RSS

Tag Archives: americas test kitchen

Time for Some Pork – Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apricot-Orange Glaze with Black Bean and Corn Relish

I love to make pork tenderloin because they can be made pretty quickly and easily during a weeknight and it feels like you are eating an elegant meal. I try to buy them when they are on sale, take one tenderloin out(they are almost always two to a package) and freeze the other for another night. When I went to make this one recently, I found two recipes I actually liked so I ended up combining their ideas into one singular recipe. I took a recipe idea from America’s Test Kitchen along with one from Every Day Health and came up with this roast pork tenderloin with an apricot-orange glaze and black bean and corn relish.

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apricot-Orange Glaze with Black Bean and Corn Relish

1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup apricot preserves

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup dried apricots, quartered

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups frozen corn kernels

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1 small red, yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pat the pork tenderloin dry with paper towels, then season it with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat until it is just smoking. Brown the tenderloin on all sides, reducing the heat if the fat begins to smoke, about 10 minutes. Transfer the tenderloin to a plate and set it aside.

Combine the apricot preserves, orange juice, dried apricots and lemon juice in a bowl. Pour off all the fat from the skillet that held the tenderloin. Add the apricot mixture to the pan. scrape up any browned bits and simmer until the mixture is slightly thickened and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Return the tenderloin to the skillet and coat it well with the glaze on all sides.. Roast the tenderloin in the oven until the center of the pork registers 135 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 15 to 18 minutes, turning the tenderloin halfway through the cooking time.

While the tenderloin is roasting, in a small saucepan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and heat until shimmering. Add the red onion and the pepper and saute until the vegetables are soft, about 2 to 3 minutes.Add the black beans, frozen corn, garlic and drained tomatoes and bring the mixture to a simmer. Heat just until the corn is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Toss in the chopped parsley and mix and the refrigerate the relish for 30 minutes to blend the flavors.

Remove the tenderloin from the oven and transfer it to a cutting board. Tent the tenderloin with aluminum foil and let it rest until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 to 150 degrees before slicing, about 10 minutes. Slice the tenderloin and place it on a serving platter and then drizzle it with any remaining glaze that may be in the skillet. Serve the tenderloin with the black bean relish.

This is a very easy dinner that you can make in under an hour and it tastes great and looks like you put a lot of work into it. The glaze on the pork is super with the apricots and orange juice. I even added an apple to the glaze and baked it over the pork for some extra flavor. We all loved the black bean relish as well. It had incredible flavor and would be perfect as a side for a summer barbecue with ribs, hamburgers or even just as a great side for some Mexican food or even sandwiches. We ate the leftovers several times with other meals. You could use fresh corn for this as well and not cook anything in the recipe and simply combine all of the ingredients until they are well mixed if you wanted it that way or even give it a little heat by using hotter peppers in the relish instead of bell peppers. I also made some asparagus and rice to round out the meal.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. As usual there is always plenty more to come. If you ever have any recipes you might like to share, feel free to drop me a note in the comments section, send me an email at IguanaFlats@msn.com or send me a message on Facebook or Twitter. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

4 Comments

Posted by MikeG on February 19, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Sauce, Side Dishes

Tags: americas test kitchen, apricot-orange glaze, black bean and corn relish, black bean relish, Every Day Health, pork tenderloin, roast pork tenderloin, roasted pork tenderloin, roasted pork tenderloin with apricot-orange glaze

Another Soup (Sans Picture) – French Onion Soup

20 Jan

It really bothers me now when I make something and forget to take a picture of it. It doesn’t happen nearly as often as it did when I first started the blog, but it still happens on occasion. It’s easy when you caught up in cooking and trying to get the meal on the table and you’re talking about homework, what happened at school, work or anything else going on and sometimes by the time I remember there is nothing left to take a picture of. Such is the case when I made French onion soup not that long ago. French onion soup is a personal favorite of Michelle’s and there are lots of recipes out there for it, but this one from America’s Test Kitchen is our personal favorite. It takes longer to cook, but it is so worth it to get the deep, rich onion flavor that you get from cooking the onions this way.

French Onion Soup

3 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 pieces
6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Table salt
2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine
1 bay leaf
Ground black pepper
1 small baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot after 1 hour.

