Date Night at Home in Four Dishes

 Now that we've passed the weekend of love, I feel enough time has passed to talk about two of my loves. 1) Cooking multi-course sophisticated meals at home as opposed to going out to eat on one of the busier restaurant date days (see: Valentine's Day); and 2) Achieving amazing time management skills in the kitchen.

When you're cooking multiple courses, time management can be extremely difficult. One key factor is having a partner in the kitchen to help execute multiple dishes at the same time. I'm happy to report that our date night at home effort was very successful in the area of time management. Not only did we execute a starter salad, a main dish with side, and a dessert in under 2 hours (when you count the time it takes to cook the sweet potatoes in the oven) we did so without any major disasters and little time wasted. We even had the dessert ready to go in the oven when we started the meal so once we were done eating 20 minutes later, dessert was ready.

In short, here is what we made and how we got it done. Our menu was as follows:

1) Lacinato Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad (courtesy of Epicurious, see recipe below)

2) Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin - a gem I've made multiple times.

3) Sweet Potato Puree with Smoked Paprika (also courtesy of Epicurious)

4) Maple Bacon Bread Pudding - I learned to make this during a cooking with bacon class last year

In order to execute this four course meal, I suggest starting by cooking the sweet potatoes in the oven as this will taken the most time to execute (1 hour). While those are cooking, I suggest opening a bottle of red wine. Because I said so. 

About halfway through the cooking time, and once you've enjoyed some wine, make the salad dressing and set aside. Then mix the herb topping for the pork tenderloin so that once the potatoes are removed from the oven, the meat is ready to cook. I also suggest cubing the bread for the bread pudding. Once you place the pork tenderloin in the oven,, you can also toast the bread cubes needed to make the bread pudding. I suggest assembling the bread pudding at the same time as when the meat is cooking so once that is done, you can place the ramekins filled with maple bacon bread pudding goodness in the oven so they'll be ready when you're done eating.

I know this sounds a bit complicated, but if you take a few minutes to plan your prep strategy for any multi-course meal, it can be done. Wine also helps.

Here's the kale salad recipe. It's awesome and I'll be making this again. The dressing also works well with arugula.

Lacinato Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 to 1 lb. lacinato kale (also called Tuscan kale) or tender regular kale, stems and center ribs discarded 
• 2 TB finely chopped shallot 
• 1 1/2 TB fresh lemon juice 
• 1/4 tsp. salt 
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper 
• 4 1/2 TB extra-virgin olive oil 
• 2 oz. coarsely grated ricotta salata (1 cup)

Directions:

Working in batches, cut kale crosswise into very thin slices.

Whisk together shallot, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until combined well.

Toss kale and ricotta salata in a large bowl with enough dressing to coat well, then season with salt and pepper.

Super Bowl Party Food = Amazeballs.

Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl...here we go! Sadly, not this year, but you know where my allegiances always lie. Plus this Pennsylvania girl may have been a bit jealous of the snow up north, hence breaking out the best piece of head gear I own.

So once my hopes for an extensive post-season were as deflated as New England's balls, I started to think about not only where I would watch and hope for a Patriots loss, but what I would make. A request came in to make something healthy for a party, so I will post what I decided on in a future blog post. But in the meantime, here are some great options for those of you who want to keep your bellies fat and happy with all the awesome that comes with meat and cheesy goodness.

Katie's Super Bowl Top Five Dishes

Buffalo Cheese Bread: This post has received the most page views of anything I've blogged about over the last several years. I think it is a testament to how awesome my friend Nick's blog is. (see below for another reference and link). It takes everything that is awesome about buffalo wings and substitutes the meat for bread.

Janet's (meat)BALLS: Sweet, sweet meat.  Balls. 'Nuff said.

Sticky Wings: These are my favorite wings and they are the creation of my buddy Nick at http://www.macheesmo.com. I've made them several times and they are always a crowd-pleaser. If you like an Asian-style wing and love that Rooster sauce, these wings are for you.

Stuffed Jalapenos: These little pillows of meat and cheesy goodness are stuffed with chorizo and smoked gouda. And boy is it gouda.

