French Fridays with Dorie: Fresh Orange Pork Tenderloin

SAME INGREDIENTS BUT DIFFERENT PRESENTATION

I'm a bit late.  I try to get my posts up in the morning, but today the morning was crazy...its that time of year.  No sleep and piles of papers everywhere.  I'm adding numbers in my daydreams.  And this week has been a week of problems...it just happens sometimes, and this is one of those times.  But I can't skip out on a recipe with fresh oranges...my backyard trees are calling.  

We just ate this Fresh Orange Pork Tenderloin salad a few minutes ago.  Hubby and Son #2 enjoyed this recipe with me and both licked their plates clean, well almost.

Its a lovely day in AZ and garden time is precious.  The heat will be here soon and gardens will die, not from frost as happens in most of the country, but from frying.  The oranges and veges are all from my yard.  I baked flatbread yesterday while adding the pork tenderloin to a ziplock bag filled with herbs and spices and orange juice/zest as a marinade.  

For my salad I used a simple mix of  fresh greens, red onion, and cilantro.  I sectioned oranges (not navels, which are not a good cooking orange--drier and meatier and become a little bitter when cooked-- but  lovely, sweet, juicy eating oranges which are practically seedless), very lightly sprinkled on a  vinaigrette made from oilive oil, cider vinegar, and orange juice,  tossed on  feta cheese  and fresh zest.

The meat was lightly browned in a little butter-oil mixture with  orange zest and juice and a little salt and pepper.  The marinade clung to the outside edges of the meat, adding extra goodness and color to this dish.

This salad fits into my schedule during this busy time as it took only 10 minutes yesterday and then 20 minutes more today total prep time.  For my salad I did not keep the sauce, but the flavor it created for the meat was delicious.

I chose not to serve with potatoes, etc...a heartier meal for those of you having blizzard conditions today, but went lighter and used what I have.

#2 son took his salad bowl ingredients and made a sandwich using the bread which he split...looked great.

Hubby had just come in from mowing the lawn and was in the mood for a healthy, tasty meal, and he was pleased with our dinner.

For sure I'm make this again.  My inspiration is from our Dorie assignment today and done my way.

HAPPY VALENTINES TO YOU ALL!

Baked Sunday Mornings: Strawberry Jello Salad with Pretzel Crust

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TURKEY

Strawberry jello salad, or any jello, does not fare well in our AZ summer heat, unless one enjoys drinking their salad.  I'm a day late with this post...forgot I planned ahead on this one which was actually made a few months ago, during cooler weather.

This post takes me back to Turkey's birthday.

Young children's birthdays are very special days filled with wonderful excitement and anticipation.  Turkey is my special baking buddy who loved being kidnapped for several hours of cupcake and cookie baking, giving his mom time to wrap a few gifts and to make an A+ Chocolate-Cake-Chocolate-Cheesecake Layered With Ganache And Frosted wIth  her A+ Favorite Bittersweet Chocolotte, Sour Cream Frosting...Decadent!

Turkey also helped "decorate" this Jell-o salad...I think he did a great job!
 

STRAWBERRY JELLO SALAD WITH PRETZEL CRUST AND CREAMY FILLING AND /TOPPING

Of all my grandchildren, Turkey is my most enthusiastic baker.  He was by my side for hours with full attention.  He would not go with Papaw (Hubby) to Sonic to pick up the Wacky Kids Pack he ordered...he was not distracted by anything.  Even late into the night  he was quite busy baking.  He is creative, knows how to be a good helper, and is a great clean-up guy.  He mixes, decorates, sweeps, mops, vacuums, washes dishes, puts soap in the dishwasher, and is happy the entire time.  And he talks to me non-stop...good company.

For his birthday we all got together for an extended family and friends cookout.  The Baked boys Strawberry Jello Salad fit in perfectly.

I am not a fan of Jello which is odd since I grew up in Utah, the Jello capitol of the world...everybody loves Jello in Utah. Every event in Utah includes Jello.  My mom used to make it in some form every week and so did everyone else's mom.  And with such bright colors and such sweet slimy consistency it is kid friendly favorite.

