Pork Tenderloin with Tomatoes, Onions and Capers

I have been feeling a lack of inspiration lately...drawn to cook the same meals in the same fashion, day in and day out. My palette is bored.

I came across an amazing cookbook the other day which I immediately downloaded to my Kindle. I was a little nervous about downloading a cookbook to my Kindle, especially since I have the tendency to drip, slop, spatter and fling all sorts of interesting food particles onto my recipe pages. My most favorite recipes are barely legible due to the amount of spots dotting the print. But the Kindle seemed to work alright. I mean, it got the job done. We won't dwell on the fact that I love color picture cookbooks - the enticing manner in which the photography beckons you to cook that particular dish - and since I was too cheap to buy the color Kindle Fire, I am missing out on all the beautiful pictures. Oh well, c'est la vie.

So anyways, this new cookbook I found is a Mexican cookbook using basic ingredients and simple techniques, aptly named Simply Mexican. I had taken out a pork tenderloin for dinner yesterday but wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, until I stumbled across a recipe that gave me a bit of inspiration. The recipe in the book is for Mahi Mahi and calls for a few more ingredients which I didn’t have handy…cilantro was one of them. I also added the Chipotle powder and garlic and I decided to cook the tomatoes. The original recipe called for tossing the tomatoes in oil and serving the mixture cold over the fish.

This recipe isn't quite a Mexican dish, I suppose I altered it too much. It ended up being more Mediterranean in style and I must say, it turned out pretty darn good with the heat from the Chipotle, the rich depth of the garlic and the tangy salinity of the capers. But the best part is that this technique to cook pork tenderloin. No matter what sauce you choose, you will always have tender, moist, flavorful, cut-with-a-butter-knife pork.

Pork Tenderloin with Tomatoes, Onions and Capers

1 Pork tenderloin

1 cup flour

2 tsp Chipotle chili powder

Salt and Pepper

¼ cup olive oil

1 small onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp capers

1 tsp caper juice

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

½ cup chicken broth

Pat pork tenderloin dry and slice into ½ inch medallions. Mix together flour, chili powder, salt and pepper. Dredge pork medallions in flour and pat to remove excess flour and put on a plate.

Heat olive oil in a large fry pan over medium high heat. Add pork to pan and brown meat, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from pan.

Lower heat to medium and add onion to the pan. Cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add tomatoes, capers, caper juice, vinegar and chicken broth. Return pork to the pan and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes or until pork is just cooked.

Cream of Leek and Arugula

There is something about a Sunday. It has this relaxed, lazy, I-don’t-have-to-do-anything-and-I’m-ok-with-that feel to it. More often than not I don’t know what day of the week it is out here, and am constantly having to remind myself what month it is (November? Is it cold somewhere in the world?), but I always know when it’s Sunday. On Sunday morning, I find myself casually browsing through the refrigerator or freezer, trying to mentally put together what I will prepare for my Sunday evening feast. I attempt to find further inspiration as I flip through cookbooks while leisurely sipping coffee, allowing the books to sprawl out across the ottoman, giving way to colorful pages and inklings of fabulous meals yet to be had.

On this particular Sunday, I rummaged through the contents of my refrigerator and found an unlikely ingredient; leeks. In all of my cooking years, I have yet to prepare anything incorporating a leek. I suppose I haven’t known where to go with it. Mellower than onion but with a certain kick that would surely overpower if used in excess. I skipped to the back of my Junior League of Palo Alto Private Collection Volume 1, hoping to find something that would make use of the leeks, as well as the chicken carcass I had left over from the other evening. I was in luck. On page 10 was a Cream of Leek and Chard. However, as it goes out here I certainly didn’t have all of the ingredients. Namely the featured title ingredient, chard. But I did have plenty of arugula. I scanned through the list of ingredients and was instantly able to deduct that it was do-able. Instead of the yogurt it called for, I would substitute a mixture of sour cream and milk and since I was cooking the chicken carcass anyways, it would be a nice trade out for the ham. If you don't have a chicken carcass handy, regular canned chicken broth will suffice.