Tomatillo Peach Salsa: This beats any jarred fruit salsa variety. Hands down and worth the extra effort.

And to give a quick shout-out to a former work colleague of mine who had a role in this little bit of amazing...don't forget about food safety this Super Bowl Sunday!

Grilled Peach Salad

Peaches for you, peaches for me.  Truly, at this time of year the farmers' markets are overrun with tomatoes and peaches. I am a big fan of incorporating fruit in a salad. It pairs well with a variety of soft cheeses as well, so I've often used pears or peaches stuffed with goat cheese and then wrapped in prosciutto as an appetizer. But this will be a salad version which incorporates a nice, honey, sticky balsamic to top it off.

While softer peaches are a bit more prevalent at this time, you'll want to try and find a firmer peach for the grill (or in my case, grill pan.)

Grilled Peach Salad (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 

2 TB honey

3 peaches, pitted and each cut into 6 wedges

Cooking spray

1 TB extravirgin olive oil

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Dash of kosher salt

10 cups trimmed arugula

2 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 1/4-inch strips

2 TB crumbled goat cheese

Directions:

Bring vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer until vinegar is reduced to 2 tablespoons (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in honey. Cool to room temperature.

Prepare grill to high heat. I used a grill pan because sadly (tear) I have no grill. Place peach wedges on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 30 seconds on each side or until grill marks appear but peaches are still firm. Remove from grill; set aside.

Combine oil, pepper, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add arugula, tossing gently to coat. Arrange arugula mixture on a platter. Top with peach wedges and prosciutto. Drizzle with balsamic glaze; sprinkle with cheese. 

Snap Pea and Pork Stir-Fry

Over the past few posts, I've walked you through several pulled pork recipes from my friend Nick's cookbook: Love Your Leftovers. You can find the core pulled pork recipe in my post from last week.

I had frozen about a half pound of the pulled pork when I initially cooked it a few weeks back. I decided it was time to make one more dish with the leftovers and I must say this was my favorite of the dishes I've made from the book so far. Perhaps it's because I love a good stir fry, or because it was the first time I utilized pork in this way in a stir fry, but this was awesome. I cut the recipe in half and got three meals out of it, but I'm including the recipe for four below.

I enjoyed this while sitting on my roof deck and skimming through some issues of Cooking Light that have been piling up during my busy summer. I'll be back to cooking dishes from other sources next week, but you better believe I'll be revisiting Nick's book and blog again soon. Because I just can't quit you, Nick Evans.

Snap Pea and Pork Stir-Fry (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of thin asparagus
• 1 3-inch piece fresh ginger
• 2 large shallots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lb. (about 3 cups) chopped pulled pork
• Kosher salt
• 2 cups sugar snap peas
• 3 TB vegetable oil
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• Cooked rice for serving

Stir-Fry Sauce:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 TB rice wine vinegar
• 2 TB fish sauce
• 1 TB brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions:

Whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside for later.

Cut off hard ends from asparagus and chop into 1-inch long pieces.

Mince the garlic, shallots and garlic finely and set aside.

If there is liquid in the pulled pork (if you cooked this fresh), drain off as much as possible. You'll want the pork to be relatively dry to start. For the recently thawed pork that I used, this was not an issue.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and season well with kosher salt. Once boiling, add the asparagus and snap peas and cook for 1 minute. Drain and rinse vegetables under cold water to stop the cooking.

Heat a large wok over high heat. Once hot, add oil followed by pork. Cook pork over high heat until it starts to turn crispy, about 5 minutes.

Add diced red peppers and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add garlic, shallot, and ginger to wok and cook for another minute, stirring constantly to ensure ingredients don't burn.

Add the sauce to the pan and toss to combine. Let sauce reduce for about 30 seconds.

Finally add blanched vegetables and toss to combine. Serve stir-fry immediately over rice.

