What's For Dinner?

If you haven't yet tried this recipe for pork loin, you're really missing out on something!  It's absolutely my fave pork recipe and it's always a "go to" recipe when I don't have a clue what I'm going to fix for dinner.  Well, last night was one of those nights!  It was the last day of the month, which is always a busy time for mortgage bankers.  I realized around 4 o'clock that I hadn't taken anything out for dinner. 

Phew.....back in the back of the freezer was a pork loin!  Voila!  Dennis did the butterflying of the loin....like this:

I filled it and covered the top with the stuffing and placed it in the baking dish.  Then I surrounded it with cut red potatoes that I had tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper.  I added a few of the thyme sprigs and baked it in the oven.

I decided to make cabbage to go with the pork and potatoes....one of my favorite meat/vegetable combinations.....and I love cabbage!

My cabbage cooking technique comes from a dear friend and colleage, Tammy Long, a Realtor with Rose and Womble.  She is a fabulous cook......she entertains alot and I can't imagine anyone turning down an invitation to one of her events....not only for the fun and warmth they add to their gatherings, but for the fabulous food!!!  (I hope I have this recipe right!)

I start by chopping the cabbage...

and the garlic....

the tossing the cabbage with olive oil.

Add salt and pepper...

and saute' on medium until it starts to soften (sometimes I add a little water to help the softening process...it helps to steam the cabbage without it browning, which is yuk)...then add the garlic...

...and cook until done to your liking.

The pork loin turned out great!  The new butterflying method worked so much better!

Dinner was wonderful!  Thanks, Tammy and Dennis!!

French Potato Salad - My Re-creation

If you follow my other blog here, then you will recall the French potato salad that Dennis had while we were in Paris:

It truly was one of my favorite things that I ate in Paris....so different from any potato salad I'd ever eaten (what, no mayonnaise?).

So, after blogging about it, I decided it was time to do some research.  As usual, I searched the internet for "French Potato Salad" and I search through my cookbooks......the one that sounded like it would taste most like what I tasted was the one from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Pommes de Terre A L'Huile or sliced potatoes in oil and vinegar dressing.

Of course, I changed it up a little....that's just how I roll.  Instead of cooking the potatoes whole, as she calls for, I peeled them and cut them into slices. 

I did this because I felt that I would get mmore evenly cooked slices.  Then I put them in boiling salted water and cooked them at just below a boil until they were just barely fork tender.  Once they are done, put them in a bowl and add 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 1/4 cup of vermouth (white wine is fine!) and gently toss them to cover.  Let them sit while you make your dressing.

For my dressing, I used 2 tablepoons of red wine vinegar...then added 1 tablespoon of Maille Old Style Whole Grain Dijon Mustard.

...Julia's recipe calls for prepared mustard...yuck!  Besides, it's clear from the picture of what we had in Paris that it's a whole grain mustard...and I just like the Maille brand the best. 

Once I whisked those together, I added a little salt, then whisked in 4 tablespoons of olive oil (I used extra virgin, but I think the light olive oil or even vegetable oil might work a little better). 

 I then added chopped chives and peppercorns, drained my potatoes and prepared my plate!

It looks close enough and it tasted great....but we both agreed that it wasn't quite right!  After we ate our dinner, I put the rest of the potatoes in with the rest of the dressing and left them on the counter.  The longer they sat, the better they tasted!  So, if you try this recipe, make them in advance and allow them to marinate.....it was as close as I could get to what we had in Paris.  I'd also like to try adding more chives and pink peppercorns, instead of the red.

I'd love to hop a plane and go back and taste them again....but since I can't even remember where we ate, that's useless.  I'll just stick with this recipe!

A l m o s t Parfaite (perfect)!!!!

If you happen to follow my other blog, you might remember this.....

...this was the first dish Melinda ordered in Paris....braised endive with ham and a bechamel sauce with gruyere cheese!  The only bad thing about it was that I didn't order it (AND I ended up with a cheese and ham omelet that was overcooked and had NO cheese!).

So, I've been dreaming of this dish since that day and I've been through every recipe in my cookbook gallery and on the internet.  In the end, I decided to use a version of Julia Child's recipe, especially since I'm currently reading the "Julie/Julia Project" blog.  Of course, "use" a recipe for me means that I'm going to use most of the ingredients and possibly the process. 

Julia's recipe calls for 12 (yes, a dozen!) endives....she must have been cooking for quite a crowd!  I bought 4....

....and sliced them in half lengthwise,

... melted butter in my pan and cooked them on medium high, just until they start to turn brown. 

Then I added a half cup of vermouth and a half cup of chicken stock

 and let that cook down until there was only a couple of tablespoons left in the pan.  Meanwhile, I made a "round" of waxed paper, which will be used to cover the endive as they bake.

Remove the pan from the stove, cover the endive with the waxed paper and the lid to the pan, then bake at 350 degrees for one hour (I know....long time, huh?).  Then you remove the pan, take off the lid (not the waxed paper) and cook for an additional half hour.  When they come out, they look like this:

I couldn't resist eating one, even though I still had the bechamel sauce to make....

....it was delicious!

Next I rolled each one in thinly sliced ham....since I only had a few slices of deli ham, I wrapped the others in prosciutto.  Then I started the bechamel sauce.  You make a buerre manie, which is made by mixing together equal parts of softened (not melted) butter and flour, then add to the pan....

....heat the pan and allow this mixture to cook just for a minute or two, then add milk (I'll tell you now that I used half and half because I only had skim milk - mistake - should have used half of each of those because my sauce was just toooo thick!)...a little grated nutmeg, then allow to thicken.  Then add grated gruyere cheese.

Pour over the ham and endive,

top with a little more cheese, then bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and brown on the top.

Although my sauce was a bit too thick, the flavor was there!  I was immediately transported back to my first morning in Paris!

I will make this again.....

Ratatatataouille..............almost

I bought this great cookbook for Shelby called "Just 100 Calories"......the recipes look delicious and she's always counting those calories, so I know she'll love it, however, I am having a hard time letting go of it, so I decided to try one of the recipes, then I'd send it on.......so this is what I made:

Tomato Ratatouille

4 sprays of olive oil (I just used a teaspoon or so)

1 onion, cut into small wedges (I actually used some green onions and shallots I had)

2-4 garlic cloves (I used 5)

1 small eggplant, trimmed and chopped (I didn't trim....mistake)

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I just used a larger red pepper)

1 zucchini, chopped

2 tbsp. tomato paste (I didn't have any, so I left this out...was still delish!)

3 tbsp. water (left this out, too!)

4 oz. mushrooms, sliced if large (left this out, too)

8 oz. ripe tomatoes (I used more since I didn't have the tomato paste)

1 tbsp shredded fresh basil (I probably used a little more...love basil!)

1 oz. Parmesan cheese, freshly shaved (I know I used more....love fresh Parmesan!!!)

Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan, add the onion, garlic and eggplant and cook, stirring frequently for 3 minutes.

Add the peppers and zucchini. Mix the tomato paste and water together in a small bowl and stir into the pan. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and reduce the heat for 10 minutes

Add the mushrooms and chopped tomatoes with pepper to taste and continue to sommer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender (I actually cooked the whole thing less, since I like a little bite to my vegetables.)

Divide the ratatouille among 4 warmed bowls, garnich each with shredded basil (I actually tossed my basil in with the veggies jsut before I served them, just to soften it a little) and serve with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese to sprinkle over.

It was delicious! And at only 92 calories per serving......awesome!