Pork Tenderloin with Orange Glaze

This might sound like one of those dishes that take hours to prepare and for entertaining purposes only. In reality, it's so easy and quick to prepare, you can impress your family and friends in a snap. Not only is this easy to make, but it's reeeal, reeal good too. Your family and friends will love you forever...or at least for the next couple of hours.

Pork Tenderloin with Orange Glaze -

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce, 1/3 cup Teriyaki sauce, 2 cloves garlic - minced, 2 teaspoons orange marmalade, 2 tablespoons honey, 1/3 cup orange juice and 2 sliced green onions.

Remove the silver skin from a 1 lb. to 1-1/2 lb. pork tenderloin.

Place pork tenderloin in a baking pan and pour orange glaze over it and let it rest for about 30 minutes, turning once halfway through.

Salt and generously pepper pork tenderloin and bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 40 minutes, turning once halfway through.

Let pork tenderloin rest in pan for about 5 minutes after removing it from the oven, plate it and spoon glaze over the top, slice and serve.

Talk about melt in your mouth!

Side dish suggestion...Orzo

Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a medium size pot with a tight fitting lid. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger. Saute for 2 minutes and add 24 ounces of chicken broth, 1/2 cup orange juice, 2 sliced green onions, 1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder and 2 teaspoons orange marmalade. Let the liquid come to a boil, stir one 16 ounce package of orzo. Cover pot, lower heat to simmer and let cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Apple Brown Betty

There's something about baked apples that is comforting. In the middle of the week, I need something to wrap me up and look forward to it's almost the weekend! This is simple and believe it or not, a light middle of the week "pick-me-up".

Apple Brown Betty - Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cube seven slices of bread, preferably honey wheat.

Using 1 tablespoon of the butter, liberally coat a shallow baking dish. Be liberal with the butter. and say to yourself butter is good!
Peel, core and thinly slice 3 Granny Smith apples.

In a small bowl combine cubed bread, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, and a pinch of salt and toss to thoroughly combine.

Scatter 3 tablespoons of the bread/sugar mixture onto the bottom of the baking dish.

Top with half of the apples.

Sprinkle the cubed bread pieces over the apples.

Dot with small pats of butter. Then repeat the layering process with the remaining bread/sugar mixture, apples and butter. Drizzle about 1/3 cup of water over the top.

Bake until the apples are bubbly and tender and the crumbs are nicely browned, 45 to 50 minutes. Check every 15 minutes or so and if it looks like the apples are getting too brown, cover with aluminum foil until the last five minutes of baking.

Cool briefly and dish it up warm. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or top with a spoonful of whipped topping (you're allowed to do that).

Jambalya Pasta

Semolina's in New Orleans is one of my favorites. This establishment makes just about any dish you can think of with different shapes of pasta. Every meal is a winner. All of their pasta is made on premises using Semolina flour. If you're ever in New Orleans and want to eat where the locals eat and avoid the over-priced tourist traps, give Semolina's a try.



Semolina's inspired this dish and in no way can it compare to their excellent cuisine. Give this one a try because it hits the mark of being very good and a snap to prepare.




Jambalaya Pasta - Heat a pot of water to a boil for 1 lb. of penne rigate pasta and add salt to it then pasta. Cook to al-dente about 9 minutes and drain.

While pasta is boiling, heat a heavy pot over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of butter butter and 1 lb. andouille sausage if available or a good smoked sausage.

Brown the sausage about 10 minutes to render the fat.

Remove with a slotted spoon to drain fat. Add 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 1 poblano pepper seeded and sliced thin (or you can use a jalapeno), 1 red or orange bell pepper seeded and chopped, 2 ribs of celery chopped 1 onion chopped.

Saute the veggies for 7 to 8 minutes. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and add 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour to the pot. Cook flour with veggies 4 minutes more stirring constantly so flour doesn't stick and burn.

Add 1 cup of chicken stock, one 14 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, 1 tablespoons of Louisiana Hot Sauce and 1 tablespoons dried thyme leaves.

Bring liquid to a bubble and add reserved sausage and 1/2 pound of peeled shrimp.

Cook 6 to 7 minutes until shrimp are opaque and firm. Stirring occasionally, then add in 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Ladle up the jambalaya pasta and top with chopped scallions.

How can this be bad on a Wednesday night?

Reality field trip.

I don't put my dirty pots and pans on a tray and slide them under the counter for the "crew" to wash for me after "the show". Just keepin' it real!

Check it Out!