Carnitas Tacos

As I mentioned last week, I've been working through the pulled pork chapter of my friend Nick's cookbook: Love Your Leftovers. You can find the core pulled pork recipe in my post from last week, but for this post, I'll write about one of the many suggested recipes in his book. It uses the slow cooker pulled pork in a new way. I hope to take some of the frozen pulled pork out of my freezer and make a third recipe later this week. Because as far as I'm concerned, a week without pork products is a sad one!

Carnitas Tacos (makes 8 tacos)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. shredded pork (approximately 3 cups)
• 3 TB unsalted butter, melted
• 16 (6-inch) corn tortillas (or 8 flour tortillas, whatever is your preference)
• 2 avocados, mashed
• 4 radishes, sliced thing
• Fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, juice only

Quick Pickled Red Onion

• 1 red onion
• 1 large lime, juice only
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

To make pickled onions, peel the onion and slice it first in half and then into thin slivers. Add to a bowl and toss with lime juice and salt. Let sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the carnitas.

Add shredded pork to baking dish. Try to spread out pork so it is in a thin layer and covering the entire pan. Drizzle pork with melted butter.

Bake until the shredded pork becomes crispy on top, approximately 10-12 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare your other toppings.

If you have a gas range, and you like your tortillas a little toasted, you can do so my placing the them directly over the gas flame over medium heat. Let them cook until they are lightly charred, about 10 seconds per side.

To make the tacos, use two toasted corn tortillas per taco. Smear tortillas with some mashed avocado and then pile on the pork, followed by the radishes, cilantro and pickled red onions. Finish off with a little squeeze of lime juice.

An Ode to Nick Evans (plus a slow cooker pork recipe!)

Earlier this year, I celebrated 10 years living in DC. I've met a lot of amazing people along the way, through a variety of activities. Back when I first moved here, I played in an Adult Kickball League for a few years and while my kickball playing days are long since gone, the friendships I made during those first few years in DC are still very much alive and well. As a foodie, a blogger, and an amateur cook, I am so pleased to call Nick Evans one of these friends.

This guy started a blog several years ago when he was still living in DC. In fact, the blog probably started around the time this photo was taken. Surprisingly enough, I don't have many photos with Nick that I feel are fit to print, but this Halloween party shot from around 2008 always makes me smile. In case it isn't clear, Nick is swine flu and his wife Betsy was avian flu. I am merely a beloved character from a popular 80s Jim Henson show in awe of their awesome creativity. But back to the important stuff...the food! So Nick's blog has grown over the years (check it out at www.macheesmo.com) and it has turned into an amazing resource for recipes and other food-related information. It's often a go-to place for me to find recipes and I often post many of those to this blog.

But Nick couldn't just be a successful blogger. He had to publish a cookbook too. Love Your Leftovers is his creation, and I was lucky enough to test some recipes as part of the cookbook development process. I tested out a few of the recipes in the salmon chapter, and will admit that his basic oven roasted salmon recipe has become a staple in my kitchen. The cookbook shows you how to love your leftovers, offering up 14 basic recipes from flank steak to potatoes, and then presents countless ways to reinvent the leftovers into new dishes. For those of us who get bored eating the same dishes more than two days in a row, this book is an excellent resource.

I recently made two recipes from his pulled pork chapter. Below is his recipe for slow cooker pork butt. Later this week I'll post one of his leftover recipes for this dish.

But before I get to that recipe...there's MORE! After conquering the food blogosphere and publishing a cookbook, Nick is going to be on TV! Nick will be competing on Food Fighters on NBC. The show airs on Tuesday nights and premiered yesterday. Nick's night to shine is August 12th and you better believe I'll be tuned in. You should too!

But now, it's time for some pork butt!!

Slow Cooker Pork Butt (makes 6 pounds of pulled pork...so invite some friends!)

Ingredients:

• 8 lbs pork butt (aka shoulder)
• 1 large onion, grated
• 1 12-oz. beer (preferably lager)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 oz. can of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 large cinnamon stick
• 2 TB paprika (I used smoked)
• 1 TB chili powder
• 1 TB kosher salt
• 1 TB black pepper

Directions:

Cut pork butt into four or five large pieces so it fits nicely in your slow cooker. Cut off any large pieces of fat.