Carefully remove the pot from the oven and place it over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle the pot, cook the onions, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom and the sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, about 15 to 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with dark crust, about 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. Scrape any fond that collects on the spoon back into the onions. Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen the crust, and cook until the water evaporates and the pot bottom has formed another dark crust, about 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat the process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until the onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the chicken and beef broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on the bottom and sides of the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at the edges, about 10 minutes. Set the bread aside.

To serve, adjust an oven rack 6 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on a baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups of soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with the Gruyère cheese. Broil the soup until the cheese is melted and bubbly around the edges, about 3 to 5 minutes. Let the soup cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Admittedly, making the onions this way is a much longer process than some other recipes but I think the flavor you get out of them is worth it. I have had French onion soup before where you can tell the onions were not cooked long enough and taste bitter. That won’t happen with this recipe. You want to make sure that the crocks you use are safe for the broiler to avoid any broken glass in the oven. You could also do all of this in advance if you want to use the soup for a dinner party. The soup will actually have better flavor if it sits for a day or two. You then just need to put it in the crocks under the broiler with the bread and cheese to finish it off. I used homemade broth in mine because I had some around, but if you want to use store-bought it will work just as well here. The flavor for this one is coming mostly from the onions.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe, and I promise to have a picture of it for sure. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

3 Comments

Posted by MikeG on January 20, 2014 in Appetizers, Cooking, Dinner, Holidays, One Pot Meals, Soups & Stews, Vegetables

Tags: America's Test Kitchen French onion soup, americas test kitchen, french onion soup, French onion soup recipe, Gruyère cheese

Stick to Your Ribs Beef and Barley Soup

15 Jan

This may be my absolute favorite soup. Beef and barley soup offers up everything I like about a soup. Rich, hearty stock, flavor meat and vegetables and the barley just seems to pull it all together to make a fantastic meal overall. We made a batch of this soup a week or so ago and froze leftovers just so we could have it again another time. I actually made my own beef stock to make this one using the prime rib bones I had from the holidays so the stock had even better flavor and I didn’t need to follow the stock recipe that is included in this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. If you don’t have your own beef stock, try making this one because it will help add a good depth of flavor to the stock beyond what you get from any store-bought stock.

Beef and Barley Soup

For the Stock:

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and quartered

1 large onion, chopped

1 pound 85 percent lean ground beef

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup dry red wine

8 cups water

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 large celery rib, chopped

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons salt

2 bay leaves

For the Soup:

1 pound sirloin steak tips, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced 1/2-inch thick

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup dry red wine

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1/2 cup pearl barley

3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

To prepare the stock, heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the mushrooms and the chopped onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is browned and a golden brown fond has formed on the bottom of the pot, about 8 to 12 minutes. Stir in the ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until the meat is no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the red wine, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until it is nearly evaporated, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the 8 cups of water, the chopped carrot, celery, soy sauce, salt and bay leaves and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, skimming as needed, until the stock tastes rich and flavorful, about 1 1/2 hours. Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer and discard the solids. Allow the stock to settle for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the fat from the stock by skimming with a wide, shallow spoon or using a fat separator. Set the stock aside.

To prepare the soup, pat the sirloin steak tips dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is well browned, about 5 to 7 minutes, reducing the heat if the pot is beginning to scorch. transfer the browned meat to a medium bowl and repeat the process with 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil and the remaining beef. transfer the second batch of browned meat to the bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil to the now-empty Dutch oven and heat over medium heat until it is shimmering. Add the cremini mushrooms and the chopped onion and cook until they are softened, about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic clove and the thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the all-purpose flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the red wine, scraping up any browned bits and cook until the wine is nearly evaporated, about 1 minute.

