Asian Spiced Pork Tenderloin

I am a fan of spicy food.  Living in the San Gabriel Valley of L.A. I am exposed to a lot of great Asian restaurants and more than a few dishes are uber spicy.

Yesterday I opted to go Asian flavors with the Pork Tenderloin and the results were pretty awesome if you like heat in your Asian food.  Garlic/Ginger/Soy round out the flavor profile.  Of course I cheated a bit and used "Chinese Chicken Salad" dressing for the base and got the heat from what we call "Korean Ketchup"...Sriracha. (Yes, I know its Thai in origin but Korean Ketchup as that whole alliteration thingy going for it).

Asian Spiced Pork Tenderloin

• 2lbs pork tenderloin
• 1/2 c Chinese chicken salad dressing
• 2 T Sriracha Sauce
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 T grated ginger
• 3T soy sauce

Combine salad dressing, Sriracha, garlic, ginger and soy sauce.  In large leak proof zip-lock bag add the pork and then the marinade.  Allow to sit in refrigerator for 3 hours.  Rotate the bag occasionally to ensure even distribution of the marinade.


Heat oven to 350F.  Put pork in roasting pan and roast about 35-45 minutes until it is 170F on an instant read thermometer.  Reserve marinade.


Take the reserved marinade, should measure about 1 cup.  Put in small sauce pan and simmer over medium heat until reduced about 1/2.  Use the resulting sauce to pour over the sliced tenderloin when serving.

Best cocoa powder ever...Black Onyx in a Devil's Food Cake

I can't take the credit for the recipe for this is purely a Martha Stewart creation.  You can get the recipe for her "Moist Devil's Food Cake" HERE.  It is a pretty easy from scratch recipe to make.  The cocoa I used is what takes the recipe over the top.

I know I've blogged it before here, but Black Onyx Cocoa Powder from Surfas in Culver City or online at Culinary District.com is what really rocks.  Its a super rich and dark chocolate powder.  Because it has least cocoa fats than the lighter stuff you get at a groc you do need to compensate some with it.  They recommend mixing it 50/50 with the lighter stuff.  I suggest you experiment with it.  In the case of this cake recipe and in cookies that have a lot of butter in them to start with it really doesn't make a difference.  I've experimented with it in bread and found that I did need to add a bit more fat...butter or oil to compensate for the dryness factor.

Chive n Cheddar Biscuits

Its Sunday and time for the big country style breakfast we like to do around here.  You know the kind...everyone sits together and shares everything that's going on good, bad or indifferent.  Its about bounding over food and not always so easy to do.

These biscuits are a fave and can be served at any meal....warm from the oven to melt the butter after you split them is the best.  But I digress...simple to make with more energy expended carrying out the Kitchen Aid and ingredients from the pantry than in the actual assembly.

Chive n Cheddar Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 tablespoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon sugar 
• 1/2 C (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced 
• 3/4 C whole milk
• 1/4 C chopped fresh chives 
• 1/4 C fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 C shredded Cheddar Cheese 

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Add cheese, chopped chives and parsley and give it a quick whirl to incorporate.  With the mixer on low, add the half-and-half and beat until just mixed. Add the chives and mix until just combined.

Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and knead lightly into a rectangle 3/4-inch thick. Cut out rounds with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
  
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are firm. Serve warm.

Mushroom Lasagna...tastes way better than it looks

So today was one of those days where I tore through recipe books trying to figure out what to do for dinner.  I was in the mood for cooking so I wasn't too worried about it being fast nor easy.

This recipe is a combo of a few different recipes.  I included the thyme, as well, thyme plays so well with mushrooms and the inspiration recipe didn't include it for reasons I don't understand.  I'm glad I did include as that subtle grassy flavor of thyme plays well through out the dish.

I used cremini mushrooms also called "baby bella" or "baby portobello" mushrooms.  It really is just a tiny version of the huginormous portobella's out there.  Same 'shroom just a different size.  And if you can find the already sliced variety like I do at the market your work is even shortened a bit.

Mushroom Lasagna
12 lasagna noodle cooked according to package directions
1 c grated Parmesan
White Sauce
1 stick butter
4C whole milk
1/2 c all purpose flour
1T sea salt
1 t black pepper
1 t fresh grated nutmeg
Mushroom Filling
1 lb sliced cremini mushroom
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
2 T loose packed fresh thyme leaves (or 1 T dry)


Preheat oven to 375F
Cook noodles according to package directions.  Set aside.


To make white sauce heat milk over medium heat.  Melt butter in large sauce pan until melted.  Add flour and cook until dissolved.  Add hot milk all at once and whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir constantly over medium high heat until  thick and starting to bubble, about 3-5 minutes.  Set aside off flame.


In large skillet add olive oil and 1T butter over medium high heat.  Add half the mushrooms, salt, pepper and thyme.  Stir often until mushrooms have lost most of their moisture and starting to brown, about 5 minutes.  Pour out into bowl. Repeat with remaining mushrooms.


