Grilled Balsamic-Garlic Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Grilled Balsamic-Garlic Marinated Pork Tenderloin

(Original recipe found at www.kitchenconfidante.com. The recipe can be found here)

 Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp canola oil (if preparing in oven)

Directions:

Stir together garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a small bowl. Put in large ziplock bag and all the pork. If you have the time, marinate overnight. If not, let it marinate for at least an hour. It will still be great!

Grill preparation:
Sear the tenderloins on all sides, then grill for about 20-30 minutes, rotating every 10 minutes, until the internal temperature is 145-150 degrees. Let it rest for a minimum of 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Oven preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat canola oil in a large, heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Add pork, and brown all over, about 4 minutes.
Transfer pan to oven. Roast pork, turning occasionally, until the internal temperature is 145-150 degrees, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board, and let it rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.

 

Here it is sliced ... 

   

Ingredients:

Roasted Cabbage

Throughout the year, my bountiful basket comes with a lot of cabbage. I try and go through it as quickly as I can, but I can only make so many cabbage salads and cabbage slaw's before I get bored. I decided to make it as a plain old vegetable side dish. I chopped it up in large chunks and left the core to hold it together. I put it on a baking dish and roasted it until it was just barely crispy. It was delicious! Even my husband loved it. I will definitely be making more with my plentiful cabbage heads in my baskets this year.

Roasted Cabbage

Ingredients:

1 head cabbage
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper
Garlic powder

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Chop up the cabbage in large chunks. Make sure to leave the core so the cabbage doesn't fall apart.
3. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Toss to coat.
4. Arrange cabbage on a baking sheet and roast until the edges are just crispy, roughly 20 or so minutes. Just keep checking on it.
Serve warm!

Seriously Delicious, Extreme Chocolate Chunk Brownies

 Okay, I need to admit something. I prefer boxed brownies over homemade. There, I said it. Every homemade brownie I've ever had has sadly just been a little dry and disappointing. It just doesn't make me want to eat a second one. I stumbled across this recipe and the original blogger posted that she also prefers boxed brownies, but fell in love with these! I knew at that point, I had to try them.

I kid you not, these (remember, I don't generally like homemade brownies) are so good! They beat out boxed brownies, by a LOT!

I've made them a few times now, and each time I've served them, they've been a huge hit. If you like chocolate, try them. You'll like them.

 

 "Good Ol' Homemade Brownies"

(Recipe found at bunsinmyoven.com. Original recipe can be found here)

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a 9x13 baking dish.

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely. Stir in sugar and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not allow sugar mixture to boil. 

3. Pour butter mixture into a large bowl or stand mixer, beat in cocoa powder, eggs, salt, baking powder and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. 

4. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until well combined.

5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until a tester comes out mostly clean. (Sometimes mine can take up to 10 minutes longer). The edges should be set and the center should still look slightly moist, but not uncooked. Cool on a wire rack.  

6. Top with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Disney's Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I guess I should get back to this blogging business! It's been a long time, and I've sort of been stuck in a cooking rut. I've made a few new things here and there, but nothing felt blog worthy. I will play catch up to what I've missed and hopefully now that it's getting warmer, I'll get excited to try new things again!

After a week long vacation to Disneyland with my family, I thought I would share some tasty Disneyland favorites!



Disney's Loaded Baked Potato Soup
(Thank you Disney Parks Blog! Original recipe can be found here)

Serves 6

1 pound bacon, roughly chopped (I found this to be optional. Maybe because I am a vegetarian. :) I just cooked some on the side for my husband and kids and let it be a topping)
**4 Tbsp butter ** (Because I omitted the bacon from the actual recipe and used it as a topping instead, I needed a fat for the veggies to cook in and the flour to combine with to make a roux. I used butter instead.)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
3/4 cup celery, diced
4 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 medium red potatoes, diced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Coarse salt and pepper to taste
4 cups heavy whipping cream (Okay...I did try this the first time, but had a hard time eating it knowing how much cream was in it. The next time I went down one step and used half and half and couldn't even tell the difference. Next time I am just going to use milk. It has a roux in it so it will thicken up nicely)

Optional garnishes: chopped chives, bacon bits, sour cream, shredded cheese and scallions

1. In a 6-8 quart stock pot over medium heat, fry bacon until crisp (or melt butter if using butter instead)
2. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels, reserving half for garnish. In bacon fat, cook onions, carrots and celery until the onions are translucent. Add potatoes and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Whisk in flour and stir constantly over low heat until the flour is cooked and the mixture has thickened slightly, (about 5-7 minutes). Add stock and half the bacon. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Over medium-high heat, bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Mash some of the potatoes for a thicker, creamier texture. Add the cream (or half and half/milk) and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust thickness by adding water or stock. Soup should have a creamy consistency.
6. Season to taste and garnish with toppings.

Buca Di Beppo Apple Gorgonzola Salad with Italian Vinaigrette

I am a vegetarian. I love vegetables. I like salads when they are made well, but I rarely LOVE salads. I eat them on a regular basis, but don't make them very often. I think they taste better when someone else makes them. :) I also am a little funny when it comes to putting fruit on salads. I'm just not usually a big fan. I don't like to mix sweet and savory. I like them better separate. I don't like the sweet potatoes with marshmallows served at Thanksgiving. Weird, I know. I'd probably like them if they were savory roasted sweet potatoes or something along those lines. I'm weird. As my husband would say "wonderfully weird" (Thanks 'Friends'!)