Stir in the reserved beef stock, the drained diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, pearl barley, bay leaves and the meat along with any accumulated meat juices in the bowl. Bring the mixture to a boil then cover, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the meat, barley and vegetables are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Off the heat, remove the bay leaves. Stir in the fresh minced parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

A couple of quick notes about the recipe. If you don’t want to cook with the red wine, leave it out or substitute water or extra beef stock. You might lose a bit of flavor but not that much. I used plain white mushrooms instead of cremini because I can’t always get cremini around here. even if you don’t really like mushrooms, they really do add some great flavor to this soup so you should try to keep them in. Michelle doesn’t like to eat mushrooms, but we still use them for the flavor and she eats around them. You also want to make sure you cut everything to uniform sizes so it all cooks evenly. One thing to know about any leftovers or if you are cooking this ahead of time – barley will keep absorbing liquid as it sits, so be prepared for that. It’s best to eat this the same day you make it or know you will have to add stock when you re-heat and the barley will be a bit bloated. Other than that, this is a great filling soup that everyone seems to enjoy and it is one of my favorites every time.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then,enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on January 15, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Soups & Stews

Tags: America's Test Kitchen beef and barley soup, americas test kitchen, beef and barley soup, beef barley soup, beef stock

A Great Game Day (or Any Day) Snack – Homemade Pizza Rolls

07 Jan

Okay, Sean has been asking me to make these for almost a year now and I was finally able to get around to making them not that long ago. I had gotten the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen a long time ago and have wanted to give it a try but it does take a little bit of work. Lots of people love to snack on pizza rolls at a party or while watching a football game. They make a great easy snack that you can pop in the oven quickly, but why not try to make some at home without all the added preservatives and ingredients that are in the ones you buy at the store? This recipe covers all of that. I did change one thing along the way. I opted not to fry these and simply baked them in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes and I think they turned out just fine. I have included the frying instructions with the recipe, so the choice is yours as to how you want to make them.

Homemade Crispy Pizza Rolls

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons tomato paste

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground fennel

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained well, chopped fine, juice reserved

2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese

3 tablespoons minced fresh basil

Salt and pepper

2 (12-ounce) packages wonton wraps

3 quarts vegetable oil for frying

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a fine sieve to dust evenly with about half of the cornstarch. Set a wire rack inside a second baking sheet. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until it is shimmering. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste is a deep rust color, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, oregano, fennel and red pepper flakes and cook until the mixture is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Stir in the tomatoes and the reserved juice, bring to a simmer and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to 1 cup, about 9 to 11 minutes. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and refrigerate until it is cold, about 30 minutes. The mixture can be made, refrigerated until cold and covered for up to 2 days at this point.

Stir the cheese and basil into the tomato mixture to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Working with 4 to 6 wonton wrappers at a time, place 1 level teaspoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and press down to flatten. Lightly brush all sides of one wonton wrapper with water to moisten the edges. Fold the bottom half of the wrapper over the filling, then fold the wrapper again and roll it so the seam is down. Press the wonton around the filling to squeeze out the air, then press the edges firmly to seal the wonton.

Transfer the wonton seam side down to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process with more wonton wrappers and filling until all of the filling is used. Continue to fill the baking sheet and place another piece of parchment paper dusted with cornstarch over those already done to create a second layer. Freeze the pizza rolls until they are firm, about 30 to 60 minutes. The pizza rolls can be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 month at this point.

Add the vegetable oil to a large Dutch oven until it measures 2 inches and heat the oil over medium-high heat until it registers 375 degrees on a candy thermometer. Transfer 14 to 16 pizza rolls to the oil and cook, stirring and flipping occasionally, until they are golden brown, adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain the oil temperature between 350 and 375 degrees, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the pizza rolls to a wire rack. Return the oil to 375 degrees and repeat with the remaining pizza rolls. Alternatively, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the pizza rolls on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake until they are golden brown, about 20 to 30 minutes. Let the pizza rolls cool for 5 minutes and serve with warm marinara sauce, if desired.

If you have had pizza rolls before, you know they are lava hot right out of the oven so make sure you resist the temptation and let them cool for a few minutes before eating. These did have a little bit of a bite to them because of the red pepper flakes, so you may want to cut back or eliminate them if you don’t want the heat. You could also mix things up and add things like some sautéed diced onions, peppers, bits of cooked Italian sausage, pepperoni or just about anything else. They were pretty tasty and I think they came out fine with baking instead of frying. You can avoid using all that oil and get good results this way.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day, stay warm and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on January 7, 2014 in Appetizers, Cooking, Pizza, Snacks

Tags: America's test Kitchen pizza rolls, americas test kitchen, football snacks, homemade crispy pizza rolls, pizza rolls

Better Than Delivery: Food Processor Pizza Dough and a Couple of Pizzas

25 Oct

Very often when I make pizza at home I use a store-bought dough to make life a little bit easier for me. I have bought the dough and sometimes a pre-made pizza crust so we can have a quick meal. Recently I came upon recipes both from Williams-Sonoma and America’s Test Kitchen that made pizza dough right in the food processor with minimal ingredients and no real kneading at all, making it very easy to make your own dough at home. I actually ended up combining the two recipes somewhat to make my own pizza dough for this one. The America’s Test Kitchen recipe used bread dough, which I liked, but made too many pizza crusts for me, so I combined it with the Williams-Sonoma recipe to get what I wanted.

