Episode Idon'tevenknowcuzI'mtooexcited - EEEK!

Moving day is 1 week today!  Are you excited?  I'm excited!  New recipes from a brand new kitchen coming soon!

Until then, entertain yourself with our absolute favourite summer BBQ recipe - Jerk Pork Tenderloin from Cooking Light Magazine!

Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin

Recipe By :Cooking Light Magazine. May 2001. 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 cups coarsely chopped green onions
1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, seeded -- (1 to 4)
and chopped
1 pork tenderloin (1-1/2-pound), trimmed
Cooking spray

1. Place first 15 ingredients in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth.

2. Slice pork lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, other side. Open halves, laying each side flat. Slice each half lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, other side; open flat. Combine pork and green onion mixture in a dish or large zip-top plastic bag. Cover or seal; marinate in refrigerator 3 to 24 hours. Remove pork from dish or bag; discard remaining marinade.

3. Prepare grill. 

4. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes on each side or until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees (slightly pink). Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces pork).

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Grill it up with some plantains and maybe a pineapple salsa on the side and you have yourselves a delicious, summer-y dinner, my internet friends! 


See you soon!

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Episode 74 - Mish Mash

Sometimes I make things and I pay absolutely no attention to what I'm doing.  Sometimes my recipes are a result of whatever happens to be lying around in my fridge at the time.  Sometimes these things turn out to be delicious and then I struggle to remember what the heck I did so that I can reproduce it next time.  This is definitely one of those sometimes...

I threw this pulled pork together in the slow cooker last night, knowing that it was going to be a really long day for us today and that we'd probably not feel like doing much of anything besides having a glass of wine in our pjs - not even cooking.  Look at me with the advanced planning!  Aside - am I giving you the impression that Dawson and I are a couple of sweatpant-wearing bums and that all we do is sit around on our couch drinking wine and eating delicious foods?  Because I feel like I am and that's not entirely accurate.  I swear, we do do other things...occasionally.  Once in a blue moon we even venture out with friends!  In public!  Wearing actual clothes!  In any case, back to the pulled pork,  it turned out pretty tasty so I wanted to share it! I must say, though, that this is a very rough recollection of what I think I may have thrown into the mix.  Try it!  Who knows?! It might be right!

Sweet and Spicy!

1 pork tenderloin, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Dump everything except the pork into the slow cooker and whisk.  Add the pork and coat it with some of the sauce.  Cook the whole thing on low for 6-8 hours.  The longer you cook it the thicker the BBQ-ish sauce will get.  Shred the cooked pork with some forks and eat!  Easiest thing ever!  Slow cookers are awesome.  You need one.  Ask Santa.

We had ours on buns with hot peppers and cheese!  Mmmmmm!


In other, shinier, news, I finished my glitter shoes and Dawson and I got a new car! Weeeee!

My outfit is embarrassing Roxie.

Wheels!

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Episode 36 - Pork and Pineapple Fajitas

Apparently we are on a tex-mex kick lately.  These were delicious.  You should make them soon -tonight even.

1 pork tenderloin
1 package  Clubhouse Mesquite Marinade

3 fresh pineapple rings
1 red pepper, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp hot sauce
2 tbsp cilantro, minced
1 tomato, diced

Whole-wheat tortilla wraps

First of all, you NEED the clubhouse marinade.  I have tried tons of other seasonings and nothing works in fajitas like this stuff. Seriously, its amazing.  I promise Clubhouse is not paying me to say that...although they should!  In any case, find it, mix it up according to the package directions and marinate your tenderloin in it for at least 30 minutes.

Grill the pork over medium heat for 10 minutes per side or until it's cooked through but just a little pinkish in the centre.  You can also grill the pineapple at the same time for about 3-4 minutes per side.  When its done, cube it and set it aside.  Meanwhile, cook your veggies.  Heat some oil in a frying pan over medium heat and toss in the peppers, onion and garlic and saute until the veggies start to look wimpy.  Add the hot sauce, stir to coat then decrease the heat to minimum.  Now add in the cilantro, cubed pineapple and tomato.  Let the entire mixture rest until the pork finishes cooking.

Now assemble your fajitas!  1 wrap, a few slices from the pork tenderloin and a good scoop of the veggie mixture.  You can also add things like avocado slices, grated cheese or salsa :)  Delicious.

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Episode 22 - More Fall Goodness...

Ok, so as much as I hate Fall apparently I really like Fall foods...No pictures today...we were too hungry and couldn't wait.

1 pork tenderloin, butterflied open
1 tbsp olive oil
1 apple, diced, we used Gala
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup stale bread cubes
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup raisins
salt and pepper to taste
Montreal steak spice, pinch

Preheat the oven to 425.  Saute the apple, onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until it gets soft and squishy.  Add the water, seasonings, raisins and the bread cubes and cook until it starts to stick together.  Add more water if you need to.  Season with salt and pepper.

Pound out the tenderloin with a mallet until it's even and flat.  Cover one side with a layer of stuffing and roll starting at one of the pointy ends.  Brush the outside of the pork with a thin layer of oil and season with a sprinkling of steak spice.  Put on a greased baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the pork is just barely pink.  Try not to overcook it or it'll be dry.  No one likes dry meat.  Mostly because its gross.
Slice and eeaaaatttt!  We had ours with roasted acorn squash. Fall-y goodness!

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Episode 9 - A Mediteranean Feast!

More garlic here! Mmm garlic. More Dawson bbq-ing.  Mmm Dawson bbq-ing. 

 Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Tasty Stuff

1 pork tenderloin, silver skin removed

1 pinch each ground oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper

2 large roasted red peppers

4-5 slices of fresh mozzarella cheese

8-10 leaves of fresh basil

1 tsp olive oil

Butterfly the tenderloin open and pound it out a little with a kitchen mallet to make it nice and flat and stuff-able.  Season the pork with the spices and give it a good rub all over.  Make a layer of red pepper on top of one half of the pork (i.e. along the length of it) then top with the cheese slices and then the basil leaves.  Now, carefully fold the un-topped side over the topped side.  You should have something that looks like a pork book filled with yummy pepper, mozzarella and basil pages.  Brush the outside lightly with olive oil.

Cook over a medium-low bbq grill for about 10 minutes per side.  The pork should be just barely pink in the middle.  Slice into single serving size pieces and enjoy!

Garlick-y Grilled Eggplant

1 medium sized eggplant

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp Montreal steak spice

For sauce:

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1 garlic clove

1/8 tsp salt

juice of half a lemon

pepper, to taste

First, mix up the sauce: mince up the garlic clove then sprinkle with the salt.  Mash in it the side of your knife until it starts looking paste-y.  Mix it up with the rest of the ingredients and then set aside until it's time to serve.

Slice up the eggplant into about 1/2 inch slices, drizzle with the olive oil and season with the grill seasoning. Cook on a medium high bbq for 5 mins per side or until it has nice grill marks and is soft and sweet.  Top with the garlick-y sauce.

We served it with tabbouleh...that we bought...because it's summer and we're lazy.  Whatever. It was good.

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