Back in the Saddle with Garlic-Lime Grilled Pork Tenderloin

May 25, 2014

Menu

Garlic-Lime Grilled Pork Tenderloin Steaks

Steamed White Rice

Steamed White Corn

2012 Mosel Riesling

Fresh Strawberry Mousse 

Recipes

Garlic-Lime Grilled Pork Tenderloin Steaks from Cook's Illustrated

Fresh Strawberry Mousse  from Cook's Illustrated

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It's been a long time since my last blog post, and a long time since I cooked a Sunday Dinner. In mid-April I traveled across the country to my home town in central New York state to help my brother and sisters care for my 86-year old father who had broken his hip. My first week there I was helpful, taking my share of shifts in the 24/7 vigil at the hospital. But then unexpectedly I fell ill. After two days resting with no improvement I went to Urgent Care and ended up spending two nights in the hospital. I was no longer helpful. I did gradually recover though sadly my dad did not. He passed away in his sleep on the morning of May 5 from complications of his fall, congestive heart failure, and Alzheimer's Disease. He spent his last days in a nursing home and we would visit daily, getting him out of bed and pushing him around the home in his wheel chair, taking him outside when the weather permitted, which it rarely did.

I had been thinking of discontinuing my almost weekly blog posts which I have been doing now for over two years. However, during my month in Central New York I was able to visit many family members and old friends, more than I would get to see in the typical one-week visit. Several told me they regularly read Sunday, Dinner for Two even though they never post any comments or suggestions. (I wish people would comment more, I would enjoy the interaction and responses from readers.) These encouraging comments and the month off have inspired me to continue. I will make some changes, though, publishing fewer recipes on the companion blog, Sunday, Recipes for Two,  because they take a lot of time to do and don't get very many views. I'm also going to try writing the posts earlier in the week while my memories of the meal are fresher.

Chittenango Falls

Returning to San Jose after a month in New York (Diane had joined me to attend my dad's services), we spent a few days at home before heading out of town again to attend and celebrate the graduation of our daughter, Caryn, from college. Sunday Dinner that weekend was take-out pizza that we ordered after the long drive home and I didn't have too much to say about it. Caryn is back home, too, for a few months at least, preparing for an intensive class to become an EMT. Thus Sunday dinners for a while, will be prepared for three rather than two.

Graduation in the Redwood Bowl at Humboldt State.

Unlike mid April, when I left for New York, warm weather has arrived for good in San Jose. We will be eating dinner outdoors every night until darkness and chilled air drive us back indoors next Autumn. We will be having more fresh, local produce. We will be grilling more, roasting less, and braising less. I selected two recipes from the current issue (May/June 2014) of Cook's Illustrated (CI) for this meal: grilled pork tenderloin and strawberry mousse.

Garlic-Lime Grilled Pork Tenderloin Steaks is one of several variations of this dish that are available on the CI web site, the others being Spicy Orange-Ginger Grilled Pork Tenderloin Steaks and Lemon-Thyme Grilled Pork Tenderloin Steaks; you can choose your favorite citrus fruit to accentuate your pork. I purchased a package of two tenderloins at the supermarket weighing about 2½ pounds total. I cut each tenderloin into thirds so we it would be convenient to have it for two meals. The round sections of tenderloin were pounded into ¾-inch steaks that were then marinated for 45 minutes in a garlic-lime mixture. They were grilled, first over direct heat, 3 minutes a side, then over indirect heat for another 3 minutes. Checking the temperature I found that the steaks had already exceeded the target temperature of 140°. Despite being overcooked, the pork was still a little pink (this is good) and was juicy and tender. The sauce/marinade was well balanced and didn't seem too limey or too garlicy. Overall the meal was easy to prepare and didn't take a lot of time. While I still prefer Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin, this meal is worth preparing again and I would like trying the orange and lemon versions.

