the office of iguana flats

Coincidentally, I had just posted on my other blog, The Office of Iguana Flats, a question about what is your favorite snack to have while watching a movie. Moments later, I saw this post from Food Network about some great snacks and treats to have at home while watching your favorite movie or for family movie night. Check out the recipes and see if you want to make one tonight!

Back from Dublin for Some Home Cooked Pork Loin

01 Oct

After spending a wonderful week in Dublin last week, it’s time to get back to the real world of work, school and chores around here. That means back to cooking dinner, and yesterday I decided to make some pork loin. I had gotten the recipe from a Williams-Sonoma link I posted here on the blog a while back but I hadn’t had the chance to cook it yet. Last night I gave it a shot, and I can tell you it turned out great and the lentil salad was out of this world.

Roasted Loin with Lentil Salad

1 cup lentils

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

6 cups chicken stock

Salt and ground pepper

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 pound, trimmed of excess fat

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

In a saucepan, combine the lentils, half of the garlic, bay leaf and stock. Season well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer the lentils until tender, about 45 minutes. Let the lentils cool in stock.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the pork well with salt and pepper. In a ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sear the pork, turning occasionally, until well browned, 6 to 8 minutes total. Add the remaining garlic and rosemary. Place the pork in the oven and roast until the juices run clear when the pork is pierced with a knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the lentils and put them in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup olive oil, mustard, vinegar, onion and parsley. Season and toss to combine. Spread on a serving platter. Slice pork thinly, arrange on lentils and serve.

The lentils tasted great. The combination of the mustard, red onion and red wine vinegar add just the right tang and bite to the lentil salad. We also had enough left over that we can use it as a side dish again later this week with one of our other meals. I also served this with some brown rice and steamed green beans.

For the rest of this week, I plan to post some recipes of things we ate while in Ireland. I will also give some of my observations about the food and pubs and the style of cooking that we observed while we there. It was a great experience on many levels for me, with the food aspect being just one of them. You can check my other blog at The Office of Iguana Flats this week for some of my more personal outlooks on the trip.

I also have some recipes planned for this week that we’ll be using in the coming days that I hope to get up on the blog soon as well. Check back and see what we had in Ireland and what I’ll be making in the coming days. Fall is coming, so we are planning lots of soups, stews, and slow cooker meals. I also recently subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated and got a few great recipes from there this month that I plan to cook soon. Boy, we have a lot to cover! Until next time, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

5 Ways with Kabobs

03 Sep

5 Ways with Kabobs.

Even with summer coming to an end. you can always make kabobs indoors if you want to. Either way, it’s a great party food and gives you a chance to experiment with new combinations and marinades. These 5 suggestions from Williams-Sonoma are great recipes for beef, fish, vegetables and even fruit. Check it out!

I plan to get back to a regular schedule this week. Things have been a little crazy around here lately, but I think we are just about on track and with school starting up again, our schedule will get somewhat back to normal, so that means my cooking schedule will be back together too. I hope to have some good recipes this week and I plan to get back to my other blog that I have neglected too long this week as well. See you there!

The Office of Iguana Flats

04 Jul

What is your favorite thing to cook on the grill?

via The Office of Iguana Flats.

Since it’s 4th of July and a lot of people will be using the grill today, I had asked this question on my other blog and thought I would use it here as well. What is your favorite thing to cook on the grill? Post your answers here, on my other blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter and I’ll post my answer tomorrow. I hope everyone enjoys their dat today and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on July 4, 2012 in Grilling

Tags: barbecue, grilling, question of the day, the office of iguana flats

Next Week’s Dinners and a Picnic Of a Question

25 May

I did most of my shopping earlier today, although I do still need to go out and get a few things still for next week’s meals. We discussed what we want to eat, but we haven’t picked days for anything yet, so it will kind of be hit or miss to see what day gets which meal. I can tell you that I am planning to cook:

Greek Lamb Kebobs, Rice Pilaf and Tomatoes

Popcorn Shrimp

Pork Chops Agrodolce with Herbed Bean Salad

Sicilian Steak

I also have a whole chicken and some ribs but have not yet figured out what I want to do with any of it yet. If you didn’t see the recipe from last night, I can tell you that we loved it and we’ll be cooking it again if you want to check that one out.

On another note, since it is a long weekend for most people and the start of the summer season, a lot of people will be grilling and picnicking now. I have re-blogged a few articles over the fast few days referring to picnics and grilling of you want to check them out. On my other blog, The Office of Iguana Flats, I just posed a question to my readers today that fits well with this cooking blog as well, so I thought I would ask it here as well to give you a chance to answer. The question is:

Since the summer season is upon us, if you were going on a picnic and could go anywhere you wanted, where would you go and what would you bring?

Let’s assume you could go any place you want and bring anything you want. There are lots of places to choose from: beaches, parks, the mountains, a deserted island, your rooftop, the Eiffel Tower, it could be any place. Somewhere that you can relax and enjoy your picnic with whomever you want, or by yourself if you choose. Think about what you would want to bring – it can be anything as decadent or as light as you like, a nice bottle of wine, some fine cheese, or just some sandwiches or hot dogs, whatever makes you happy. Think about it and let me know. You can answer on here, or on Facebook or Twitter. I’ll also ask some people on Twitter and see if they respond. I’ll post my answer tomorrow.

I know it’s a short blog post today, but we’re just having leftovers tonight from the past week and I’ll be cooking again tomorrow, so check back then and see what I can come up with to eat. I have some good stuff to choose from, so I’ll see which recipe is going to be good for tomorrow (I am leaning towards the Sicilian Steak). Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!