Cream of Leek and Arugula Soup

1/2 lb arugula, roughly chopped

3 large leeks

2 1/2 tbsp butter

7 tbsp flour

7 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

1 tsp salt

1 lb cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1/2 cup milk

4 egg yolks

2 cups chicken

Whole chicken carcass

3 cubes chicken bullion

4 medium russet potatoes

2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped chives

For the Broth

In a large stock pot, immerse chicken in water. Add bullion cubes and boil for 45 minutes until meat is falling off the bone. Strain broth through a colander into another pot. Let chicken cool and then remove meat from the carcass.

For the Soup

Remove roots and green stems from leeks. Rinse and chop.

Melt the butter in a stock pot and add leeks and arugula. Cook on medium low heat until soft. Sprinkle in flour and cook for two minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly.

Turn heat to low and add chicken broth, water and salt. Continue to stir. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mash the cream cheese in a bowl and beat in sour cream, milk and egg yolks until smooth. Peel potatoes and chop into 1 inch cubes. Place in a large sauce pan and cover with water. Add salt and boil for 10-15 minutes, until soft but not soggy.

Slowly add the cheese mixture to the soup and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add chicken and potatoes. Garnish with chopped chives.

Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Chicken

There is nothing more lovely than a whole roasted chicken in the fall. As the seasons change, so do the menus. Lightly grilled fish makes way for hearty beef stews, BBQ-ed shrimp skewers take a back seat to pork tenderloin with loads of mushrooms.

One of the first things my mom taught me how to cook was a whole roasted chicken. It is versatile and pocketbook friendly. One small 5 lb chicken will last me days. The first night served up with potatoes and vegetables, chicken sandwiches for lunch with plenty of mayonnaise and cranberries if you are feeling festive, sliced chicken on mixed greens the next night, and by the third day I am ready for a chicken soup that will feed the whole neighborhood (or at least several freezer batches-worth).

The other delightful think about a whole chicken is the fact that you can dress them up in any way and they are usually bursting with delicious flavorful juices. If you take care and do it right, the skin will crisp up and keep the breast and thigh meat tender and moist.

But the best part of all... is the gravy. Now, I am a complete glutton for this sinful condiment. When I think no one is looking, I scandalously sneak spoonfuls of gravy and simply marinate my senses in this guilty pleasure. There is just something about the combination of its rich silky texture and the fact that I am knowingly inputting into my system thousands more milligrams of sodium than should ever be deemed appropriate. But gravy isn't trying to be appropriate. Gravy is a rebel, out to seduce your waistline.

I know there are two sides to the gravy war. Flour or cornstarch? I choose not to be critical of those who believe cornstarch is the end-all-be-all, but I simply have to say that flour is superior in all aspects of gravy making. So if you must, those supporters of corn-based products out there, substitute your cornstarch for flour, then do so, but my disclaimer is that flour is mo-betta.

Now some people choose to use the gizzards, heart and neck for their gravy, but I choose not, because honestly, they gross me out. In our meat-eating society, I do find it odd that certain parts of an animal causes squirminess, but I won’t get into all that right now. Put the gizzards in if you want, but my recipe omits the guts.

I am giving you guidance for the gravy, I haven’t found an exact ratio for gravy since sometimes I end up with a lot of juices, other times minimal. So you will have to feel it out a bit to get the consistency you want. In the spirit of “rustic cooking,” this version calls for sour cream. I was out of milk and cream, so I went for the gusto and used regular sour cream. It turned out amazing. Use milk or cream if you want to go a bit lighter or if you aren’t super into sour cream (I am).

Garlic Rosemary Roasted Chicken

5-6lb whole chicken

10 whole cloves garlic

1 medium onion, sliced

1 small lemon or lime

2 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped

1 cup chicken broth

For the paste

3 tbsp salted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp rosemary, minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pat chicken dry and place in a roasting pan. Squeeze citrus over the top of the chicken and stuff innards with the citrus remains as well as 1/4 of the sliced onion and 5 of the garlic cloves. Scatter remaining onion, garlic and rosemary in the pan around the chicken. Pour the chicken broth in the pan.

Make the paste. Place butter, garlic and rosemary in a small bowl and use a spoon to mash it together to make a paste. Make several slices in the skin at the top of the chicken and on the thighs, use 3/4 of the paste to stuff under the skin of the chicken and smear the remaining 1/4 all over the top.