Local strawberries are now plentiful in the supermarket though sill a little pricey at $2.50 a pound. This is affordable enough, though, that I didn't feel too guilty trying the strawberry mousse recipe from the same issue of the magazine. (Hulling two pounds of berries would seem a daunting task but it was quickly accomplished, with little waste of the sweet fruit, using a grapefruit spoon. I have tried different tools for this job but none is as good as a simple grapefruit spoon.) The recipe was designed to get  maximum strawberry flavor from bland supermarket berries. To do this, some of the berries are chopped and then strained to collect the juice. The juice is reduced to concentrate the flavors. And it works, the mousse is light and airy, as a mousse should be, and it has good strawberry flavor as well. We got six desserts from two pounds of berries, about the same number of servings as if we had served them over angel food cake or made shortcakes.

It is good to be back home in San Jose though I did enjoy the extended stay  in central New York. After being home for two weeks I feel that I am finally getting caught up with life and so can start moving forward again. What that will mean, only time will tell, but it will include cooking on Sunday and writing about it on Monday. I'm already looking forward to trying out a new grilled chicken recipe next weekend!

BFD: Morning Glory Muffins

March 23, 2014

Menu

Morning Glory Muffins

Scrambled Eggs

Fried Bacon

Mimosa

Recipes

Morning Glory Muffins from Cook's Country

Perfect Scrambled Eggs for Two from Cook's Illustrated

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We already had plenty of leftovers when this Sunday came around. That plus a scheduled trip that would take us out of town for several days this week meant a meal without any leftovers was in order. I originally had learned about Morning Glory Muffins on the Cook's Country TV show a few years ago and I had been wanting to try them ever since. The original recipe was developed at the Morning Glory Cafe in Nantucket, Massachusetts, which closed many years ago.

These are healthy muffins. "Healthy muffins" doesn't sound appealing. It makes me think of bran muffins which for some reason just don't appeal to me. These contain coconut, apple, pineapple, carrots, golden raisins, and walnuts. However, even though they carry a healthy label, they are quite good. They are sweet yet not too sweet for breakfast. They have a nice soft texture and rich flavors provided from the variety of sweet and savory ingredients. They kept well and were still good several days later warmed in the microwave and served with butter.

I don't normally use a recipe to make scrambled eggs, I just beat some eggs with a fork, maybe add some milk, salt, and pepper, then cook them in a hot skillet. The resulting eggs are OK, usually with large curds of cooked egg that is reasonably tender. But some reading suggested there may be a better way. One challenge you face having something that might be better is that it has to overcome your natural resistance to something that is different than the familiar. I used a Cook's Illustrated recipe that mixed the eggs with half and half and then cooked them using two burners, one set to medium (4 on our stove) and the other to low (2). This is tricky stuff and it didn't really work out. Diane thought the eggs were underdone and I had to agree.  We also were put off by how creamy they were, we are not used to creamy scrambled eggs. While scrambled eggs seems to be a simple dish, I have more work to do to learn how to do it well. Maybe I'll try Gordon Ramsey's recipe or try the Cook's Illustrated recipe again but with higher heat, 5-3 instead of 4-2. However I doubt I'll go the Modernist Cuisine route any time soon; it cooks the eggs sous vide and then dispenses them with a whipping siphon.

Barbecued Ribs, by Request

March 16, 2014

Menu

Barbecued Ribs

Quick Baked Beans

Broccoli Salad

Homemade Sourdough Bread

Beer/Chianti 

Recipes

Barbecued Ribs from Cook's Country

Barbecue Sauce from Cook's Country

 Quick Easy Boston Beans

Broccoli Salad

No-knead Sourdough Bread from Chicago Tribune

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I originally planned a different dinner for this Sunday before St. Patrick's Day. It wasn't entirely by design, but it worked out nicely that I was planning to make Guinness Beef Stew and Irish Soda Bread. But our daughter, Caryn, was going to be home from college for Spring break and she asked for Barbecued Ribs. The weather here in San Jose has been getting warmer: I have been wearing shorts most of the time for a few weeks and Diane and I have started eating dinner outside as we prefer to do. So it seemed like a good time to uncover the grill and do some barbecuing. I don't say this to flaunt our good weather to my family in upstate New York who have had a long, cold, snowy winter, but rather to provide them hope that Spring will certainly come and will be arriving soon.