Back to the salad ... I went to Buca Di Beppo (we don't have one where I live, the closest one is 80 or so miles away) with my family and my mom ordered a salad. Not just any salad. This salad. I was hesitant, but tried it. I LOVED it! I think it's one of my favorite salads, hands down! It's delicious. Even my husband who doesn't eat salad very often craved it for dinner one night, so I had to look up a copycat recipe online. (Thank you Google!) It tasted exactly the same. Try it! You won't be disappointed. If you are. . . sorry in advance.



Buca Di Beppo Copycat Apple Gorgonzola Salad with Italian Vinaigrette
(Thank you meemoskitchen.blogspot.com!!)

Ingredients:
1 granny smith apple (chopped, and sliced for garnish)
8 oz romaine lettuce (washed and chopped)
2 Tb Gorgonzola cheese (crumbled)
2 oz Spiced California Walnuts (chopped .. recipe below)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup Italian vinaigrette (recipe below)

Preparation:
Make spiced walnuts. (They take roughly an hour) While waiting for walnuts, make the vinaigrette. (This will be best if it sits for at least a half hour) While waiting for walnuts and vinaigrette to sit, slice and chop apple. Chop lettuce and crumble cheese.

Once everything is ready, mix vinaigrette into lettuce. Add chopped apples, 3/4 of the walnuts and 3/4 of the Gorgonzola cheese. Toss well. Plate and garnish with remaining walnuts, cranberries, apples and cheese. Serve immediately.

Buca Di Beppo Italian Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1 pinch black pepper
1/8 cup red onion, chopped fine
1 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
3/4 cup olive oil

Combine the vinegar, oregano, dry mustard, salt and pepper in a blender. Add the onion and garlic. Blend together while slowly adding the olive oil. By adding the olive oil slowly, it will emulsify with the other ingredients creating a thicker vinaigrette. Let vinaigrette sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. This is best made shortly before using.

Spiced California Walnuts
(Recipe from the California Walnut Board)

Ingredients:
1 egg white
1 Tbsp water
2 cups California walnuts (halves and pieces)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice

Preheat oven to 225 and line a large shallow baking pan with foil.
Combine egg white and water. Beat until foamy. Add walnut halves and pieces and toss to coat. Pour the mixture into a strainer and let drain 2-3 minutes.
Combine sugar, cinnamon and allspice in a plastic or paper bag. Shake to mix.
Add the walnuts; hold the bag shut and shake vigorously to coat the nuts.
Spread the nuts in one layer on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Cool completely, stirring occasionally and breaking nuts apart if stuck together. Don't worry if they stick to the foil, it's easy to peel them off.

Store in a tightly-capped jar.
Makes 2 cups.

Vegetarian Chili

As cold, rainy, perfectly crisp fall weather approaches, I tend to want more soups and warming comfort foods. Last night just happened to be a "I think we should have chili and cornbread" day. This chili was delicious and totally filling! You won't even miss the meat.




Vegetarian Chili
(Adapted from Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch's "Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking"

Makes 6-8 servings

2 Tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (about 3 small onions)
1 cup chopped red bell peppers
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2-3 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced
1 medium zucchini, stem ends trimmed and cut into small dice
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (about 3 ears)
1 1/2 pounds portobello mushrooms (about 5 large), stemmed, wiped clean and cubed {I only used 2 and it turned out really good}
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped {Honestly, I wasn't in the mood to peel my tomatoes, so I just seeded and chopped them and they worked fine for me}
3 cups cooked black beans (or 2 15-ounce cans of black beans), rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup vegetable stock or water
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (Do not add to the pot if you're planning to freeze chili)

**Optional toppings: cooked brown rice, sour cream, greek yogurt, cheese, diced avocado, chopped green onions (scallions)**

1. In a large, heavy pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic and serrano peppers, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the zucchini, corn and mushrooms, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables give off their liquid and start to brown around the edges, about 6 minutes.
4. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
5. Stir in the tomatoes.
6. Add the black beans, tomato sauce and vegetable stock, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat, and stir in the cilantro. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
8. To serve, place 1/4 cup of brown rice in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the chili over the rice and top with whatever garnishes you choose.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

Garlic Scallion Noodles

There are some days where all I want are noodles. It doesn't matter what flavor, what type of noodle ... just noodles. I tell my husband all the time that I should have been born Italian. :) One day for lunch I was looking online for a quick and simple noodle recipe for lunch that I had all the ingredients for already. This is what I found and it didn't disappoint. They were quick and quite tasty! Even my picky 3 year old ate a bowl full (and that's saying something!).



Garlic Scallion Noodles
(Recipe from weekofmenus.blogspot.com)

Ingredients:
8oz (half a box) of angel hair or thin spaghetti noodles
4 Tbsp (half a stick) butter
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2-4 scallions, finely chopped
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1-2 Tbsp of brown sugar (based on your own personal preference of sweetness)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse.

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add scallions and garlic. Stir and cook, without browning the garlic. Cook until the garlic smell is fragrant and filling the room, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and soy sauce, and cook for another minute. Increase the heat a bit and throw in the noodles. Quickly saute the noodles until they are all coated with the garlicky butter mixture.

Serve immediately. Garnish with additional scallions if desired.