On one occasion I remember making Jello with fruits all by myself at the age of 5.  I also remember spilling the entire bowl of sticky, colored, slimy gelatin filled with Mandarin oranges and fruit cocktail  as I carried it by myself to the fridge.  OOPS!  I hate to think about how sticky the kitchen floor must have been.

While my mother napped  I often did the cooking (Mother thought I was also napping) and then I remember getting the dish rag and cleaning up my mess:  floors, counters, dishes, me, all with the same dish rag  (Gross!)...looking back I probably made a bigger mess.  Well, Jello was the beginning of my cooking days, and Mother was encouraging even though she was always surprised by my creations which magically appeared after her nap.  I don't remember making many messes, but I'll bet I did.  And she never told me not to use the sharp knives or the stove.  She must have figured I'd learn by trial and error, and I did make my share of errors.

DO YOU SEE THE LAYERS?

At the age of 5 I could boil water which was needed to dissolve the Jello (no microwaves back then) and I could get it all put together and ready for dinner by myself.  I was also good at the type of cheesecake that I made in a pie pan with a graham cracker crust and a filling made with cream cheese with sweetened condensed milk, a little lemon juice and vanilla and with no baking, it just set up in the fridge...well it usually set up.  I had to use my mom's Sunbeam mixer for this job...something I'd never let a 5 year old do.  

Back in the 50's and 60's the in thing was all the new box mixes and time saver pre-made baking products...like Bisquick and cake mixes which I always considered to be gross ingredients for food.  Does anyone remember all the Bisquick pizza crust.  Horrible.  All the mothers made it especially when we invited our friends for dinner.  Such an embarrassment.    Well, Jello is in the same category.  To me, almost a non-food.  I don't remember ever making it for my own children.  I do remember making 4th of July jigglers for my grandkids but considered it to be in the real junk food.

So, for this challenge, I set out to make as good a strawberry jello as possible.  Next time I'll use a size smaller pan which will thicken the layers making them more visible and a little prettier.

I added double the sliced strawberries and that mentally justified this food as OK for dinner.  I also doubled the filling so that I could pipe half as a creamy topping.  I do like this topping as the cream remains whipped and keeps its shape but does not taste     strongly of the cream cheese...more like sweetened whipped cream that has been stabilized.

AND ALL THE YUMMY STRAWBERRIES

                                                                              TURKEY TURNS 4

I admit we all liked this Strawberry, pretzel crust, Jell-o salad and it fit into  Turkey's birthday celebration quite well....Jell-o continues to be good kid food.  Turkey and I had such a good time baking and making that I'll have to invent the next reason to bake with him soon.

I look forward to seeing all your Strawberry Jello Salads with the Pretzel Crust...and by the way, this crust is delish!   I might be a Jello convert with this recipe.

French Friday with Dorie: Crab and Grapefruit Salad

THIS SALAD MADE A FANCY MAIN COURSE FOR MY BACKYARD LUNCHEON

The exquisite flavors and textures in every bite of this salad made it a surprising hit.  I admit that when I first considered pairing grapefruit with crab I wasn't getting good vibes.  Because of that I made no special efforts with this salad other than making it pretty enough for a patio luncheon.

Because I was not optimistic, I decided to use whatever was already in the fridge or growing in the yard.

Dorie's Bonne Idee of putting a layer of spicy guacamole in the bottom of the bowls sounded like the best way to begin.  I'm glad I took this suggestion which gave so much rich flavor to all the other ingredients--like adding a great dressing that brings all the other flavors together and really finishes the salad.

MY BACKYARD GRAPEFRUIT

In addition to Dorie's vegetable list, I added celery and shelled raw English peas.  I had mint growing in the garden and used baby spinach as a top garnish along with seasoned shrimp.

I know I'm weird, but I love salty grapefruit.  Everyone I know either eats this fruit just as Mother Nature produced it or with a sprinkling of sugar, but I sit out in the back yard with my salt shaker and enjoy my breakfast in grapefruit heaven.  So, the idea of salting and peppering this grapefruit salad was right up my alley. 