Food Processor Pizza Dough

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water (105° to 115°F)
3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade, combine the flour and salt and process with 3 or 4 pulses. With the motor running, slowly add the yeast mixture, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding more. Continue processing until the dough forms a ball and cleans the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute, then process for 1 minute more.

Coat the inside of a large bowl with the olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1⁄2 hours. Divide the dough in half and roll out as directed in the pizza recipe.

This recipe makes two 12-inch pizzas, which was perfect for my needs. It was very simple and didn’t take long at all. I was then able to move on to the pizzas. The first pizza I made was a simple cheese pizza, since that is all Sean really likes anyway.

Classic Cheese Pizza

1 Food processor pizza dough

Flour for the counter

1 recipe Pizza Sauce (to follow)

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, place a baking stone on the rack and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Let the baking stone heat for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and shape it into a smooth, round ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Allow it to rest at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

Uncover the ball of dough and stretch and shape the dough into a 12-inch round on a piece of parchment paper. Spread 1 cup of pizza sauce over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch edge of dough uncovered. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan across the pizza to cover it. Lightly brush the edges of the pizza dough with some olive oil.

Slide the parchment paper and pizza onto a rimless or inverted baking sheet, then slide it onto the hot baking stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and the cheese is golden in spots, about 8 to 13 minutes.

Transfer the pizza to a cutting board, discarding the parchment paper. Cut the pizza into 6 or 8 wedges and serve.

I rolled out he pizza dough with a rolling pin instead of working it by hand. I just seem to have better luck working with the dough this way so I went with it, but do what you are most comfortable with. The crust came out great, though I probably kept the cheese pizza in for a minute or two too long as it browned a bit more than I would have liked, but Sean didn’t seem to care since he devoured all of the pizza. The pizza sauce recipe itself is quite simple:

Basic Pizza Sauce

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

Salt and pepper

Heat the oil and garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the garlic is sizzling, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer until the sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I made a second pizza, but decided to try things a little bit differently and went for a sausage and pepper pan pizza instead of using the baking stone.

Sausage and Pepper Pan Pizza

1 Food processor pizza dough

2 links Italian sausage, cooked and sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cored, sliced thin

1 cup Basic tomato sauce

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-inch cake pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil or coat the bottom of an ovensafe skillet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Lightly roll the dough into a smooth ball. Roll and shape the dough into a 9-inch round and press it into the oiled pan or skillet. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set it in a warm spot (not in the oven) until puffy and slightly risen, about 20 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap from the dough and ladle the tomato sauce on the pizza dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle the pizza with the mozzarella cheese and then top it with the sliced Italian sausage and the bell pepper. Sprinkle the top with the dried oregano. Bake the pizza in the oven until the cheese is melted and the sausage is browning around the edges, about 20 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and allow it to rest for 1 minute in the pan. Using a spatula, transfer the pizza to a cutting board and slice into the desired amount of wedges.

I really liked the thick crust that came out with the pan pizza and I love the sausage and peppers on a pie, so it worked out well for me. I actually used red, yellow and orange pepper on my pizza since I had some small sweet peppers on hand. Since Sean was full from eating the other pizza, There was plenty leftover so I can have some for lunch today.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. There is still plenty to come – a classic Chinese chicken takeout recipe, some oven barbecued ribs, cinnamon buns, and more. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

6 Comments

Posted by MikeG on October 25, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Pizza

Tags: americas test kitchen, classic cheese pizza, food processor pizza dough, pan pizza, pizza dough, pizza dough recipe, pizza sauce, sausage and peppers pan pizza, Willams-Sonoma

Let’s Go Bananas! Ultimate Banana Bread

08 Oct

Banana bread is one of my favorite snacks. I love a slice with a cup of coffee in the morning. It just seems like a great way to start the day. I have tried several recipes for banana bread before and most of them have been pretty good and tasty. I have yet to come across one that makes dry, crumbly bread that you wouldn’t want to eat. When I saw this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for the Ultimate Banana Bread, I knew I was going to have to check it out and give it a try to see if it really lives up to all the hype.

