Beer Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Red Cabbage

Beer Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Red Cabbage

I have had a full weekend of eating. Most weekends I try to cook and eat everything from scratch. However, this weekend was the first part of spring break for my oldest so everything was a little wacky. While I eat healthy 99 percent of the time this weekend was full of coffee and chocolate. I absolutely love dark chocolate and allow myself a treat at least once a month in order to keep my sanity. Since I was sick with strep for over two weeks my body wants everything that I normally don't eat so I have been allowing myself a little food self pampering. This week I will be back to my normal cooking and eating schedule. Last week when I was on antibiotics and slowly feeling more like myself I made a number of high protein pork dishes. My family loves pork and to me it is a great comfort food. One of the recipes I tried was for Beer Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Red Cabbage from the March 2013 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 5 hours (including marinating time) and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes. First since I can't have regular beer I used gluten free beer. I also use a soy sauce which does not have wheat. For the marinating I allowed the pork to sit in the sauce for 5 hours. I ran out of butter right before making this recipe so instead of using butter I substituted canola oil. The recipe has the cabbage cook for 20 minutes, but my husband prefers his cabbage very soft so I let it cook for another 5 minutes. I did have to add a slight bit more water in order that the cabbage did not burn.

The pork in this recipe was very tender. My two boys ate almost an entire tenderloin by themselves, which is a good sign that they loved the recipe. The only thing that I would change is to double the sauce in order that there is enough to pour over the pork on the plate. I also love cabbage and would have liked more than the recipe made so I would double the amount of cabbage. Overall a simple recipe with lots of flavor and one that I would make again.

For the recipe go to Beer Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Red Cabbage.

Sweet and Savory Vinegar Braised Chicken with Pancetta and Pearl Onions

I ate way too corn chips today. The majority of the time I eat healthy, but I bought my husband chips to eat during the super bowl and it was downhill from there. It also reminded me why I normally cook everything from scratch. The chips have sat heavy in my stomach all evening. To make up for the over eating of chips I ate leftovers for the last two days. I love utilizing leftovers, it is a great way to save money and I try to change the dish slightly when I re-heat it so my family accepts it happily. Chicken and pasta recipes are my two favorite type of leftovers. They re-heat well and can be adjusted slightly to make new meals. Last week I tried a new recipe for Vinegar Braised Chicken and Onions from the February 2013 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes an hour and 20 minutes, 40 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. Finding fresh pearl onions in my area is always a task. They are only available in 6 ounce packages, which are overpriced. Given the price I bought only 18 ounces not the 2 pounds suggest by the recipe. Additionally pancetta in my area comes pre-cubed in 4 ounce packages, so that is the manner I bought them. As I almost always do I made my own chicken stock. This allows me to control the amount of sodium and ensure that it is gluten free. Finally, to thicken up the sauce at the end I added a small amount of cornstarch. Without the cornstarch the sauce was thin and greasy. I skimmed the fat and then added approximately a tablespoon of water mixed with a tablespoon of water. This allowed the sauce to thicken nicely and was perfect served with rice. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The sauce on this chicken was delicious. It was a nice combination of sweet from the vinegars and savory from the onions. The chicken turned out tender and cooked perfectly. The sauce when served over rice worked well and would make a nice pasta sauce as well. The combination of vinegars was perfect and is something I will try again in the future with other dishes and meats.

For the recipe go to Vinegar Braised Chicken and Onions.