Place chicken in the oven and roast for 30 minutes uncovered. Make a foil tent and cover the chicken. Juices will start to form in the bottom of the pan. Baste chicken in juices often. Cook chicken for another hour or until thermometer reads 165 degrees at the thickest spot between the breast and the thigh. Chicken should be nicely browned and thighs will pull off easily.

For the gravy

When the chicken is done, remove from roasting pan and place on a cutting board with routed edges to catch the juices. Place roasting pan on two burners set on very low heat. Skim off excess fat with a spoon. Mix 3 tbsp flour with cold water until consistency is slightly runny and mixture is smooth. Slowly pour about half of the mixture into the pan, constantly whisking as you pour. Continue whisking for another five minutes and mixture will begin to thicken. Add about a cup of chicken broth and ¼ cup sour cream and continue whisking. Add more chicken broth, sour cream or flour mixture to your discretion until you get the consistency you want.

Serve with a hearty portion of mashed potatoes.

Beer Cheese

Hello again, virtual audience. Without going into too much detail about my lack of motivation and plain blog avoidance, lets just say I am moving on to the next chapter, turning over a new leaf, if you will. I am going to revamp my focus a bit and steer towards "rustic and remote island-style cooking." Where previously I was able to pop to the gourmet market on a whim, I've since relocated to a small island in which supplies are limited, ingredients are not readily available and creativity is a necessity. I have learned to use food items that I may normally throw away and find a use for things like canned pumpkin or an over abundance of red peppers.

This may be a helpful style of cooking for those of you who stare blankly into the cupboard on more evenings than not, wondering what combination of ingredients will jump out and present themselves as a worthy suppertime meal. It has become kind of a "glass is half full" style of cooking. I could dwell on what I don't have, but that would not get me anywhere. Instead - what do I have and how can I create something delicious out of it?

This recipe came from the guilt I felt from an undrunken beer. Out here, beer and wine are prized commodities. They are expensive and, speaking personally, consumed well before rum. When I woke up one morning and realized with grave despair that I had only taken two sips out of my late night beer, I knew something must be made out of my flat lager.

A friend from Kentucky had visited the island several years ago and brought a Kentuckian recipe with her: Beer Cheese. When she made the appetizer for us, she hadn't the patience to wait for her beer to flatten, so it still had a sparkling effervescence when we devoured it. I had a tinge of satisfaction knowing that I had subconsciously flattened my beer without having to "plan ahead."

So if you find yourself in the sad predicament of a wounded soldier on your hands, cheer up and make yourself some beer cheese.

Beer Cheese

3/4 bottle or can of a light lager

16 ounces cheddar cheese, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp hot sauce

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

pinch smoked paprika

Take two sips out of your beer and let it sit out on the counter overnight or for several hours until sufficiently flat.

Combine all ingredients except for the beer in the food processor and pulse until slightly blended. Then turn the food processor on and slowly pour the beer through the top. Mixture will be soft. Place in refrigerator and let firm up for several hours.

Serve with crackers or an assortment of vegetables.

Keep it Simple

We had Dave's mom over for appetizers and happy hour this weekend. I wanted to keep it simple, low maintenance and light, since we were going out to a nice restaurant for dinner. Dave's mom also has a gluten intolerance, so the appetizers I serve can't be accompanied with regular crackers. Instead of the rice crackers I would normally serve, I decided to go on the lighter side and present a very colorful plate of fresh veggies with a hummus dip. It was a perfect snack before our three course meal to follow.

Since I can't just do anything without a little bit of extra effort, I decided to roast half of the red bell pepper and top my hummus with the pepper, capers and olives. You can either make your own hummus or buy the pre-made hummus if you want to go easy on yourself.

Hummus Dip with Vegetables
Makes about 4 cups

2 15 oz cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
Juice of 2 lemons, about 1/2 cup
6 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt

For the topping
1/2 red bell pepper
3 tbsp chopped kalamata olives
1 tbsp capers
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Drain chickpeas, reserving liquid. Put chickpeas into a blender or food processor, add 3/4 cup of the chickpea reserved liquid and 1/4 cup water. Cover and blend to a semismooth paste.

With motor still running, add lemon juice through hole in blender lid or the top of the food processor. Add tahini, garlic, and salt to taste and puree until very smooth, about 2 minutes.

