Am…musings

The house filled with the sweet, spicy smell of pumpkin bread emanating from the oven around 3 p.m. yesterday. I was making Halloween dinner for the Kit Drive clan … Trader Joe’s style. Pumpkin bread … topped with homemade cinnamon whipped cream … from my free bag o’ groceries was our delicious dessert.

As I mentioned, when I went to claim my prize I did a little shopping. While perusing the cheese section an intoxicating smell grabbed my attention and I was drawn to the sampling area. An amazing stuffed pork tenderloin awaited … after a taste and a glance at the simple recipe, I knew it would be dinner for the neighbors.

My free groceries included organic penne pasta and an incredibly tasty puttanesca sauce that I didn’t have to doctor a bit, unlike other jarred sauces. Plus, the ingredients were real … free of any preservatives or high fructose corn syrup.

T.J.’s frozen French-cut green beans mixed with butter, garlic salt and sautéed sliced almonds and a loaf of French bread completed the dinner. It’s the perfect dinner party or date night fare because it looks complicated, but was fairly easy to pull together … and it was yummy.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin (marinade overnight, see below)
1 jar T.J.’s Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade
¾ cup grated parmesan

Slice tenderloin* nearly halfway through.

Mix antipasto with ½ cup parmesan and stuff inside cut tenderloin.

Sprinkle top with remaining parmesan.

Roast at 350 degrees until internal temperature reaches 160 (begin checking temp at about 40 minutes, based on size); let rest before slicing.

*The sample I tasted was made from a garlic herbed tenderloin. At T.J.’s, it wasn’t large enough for my crowd so I decided to attempt it on my own. I drizzled olive oil over the pork; sprinkled it with dehydrated garlic, onion, cracked pepper and Kosher salt; and wrapped it in plastic wrap overnight. It was good … although maybe not quite as tasty as the T.J.’s offering.

My friend Kelly gave me a Taste of Home magazine to peruse after my surgery. Being the Martha that I am, a pretty pumpkin cheese ball caught my eye and I decided to make it for the Halloween Happy Hour at the office.

It’s not pumpkin flavored, but rather a tasty mix of chive cream cheese, sharp cheddar and cayenne pepper, among other things. And it wasn’t too tough to make, although shaping it into a ball was a bit messy.

And the pumpkin shape was a little tricky, but not impossible. A completely non-serrrated knife is key.

Here’s the recipe — http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pumpkin-Cheese-Ball-2.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not one to stray far from a recipe often. However, sometimes, necessity is the mother of invention. A fermented jar of artichoke hearts led to a yummy concoction at a recent office happy hour at a coworker’s house.

When I popped the top of the previously opened artichoke jar, about a half-inch of fizz formed at the top. While the artichokes smelled fine, a taste test by a generous coworker confirmed they were no good. I had mixed all the other ingredients and we didn’t necessarily have a ton of snacks so the pantry hunt was on for something else to add to the dip. We settled on black olives. After a taste test, we declared it a success.

OLIVE DIP

1 cup mayonnaise*
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 can olives, drained and quartered

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients.

Place in a small oven-safe casserole dish.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve on Triscuits (I love the Olive Oil and Cracked Pepper variety)

The original dip, which was a yummy staple of holiday celebrations when I was a kid, calls for a can of artichoke hearts. I think a combo of olives and artichoke hearts would be delightful too.

*I usually substitute light mayonnaise in recipes, but because this is baked I use regular or a two-thirds combination of regular to light.

After a work week of Luna bars for breakfast, I like to have something special on the weekends. Homemade whole wheat pancakes have been the standby lately, but I wasn’t in the mood this morning. Then inspiration struck … I had 11 ears of THE best corn ever in my fridge, so I headed to Google for a fresh corn muffin recipe.

I found several that were all fairly similar. How’s a girl to pick? I went with the blog with the best name … Smitten Kitchen. The post actually shared the recipe of another food writer and cookbook author … Dorie Greenspan. I won’t repost the entire recipe here because you can find it on Smitten Kitchen’s Corniest Corn Muffin post, but I will tell you it was fantastic. Of course, the fact that my muffins were studded with my super-fresh, day-old corn probably helped, but I will definitely use this recipe again even if I don’t have that amazing corn on hand.