Mix together all the other ingredients in the slow cooker so they are well combined. Add pork pieces to the liquid, cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Remove pork pieces and let them cool for a few minutes. Pour liquid into a bowl.

Shred pork pieces using two forks. Try to remove any huge pieces of fat, if possible. Once you have completed shredding, return the pork to the slow cooker.

Pour cooking liquid back into slow cooker in 1-cup increments until the pork is moist, but not too soupy.

Keep the pulled pork warm while serving. Serve with barbecue sauce on toasted buns. And save the rest for leftovers that you'll love!

Pears with Blue Cheese and Prosciutto

Today is Oscar Sunday. Anyone who knows me knows two things. 1) I'm a movie fanatic. 2) I love to have people over for food to watch particular TV events. Such as the Super Bowl. The Oscars. World Cup. You name it. And Oscar Sunday this year is no different. While I will be making my posole for some friends (as you'll recall, I had a bit of pork left over after that debacle, so I froze some large chunks of meat for later), I wanted to share a simple recipe that I made for a party late last year. So if you're going somewhere to watch the Oscars and need to make a simple appetizer, this will do the trick!

Pears with Blue Cheese and Prosciutto (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 2 pears, such as Bosc or Bartlett, each cored and sliced into 8 wedges. Toss with lemon juice
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 3 oz. blue cheese, cut into small pieces
• 6 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, cut in half, lengthwise
• 1 cup arugula

Directions:

Roll up an arugula leaf, a piece of pear, and a piece of cheese in the prosciutto. Yep, that's it!

Apple Brandy-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Cooking with booze. I'm sure there's a cookbook by this name. And if there isn't, I might have just discovered my next million dollar idea. A few weeks ago, I decided to make this dish, which was featured in one of my holiday issues of Cooking Light. Anyone who reads my blog knows I'm a big fan of pork. And apples. And alcohol. So why not combine the three?

This was a simple recipe but the hardest thing for me to find was brandy. I eventually had to go to one of the higher-price liquor stores to find it and I only had one option for purchase, so this is what I went with. I apologize for the lack of food photo on this, but I made this around the time I spent the better part of a week trying to get my new iPhone fully functional, so I'm guessing the picture got lost during one of many attempted backups. So you'll just have to settle for a picture of booze. With this crowd, I doubt this is that disappointing.

But to be honest, I wasn't crazy about this recipe. It was a little on the bland side for me (I was more interested in the roasted fingerling potatoes I served with it!) So now I have all this brandy...so this won't be the last of my "cooking with booze" posts.

Apple Brandy-Glazed Pork Tenderloin (serves 6)

Ingredients:

3 cups unfiltered apple cider

1/2 cup brandy

3 thyme sprigs

1 large shallot, sliced

2 TB butter

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, divided

1 1/2 lbs. pork tenderloin, trimmed

Cooking spray

Directions:

Combine first cider, brandy, thyme and shallot in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 30 minutes). Remove from heat; discard thyme and shallot. Stir in butter, mustard, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Preheat oven to 475°.

Sprinkle pork evenly with remaining 3/8 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Lightly coat with cooking spray. Place pork in a roasting pan; bake at 475° for 9 minutes. Turn pork over; brush evenly with 2 tablespoons cider mixture. Bake an additional 8 minutes or until thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of pork registers 140°. Let pork stand for 10 minutes.

Slice pork, and serve with remaining sauce.

Chicken, Prosciutto and Pear Arugula Salad

I like simple salads and when salads contain enough savory ingredients (which in my book is meat, cheese and/or fruit, or some combination thereof) I'm even more inclined to make them for my lunch for the week. I recently revisited a Rachel Ray recipe I made a year or so ago, and decided to make it as a salad, eliminating the "warm" and the bun. I obviously cooked the chicken, but the rest of the ingredients I served cold over the salad.

