Mr. Husband cooked this recipe for the first time a few months ago. The kids and I returned home late in the evening after a play date at our friends’ house to find the house smelling heavenly from this dish. The aromas hit my nose the second I stepped out of my car in the garage… Mr. H did a fine job!

Last Sunday, when we planned our meals for the upcoming week—we’re trying to be more efficient—that recipe jumped into my head. It’s fairly easy to make and quick, and it tastes gorgeous. The pork tenderloin is sliced instead of being cooked whole, and this makes it cook in 3 minutes. Then it is bathed in a creamy sauce with a splash of cognac… I’ll let your imagination do the rest of the work and leave you at that…

Pork tenderloin stroganoff

The recipe below is based on one from Gordon Ramsay’s cookbook “Cooking for Friends“.

I made a few minor changes: I had more pork and less mushrooms than what the recipe calls for, I used less onion and cognac instead of brandy. I added a little of butter, and I cooked the mushrooms with the onions, side by side, because I needed a short cut. I cooked the dish ahead of time—it doesn’t have to be served “immediately”—and will reheat it tonight. (And I changed some of the wording in the recipe.)

I’m going to serve it tonight with buttered pasta and roasted Brussels sprouts. Mmmmmmm…

Serves 4-6

1 to 1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin
Salt
Black pepper, freshly ground
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6-7 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons cognac/brandy
1/2 cup sour cream or heavy cream
1/2 lemon, juiced
Handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

If you have time, trim off any fat or sinew from the pork tenderloin (I skipped this step). Then, slice it to about 1/2-inch thickness medallions. Season with salt, pepper and sprinkle with paprika.

In a large skillet over medium, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil, add onion and sauté until soft and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. (If you are in a rush, like I was, push the onions to the side, add the mushrooms and start cooking them too, side by side).

Add the garlic, mushrooms, and butter, and fry until mushrooms are tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the contents of the pan into a bowl and set aside.

Add remaining oil to the pan and fry the pork over high until golden brown, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. Return the onions-mushrooms mix back to the pan. Add the brandy and let it boil until most of it is reduced.

Stir in cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Season with a bit more salt and pepper, then the lemon juice. Throw in chopped parsley and remove pan from heat.

Serve immediately or cool and reheat for dinner.

I have told you before about my 130+ cookbooks, haven’t I?! There are quite a few Italian cookbooks,  a few Mediterranean ones (my favorite food), Mexican, American, French cooking…. baking cookbooks… but not even one about Asian food. Well, Jaden from Steamy kitchen has changed that with her new cookbook.

I love Asian food but I mostly eat it when we eat out. Sushi, Chinese, Thai… But at home, besides the occasional use of soy, ginger, maybe a star anise here and there and rice vinegar, I can’t say I really cook Asian food. Besides Pad Thai.

I’ve started reading the Steamy Kitchen blog a while ago, but it really caught my attention when Jaden, who writes the blog, posted about a very fun trip she organized at Club Med with her blogger friends. It made me very happy to read that. When I dug further as to why it made me so happy that other people are having so much fun, I realized that she showed me that only the sky is the limit to one’s dream.

Well, first you need to have a dream, of course. Then you need to dare and follow up on that dream. Jaden has created a career out of her blog and she now has a new cookbook, appears on TV, she travels, meets and makes friends with interesting and talented people, and it all started with a blog. But most of all, I think she’s having lots and lots of fun doing all of this. In addition to all that, she never stops to amaze me each time she responds to an e-mail or a tweet I send her way. Truly inspiring, isn’t she?!

So, of course, I had to buy the book. Besides all the inspiration I knew I will find easy to make recipes which is what I needed to kick start my Asian cooking experience. And it fits with my glamorous life style too! Quick and delicious recipes, short preparation, big flavor.

The first recipe I chose to make was sweet and sour pork meatballs with lychee since this week I have decided to attack my family with meatballs dinners and this recipe fitted right with my plan. What can I tell you? We were all happy and licking our forks.

These meatballs rock!

Sweet and sour lychee meatballs

Adapted from Steamy Kitchen cookbook (copied with permission)
Makes 4 servings

One 14 oz. (400 grams) can lychees, drained (reserve 1/4 cup juice for the sauce), cut in half
2-3 tablespoons canola oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into big chunks
1 yellow/green bell pepper, cut into big chunks

For the sweet and sour sauce:
1/4 cup (65 ml) juice from the drained lychees
1/4 cup (65 ml) white vinegar (I used 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1/4 cup (65 ml) ketchup
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the meatballs:
1 lb. (500 grams) ground pork
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon
1 tablespoons flour

In a small pot, bring the sauce ingredients to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine all the meat ingredients and form 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) size meatballs. (Jaden recommends making tight meatballs. I’m not very good at that so mine weren’t very compact, but they held their shape when fried and cooked in the sauce).