I shouldn't admit it, but my way big cheat was...it was already  in the fridge...I used imitation krab which I love in salads.  It was sweet and delicious and I would do it again!  And no one complained.  There aren't many options for fresh lump crab meat in AZ.  (I do get those containers of pasturized lump crab meat from companies like Phillips when I make my Maryland style crabcakes...it's good, but I wouldn't want it in a salad!)

A DELICIOUS, EDIBLE CENTER PIECE THAT IS HEALTHY, AND BEAUTIFUL--PERFECT FOR THIS SUNNY SPRING DAY

Hope you are all enjoying lovely Spring days too.  I can't believe I will be turning my calendar page to April in only one more day.

French Friday with Dorie: Deconstructed BLT and Eggs

BLT SALAD

I'm not going to think about this one very much because I can't believe that I ate this entire salad all by myself..in one sitting.  And it was all good down to the last morsel.

For this salad I visited the deli where I purchased some really good maple cured bacon, something I would enjoy in a tasty BLT.   While frying, it made the house smell so good that I started dreaming about the pancakes that would go with that syrupy smell.  Then I made  croutons using herb infused olive oil for sauteing cubes of day-old roasted garlic and thyme artisan bread.  This combo created a good flavor.  I'm not usually a crouton person, which are usually cubes of  hard, old bread with no great flavor.  I also made hard boiled eggs which I will show to Stephy-Wephy in this photograph as she accuses me of always hard boiling the eggs until the yolks turn grayish-green.  I was more careful today, but I enjoy them well-done rather than runny.

I CAN'T BELIEVE I ATE THE WHOLE THING!

Then I arranged "Spring" lettuces, carrot, peppers, and the important-to-BLT tomato slices like I would slice them for a BLT sandwich, and I used slow roasted grape tomatoes as a garnish.  (Since eggs are not really in BLT's, I figured I could also add carrots and peppers which are not really in BLT's).  And then I added my bacon and eggs to top the salad.  The eggs were sprinkled with salt and smoked paprika just to make them pretty.

A little vinaigrette and freshly ground pepper added flavor, but I chose not to add mayonnaise. 

All in all a good salad and substantial enough to make a meal...especially when I eat the whole thing.  Next time I make this salad, I promise I will share.

French Friday with Dorie: Chunky Beets and Icy Red Onions

BEETS & RED ONIONS WITH DRESSING MAKES THIS SIMPLE SALAD

I am in the mood to cook today.  I did well yesterday on my office paper work and on my to-do list and feel I deserve a fun day, especially one that results in good food for my family.  It is  extremely hot at 117^right now in Gilbert  (Phoenix is 114^ and these temps will continue for the next 2 weeks).  My readers may think I am off my rocker, but the heat invigorates me.  The AZ sun is like solar power that I have adjusted to feel is comforting and even addicting.  I love being outdoors, and I love to prepare foods that can be cooked and eaten outdoors.  

The Fourth of July holiday is coming up so I've decided on several summer salads,  red-white-and-blue desserts to bake, and foods for grilling.  (We will celebrate this holiday a few times...holidays sometimes go on for weeks around here...we just did Father’s Day twice.)  I  have decided to include our assigned Chunky Beets and Icy Red Onions as part of our pre-Fourth of July menu...the red works with our color scheme.

FOR CRISPY AND LESS BITTER TASTE, SLICE THE ONION AND SOAK IN COLD WATER

When we first moved to the Phoenix Valley, I was excited to plant a wonderful vegetable garden at our new home.  I staked out my plot and dug up the hard sunbaked ground, added good soil and fertilizers, bought my seeds and baby plants, and during the month of February, before the summer heat kicked in, my garden seemed to be flourishing.

Growing up in Utah and also living in upstate New York for 7 years, we had always enjoyed bountiful gardens that supplied not only our needs but the needs of all our neighbors.  It was part of my life to prepare, plant, care for, harvest, juice, pickle, preserve, freeze,  or can.  It is what one does in the summer and during harvest time.