This was quite flavorful and I think I'm going to make this homemade salad dressing again. In my book, you can't go wrong with Dijon mustard. Also, if you wanted to make this even easier, you can just use shredded rotisserie chicken. Not that I've EVER taken that shortcut. ;)

Chicken Cordon Bleu

In my continuing efforts to use food in my refrigerator, I found that I had all the necessary ingredients to make my very simple chicken cordon bleu. This is something I've been making for over 10 years and probably the most complex part of the recipe is rolling everything together in a way that it sticks together, rolled, in a toothpick in order to bake.

This process has become easier in recent years since Perdue started to sell very thin chicken breasts, I think usually used for scappoline or some other similar dish, but they work really well when you roll anything into chicken. Unfortunately, this type wasn't available and since I was working my way through the fridge, I thought this was a good a time as any to take out some of my frustration over the government shutdown by taking a mallet to the chicken to flatten it out.

Chicken Cordon Bleu (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breasts, pounded thin and flat.
• Deli ham, thinly sliced
• Deli swiss cheese, thinly slice
• Dijon mustard
• Italian breadcrumbs
• Toothpicks

Directions:

****You'll notice that I didn't give very specific amounts to the above ingredients, because this is really easy to just eyeball. But as a rule of thumb, you'll use one slice of ham and one slice of cheese for each flat breast. I used very small breasts, so the cheese and ham kind of spill out into the pan and get crispy. But that's how I like it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Take flat piece of chicken and spread dijon mustard on top of it, just enough to lightly coat the chicken. Then, place one piece of cheese and one piece of ham on top of the chicken. Gently roll the chicken lengthwise until it becomes ball and stick with a toothpick to secure. Lightly dust with breadcrumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I like to serve with brown rice and green beans.

That's the (Turkish) rub...

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that I'm on furlough. I've been trying to make the most of my time by going through closets, donating clothes, getting organized, amongst other trivial cost-free activities to bide my time until I either go back to work or go on vacation next week. I have a funny feeling that the vacation will happen before a resolution is reached.

My productivity has also translated into the cooking arena. I went through some old magazines for recipes, tearing out select recipes and placing them in a binder. I hope to try some of them out this winter and as always, I'll post the recipes here.

But a girl's gotta eat. So this week I've been going through the stockpile of meat in my freezer from recent farmers' market trips and coming up with simple meals to cook that don't require me to go to the grocery store. Earlier this week, I took some pork chops and tried out some of these great meat rubs that my friend Sam gifted me when he moved to London. He had picked up the spices on a trip to Turkey. I've already used the fish rub several times, but the meat rubs would be a new endeavor. To be honest, I think one is not meant for meat, but they weren't labeled...so yeah, one is an odd purple color. But they both tasted great.

I always underestimate a simple spice rub for meats. I have so many spices that I should do these more often. What are your favorite spice rub combos?

An Oldie but a Goodie-Grilled Peach and Prosciutto Salad

A while back I indicated that I was going to employ some strategies to this blog that we use at work. Such as "Throwback Thursdays", or "F-ing Fantastic Food Friday." But in all reality, I'm too busy to keep up with any sort of set schedule like that, I just really try and post twice a week. And I kind of screwed that up last week. But I have been doing a lot of cooking and eating lately, and am building up a stockpile for September as my work schedule gets even nuttier.

Some of what I've been making lately have been repeats on previously successful dishes. This is one of them.  I made this Grilled Peach and Prosciutto Salad a few weeks back when I had a ton of peaches and was looking for something light to eat on a Monday after a weekend of excess (which seems to be every weekend as of late!) Here's the recipe in my original post from last year.You won't be disappointed. Trust me.

Fried Big Noodle with Pork

As I've mentioned before, I took a Thai cooking class while on vacation last year in Chiang Mai. As part of the class, we made several different dishes, but we were also provided with a booklet to take home with us including some additional recipes. A few weeks ago, I elected to make two of these dishes for a Sunday dinner party. The chicken satay dish was simply amazing. You can get the recipe here. The other dish was similar to a drunken noodle dish, dubbed "Fried Big Noodle with Sweet Soy Sauce" in the book. I managed to find fresh, big noodles at H-Mart. Score.  And this was quite tasty.