For the Topping

Slice and de-seed the bell pepper and place skin side up on a baking sheet. Place oven broiler on high and broil the bell pepper until skin is black. Remove from the oven and put pepper in a paper bag. Close the bag tightly and let steam for 5-10 minutes. Remove pepper and the skin should peel off easily. Chop the pepper and place in a medium bowl. Add olives, capers, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Place hummus in a serving bowl and top with bell pepper mix. Serve with any of the following: carrots, sliced red and yellow bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, pita triangles, sliced baguette, whole grain crackers.

Sicilian Baked Mahi Mahi

Home again. The weather is mild and breezy. I have Italian on the mind again. Will it ever stop? I simply love the uncomplicated, flavorful ingredients and diversity of regional cuisines.

I keep mahi mahi in the freezer. Costco sells wild caught, Pacific mahi in individually packaged frozen filets. Although I would choose fresh fish over frozen any day, depending on your seafood market your fish may have been previously frozen for transport anyways. They just deliver you the convenience of defrosting it. If that is the case, I would much rather buy my fish frozen and defrost it on my own time.

This dish is packed with salty flavors and the firmness of the fish holds its own against all of the textures involved in the topping. Served with a simple mushroom risotto and sauteed spinach, this recipe can be quickly made and will impress the most distinguished palates. For our wine I poured a wonderfully light and crisp Gavi. Cristina Ascheri 2009; it is 100% Cortese grape from the Piedmont region of Italy. After last night's meal, it's up there on my list as one of my new favorite whites.

Sicilian Baked Mahi Mahi

Serves 2-4

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 1/2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil

2 to 4 mahi mahi filets

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped

1 tbsp capers

1/2 tsp finely chopped anchovies in olive oil (optional)

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 tbsp bread crumbs

Mix half the olive oil with the lemon juice and 1 tbsp of the basil in a shallow baking dish. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Arrange the mahi mahi in the dish and leave to marinate for 15 minutes, turning once. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Combine the olives, capers, anchovies and tomatoes with the

remaining oil and basil and season well. Spread over the mahi mahi and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Bake for 20 minutes or until the fish is just opaque. Finish off by placing briefly under the hot broiler until the breadcrumbs are crisp.

Mushroom Risotto

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 oz mushrooms, chopped

1 cup aborio rice

3 cups chicken broth

Parmesan cheese, grated, for garnish

Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Add onion and saute on medium heat until soft, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms and sautee for another 5 minutes until garlic is fragrant and mushrooms are soft. Add the rice, stir and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, one cup at a time, letting the broth absorb completely after each addition.

Simple Sauteed Spinach

Serves 2

2 tbsp olive oil

9 oz baby leaf spinach

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup plain yogurt

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add the spinach, working in batches so you don't crowd the pan. Add the yogurt and stir well. Serve immediately.

At Home in the Northwest

A light drizzle dances in the sky. Not even enough to consider rain as it dusts your eyebrows with the faintest amount of damp. Seattle - the land of the freshest seafood, organic markets, a thousand coffee shops, local microbrews, artisanal wineries; so much vibrancy within the depths of the wintery gray.

I booked my flight two weeks prior, to surprise my sister for her bridal shower hosted by our aunt Leanne. I was never really invited so I suppose I am somewhat of a party crasher, although most everyone seemed pleased to see me. As the plane descended into SeaTac airport I wished my farewells to the sunshine and we ducked under three sturdy layers of cloud cover.

Surprisingly the air was mild as I exited the terminal. At 48 degrees the Pineapple Express was cruising through, much to the dismay of skiers, where rain in the mountains was on the forecast for the weekend. Leanne picked me up and we made our way to her home in West Seattle. If I were to give myself a second chance in Washington, West Seattle is where I would plant my roots. Everything you could possibly want is within walking distance of this city community. From Leanne's house she walks to the Metropolitan Market, the local movie theater, and a wonderful selection of restaurants that range from an Italian tattoria, a tiny Thai restaurant, incredibly authentic sushi, Northwest cuisine, cafes, bakeries, coffee shops and of course, numerous craft beer bars and alehouses.

