Thursday, November 29, 2007

QUICK wonderful dinner




I got this recipe from marthastewart.com. It is SO good, SO quick, inexpensive and looks fabulous. I did change up the recipe a little because I wanted to bbq pork chops, so I poured the glaze on them after they were done...

Serves 4

* 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
* 2 tablespoons maple syrup
* 3 medium red apples, halved and cored, each cut into 8 wedges
* 1 large red onion, halved and sliced into 1/2-inch-thick pieces (I used a sweet onion instead)
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 2 pork tenderloins, (12 ounces each), trimmed of excess fat
* Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Directions

1. Place one oven rack in top third of oven, and another rack in bottom third. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Make glaze: In a small saucepan, bring vinegar and maple syrup to a boil over high heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture has reduced to 1/4 cup, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat; transfer 1 tablespoon to a small bowl for drizzling, and set aside. Reserve the rest of the glaze in saucepan.
2. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss apples and onion with oil. Season with salt and pepper; arrange in a single layer, and roast until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and toss.
3. Meanwhile, line another rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; place pork on foil. Season generously with salt and pepper; brush with glaze from saucepan. Return apples and onion to oven, on bottom rack. Place pork on top rack; roast 10 minutes. Remove pork from oven; brush with glaze (discard any remaining in pan). Roast until pork registers 150 degrees.on an instant-read thermometer, and apples and onion are tender, about 10 minutes more.
4. Transfer pork to a cutting board, and let rest 10 minutes. Slice 1/4 inch thick; drizzle with reserved tablespoon glaze. Serve with apples, onion, and, if desired, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Poached Pears

We will be making Poached Pears for dessert on Christmas and we tested it out last night. It is definitely a winner.



1 T. arrowroot
1 bottle Red Wine
1/2 c. Sugar
1 Cinnamon Stick
6 Cloves
zest of 1 small orange
zest of 1 small lemon
6 pears (ripe, but still firm)

Serves 6

Mix the arrowroot with 2 T. wine and set aside. Heat the remaining wine in a saucepan with the sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves and orange and lemon zest. Simmer gently for a couple of minutes until the sugar dissolves.

Peel the pears, but don't remove the stalks. Put the whole pears in the saucepan of wine, cover and poach gently for about 25 minutes, or until they are very tender, turning occasionally. Lift out with slotted spoon and place in a deep serving dish.

Srain the wine to remove the cinnamon stick, cloves and zest, the pour the wine back into the saucepan. Stir the arrowroot and add to the hot wine. Simmer gently, stirring now and then, until thickened. Pour over pears and leave to soak until cold. Serve with cream or creme fraiche.