The recipe in the book is for two servings, but you can easily multiple for more people, which is what I did. Here's my best multiplication skills to make this for four people.

Fried Big Noodle with Pork (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. fresh big noodle
• 8 oz. pork, thinly sliced
• 4 TB oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 6 oz. kale, roughly chopped about 2-inches long
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. soy sauce
• 2 TB oyster sauce

Meat marinade:

• 2 TB fish sauce
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 2 TB oyster sauce
• 4 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp pepper

Directions:

Combine marinade ingredients and set sliced pork into dish with marinade. Chill for 30 minutes.

Cook noodles according to package instructions. Once just cooked, drain and set aside.

Heat 2 TB oil in wok on medium to low heat until oil is hot. Add garlic, stir for 2 minutes, then add pork. Cook until pork is no longer pink, 3-4 minutes, stirring on occasion. Add kale and stir for a minute until they are soft and start to wilt. Add noodle, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir to combine.

Move all of the mixture to one side of the wok, add 1 TB oil and beaten eggs, frying for 30 seconds. then combine with rest of noodle mixture.

Stir well and combine and serve.

Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin

When I went to make this last week, I double-checked to be sure I hadn't posted it on here before. I was very surprised that I hadn't because this is something I used to make all the time, especially when having someone over for dinner. It never disappoints and dinner guests always think it is a much more complex dish to make than it really is. Probably because it tastes so damn good. I don't really think you can screw up pork tenderloin, but if you're looking for a simple recipe that you'll likely have all the ingredients for in your pantry, this is it.  I served it with scalloped potatoes with spinach.

Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin
• 1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs
• 1 TB dried basil
• 3 TB olive oil
• 1 TB fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme

Directions:

Moisten tenderloins with water. Combine all ingredients and mix to blend. Press bread crumb/herb mixture over tenderloin and place on rack.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 425 degrees for 30 or more minutes. Thicker ones may take 35-40 minutes. Don't overcook. I checked mine with a meat thermometer. 170 degrees for medium well done is what I cooked mine to.

Food Porn: The Pig

I'm never shy about my appreciation of pork. I even have a kitchen towel that says "Bacon: The Gateway Meat."  Because if anything is going to turn a vegetarian, it'd have to be bacon.

Earlier this year, a restaurant opened in Logan Circle called "The Pig." As you would have guessed, probably 80 percent of the food on the menu contains some sort of pig. And it's fabulous.

I finally got around to checking it out last weekend. Ironically on the first day of Hanukkah, with a non-practicing Jewish person. But I digress.

He found "swine fine" so we went on to eat a ridiculous amount of the good stuff, including the "little pig platter" complete with three types of pork products like prosciutto, housemade pickles, and baked crostinis. We also sampled, as picture above, the Carolina-style pulled pork with mac and cheese. Some may see the oil in the picture and think "why on earth would I eat something so meaty and oily" and I say, "why the hell not?"

Check it out. The food is great, service is awesome, and even the bathrooms are covered in pictures of pigs.

Fennel, Sausage and Caramelized Apple Stuffing

This year, I didn't travel for the holidays and as much as it would have been nice to spend time with my family, I spent the day with people I consider my "DC" family. This is pretty common as I talked over the holidays with others who opted to forego the traffic and spend time with friends locally. This brought on less stress for all, but also brought about a ridiculous amount of carbs.

My mom had always made a basic Stovetop stuffing the holidays, so for the most part, it's the only stuffing I'd ever known. But I've seen recipes for all sorts of stuffings over the years and thought this was my opportunity to give one of them a go. So I settled on this recipe for Fennel, Sausage and Caramelized Apple Stuffing. I opted for spicy sausage from the Farmer's Market in the neighborhood. This had a great kick to it and made a ton. That and it had 10 other side dishes to compete with. But after taking nearly 2 hours to make (there was a lot of chopping involved) I now know why so many people opt for the StoveTop. But I do feel this was better. I've been enjoying it all weekend.