Constructing the Lasagna.  Lightly spray with Pam a 9X13 baking dish.  Place about 1 cup of white sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Add 3 noodles to the bottom of the pan.  Spread on 1/4 the white sauce on top of the noodles.  Add 1/3 mushrooms, 1/4 C Parmesan.  Repeat with next two layers.  The final layer will be noodles with white sauce and Parmesan.  Bake in oven until golden brown on top and bubbly at the edges about 30-45 minutes.

Chicken Garam Masala

Wow two posts in one day, but this is tonight's dinner and tasty it was.

I've seen a few of the TV Chefs cook with a spice called "Garam Masala" when making Indian cuisine and decided I had to give it a try myself since I am a fan of Indian food of late.  I tested the waters with Garam Masala by making simple rice dishes from the side of the bottle to get an understanding of the flavor profile it would bring to dishes.  Warm and slightly spicy with the key flavors being cinnamon and coriander with some others I can't quite identify.  (I read somewhere that there are probably as many versions of Garam Masala as there are grandmothers in northern India...go find a blend you like and stick with it).

Cost Plus Imports is a great source for finding hard to find or unusual spices.  Such is the place I found the Garam Masala I used for this recipe.

Garam Masala Chicken

• 4 large chicken breasts, skin removed
• 1 T + 1t Garam Masala
• 1 t salt
• 1 onion coarse chopped
• 1 red bell pepper coarsely chopped
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

Sprinkle 1 T Garam Masala over the chicken breasts.  Set aside in glass dish and cover with plastic wrap to marinate for 30 minutes.


Heat large oven proof skillet over med-high heat.  Add some vegetable oil to lightly coat bottom of pan.  add chicken breasts.  Sear for about 5 minutes then turn over to other side.  Add veggies and canned tomatoes. Sprinkle remaining 1t Garam Masala over the veggies.  Cover and put in a 375F oven for 30 minutes.  Serve the veggies over steamed rice on the side of your plated chicken breast.

Smokey Chili Mac...its all from the smoked spices

I'm a huge fan of smoked spices and salts.  Why? Its easy to add smokiness to the final product without having to resort to using "liquid smoke" which does leave a funky aftertaste at times.  The obsession started with simple smoked paprika for salmon a few years ago and has since grown to include other smoked spices in the pantry.  This recipe uses a few to bring about a complete change in a family standby.

In my pantry I have recently added ground dried chipotle.  That is a potent smoked and dried jalapeno that instead of being packed in a liquid adobo sauce it is simply ground to a powder.  Use it sparingly and you can always add a bit more if the final dish doesn't pack enough heat...its a lot easier than trying and failing to remove some if you add to much.

Another trick I use to punch up the flavor and give it an all day simmering taste is to use beef bouillon to the Chili Mac.  I do use the "Better than Bouillon" brand as it is much lower in salt than the cubes are.  If you use the cubes wait to season with salt until after you have dissolved in the cube to prevent over salting your dish.

Smokey Chili Mac

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes
• 1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 14.5 oz can beans (I used basic kidney beans)
• 1/4 t chipotle  chili powder
• 1 t  smoked paprika
• 2 t chili powder
• 2 t Better than Bouillon beef flavor
• 2 C water
• 1 1/2 C macaroni
• salt
• pepper
• Monterrey Jack/Cheddar shredded cheese blend.

Brown beef in large stock pot.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add spices and cook an additional minute stirring the whole time until they are toasty.  Add tomatoes, water and bouillon.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes.  Add macaroni, increase heat and cook 12-15 minutes until tender.  Serve in large bowl with a sprinkle of the shredded cheese.

Lemon Ginger Mousse made stupid easy

Yup...I can't take credit for the flavor profile or the invention of the original. It belongs to a chef Joann Chang who appeared on food network TV's new show "Sugar High" with Duff Goldman. The original recipe HERE.

It sounded so good and when we were invited over to some friends for wine and cheese tonight and challenged to come up with something for dessert I thought of this.

There were a couple of problems to this that prevented me from doing the actual recipe. First is that the REAL cream in the recipe needs to be heated and then cooled overnight with the ginger and I just don't have the time. The second issue is that one of our hosts for tonight is dieting so the use of REAL cream is kinda outta the question.

My solution was to use fresh ground ginger, fat free cool whip and ready made lemon curd. Yup...I cheated and came up with a stupid easy dessert that is cool, refreshing and quite tasty too with a drastic reduction in calories.

Lemon Ginger Mousse

1 8 0z container Fat Free Cool Whip

1 14.5 oz jar Dundee Lemon Curd

1/4 t ground ginger

2 ginger snap cookies crushed.

Thaw the Cool Whip. Fold in ground ginger and lemon curd. Spoon into serving dishes (I used a ramekin but any dessert dish would work). Garnish with crushed ginger snap cookies. Chill 1 hour before serving.