Because I got a late start cooking, dinner was served late. The St. Louis cut pork spareribs were treated with a dry rub on Friday night and sat in the refrigerator until Sunday afternoon. They were  smoked on the grill for several hours and then cooked for a few more hours in a 250° oven. If not for the lateness of the hour I would have cooked them a little longer in the oven and then let them rest before serving. As a result they were cooked, but still a little tough. Nonetheless they were good and the four of us for dinner, including Caryn's friend Bryan, enjoyed them. We had 1½ racks and at the end we had only a few ribs left over.

I made a barbecue sauce to go with the ribs, though a bottled sauce could also have been used. It was a little too spicy for Diane and me, and there is a lot of it left over that will probably be thrown out. Caryn used two heads of broccoli from our CSA produce box to make a cold broccoli salad. The dressing is quite sweet but this went well with the ribs. I once again made the quick Boston beans that we have enjoyed on several occasions. Surprisingly, for having been made with canned pinto beans, they were a little toothsome and, as always, a little soupy though this is not really a problem. I bought store brand beans, perhaps they aren't cooked as much as the brands I have used previously. I also made a loaf of sourdough bread. The recipe used is different than others in that it includes both starter and yeast. It is a no-knead recipe where the dough is made 18 hours or so in advance and the long rest leads to gluten production. The bread was good.

This was a good dinner based on a good warm-weather menu. I believe I prefer baby back ribs, though, to these spareribs, and I prefer the method I used to cook them last year which was quicker then the multi-step method used for these ribs. I don't regret not having the Irish-themed meal, I was happy to have had the opportunity to grant Caryn's dinner wish.

Honey Fried Chicken

March 9, 2014

Menu

Honey Fried Chicken

Skillet Corn Bread

Fruit Salad

Brekle's Brown Ale/Vella Merlot

Recipes
Honey Fried Chicken from Cook's Country 
Southern-Style Skillet Corn Bread from Cook's Country

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After a couple of busy weekends where I chose quick, simple meals to cook for Sunday Dinner, I was able to spend a little more time in the kitchen. I had been wanting to try my hand at frying chicken using my recently acquired tools for deep frying. I had recently seen an episode of Cook's Country on TV featuring a recipe for Honey Fried Chicken and so chose to give it a go.

While there was nothing particularly difficult about making the chicken the process did involve many steps and created many dishes to wash.  And oil to discard. I was in the kitchen for 2 to 2½ hours total making this meal. To save a little money, I purchased a whole chicken and broke it down myself.  The breasts, which I removed from the bones, were cut in half so all the pieces of chicken were about the same size. I discarded the wing tips but kept the drumettes. The chicken pieces were brined, coated with corn starch, then dipped in a batter. They were then fried twice; similar to the method used to make french fries they were first par-fried, then allowed to sit while the oil reheated, then cooked again. Finally they were dipped in a glaze made with honey and hot sauce, a combination of Topatío and Siracha because the bottle of Topatío was empty.

The chicken was really good. I took the temperature of one piece and then timed the cooking of everything else. The dark meat was just right, hot and juicy, though the white meat was a little over done. The outside was very crisp, providing a satisfying snappy crunch when you bit into it. The glaze provided just a hint of heat to complement the sweetness of the honey, but more than that it imparted a nice flavor to the dish.

To go along with the chicken I made a savory, southern-style corn bread which uses no sugar or flour. This contrasts with the more cake-like northern style. Diane prefers the latter while I prefer the former. Finally, I made a simple fruit salad including blueberries, apple, naval orange (which, curiously, was the color of a ruby grapefruit), banana, and purple grapes.

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Leftovers
Fried chicken is one of those foods that is almost better leftover than when fresh. It can be eaten hot or cold and so is suitable to take to work for lunch. We didn't do that, however. We reheated it in a 200° oven and had it for supper. The skin was no longer shatteringly crisp but the chicken was still very good to eat.