Maple Pork Tenderloin ala Jarred

Jarred's cooking of pork loin inspired me to try it myself. I was a little nervous as i'm pretty inexperienced cooking meat, but i thought that i'd seen it a few times, and i looked up a few articles online - i felt prepared. I decided to use a PC Maple Bacon marinade (pork with pork? sounds good to me)

As a side, and since we had a bunch i made potato salad. My secret to potato salad is once the potatoes are cooked and still warm i soak them in white vinegar for half an hour. I also put in half of the onions i am planning on using. This gives the salad a really nice tang, and allows for a creamy dressing that has a lot of flavour. For the dressing i mixed equal parts mayo, sour cream and dijon mustard along with chili flakes, pepper and dill.

I had bought a bunch of Ontario strawberries, and was inspired to make this kinda decedent salad that i saw once on a cooking show. It is made of avocado, cucumber, strawberries, lime juice and crab meat. You cut everything approximately the same size, then gently toss to mix, dressing it with lime juice and a bit of olive oil.

The pork was a bit dicey as when i thought it was done i cut it open and it was still pretty rare inside. I was terrified of poisoning my family so i put it back on the grill for a while longer, and tented it in foil for ten minutes after. I probably over cooked it, and would be a little less cautious a second time, but it was good and the maple bacon sauce was pretty tasty.

Pork Loin

Ready to Serve

Cod with Roasted Pinapple Salsa

My first stab at a fruit salsa with fish went pretty well, so i thought i would try the same thing up at the cottage. Up in Haliburton i was looking at the frozen fish, and President's Choice had cod fillets on sale. I really like cod, but i didn't think it could stand up to the bbq being as light a fish as it was, then i realized i didn't have to cook it over direct heat, and thought i would try something a little more innovative. (for me at least)

Now that i had the fish sorted out i needed to decide on something for the salsa. I had recently made a roasted pineapple salsa for the fish tacos, and thought it would be a nice topping for the fish. I roasted the pineapple and some red and orange peppers for the salsa. I also added some more traditional salsa ingredients such as tomatoes, onions, garlic, avocados and cumin.

As you may realize i always like to have some bruschetta like dish with my meals so i used some of the roasted peppers and topped crostini that i had spread with herbed goat cheese for a little treat. The other ones i made were a mixture of chopped tomato and extra old white cheddar.

I defrosted the fish in the sink in cold water - which was actually a lot quicker than i had anticipated. To cook the fish i lightly oiled some aluminum foil and seasoned the fish with simple salt and pepper. I also put a small amount of butter to make the dish a bit richer. I folded the foil over the fish and made little packets, sealing the edges by crimpling them. I put the packages on the grill and they cooked really quickly.

For the rest of the meal i had asparagus, roasted mini potatoes and a salad of mixed greens, Ontario strawberries, red onions and goat cheese with a balsamic dressing.

Thai Veggie Curry

Really haven't made this meal in a while, but i was trying to clean out the fridge as i am out of town hiding from all the G-20 crap that is going on in the city. I had a whole bunch of veggies i had picked up at T&T, and the best way to use them up - Curry!!!!

I won't be updating for a few days, but will have lot of meals to report on when i get back.

The Veggies

Cooking the veggies


The meal
(there is successful brown rice hiding in the red bowl
the curse may be over)

Lazy Cold Noodles

Sometimes i like to make really easy cold noodle dishes. I often purchase Tofu Shirataki noodles which you can get at T&T. They are pretty healthy, but you do need to rinse them thoroughly before using them as they have a very funky odour. I prefer the spaghetti or angel hair ones - i think the thicker ones are kinda gross

This time i made them for a quick bite and a couple work lunches. I used some of the leftover veggies i had from my "Asian" Salmon Burgers and cut them finely. The dressing was very similar to that one too.

Mad chopping

Making a mess!

Ribs on Father's Day

Being the super-traditional family mine is - we picked up some ribs from the Beaches Rib Fest on Father's day, reheated them and ate them in the back yard of my sister's new place. Well, that's simplifying - my sister also made some slow cooker ribs, a salad and there was a cheese tray. I was instructed to bring a salad, so i thought since the tomatoes looked so lovely that i would make a caprese salad.

In my wisdom i thought i would try to reduce some balsamic, which i did very effectively - alas it does not transport well and was pretty hard by the time i got there. There Cherry Almond Tart turned out pretty good though

Reducing the Balsamic

Caprese Salad

My plate

The Spread

Homemade "Asian" Salmon Burgers

A lot of the ideas i get for meals and entries are from other blogs. In particular i love looking at the pictures on foodgawker - no matter how blah you are a quick look at all of these lovely dishes will make you hungry! This week i was feeling especially lazy, and took to looking at foodgawker for something to spark my interest in making something. As often happens on the internet, one link took me to another, and another and i was looking at a blog about making all types of salmon burgers - and one was asian inspired....

My relationship with salmon has been shaky over the last few years due to a food poisoning incident - but i've started eating smoked salmon, and recently made that maple salmon pasta so i thought perhaps i was ready. I also liked this because it wasn't just some fillet, but a little more challenging. I made sure to buy some high quality salmon and had them skin it at the counter as i always make a mess of that aspect.

I'm not a huge bread/bun person, so i thought instead of serving these like regular burgers i would do them with a salad. I figured i would make an "asian" salad to work with the burgers.


The burgers themselves were really easy. I used about a pound of salmon, and cut it into chunks, then pureed a quarter of the salmon with soy sauce and sesame oil. Once that was a paste i added the rest of the salmon and a quarter of an onion and pulsed until they were dime-sized pieces. After that i put the mixture in a bowl, added salt and pepper and mixed in a couple tbsps of sesame seeds about half a cup of panko bread crumbs. (which i prefer to regular bread crumbs)

Once i had everything mixed i formed patties - this is supposed to make four but i had a little runt left so i made one mini burger. Heating up a pan i added a tsp of butter and once it foamed i added the patties and let them cook about four minutes a side.


