Chinese Pork Tenderloin

This pork tenderloin smelled good but didn't have as much flavor as I had hoped.  I think it would have been better if I had marinated it overnight.

Thanks to Jennifer for posting on allrecipes!

Chinese Pork Tenderloin

• 2 (1 1/2 pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon sherry
• 1 tablespoon black bean sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
• 1 1/2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 pinch Chinese five-spice powder

Directions

1. Place tenderloins in a shallow glass dish. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sherry, black bean sauce, ginger, sugar, garlic, sesame oil, and five-spice powder. Pour marinade over pork, and turn to coat. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Remove tenderloins from refrigerator while the oven preheats.
3. Bake pork in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or to desired doneness. Let stand for 10 minutes, and then slice diagonally into thin slices.

Turkey Tetrazzini

We had leftover turkey and I wanted an easy casserole dish.  Pioneer Woman to the rescue!  We omitted the olives and completely forgot to buy cheese but just added whatever shredded cheese we had (it was a Mexican blend and I used maybe only half a cup.)  I forgot to add panko crumbs, too.  Either way it was delicious.

Thanks, Ree!

Turkey Tetrazzini

• 1-1/2 pound Thin Spaghetti, Broken In Half
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 pound White Mushrooms, Quartered
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup White Wine
• 1/3 cup Flour
• 4 cups Turkey (or Chicken) Broth
• 1 block 8 Ounce Cream Cheese
• 3 cups Cooked (leftover) Turkey, Shredded Or Diced
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Black Olives
• 1-1/2 cup Frozen Green Peas
• 4 slices Bacon, Fried And Cut Into Bits
• 1 cup Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
• 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
•  Salt And Pepper, to taste
•  Extra Broth For Thinning
• 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta until not quite done - al dente according to package instructions (it will finish cooking in the oven.) Drain, rinse, and set aside.

In a large pot, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add mushrooms and salt, then saute for a couple more minutes. Pour in the wine and allow it to cook with the mushrooms for several minutes, or until the liquid reduces by half.

Sprinkle in flour, then stir the mushrooms around for another minute. Pour in the broth and stir, cooking for another few minutes until the roux thickens.

Reduce heat to medium low. Cut cream cheese into pieces and add it to the pot. Stir it to melt (don't be concerned if the cream cheese remains in little bits for awhile; it'll melt eventually!) Add the leftover turkey, the olives, the peas, the bacon, and the cheeses. Stir to combine, adding salt and pepper as needed.

Add the cooked spaghetti and stir it to combine. Splash in more broth as needed; you want the mixture to have a little extra moisture since it will cook off in the oven. If it's a little soupy, that's fine! Add up to 2 more cups of liquid if you think it needs it.

Pour the mixture into a large baking dish and sprinkle the top with Panko crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbly and the crumbs are golden brown.

Boston Cream Pie

My dad had a big birthday this year and since he was going to be in town afterwards I asked what he wanted for his birthday cake.  He requested Boston Cream Pie and I happily obliged.

Reviews for the Saveur recipe were consistently good so I made the cake a day or two before, put it in the freezer, and made the pudding the day before.  Assembly was quick the next day and the chocolate ganache on top was spot-on.  It was the surprise hit of the party.

Thanks, Saveur!

Boston Cream Pie

SERVES 10

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
1½ cups flour, plus more for pan
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
⅔ cup buttermilk

FOR THE FILLING AND GLAZE
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped and reserved
6 egg yolks
1½ cups milk
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 oz. 60-percent bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the cake: Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9″ round cake pan; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside. In another bowl, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed of a hand mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each, until smooth. Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk in 3 batches, beginning and ending with dry ingredients; beat until just combined. Pour into pan; smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes, and then invert onto a wire rack; let cool completely.

2. Make the filling: Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla seeds in a 4-qt. saucepan; add yolks, and whisk until smooth. Stir in milk, and place pan over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and add butter one cube at a time, whisking until smooth; stir in vanilla extract. Transfer pudding to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap; chill until firmed, at least 2 hours.

3. Make the glaze and assemble cake: Place chocolate in a bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over high heat; pour over chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. Slowly stir chocolate and cream until smooth and shiny; set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, split cake horizontally into two layers so that the top layer is slightly smaller than the bottom. Spread chilled pudding over cut side of bottom layer and cover with top layer; pour chocolate glaze evenly over cake, letting it drip down the side of the cake. Refrigerate cake until glaze is set, at least 30 minutes. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Crockpot Falafel

I was a little bit surprised that this worked as well as it did.  I should have used a food processor to make the chickpeas more fine but other than that I was really happy with the results!

Thanks to Stephanie O'Dea from Crockpot 365!  She's my crockpot hero.