Ultimate Banana Bread

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

6 large very ripe bananas, peeled

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 large eggs

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.

Place 5 bananas in a microwave-safe bowl; cover the bowl with plastic wrap and cut several steam vents in the plastic wrap with a paring knife. Microwave on high power until the bananas are soft and have released liquid, about 5 minutes. Transfer the bananas to a fine-mesh strainer placed over a medium bowl and allow them to drain, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. You should have about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of liquid.

Transfer the liquid to a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, stir the reduced liquid into the bananas, and mash the bananas with a potato masher until they are fairly smooth. Whisk in the butter, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.

Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined with some streaks of flour remaining. Gently fold in the walnuts, if using. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Slice the remaining banana diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Shingle the banana slices on top of either side of the loaf, leaving about an 1 1/2 inch space down the center of the loaf to ensure an even rise. Sprinkle the granulated sugar evenly over the loaf.

Bake the loaf until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 55 to 75 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and continue to cool it on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Now calling it the ultimate banana bread may be bragging a little on their part, but it is a pretty darn good bread. it has some of the best banana flavor in bread that I have had in a while and I do like the bananas on top of the bread too. With the sugar they almost caramelized and candied a bit, making them quite tasty.Microwaving the bananas and getting the liquid out of them really helps to give the flavor and keeps the bread from getting too mushy with this many bananas in the recipe. Both Sean and Michelle agreed it was one of the best banana breads, so I’ll be making this one again.

That’s all for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I have a bunch of new ones to choose from, so we’ll see what comes up next. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on October 8, 2013 in Breads, Cooking, Fruit

Tags: America's Test Kitchen ultimate banana bread, americas test kitchen, banana bread, ultimate banana bread

Back Home For Some Pork Chops and Applesauce

26 Aug

As fun as vacation was. it is always nice to be back home. It also means it’s back to the kitchen for some cooking, which I did for the first time in a week last night. Anyone who is my age remembers the Brady Bunch episode where Peter talked about pork chops and applesauce. They seem like a perfect pairing and since I had picked up some early season apples and some pork chops yesterday when shopping, it made for the perfect dinner last night.

Sautéed Pork Chops with Brandy-Apricot Sauce

4 bone-in rib pork chops

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 shallot, minced

1/2 cup bourbon

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped medium

1 cup chicken broth

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels then season them well with salt and pepper. Heat the 2 teaspoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown the pork chops on the first side, about 3 minutes.

Flip the chops over and reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook the chops until the center of the chops away from the bone registers 135 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Transfer the chops to a clean plate and tent with foil, allowing the pork chops to rest until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 to 150 degrees before serving, about 5 to 10 minutes.

While the pork chops rest, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and return the skillet to medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Add the shallot and cook until it is softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the bourbon and the apricots, scraping up any browned bits still in the pan. Add the chicken broth and the thyme and simmer until the mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Stir in any accumulated pork juices from the plate the pork has been resting on and the red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the sauce over the pork chops before serving.

The pork was cooked perfectly and this pan sauce was great. I really like the flavor you get from the apricots and bourbon and the vinegar gives it just that hint of bite and acid. it’s a very simple meal that you can make on a weekend or a weeknight with little effort at all.

Now for the applesauce. Everyone has their own version of the applesauce thhey make, often passed down through families. Applesauce itself is pretty basic to make and all I did was follow America’s Test Kitchen recipe for a very simple sauce.