On the salad i went a little rogue - i just ran around the grocery store picking things that i though would be fun - i ended up with zucchini, cucumber, red and orange peppers, red onions, avocado, mango, hot peppers, arugula, cilantro. When i got home i realized that i also had some peanuts so i roasted them too.

For the dressing i went with a easy one i've made before - i don't have a real recipe or measurements, i just taste it and see if i like it. Its olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and hot peppers.

Just before we were sitting down to eat i thought that perhaps the burgers might be a bit dry so i mixed a quick sauce - i used mayo, cilantro, avocado and hot sauce to top the burgers. I would have preferred sour cream, but i didn't have any.


The burgers were pretty good - i might try this with tuna instead, and actually the salad ended up being the stand out of the meal. Sometimes these things happen.

Cherry Almond Tart for Father's Day

Yeah, i love cherries - and i have to admit this is the first year i've really been experimenting by cooking with them, my new cherry pitter might have something do with it too. While i ended up making the Talapia and Cherry Salsa first, it was really this recipe i was excited about making.

The fact that it also involved almonds was pretty much the deal sealer. It also required the use of my flan pan - which is pretty much the only decent bakeware i have. I think the making of a really cherry pie will require the purchase of a better pie pan. (ie not aluminum)


This recipe really calls for Kirsch, but after visits to three different LCBO's i was unable to find any. At the last one i finally found some cherry schnapps. I have no idea whether this was an appropriate substitution and when looking it up online i didn't sound like i had the right thing. Well i added it anyway! (I also discovered it was pretty tasty mixed with soda)

You made the "almond cookie" crust ahead and bake it for ten minutes to lightly brown it. It was made with butter, sugar and blanched almonds, vanilla and almond extract, so i knew it was going to be good. While it was baking i pitted some cherries, and made the a simple custard to fill it out. I added the cherries then poured the custard around it - and topped it with some more of the ground almond.


Posting this i haven't tried it yet - its dessert for Father's Day's dinner!!! Looks tasty though

Talapia and Cherry Salsa

It is almost embarrassing how excited i was with my most recent purchase- a cherry pitter. I love cherries, and recently had some good ones with my dessert at Fat Cat. I have always wanted to make cherry pie - so while i was looking for recipes for a suitable cherry pie, i also found a recipe that really intrigued me - it was Talapia with Cherry Salsa. Talapia is such a reasonably priced fish that you can get fresh or frozen - i always like to cook with it.


I of course had to see if my cherry pitter would also work on olives, so i did a few of those, and didn't want to waste them so i made a few little apps with things i had in my fridge (goat cheese, pesto, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, roasted garlic, tomato and avocado).


The cherry Salsa was really good - it had a nice bite to it, and complimented the fish. I would really make this dish again because it was quite nice on its own too.

Cherry Salsa

1/2 lb of cherries (about 2 cups), pitted and coarsely chopped
1/2 a small red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro*, chopped
1 large jalapeno, seeds removed and minced
1 tbsp of fresh lime juice
salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients, season to taste and let sit.


*the original recipe called for parsley, but i didn't have any and i can't really stand it anyway


For the sides i did a lemon butter rapini - which i thought was a nice accompaniment - asparagus of course, since i always have it in the fridge. For the potatoes, instead of doing my usual roasted ones, i thought that i would make them sweeter rather than savory, so i roasted them in olive oil, a bit of pepper and maple syrup.

Voila - a very nice and unique meal

Blender Gazpacho

Cold soups can be a little strange - my mother makes a good cucumber one and i've also had melon soup before, personally though i like to make gazpacho. Its really easy - especially the way i make it and it gets better over a couple of days. I don't really know where i got this recipe, i probably had it written down at some point or might have seen it on tv - its probably no where near the original or traditional, but i like it, and that's what counts!

Ingredients

A couple tomatoes
Two cucumbers
Quarter of red onion
Jalapeno
Three slices of bread
Can of tomatoes (whole)
Balsamic vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper and Chili Flakes

I peeled and seeded the cucumbers and cut them into smaller pieces. I also chopped up the tomato, red onions and jalapenos. The bread i had was pretty moist so i toasted it for better texture.


In the blender i put in the cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and jalapeno, then added the can of tomatoes with the sauce, and simply blended it.


Once i had that blended i added the bread, olive oil, seasoning and most importantly the balsamic. The vinegar really adds to this dish so don't skip it.

Little Fish Inspired Breakfast

There is an amazing little breakfast/lunch/brunch spot in the Junction called Little Fish - and this saturday as i was returning from a run i saw their scramble of the day. I was very tempted to just be lazy and go in there for lunch, but i'm trying to be a little more financially responsible, so i thought instead i would recreate it at home. I had most of the the ingredients, and thought to augment the meal with homefries and an arugula salad.

I had actually never thought of putting scrambled eggs in a sandwich until this place - a wrap yes, but a sandwich sounded messy. When making a breakfast burrito a few months ago i looked up the Martha Stewart Method of making scrambled eggs, and it really does make nice fluffy eggs. Say what you want about Martha Stweart, she does know how to explain the basics.

The ingredients

Eggs and homefries
(i did the home fries on the stove top instead of roasting them
like i usually do)

Breakfast - i added avocado, tomato, mayo and swiss to the sandwich
and served the homefries with some sundried tomoato pesto as
i didn't have ketchup and don't really like it.