Keralan Vegetable Stew

Cold season seems to have hit my house. Last week I finally recovered from the cold that I had picked-up from my oldest son when my throat started hurting. This week everyone in my house has been sick. I love how once my oldest son started school I have gotten every single cold that has gone around school. The one good thing about when my whole house has a cold is that I can make spicy foods. I love anything spicy. Growing-up my mom invented an peanut noodle dish with chili oil that I loved. The only problem was that my dad hated spicy foods and every time my mom made the dish it seemed to get spicier and spicier. I loved it, my dad hated it. My kids are hit or miss with spicy foods. The older they seem to get the more opinionated and picky they become. So when everyone ends up ill I make dinners spicy. Recently, I made a new recipe for Keralan Vegetable Stew from the September issue of Food and Wine magazine, which looked full of flavor and delicious.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes a total time of one hour, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I have never seen fresh curry leaves in my area, so I chose to use bay leaves instead. I ended up having to go to two separate stores to find frozen pearl onions, which is normal for my area. Instead of serving the dish over white rice I used brown rice. I prefer brown rice and rarely eat white rice. I ended up letting the stew simmer for almost an hour instead of the 30 minutes suggested by the recipe. I kept the heat very low and let the flavors meld. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I must have gotten some very spicy Serrano chiles because this recipe had a lot of kick. It was way too spicy for my kids as written, but once I added Greek yogurt it was much better. I would suggest seeding the chiles or using a milder chile if you are looking for milder flavor. I will say that if you have a cold this dish will definitely work on your sinuses. Additionally, the flavors were very delicious and the vegetables came out perfect. Since my family really loves curry this dish was perfect for us.

For the recipe go to Keralan Vegetable Stew.

Corn Soup

I love this time of the year. The grocery stores and farmer's markets are full of fresh fruits and vegetables and there are so many delicious recipes to try using fresh ingredients. When I was little my mother had a yard full of beautiful tomatoes and our neighbor had wonderful raspberries that grew into our yard. I always loved summer since it meant fresh salads, soups and desserts. My two boys love fresh ingredients as much as I do. I have never met two kids that love going to the farmer's market and picking fruits and vegetables for recipes as much as they do. They have also become quite adept at naming all the things that they see and love to impress people with their knowledge. One of my favorite fresh vegetables to use in the summer is corn, and I was pleased to see a recipe for Corn Soup in a recent issue of Martha Stewart Living.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 1 hour and 40 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients and made no ingredient modifications. I used the whole 2 cups of corn kernels, my family loves a lot of corn in their soup. I chose to leave off the sliced scallions as a garnish since I was serving this recipe to my kids. Additionally, I did not follow the final step and puree half the soup. My husband isn't a fan of pureed soups, so I kept all the kernels whole. Finally, make sure to not be afraid of adding salt. This soup needs a decent amount of salt to bring out the flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I really liked the creamy taste of this soup. My husband normally doesn't like cream soups, but he thought the taste of this soup was pleasant. This made way more than the 4 servings suggested by the recipe. I'm not sure if I ended up making more stock than the recipe or what, but I ended up with enough leftovers for another meal for my family of four. This recipe is a great way to use fresh corn and very easy to prepare.

For the recipe go to Corn Soup.

Saveur Frito Pie

As I've stated numerous times before my husband loves meat. He will agree to one or two vegetarian meals a week, but also insists on beef or pork on at least one of the other days. One of my family's favorite types of meat dishes is chili. My husband and boys love chili and look forward to the annual chili fest in our region every year in September. Before I got married I had only made vegetarian chili, so after meeting my husband I had to teach myself to adequately make meat based chili. The most important part of any chili dish is the recipe, so I was excited when I saw a recipe for Frito Pie in a recent issue of Saveur magazine, which looked kid friendly and full of flavor.

This recipe has 15 ingredient, plus toppings. It takes an hour and twenty minutes of prep and cooking time and makes 6 servings. I already had all the spices in my cupboard and the remainder of the ingredients were easy to find locally. As with all recipes that call for ground meat, I ground my own. My kitchen aid attachment makes grinding meat very easy and the texture and taste is superior to store bought. Make sure to fully caramelize the onion for the full flavor to come out in the chili. I weighed out my meat to get the exact 2 1/2 pounds, which I highly recommend. Having the exact amount of an ingredient can make or break a recipe. I chose to serve the frito pie will all the toppings suggested which I placed in bowls and allowed my family to add to taste. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The flavor on this frito pie was delicious. The spices worked well together and provided a full flavor to the dish. Make sure to place the fritos under the chili right before serving in order that they do not become soggy. My husband placed his fritos on top of the chili which kept them crunchy, which I think would work well if I made this dish again in the future. My favorite thing about this recipe is that it is a nice compromise between people that love meat and potatoes and those that want more involving meals. My whole family enjoyed this recipe and it was very family friendly.

For the recipe go to Frito Pie.