I knew I was a great gardener and I was willing to work hard to grow my family’s organic foods, but AZ has other plans.  First of all, there is no good soil here and something happens to new, good soil that gets brought in....just disappears.  Second, it is just too hot.  Things start to die over 100^ no matter how much care they get.  Third, I can grow giant tomato plants, but only a few cherry tomato sized fruits are harvested.  Fourth, there are the dessert bugs...they appear in hoards all in one day and eat everything all at once before you can get to the poison store–and there goes the organic foods idea.  Fifth, we have birds.  And I mean birds.  Thousands of them and they know just when I plan to pick the food because in the night before I plan to harvest (happens that way every time just like clockwork) they eat everything the bugs did not want.  I wake up to nothing left.  No exaggeration.  One year I had beautiful and abundant apricots.  I was excited and planned to pick them in the morning, but during the night the birds got every apricot.  And, of course, they don’t eat the entire fruit, they peck a bite out one  fruit,  and then they go to the next and peck a bite, etc.  All totally ruined.  (I have Anna apples almost ready to harvest now...so I will have to pick them  green  because if they get ripe the birds will get them first....and apples don’t ripen after picking but they will be good enough for pie.)

WHISK TOGETHER  DIJON MUSTARD, HONEY, VINEGAR, EVO, AND SEASONINGS

My garden rows of beets and carrots looked good.  I’ve tried to grow them different ways 3 or 4 times and they always look good in the beginning.  I must have thought that I had learned to be an AZ farmer and could grow beets.  But the hard-as-concrete dirt we have here (the Indians built homes from our dirt hundreds of years ago buy just adding a little water...and the homes are still here, even our monsoon rains do not wash them away...you can just guess what happens to mud that gets into the bottoms of our shoes) grows root veges that are also hard-as-concrete and small as pebbles.  Very frustrating.  I think the hot sun petrifies them like the AZ pertified wood forest that turned to rock.

I harvested my beets, which were small, but I thought they might be lovely “baby beets.”  I boiled them and boiled them more, and boiled them more...and they remained hard as rocks.  Can’t be peeled because how do you peel a rock?  Can’t stick a knife in them so how could we ever put out teeth into them?  

I learned that, like I was told but wouldn’t listen, beets do not grow in AZ.  Sad.  Beets had previously been a “go to” vegetable along with peas, corn, and green beans...one of the big 4.  My little kids had loved them, especially pickled or hot with melted butter.  But I find that in AZ most locals have never tasted beets.  You can purchase them at the grocery store, but they are trucked in from somewhere, not fresh, and are expensive.

I FOUND MY READY-TO-EAT BEETS AT TRADER JOE'S

I was at Trader Joe’s and found beets in their fresh salads area, all cooked, peeled, and ready to eat.  I decided to try them in Dorie’s salad.  The prepared beets made the salad very quick and easy to ready, but I must say, I was disappointed with the results.  I was glad I had made several other summer salads for our meal.  The beet salad was tasted by most of my family, but no good comments...one son-in-law actually tasted beets for the first time with this salad, and it was not a good introduction.  I had thought my Russian daughters might enjoy the salad as they make lovely beet salads where they chop up the beets very small, add canned peas...must be canned...and chop up eggs, etc. and use a mayonnaise dressing.  It is quite good.  But they did not touch this Dorie beet salad.

Dorie suggests accompanying this beet salad with other foods such as goat cheese.  I’m happy that I just let this salad accompany a great meal that included other wonderful salads and foods.  In the end, it became unexciting leftovers.

COMBINE BEETS, ONIONS, AND DRESSING AND THIS EASY SALAD IS COMPLETE

But I will share a tasty and simple pickled beet recipe from my grandmother who was a terrific gardener and made my favorite pickled beets which she canned every year and brought to every family party.

Pickled Beets
as made by Kris’ grandmother, Hazel Baird

1 peck tender young beets

Cook until tender.  Peel off skins.  Make the following syrup:

2 C sugar
2 C water
2 C strong vinegar
1 tsp allspice
1 thinly-sliced lemon
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves

Bring syrup to a boil, pour over beets which have been placed into a pot, and simmer 15 minutes.  Pack in sterilized jars and seal.  (Or enjoy eating them without first canning.)   
Note:  If beets are larger than very small “baby” size, they can be sliced or quartered and used.

Happy Fourth of July to you all!  Hope you enjoy your holiday and have a great week!!!