkle with paprika.

*****
Tonight is the final NCAA basketball game – we are rooting for Butler in hopes that Mike wins his bracket. Currently, it is a tie game – Go Butler! I fixed a delicious new recipe, definitely worth sharing:

Chicken Rollatini
~ Cooking spray
~ 1 tablespoon olive oil
~ Salt and freshly ground black pepper
~ 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
~ 2 slices Virginia ham from the deli counter
~ 1/2 cup chopped baby spinach leaves
~ 2 ounces goat cheese
~ 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
~ 1 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Arrange chicken breasts on a flat surface. Top each piece of chicken with ham. Mix together spinach and goat cheese and spread over ham. Starting from the shorter end, roll up chicken and secure with wooden toothpicks. Brush mustard all over chicken rolls and then roll in parmesan cheese.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken rolls and cook until golden brown on both sides. (3 mins per side). Transfer chicken to oven and bake 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

I served this with my favorite fake mashed potatoes – YUMMY!

Go Butler Go!