Check out Gunnypink's blog Tired N Retired and http://www.tirednretiredretard.blogspot.com/

He's sure to get you thinking!

Roasted Garlic and Smoked Canadian Bacon Frittata

As you know know if you've read my profile, I'm originally from New Orleans. I really like "Fleur de Lis" and couldn't resist buying this trivet. Can you believe I found this in an outlet store in the Smoky Mountains?

When the homegirlz asked what was for dinner last night, the oldest said she wasn't that hungry and asked if she could just fix a sandwich. The youngest one asked, "What's in it?". The word "frittata" scared them and they decided they didn't want any part of the weird dinner I was preparing. I've racked my brain and cannot figure out where they came from; they have no sense of adventure. This was served with a salad and my youngest added a side of Bugles (I really don't know why). By the way, this is not a cholesterol friendly meal, but making this once in a while shouldn't hurt that much.

Roasted Garlic and Smoked Ham Frittata

In a large mixing bowl add 2 cups of shredded Gruyere cheese.

Add 8 large eggs, 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, salt and cracked black pepper to taste.

Whisk the ingredients in the bowl until it gets foamy. This will build up your upper arm muscles!

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat.

When the butter has melted and starts to bubble, add to the pan 1 small onion diced and 4 small red potatoes diced.

Season the onions and potatoes with salt and black pepper and cook thoroughly about 10-12 minutes.

Once the onions and potatoes are thoroughly cooked, squeeze one head of roasted garlic into the pan and cook for another 3 minutes.

Add the egg mixture to the pan. Using a spatula, gently pull in the sides of the egg mixture to let the uncooked eggs to run to the bottom of the pan to cook.

Cube up 1 cup of Canadian Bacon.

Once the frittata is halfway set, add the cubed Canadian Bacon to the pan. Transfer the pan to a pre-heated 400 degree oven and cook for 10 minutes. The frittata will fluff up on the top and become slightly golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Shower frittata with freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese, slice and garnish with green onion and a dollop of sour cream.

Come to mama!

Roasted Garlic

Roasting garlic is very simple and adds a whole other dimension to your favorites dishes.

Cut the top quarter off a head of garlic.

Place the garlic in a foil lined pan.

Rub extra virgin olive oil into the top of the cut garlic head and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Turn the garlic over (cut side down) and bake in a 300 degree oven for one hour.

When garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic head and the cloves will come out like toothpaste.

Beef and Pepper Stir Fry

Yesterday afternoon I was trying to make a grocery list while trying to figure out what to cook this week. I really puzzled about what to cook Monday evening. I pulled out this really large file folder with recipes I have collected over the years and found a very tattered copy of a recipe my Mother had gotten from her cousin and copied for me years ago. I read the recipe and remembered how much liked this dish when my made it and hoped it would make my family just as happy. I know the oldest homgirl will complain about the green things but that's just a chance I'll have to take. So let's get out of the Monday funk and cook some Beef and Pepper Stir Fry!

Cook 1-1/2 cups of white rice (Try using Jasmine rice - it give this dish a little punch and smells like popcorn while it's cooking).

Pour 2 cups of beef broth in a small pot over low heat to warm the broth.

Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable or peanut oil to pan.

Add 1-1/2 lbs. beef sirloin trimmed of fat thinly sliced, stir-fry meat 3 minutes and remove from pan and set aside.

To the same pan, add 1 green bell pepper diced into 1-inch squares and 1 thinly sliced medium onion. Stir-fry veggies 2 minutes.

Add meat back to the pan. Add 1/2 cup dry sherry and stir fry until liquid almost evaporates about 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to the pan.

In a small bowl, dissolve 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with a ladle of warm beef broth with a whisk.

Add beef broth to the pan, then add cornstarch combined with broth, add 1 teaspoon of Chinese Five-Spice powder and black pepper to taste. Stir sauce until it thickens and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Remove wok or pan from heat. Fill bowls with stir-fry and top with a scoop of rice. Placing rice on top of stir-fry, rice will stay firm and not soak up too much sauce. Garnish with 3 chopped scallions and 1/2 cup toasted almond slivers.

Notes:

1. Place the meat in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes prior to slicing, this will firm up the meat and make it easier to slice thin.

2. Try using Tamari instead of regular soy sauce. Tamari is an aged soy sauce with a rich flavor. You should be able to find it on the Asian aisle of your grocery store.

3. Toast almonds on the stove top on a medium low heat. Buy a small bag of slivered almonds on the baking aisle and heat them in a small pan on the stove, tossing them often so they do not burn. The toated tasted is fabulous!