Old-Fashioned Applesauce

4 pounds apples (about 8 to 12 apples), peeled, cored and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

1 cup water, plus extra if needed

1/4 cup sugar, plus extra if needed

Pinch salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine the apples, water, sugar and salt in a large Dutch oven. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the apples begin to break down, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Mash the cooked apples with a potato masher or against the side of the pot with the back of a wooden spoon. Season with extra sugar or add more water to adjust the consistency to your own liking. Add the cinnamon to the sauce and mix well. Serve warm or cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

You can make the applesauce as chunky or smooth as you like it or even run it through a food mill instead of mashing it if you have a food mill. We all like the cinnamon in the applesauce, but you could just as easily leave it out if you prefer just the great apple flavor on its own.I also made some plain white rice and xorn on the cob to round out the meal.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for more recipes. I do have some things planned for this week that I didn’t get to before I left on vacation, such as the lemon icebox pie, the ciabatta bread and a few other recipes. Keep checking back to see what is next. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on August 26, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Fruit, Pork, Sauce

Tags: americas test kitchen, applesauce recipe, bourbon-apricot sauce, old-fashioned applesauce, pork chops recipe, pork chops with bourbon-apricot sauce, sauteed pork chops

Breakfast For Dinner Redux – Pancakes and Hash Browns

08 Aug

One of the favorite meals around our household is the breakfast for dinner concept. I have posted different breakfasts we have used on here before, and one of the most common things we eat are pancakes. Of course, there are varied ways and recipes you can use to make pancakes, including using tried and true methods such as Bisquick to help you along way. There’s nothing wrong with Bisquick; we use it around here when we feel like having some easy pancakes or biscuits without any fuss. That being said, there is nothing quite like having some homemade pancakes that are cooked just right. You love them when they are fresh off the griddle with a little bit of butter and lots of syrup. I love fruit pancakes like blueberry or banana, but this time we kept it simple with just some regular pancakes.

Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 cups buttermilk

1 to 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees so you have a place to keep your pancakes warm while you cook more. Set a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet and set it aside.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter and then the buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, and whisk very gently until the buttermilk mixture is just incorporated. A few lumps should remain in the batter. Be careful not to overmix the batter.

Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Brush the bottom of the skillet with 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil. Using 1/4 cup of batter per pancake, add the batter to the skillet. Only 2 or 3 pancakes are likely to fit in the skillet at one time. Cook until large bubbles begin to appear, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until they are golden brown on the second side, about 1 to 2 minutes longer. Spread the pancakes out over the wire rack on the baking sheet and hold them in the warm oven. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, remembering to brush the bottom of the skillet with oil for each batch you make.

Pancakes freeze pretty well, so you can make a big batch and have them as leftover breakfast during the week if you like. Just defrost them overnight in the refrigerator and throw them in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes and you can have them for breakfast. They should last for about a week in the freezer.

Since we had pancakes already, I wanted something extra to go with it since this was dinner. I have had a hankering for some hash browns lately and I saw this simple recipe from America’s Test Kitchen and decided to give it a try. This was much easier to do with the food processor, but if you don’t have one, you can use a box grater (just watch your knuckles!).

Hash Browns

1 pound russet potatoes (2 medium potatoes), peeled

2 tablespoons grated onion

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon butter

Grate the potatoes using either the large holes of a box grater or the shredder attachment of a food processor. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups of shredded potatoes. Wrap the grated potatoes in a kitchen towel and squeeze thoroughly of any excess moisture, then toss the potatoes with the onion, parsley (if using), salt and pepper.

Melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to brown, swirling to coat the entire pan. Scatter the potatoes evenly into the skillet and press down on them firmly to form a cake. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook the potatoes until they are dark golden brown and crisp on the first side, about 8 minutes.

Slide the hash brown cake onto a large plate, then invert it onto a second plate so that the browned side is facing up. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and melt, swirling to coat the pan. Slide the hash brown cake back into the pan, browned-side up, and continue to cook it over medium heat until the second side is also golden and crisp, about 5 minutes longer. Slide the hash brown cake onto a plate or cutting board and cut it into wedges.

Using a non-stick skillet here really makes a big difference in making your life easier and flipping the hash browns over. With this method, they come out crisp and delicious and are easy to serve and they have great flavor. I also had some sausage links we made to go along with everything.