Fennel, Sausage, and Caramelized Apple Stuffing (serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

• 12 oz sourdough bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• cooking spray
• 9 oz Italian sausage
• 5 tsp olive oil, divided
• 4 cups chpped onion
• 1 1/4 cups sliced fennel bulb
• 1 1/4 cups chopped carrot
• 2 TB chopped fresh sage
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 cups chpped Golden Delicious apple
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free chicken broth
• 2 large eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 16 minutes or until golden, stirring after 8 minutes. Place in a large bowl.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage to pan; cook 8 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add sausage to bread.

Return pan to medium-high heat. Add 3 tsp oil to pan, swirl to coat. Add onion and fennel bulb, carrot, sage, fennel seeds and garlic. Add 1/4 tsp pepper, suate 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add vegetables to sausage mixture.

Return pan to medium-high heat. Add remaining 2 tsp oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add apple and sugar, saute 5 minutes or until apple caramelizes, stirring occasionally. Add to the sausage mixture.

Combine broth and eggs in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture and reamining 1/4 tsp pepper to sausage mixture, toss well to combine.

Spoon sausage mixture into a 13 x 9 inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover with foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover dish; bake for another 20 minutes or until browned and crisp.

Grilled Peach, Prosciutto, and Goat Cheese Salad

Peaches are in season right now and should be for the next few weeks. The markets in my neighborhood are overrun with them, so I plan to take advantage over the next few weeks and try to cook with peaches. And in an effort to try and stay health, a peach cobbler will not be one of my endeavors. This salad was very easy to make and the sweetness of the peaches was a perfect blend with the saltiness of the prosciutto and goat cheese.

Grilled Peach, Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Salad (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 TB honey

3 peaches, pitted and each cut into 6 wedges

Cooking spray

1 TB extravirgin olive oil

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Dash of kosher salt

10 cups trimmed arugula (about 10 oz)

2 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 1/4-inch strips

2 TB crumbled goat cheese

Directions:

Bring vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer until vinegar is reduced to 2 tablespoons (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in honey. Cool to room temperature.

Prepare grill to high heat. I used a grill pan because sadly (tear) I have no grill. Place peach wedges on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 30 seconds on each side or until grill marks appear but peaches are still firm. Remove from grill; set aside.

Combine oil, pepper, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add arugula, tossing gently to coat. Arrange arugula mixture on a platter. Top with peach wedges and prosciutto. Drizzle with balsamic syrup; sprinkle with cheese.

Chicken Saltimbocca

I'm a big fan of pork products. This probably stems from the fact that I have more of a salt tooth than a sweet tooth. (the exception to this being kettle corn-love the salty sweet combo!) Prosciutto is one of my favorite pork products and I had a little left over from the salad I had made last week so I used it to make an old favorite-chicken saltimbocca. This is a very easy recipe to make in a pinch, and takes about 20 minutes from start to finish. I served it with sauteed baby squash and zucchini from the Dupont Circle Farmer's Market. I made a slightly healthier version using a bit less flour and butter, but here is the full-fledged, awesome recipe courtesy of  the infamous www.macheesmo.com. The recipe also includes a white wine reduction sauce for the chicken.

Chicken Saltimbocca (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken cutlets, pounded evenly
• Prosciutto di Parma, sliced (but not too thin). About 2 oz should do it
• 1 cup flour
• 1 TB fresh sage, diced
• 3 TB olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2/3 cup white cooking wine
• 1 TB lemon juice
• 4 TB butter
• 3 TB chopped parsley

Directions:

Pat any excess water off of chicken. Then, dip chicken in flour, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh sage.

Add a slice of prosciutto on top of the side of the chicken that you sprinkled the sage on. Press down on it so it sticks to the floured cutlet.

Heat up the oil in a large skillet. Place the cutlets prosciutto side down first and cook for 4-5 minutes, then flip over and cook on the other side for another 4-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cutlet.