One note, I don’t typically keep buttermilk in the fridge so I tried substituting 1 Tbsp. white vinegar and enough milk to make a cup (let it sit a few minutes) … worked just fine.

The first time I cook for a date, I always feel a little pressure. The Forest Park picnic was no exception. I wanted to impress, but not go overboard. I also think it’s better to not get too fancy as I think most guys are meat-and-potato types.

I decided on steak sandwiches for the main course. I’m not a big steak eater and have never grilled one so I was a little nervous. I foolishly bought some crappy cut of meat, and at the advice of my friend Kelly put it in the freezer and ran to Costco for some really nice, tender ribeyes. I seasoned them with steak seasoning from my neighbors (one uses Canadian, the other uses Kansas City – the ingredients looked the same to me) and grilled them to medium rare. I then thinly sliced them and refrigerated them in an airtight container with an extra sprinkle of the seasoning and their juices. Right before we left for the park, I toasted some rolls, melted a mild white cheese on one half and spread mayo mixed with a little pressed garlic on the other half. When it was time to eat, I assembled the sandwiches with the steak, plus lettuce and tomato.

I also made pasta salad. It’s the second time I’ve used the tips from this Slate article and I’ve been very pleased with the results. This time, I used rotini, Reese’s jarred grilled artichoke hearts (they are awesome!), halved grape tomatoes, quartered pitted black olives, green onion, goat cheese, garlic salt, Penzey’s California Style Seasoned Pepper (awesome stuff!), olive oil and lemon juice.

For dessert, I served strawberries and double chocolate cookies from Trader Joe’s.

For an appetizer, I made a portabella mushroom dip somewhat from scratch. I want to try to capture the recipe so I’ll share a separate post on that soon.

I thought everything turned out well, and my date was very sweetly appreciative.

We’re belatedly celebrating my neighbor and friend Marsha’s birthday with an old fashioned Good Friday fish fry. I had some Vanilla Buttercream Frosting left (a triple batch was too much for the cupcakes) so I offered to make dessert.

I thought a chocolate cake would be nice with the frosting, but knew I wouldn’t have enough for the entire cake so I’d planned to make another batch. Then I noticed some gorgeous strawberries on sale at the grocery store and figured I could probably make something work with them. I also bought a chocolate bar and made shavings with my vegetable peeler.

The result is stunning (if I may say so myself ) …

The trick is Pampered Chef’s Easy Accent Decorator, which really is super easy to use. The hardest part of the whole thing was shaving the chocolate and honestly, the cake looked good enough without them that I almost didn’t use them.

One of the simplest recipes I have is my favorite. It’s my grandma’s recipe for cucumber salad. I’m making it tonight because we’re having Easter dinner this Saturday due to some scheduling conflicts next weekend. I’ve made cucumbers every Easter since my grandma passed away and my aunt was unceremoniously stripped of the duty a few years later when the cucumbers were so salty they were inedible.

I call the recipe simple not necessarily because it’s uncomplicated, but because it requires no real measuring and only two ingredients, minus the most basic spices – salt and pepper.

Although none are difficult, there are a few steps:
First, peel and slice cucumbers (I prefer the seedless English variety). I slice them in the food processor, which makes amazingly quick and pretty work of it … much to my delight (I guess it’s the simple pleasures in life).

Then, according to grandma, grab a handful of cucumbers, throw each handful in a bowl and salt them before adding the next handful. And … here’s where the psychoanalysis comes in. As a 9-year-old kid, I made dinner for the first time. It was potato soup, and after a few bites my dad jokingly likened it to wallpaper paste. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but probably not the best thing to say to a girl who was proud of her first attempt at real cooking. I was crushed and poured over the recipe to figure out where I’d gone wrong. Ever since … while not necessarily anal about most things … I’ve been a meticulous cook. So … I layer the cucumbers carefully in the bowl, salting between layers to make sure they are evenly salted and perfect.