Crockpot Falafel

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans (chick peas)

1/2 onion, finely chopped (I used a yellow onion, red is okay too, if you like that flavor)

1 tablespoon dried parsley (dry is better than fresh because it's too wet)

2 cloves minced garlic

1 egg

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 juice from 1 lemon (that's a lemon. a weird looking lemon, but a lemon nonetheless)

1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs (I have gluten free crumbs made from a loaf of brown rice bread that I keep in the freezer)

2 tablespoons olive oil (for the bottom of your crock)

The Directions.

Take a deep breath. It looks like there are a lot of ingredients, but this comes together awfully quick. I seriously only spent 25 minutes from start to finish. The hardest part was getting all the spice bottles arranged for the photo.

Drain garbanzo beans. Dump them into a mixing bowl and smash them with a fork. Set aside.

Get out your blender or food processor (I used our vitamix. I love that thing!). Blend together all of the spices, the onion, the garlic, the egg, and the lemon juice.

Pour on top of your smashed garbanzo beans. Use your fork to mix together, and add the breadcrumbs slowly until the mixture is wet and sticky but can be formed into balls nicely. I needed 3/4 of a cup of breadcrumbs.

Pour 2 T of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot stoneware insert.

Form squished golf-ball sized patties of falafel. Dip each side into the olive oil and then nestle into your crockpot. It's okay if they overlap or are on top of each other.

Cook on high for 2-5 hours. Ours cooked on high for 3.5 hours--you will know that the falafels are done when they turn brownish-golden. You can flip them halfway through the cooking time if you feel like it, but they will brown on top even without flipping. (I know. I don't get it either.)

Serve with yogurt sauce or mayonnaise. I made a quick yogurt sauce with Greek yogurt, celery seed, dill, salt and pepper and lemon juice.

Slow Cooker Dry Rub Ribs

Recently our  party planner (a coworker) retired which meant that work parties would have to be planned by someone else.  We unfortunately figured this out a week or two before our Chief Residents graduated so we had to scramble and put something together without our usual leader.

Thankfully everyone pulled through and we had an abundance of food.  I figured a meat entree would be welcome and it was very well received.  I had the butcher cut the ribs individually to make it easier for everyone to take one and it did well in the slow cooker.  The dry rub was so good that no one missed the sauce.

Thanks to Judith at Dance While You Cook!

Dry-Rub Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients:

1-2 racks pork baby back ribs (approx. 3-4 lbs)

1/3 C brown sugar

1 TBS paprika

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

3/4 tsp black pepper

3/4 tsp white pepper

3/4 tsp oregano, dried and crushed

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (half this amount if you prefer less heat)

1/4 tsp sugar

The Preparation Method:

You'll need to get a large crock-pot ready to receive the rubbed ribs.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.

Shake the spices over your racks of ribs. Cover completely. Be generous.

Use your fingers to rub the spices into the meat. Repeat on the backside (bone side) of the rack.

Place the ribs inside the crockpot standing on their edges.

Set on low-heat. Cover. Walk away. Let cook for 8-10 hours. Follow the cardinal rule of crockery cooking: Don't remove the cover.

Meat should fall off the bone easily.  Enjoy!

Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad

The challenge:

1. Food for a bridal shower
2. Not too heavy (she was watching her weight for the wedding)
3. Elegant/interesting enough for a wine-tasting themed party

The answer: Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad, thanks to the powers of Pinterest and DJ, RN.

Yummy, summery, and moderately healthy?  We served it with tortilla chips but you could probably just eat it with a fork.

Thanks to Gina of SkinnyTaste!

Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad

• 1 lb jumbo cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined, chopped*
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1 hass avocado, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed, diced fine
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 2 limes, juice of
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

In a small bowl combine red onion, lime juice, olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper. Let them marinate at least 5 minutes to mellow the flavor of the onion.

In a large bowl combine chopped shrimp, avocado, tomato, jalapeño. Combine all the ingredients together, add cilantro and gently toss. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Peach Cobbler

There's debate as to whether this is really a cobbler or not.  I think someone described it as closer to a "buckle" (I would agree) but regardless it went well with our Southern Food-themed Super Bowl get-together.

I used a frozen fruit mix (thawed) and added canned peaches because that's all I had on hand.  I'd recommend at least 20 ounces of fruit.  The recipe looked really weird going into the oven but came out delicious and normal-looking.  I also used 1/4 cup of sugar for the fruit.

Thanks to Suellen Anderson for posting this on Food.com!

Peach Cobbler

Batter
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup room temperature milk
1 room temperature egg

Filling
1 (28 ounce) can sliced peaches, drained
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1 Melt butter in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2 Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder & salt.
3 Stir in milk & egg.
4 Pour evenly over melted butter.
5 Combine peaches, sugar & spices and spread over batter-DO NOT STIR!
6 Bake 35-45 minutes at 350°F until batter comes to the top and is golden brown.
7 Serve warm with ice cream.