Once the chicken is done, place them in a dish in the oven set at 200 degrees to keep them warm. Meanwhile, pour white wine and lemon juice into the pan you used to cook the chicken, scraping any of the bits off the pan to sit in the liquid. Let this simmer for about 4 minutes and then add butter, 1 TB at a time. After simmering for a few minutes, you'll have a light sauce. Add the chopped parsley right at the end. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Chicken and Prosciutto Salad with Arugula and Asiago

This weekend I hit up two farmers' markets picking up a nice array of fruits and vegetables including arugula, baby squash and zucchini, sweet cherries, grape tomatoes, and sourdough bread. While I took a lot of time walking to these markets and picking and choosing what would work for meals for the week. That is where the complexity ended for me this week. I decided to go the easy route on cooking and took the lead of my friend Nick, of www.macheesmo.com, and the approach of his new cookbook, Cornerstone Cooking.

In his book, Nick shows you ways to make a basic dish and then repurpose the leftovers. Because let's be serious, trying to fit in work, exercise, play and everything else can be enough to squeeze into a week, much less cooking. This was one of those weeks that I knew I was going to be busy (and heading out of town for the weekend) so I didn't want to overload my fridge with leftovers, to spend more than 30 minutes any given day to cooking.

One of the cornerstone recipes in Nick's book is your basic rotisserie chicken. In an effort to save time (and as I mentioned above, I was feeling lazy), I decided to pick up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. I used this chicken to make two of this week's recipes. The first of which is this salad. The second I will post on Wednesday (hint: it's from Nick's cookbook!)

Chicken and Prosciutto Salad with Arugula and Asiago (serves 6)

 

Ingredients:

2 (1-ounce) slices sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Cooking spray

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp garlic powder

3 TB extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 oz very thin slices prosciutto, chopped

2 TB fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

10 oz baby arugula

1/3 cup shaved or shredded Asiago cheese

8 oz shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°.

Place bread cubes on a baking sheet, and lightly coat with cooking spray. Add basil and garlic powder; toss well. Place bread mixture in preheating oven; bake for 8 minutes or until crisp.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add prosciutto; sauté 4 minutes or until prosciutto is crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Combine remaining 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons oil, juice, and salt in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Place arugula, half of cheese, and juice mixture in a large bowl; toss well to coat. Divide arugula mixture evenly among 6 plates; divide chicken, prosciutto, tomatoes, remaining cheese, and croutons evenly over salads.

Tacos Al Pastor with Pineapple Salsa

A very sad thing happened this weekend. My refrigerator stopped working. It started with the ice-maker not quite working as it should and before I knew it, all the food in my freezer (including a stockpile of pork tenderloin) had thawed. My parents were in town this weekend and I had planned to use some of the pork for this recipe, but I then found myself sending them home with a pound of loin for themselves since one can only eat so much pork in one week (and believe me, I test that theory on a regular basis). So fortunately I was able to fix this dish before things went downhill in my kitchen. I served the tacos with an avocado salad.

Tacos Al Pastor with Pineapple Salsa (makes 8-10 tacos)

Ingredients:

Pork:

• 1 chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed
• 1 TB chopped fresh oregano
• 2 tsp ancho chile powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray

Salsa:

• 4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices fresh pineapple
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 3 TB thinly sliced red onion
• 3 TB fresh lime juice
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 jalapeño, thinly sliced

Remaining ingredients:

• 10  (6-inch) corn tortillas

Directions:

To prepare pork, preheat the grill to high heat.

Mince chipotle chile. Combine chipotle and oil in a small bowl; rub evenly over pork. Combine oregano and the next 4 ingredients (through black pepper). Sprinkle spice mixture evenly over pork, and let stand for 30 minutes. Place the pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill for 6 minutes on each side or until a thermometer registers 145°. This may take longer depending on the thickness of your meat (that's what she said). Remove pork from grill; let stand 5 minutes. Coarsely chop pork; keep warm.

To prepare salsa, place pineapple on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill for 5 minutes on each side. Coarsely chop pineapple, and place in a medium bowl. Add cilantro and next 4 ingredients (through jalapeño); toss to combine.

Warm the tortillas according to package directions. Place 2 tortillas on each of 4 plates, and divide pork evenly among tortillas. Top each taco with about 3 tablespoons salsa.