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the meatballs and fry, turning them every 2-3 minutes, until they are nicely browned from all sides. Remove to a plate. Discard the oil and wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel.

Reuse the skillet and add to it the lychees and peppers, the sauce, and the meatballs. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat, stirring gently from time to time, for about 10-15 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.

What I love about meatloaf are two things: 1) it’s a great way to stretch 1-2 pounds of meat into a dish enough for 6-8 people (like they did in the old days), and 2) it’s a simple dish to make and very comforting to eat.

This recipe for French meatloaf in Gourmet magazine (April 2009  issue) caught my eye because it looked more like a French pâté. The addition of chicken liver and prunes sounded intriguing. The result: It was an interesting variation for the good old stand-by meatloaf recipe I usually make.

Because I wasn’t sure my Pyrex glass pan will stand the heat of a 475 F degrees as the recipe asks for – and I didn’t want to take a risk and try it – I baked my meatloaf in a 400F oven for 1 1/2 hours. Be sure to place your loaf pan in a larger baking sheet to catch those overflow juices.

Rustic French Meatloaf

Adapted from Gourmet magazine, April 2009
Serves 6-8

1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs*
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 lb chicken livers, separated into lobes, trimmed, and rinsed
3/4 lb ground pork
3/4 lb ground veal (I used buffalo)
1/4 cup chopped prunes
1/4 cup shelled pistachios (optional)
2 teaspoons thyme leaves*
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley*

Preheat oven to 475ºF (I cooked it in a 400 F) with rack in middle.
Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl.
Cook onion, garlic, and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper in oil in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly.
Purée livers in a blender (I chopped in with a knife), then transfer to a large bowl. Add pork, veal, prunes, pistachios (if using), thyme, eggs, bread-crumb mixture, onion mixture, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper and gently mix with your hands until just combined.
Transfer meatloaf mixture to an 8 1/2- by 4 1/2-inch glass loaf pan and bake, covered with foil, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 165ºF, 50 to 55 minutes (took me 1 1/2 hours baking at 400 F). Let rest 5 minutes.

* I used home-made fresh breadcrumbs flavored with herbs, a terrific shortcut, recipe here.

But first, the winner of the Secret Stash Sea Salts giveaway is…. Deb! who wrote the largest number of comments.

Deb, go to the Secret Stash web site to choose your salt, www.secretsalts.com. I’ll send you an e-mail in a minute with more details.

If you haven’t won, don’t worry. There’s a giveaway going on for cake collectors as we speak. If you have a great cake recipe you want to share with the world, click here for more details and a chance to win a fabulous cookbook!

Meanwhile, Janna from “Secret Stash”  is sharing her recipe for Pan-seared Chicken with Lobster Mushrooms, Rosemary Butter Sauce, and Soy Salt  using Secret Stash Soy salt. Click here.

You can find many other recipes on her blog using the flavorful salts.

And now that we got all the admin stuff cleared, let’s have some pasta!

I have just realized that it’s been a while since I shared a recipe that is not cake with you. Sorry about that non-cake-eaters. But sharing this recipe for Bologenese sauce with you is going to make me feel so much better.

The recipe below is originally from Mario Batali (and appears in his Babbo cookbook, one of my favorites), but I have added so many shortcuts and a few changes that Mario might get mad at me linking his recipe to this one. But in any case, it’s a good one and I keep making it for my family again and again. And again.

Pasta with Bolognese Sauce

Makes 8-10 servings

2 medium onions, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground beef (or 1 lb. veal and 1 lb. pork)
3 oz. pancetta or slab bacon, finely diced
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup milk
1 cup white wine
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 boxes of pasta (try fresh Pappardelle)
Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating

Place onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in a food processor bowl fitted with the steal blade and pulse a few times (you might have to do this is batches) until finely diced.

In an 8-quart, heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and sweat over medium heat until they are translucent and soft but not browned, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the beef and pancetta and stir into the vegetables. Cook over high heat, stirring to keep the meat from sticking together, until browned.

Add the tomato paste, milk, wine, crushed tomaotes, thyme, salt and pepper, and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Season with more salt and pepper to taste, and remove from the heat.

When ready to use, cook the pasta according to the instruction on the package.

Mario says: “The cooked pasta should be added to a saucepan with the appropriate amount of hot ragu Bolognese, and tosses so that the pasta is evenly coated by the ragu.”