That’s all I have for today. Check back to see what recipes come up next. We’ll be out for the evening tonight, so no cooking for me, but I’ll be back with some more recipes to try out, including a hot dog recipe with onion sauce and pepper relish, lemon icebox pie, Tar Heel pie, roasted chicken from Marc Murphy and more. Check back and see what is next. until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

3 Comments

Posted by MikeG on August 8, 2013 in Breakfast, Cooking, Dinner, Potatoes

Tags: americas test kitchen, breakfast, breakfast for dinner, hash browns, homemade pancakes, pancakes

Positively Perfect Pound Cake

28 May

We’ve done a lot of cooking and baking over the last few days, and it has given me quite a few recipes to work with. One of the things we made this past weekend was a classic pound cake recipe that I got from America’s Test Kitchen. I love just a plain piece of pound cake with a cup of coffee or maybe even a simple dollop of whipped cream or a little bit of fruit on the side. It’s a great thing to make it and doesn’t take a lot of work on your part so you could easily make one and bring it to a party or a friend’s home.

Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, melted and hot

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350°. Lightly coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

Process the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a food processor until combined, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, pour the melted butter through the feed tube in a steady stream, about 30 seconds. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.

Sift one-third of the flour mixture over the egg mixture and whisk in. A few streaks of flour should remain. Repeat twice more with the remaining flour mixture and continue to whisk the batter gently until most of the lumps are gone. Do not over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Wipe any drops of batter off the sides of the pan. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs attached, about 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip it out onto a wire rack. Turn the cake right side up, remove the parchment paper, and allow it to cool to room temperature, about 3 hours.

There are few notes about this recipe. You could easily vary the recipe up a little bit and add some flavor to it. Adding 2 tablespoons of grated lemon zest and 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice to the sugar just before you process everything in the 2nd step will give you a nice lemon pound cake. You can do the same with a tablespoon of grated orange zest and a tablespoon of orange juice and get an orange flavor instead. If you don’t have any cake flour on hand, you can make your own replacement. For every 1 cup of cake flour, you need 7/8 of a cup of all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in order to get the same results You can serve this cake with a variety of different fruits on the side or some homemade whipped cream. Remember that blueberry sauce I made about a week ago? I used that on the cake and it tasted great.

That’s all there is for today. Next time out I held be sharing the recipe Michelle uses for her oatmeal raisin cookies. I also have some other recipes to try to share this week so keep checking back to see if there’s anything you like. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on May 28, 2013 in Cakes, Cooking, Dessert, Sauce

Tags: America's Test Kitchen pound cake, americas test kitchen, classic pound cake, lemon pound cake, orange pound cake, pound cake, pound cake recipe

Holiday Weekends are Meant for Homemade Breakfasts

27 May

We don’t get to spend enough time together as it is, so trying to take advantage of the holiday weekend and spend time with each other is a premium for us. This particularly involves any meals that we may have. As it is with most families, it’s pretty rare when all 3 of us can sit down together and actually have breakfast at the same time. So when it does happen, I try to make it something special. This was the case yesterday when I decided we were going to have a completely homemade breakfast. It’s much simpler than it sounds and you can easily do any of these things in moments. I kept it even simpler by just sticking with scrambled eggs, homemade sausage, and home fries. We added in a couple of store-bought items as well, including Taylor ham and English muffins.

Easy Scrambled Eggs

8 large eggs
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon butter

Whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, salt, and pepper. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the pan. Add the eggs and cook while gently pushing, lifting, and folding them from one side of the pan to the other until they are nicely clumped, shiny, and wet, about 2 minutes. Remove the cooked eggs from the pan quickly.

I know it seems kind of ridiculous to actually have a recipe for scrambled eggs since it’s a fairly basic recipe, but I think it’s actually pretty easy to mess these up. Michelle actually makes much better scrambled eggs that I do; her eggs seem to come out fluffier and taste better and I think it’s because she follows this method exactly. Having a hot pan to start with is a key and you also want to be sure that you fold your eggs and push them instead of stirring them. Stirring them keeps them from getting as fluffy as they could be. Naturally, there are many things that you could add in to scrambled eggs if you choose to, such as onions, herbs, various cheeses, hot sauce, ham, bacon – the list seems to go on and on. Make them how you feel most comfortable.

Next up is a very simple recipe for some homemade breakfast sausage. Now there are few ways you can do this, and if you want to make it a little differently you could certainly grind your own pork. It will take you more time to do it that way but if that’s what you’re looking for then you should go right ahead. I chose to just use already ground pork and keep things simple.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

2 pounds ground pork
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 teaspoons of vegetable oil

Spread the pork out in a large bowl and sprinkle with the syrup, garlic, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, and cayenne. Using your hands, gently fold the flavorings into the pork, then portion and shape each into sixteen 2-ounce patties (about 1/4 cup each).