You can certainly try either way.

After they’re all in the bowl, stick them in the fridge, where they will “sweat” a good deal of their liquid.

After two to three hours, take handfuls out of the bowl and squeeze them over the sink to get as much liquid out as possible.

Throw them in a bowl (no anal-ness required for this step) and cover them with vinegar – plain old white vinegar, which I buy by the gallon because I also like to clean with it.

Top with pepper, stir and refrigerate. I usually do this a day or two in advance, which grandma’s recipe doesn’t call for, but I think it creates better flavors. And my dad … who complained about my first cooking foray … doesn’t like cucumbers so he won’t be enjoying this masterpiece.

In an effort to stick with the healthy eating plan, I searched for healthy appetizers in preparation for the big game. I landed here and decided on spinach squares (there are lots of other yummy looking recipes on the site).

They weren’t too difficult to prepare, but when I took them out of the oven they looked a little like Astroturf … at least I was in theme. Honestly, I thought they were pretty tasty. Maybe just make them for yourself or for folks that you know are spinach fans (only two other people at my – albeit small – party partook).

Spinach Squares
1 egg
1/2 cup egg substitute
3/4 cup low-fat milk
1 ½ cup unbleached or all-purpose flour (whole wheat can be substituted for half of the flour)
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
3 Tbsp. butter or canola margarine, melted
½ cup fat-free or light sour cream
3 10-ounce boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (gently squeeze with hands)
8 ounce reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I think shredded would work. I actually found reduced-fat cheddar/Monterey Jack crumbles)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Beat egg, egg substitute, milk, flour, salt, baking powder, melted butter, and sour cream in mixing bowl on medium-low speed until smooth batter has formed.
Stir in cheese cubes and spinach.
Pour into prepared pan, spread evenly with spatula, and bake about 35 to 40 minutes.
Test center to make sure it’s set/firm enough for the squares to hold their shape.
Let sit about 10 minutes before cutting into squares.
Keep refrigerated. Eat hot or cold.

I’m enjoying a relaxing stay at a B&B in New Hope, Pa. My aunt’s sister owns the quaint B&B and the fam is here to celebrate Christmas. This morning we ate the yummiest breakfast, which she typically serves to guests on the weekends. I’ve had a similar French toast casserole, but the challah and cream cheese make this one even more delicious. It would be perfect for a brunch or special breakfast.

FRENCH TOAST SOUFFLÉ

2 10-ounce loaves challah bread
16 eggs
6 cups milk
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tub spreadable cream cheese

Topping:
4 Tablespoons butter, cubed
6 Tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cut bread length wise two times. Spread with cream cheese. Cube bread. Place bread cubes in two greased 11X9 baking dishes.

Beat eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla, pour over bread.

Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for eight hours or overnight.

Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.

Dot with butter.

Combine sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle over top.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Let stand for five minutes. Serve with maple syrup.

Those of you looking for a tipsy tale will have to wait for some other time. This is another Christmas cookie update. I added a totally addictive recipe with a great name into the mix, courtesy of my cousin in Dallas.

White Trash
8 cups Rice Chex
8 cups Cheerios (regular or Honey Nut)
8 cups Honeycomb
8 cups small pretzel twists
2 cups walnuts or pecans (optional)
Three 20 oz. packages white almond bark

Combine dry ingredients in a LARGE bowl or two.
Melt almond bark (in double boiler, microwave or combo of both if you don’t have a large enough container).
Pour melted bark over dry ingredients and stir until well coated.
Poor coated ingredients onto wax paper.
Let harden and then break into large chunks.

This is also the last installment of the 2008 Busy Girl’s Christmas Baking Guide. I did wimp out and made the last two batches normally instead of in bars. I figured I’d pushed my luck enough with the successful sugar cookie experiment. Last night was the debut of the “cookie shots” … crumbled sugar cookie scraps, Bailey’s, homemade whipped cream. The verdict: plain Bailey’s may have been better, but much less fun and festive … and isn’t that what the season is all about!