Serve with grated Parmesan.

NOTE: It makes a lot of servings, but this sacue freezes beautifully.

Many titles to this post have crossed my mind tonight, like…

I’ve never seen such a thing before
Tonight was a hit
Eating silently
Empty plates
Totally unplanned
Kids ate all
and, Sweet and smoky, among many many others… it’s because I am so excited.
 I bought a few pork chops - which we don’t eat frequently - but felt totally uninspired about what to do with them. So I turned to a few of my cookbooks, however most recipes had sweet ingredients in them and I didn’t feel like making a sweet entree tonight, or ingredients I didn’t have at home.

So I thought: “OK, let’s start with salt, pepper, and olive oil… hmmm… maybe a splash of balsamic vinegar?”, and then I recalled the “Grilling in the Rain” episode and thought of giving it a try with the chops. And what do you know? It worked GREAT! Actually, too good to be true, I might add.

Out of 5 chops, consumed by 2 adults, 1 kindergartner, and 1 baby, this lonely guy in the photo was the last survivor. And here you see us fighting for the Jus.

I really don’t remember having such success with dinner in a long long time. Everyone was licking their fingers and chewing on the bones… Wow. And you know that eat very well in this house, right?! (Check out the recipe page.) But with the kids, dinner usually looks likes this.

And if that doesn’t sell this recipe and make you rush to the grocery store as we speak to get some of your own chops, then I don’t know what will. Maybe this photo on my little boy chewing on the bone and going to hide under the table before I take a photo of him?

***A reminder: The Secret Stash Artisan Sea Salt Giveaway ends 3/15. Click here for more details.***

And… do you like polls? See top sidebar for the current poll and vote. Thank you!

Sweet and Smokey pork chops

Makes 4-5 servings

4-5 pork chops, boneless, 1/2-inch thick
salt, black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
chili powder (I like Spice Island which is smoky but not hot)
cumin
paprika

I did not measure the ingredients. This wasn’t planned, remember?! My method is to lay the chops on a plate and then sprinkle as much or as little of each seasoning that I want on them, then drizzle oil and splash with vinegar, rub everything well, let it rest a couple of minutes (about 15), which also takes out some of the chill and gets the meat to cook nicely for perfect doneness.

These were served with mashed sweet potatoes with some butter and a little bit of heavy cream.

Enjoy.
Nurit 

And, by the way, while on vacation I saw this type of dish for $25 dollars!!!! at a restaurant.

When you make it at home, it costs $4-$5 dollars per serving to make it at home using organic products!

For the pork:
4 pork cutlets*
Salt
Black pepper, ground
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ – 2 cups breadcrumbs (preferably with herbs) **
Canola oil and/or extra virgin olive oil

Reheat oil/s over medium heat in a large skillet.
Season pork with salt and pepper. Put egg in a shallow bowl and the breadcrumbs in separate bowl.
Dip each cutlet in the egg, then coat in the breadcrumbs pressing with your fingers to adhere the coating.
Fry on each side until golden-brown.
Remove from oil and put on paper towels to soak the extra oil.

* Today I used pork loin rib center thin cut (it has some nice marble/fat), or use other cuts (ask the butcher to tenderize them for you if needed), or use chicken breasts.
** Whenever I have leftover bread and herbs (like parsley, cilantro, oregano), I process them together in a food processor to make fine breadcrumbs and freeze it in a Ziploc bag until needed.

For mashed potatoes & yam:
Originally, I planned to write: “You know how to make mashed potatoes. Just add a yam to this one.”
But then I recalled a few watery mashed potatoes I had in the past in other people’s homes. Not a good thing. So, I must add – after draining the potatoes, return them to the hot pot to release some of their steam. This way the water evaporates and your mashed won’t taste so diluted/watery. Also, I find that it is best to cook them whole and unpeeled.
Otherwise, it is the same salt, pepper, butter, and a bit of milk/half and half/heavy cream.

For roasted cauliflower:
1 medium size cauliflower, cut to florets
Salt

Option 1: In a small steaming pot add 2’’ water and bring to boil. Put the cauliflower in the steam basket, salt lightly, cover and cook about 8 minutes (I forgot to measure the time. I think this is what it took).
Now, you can stop here, or take the extra step and roast the cauliflower in a 375 F oven. First check if it needs more salt, black pepper, and if you want, sprinkle some turmeric to give it a nice yellowy color. Drizzle evoo. Mix it gently with your hands. Roast for about 30-40 minutes until browned.

Option 2: Roast without the steaming step. The cauliflower will be more crunchy.