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add half of the patties and cook until well browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the patties to a paper towel-lined plate. Wipe out the skillet, add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil, return the pan to medium heat until shimmering, and cook the remaining patties.

Of course if you’re going to grind your own pork and maybe you even have your own sausage casings you can make breakfast links instead of breakfast patties. It really depends on how ambitious you happen to feel, but this seems to be the simplest way to do it. You could also easily freeze some of the patties between wax paper and have them portioned out for use at another time. Then it is simply a matter of placing them in a hot skillet with a little bit of butter to get them started and then add a little bit of water and cover the pan so they steam first to help them cook, remove the cover, turn the heat up and cook the patties until they are browned. You could also make this with ground turkey instead of ground pork. I actually have a turkey sausage patty recipe that I will post at another time which is a great breakfast alternative.

I also made some home fries to help round out the meal. Home fries are really easy to make, and if you happen to have some leftover potatoes already done you can easily use them as well. You have a lot of options here when it comes to what you want to use. Even if you have a can of diced potatoes around you could use that as well. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, actually recommends that you microwave your potatoes first to help get some of the starch out of them before you do any of the frying. This helps to build up the better crust on the potatoes.

Home Fries

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (4 medium), scrubbed and cut into one half-inch cubes
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped fine
Salt and pepper

In a large microwave-safe bowl, toss the potatoes with the oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high until the potatoes are tender but not falling apart, 5 to 10 minutes, shaking the bowl without removing the plastic to re-distribute the potatoes every 3 minutes. Carefully remove the plastic wrap, transfer the potatoes to a colander, and drain thoroughly.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes to the skillet and, using a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, distribute them evenly over the pan. Cook undisturbed until the potatoes are golden brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Carefully turn the potatoes to ensure even browning and add the onion to the skillet. Continue cooking, turning the potato and onion mixture every few minutes, until the potatoes are well browned and the onion is softened, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Again, there are other things you could add to the potatoes if you want to get a little bit of a different flavor. I actually added a little bit of orange bell pepper and some paprika to my recipe and I think they tasted great. I know they do sell frozen diced potatoes, but I think if you’re planning to use them you need to make sure that you thaw them and that they are dried very well to remove as much of the moisture as possible if you want them to cook well. Otherwise they will just steam in the liquid and not get crispy.

While I didn’t make any bacon with our breakfast, I have found that making the bacon in the oven has worked much better and gives the bacon a chance to cook and crisp up much more evenly than it does when you cook it in the pan. You can also cook a lot more of it all at once if you are making breakfast for a large crowd, which is an advantage.

Oven Bacon

1 pound bacon (16 slices), thin or thick-cut

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400°. Arrange the bacon on a rimmed baking sheet (the slices can overlap just slightly) and bacon until crisp and browned, about 10 to 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet front to back halfway through. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and let the excess fat drain off before serving.

If you’re going to cook it this way, you could also consider using a wire rack set inside the rimmed baking sheet so it keeps the bacon from sitting in the fat and allows the air to circulate around it, making it a little more crisp. As I said, I did make Taylor ham with the breakfast because it is one of Michelle’s favorites. It seems to be mostly a Northeast thing, and even more particularly a New Jersey thing to have Taylor ham with breakfast. It is basically a pork roll that you slice and fry for a minute or 2 on each side just to get it crisp. I didn’t have time to make any homemade biscuits or anything like that, but they would be great to go with a traditional home breakfast. Of course I had coffee with mine, and you could certainly have homemade orange juice if you have a juicer or whichever store-bought juice you prefer.

The important thing with the breakfast like this is that it actually brings everyone to the table all at the same time. It doesn’t really matter what you make; you could just each have bowls of oatmeal or bagels and coffee if that’s all you really want as long as you’re enjoying some time together.

That’s all there is for today. Check back again later on in the week and I’ll have some new recipes to share, including a pound cake, oatmeal cookies, a black bean salad, and I do have a few other things planned in for dinner this week including baby back ribs, meatloaf and chicken so check back and see what comes along. Until then, enjoy the rest of your 3 day weekend, and enjoy your meal!