After preparing what we could for the next day's bridal shower, we decided to celebrate girls night out and dine at Circa, one of Leanne's favorite restaurants. It was a short walk from her house and the night was comfortable. We found two seats at the bar and gazed over the menu as we chatted. I couldnt believe the menu items, everything looked fantastic...and certainly not overpriced. I forget how good food can be without breaking the bank. Quite the opposite in Florida, where it seems we spend a small fortune for a mediocre meal. I finally settled on portabello mushroom ravioli with braised local kale topped with shaved Parmesan. Good choice, I might add. Leanne ordered the special, halibut with a butter caper sauce and garlic mashed new potatoes. After dinner drinks at The Cask. A hole in the wall that you would walk right by during the daytime without a second glance. At night, however, the cozy dark atmosphere is inviting. As we entered, a few tables looked up at us, it was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. We settled in at a small booth and marveled at the draft beer selection. Leanne decided on a Kona Longboard Lager and I went for the Lost Coast Barley Wine. A delightful welcome home evening in one of my favorite cities in the world.

The next day we busied ourselves tidying and prepping the last minute menu items. Leanne had been marinating chicken, olives and raisins for an orzo salad for three days now. I worked on a potato dish with capers, tomatoes and rosemary. Leanne turned her focus to her cake; a complex multi-step process with lots of "meanwhiles" included in the recipe. Martha Stewart does not let you take the easy street. The frosting turned out beautiful. White, white egg whites with a shimmering gleam that gave it the appearance of a snowy ice tundra. The best part about it however, was the bride/groom topper.

If you know anything about the McCausland girls, you will know that we had a capacious affinity for Playmobil toys. We had a Playmobil person for every occasion; skiers, pirates, race car drivers, knights with swords, cowboys and Indians mounted on horses, as well as all kinds of accessories ranging from a deserted island to a pirate ship to a Victorian house that was as tall as my sister. Needless to say, Leanne wanted to incorporate the Playmobli bride and groom as the cake topper. She searched high and low to track down the discontinued bride and groom set.

Later in the afternoon after our chores were complete, we took a walk down to the Met Market, a Seattle area based grocery market. On my connecting flight through Minneapolis, I had thumbed through Cheese Connoisseur magazine, stumbling across an article on the Metropolitan Market's cheese selection. The Market specializes in both local and world cheeses with knowledgeable staff to assist you in picking the perfect cheese for the perfect occasion.

I wandered around in awe, as I was reminded of the pleasures of a good market. I had Super Bowl snacks on the mind for the following day, so I had the deli clerk thin slice Angus roast beef and Prosciutto di Parma. I also picked out a chevre goat cheese and a hard Asiago with rosemary.

I made my way over to the wines and was delighted to see their selection of Northwest wines was more than three bottles. Quite the contrary. They had an entire section dedicated to the heavier Washington reds; Merlots, Cabernet Sauvignons and Cabernet Francs as well as the Oregon Pinot Noirs and Pinot Gris. I must have spent a half an hour just in the wine section before I picked out Fidelitas 2008, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Red Mountain, a small family owned vineyard concentrating on Bordeaux style red wines and Barrister Cabernet Franc 2008, 88% Cab Franc and 12% Cabernet Sauv from the Columbia Valley, 93 points. Perfect accompaniment to my Super Bowl appetizer lineup.

The shower was beautiful. 14 of my favorite ladies all in one room, enjoying each other's company, good wine and fabulous food.

My Super Bowl snacks turned out wonderfully. Leanne had some cherry preserves that we spooned over the goat cheese and I put together these incredibly simple and light "meat logs" for lack of a better term. I suppose "roast beef rolls" sounds a bit more appetizing, so that is what we shall call them.

Roast Beef Rolls

Serves 6

1/2 lb thin sliced roast beef

1 ripe avocado

1 Gala apple or other semi sweet variety, peeled and sliced thin

finely chopped fresh spinach

dried oregano

dried rosemary

Scoop avocado into a bowl and mash with a fork, at salt to taste. Lay out a slice of roast beef on a cutting board and put a spoonful of avocado on the roast beef. Place one slice of apple on the avocado and sprinkle with spinach, oregano and rosemary. Roll the beef into a tight log. Continue until you have used all the roast beef. Serve on a platter.