Rediscovering Tuna Casserole

Tuna casserole gets a bad rap. I clearly remember an episode of “Top Chef” in which one of the contestants, charged with re-imagining the classic dish, turned up his nose at the mere idea of it. This animosity towards tuna casserole completely baffles me. Perhaps the words conjure up images of scary lunch ladies serving up mysterious looking, grey congealed “tuna surprise”. I don’t really know. But the truth is that Tuna casserole, when done right, is pretty damn good. Maybe it’s not exactly gourmet, and maybe you’re never going to see it on the menu at Le Bernadin, but sometimes you just need some good old home cooking. This is a recipe of my own creation, after much study on how NOT to make a tuna casserole. I realize I could probably make my own sauce, but hey, sometimes I am lazy, and I find the cream of celery/French-fried onion combination to be extremely delicious. I use Fettuccine in this version, but the traditional egg noodles, or plain old spaghetti work just as well.

Tuna Casserole

• 2 Cans White Albacore Tuna
• ¼ cup Green Onion, chopped
• 2 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
• 2 Cans Cream of Celery Soup
• ¼ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 Cup Frozen Peas
• Handful of Fettuccine
• Fresh Parmesan, shredded
• French-Fried Onions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sautee tuna, green onions, and garlic with some olive oil over medium heat until slightly golden. Add cream of celery and cream. Stir to mix. Add peas. Simmer until peas are cooked.

Add enough water to a large pot to boil pasta. Cook until pasta is Al Dente.

Add pasta to cream of celery mixture. Stir.

Pour mixture onto a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese and onions.

Bake until cheese is golden and casserole is bubbling.

Enjoy!

Sweet Tooth: Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I am a sucker for anything with chocolate. So when I found this recipe for chocolate zucchini bread, I had to try it. The original recipe came from a Ghirardelli cookbook, but I modified it by substituting brown sugar for white and adding nutmeg, to get a richer flavor. This zucchini bread is a type of quick bread, which means chemical leaveners, rather than yeast, are used to make the dough rise. Quick breads are pretty simple to make, and keep well. This bread has quickly become one of my favorites. I recently made it for Miguel’s dad, and he liked it so much, he got up at 2 AM to have a piece (I’m pretty sure that means he really liked it)! Leftovers? Try making chocolate zucchini bread French toast. Delicious!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

• 1-Cup Brown Sugar
• ¼ Cup Sugar
• 1-Cup Oil
• ½ Cup Water
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 3 Cups Flour
• 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
• ¾ tsp. Ground Nutmeg
• ½ tsp. Baking Soda
• ¼ tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 large Shredded Zucchini
• 2 8 oz. Bars Milk Chocolate for Baking, chopped into ¼” pieces*

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9”x 5” loaf pan, or line it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine sugars, oil, water, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until blended.

In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients gradually, stirring until well mixed.

Stir in chocolate and zucchini.

Spoon mixture into loaf pan. Place in oven and bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean, about an hour and a half.

Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Store at room temperature, wrapped in aluminum foil.

* Can be substituted for mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, if desired.

Enjoy!

Two for One: Pot Roast

When the weather starts to turn cold, there is one dish that automatically comes to mind, pot roast. In the sweltering heat of a Texas summer, I’d be insane to try and make a dish that requires my oven to be on for 3 hours. So, as soon as the leaves start falling and pumpkins start popping up on porches, pot roast is back on the menu. It definitely is a weekend dish, since it requires lots of time, something I really don’t have much of during the week. I love making it on Sundays, while the sounds of the Texans game trail in from the living room and I catch up on the week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy. The best thing about pot roast, besides the fact that it only requires one pot to make (Less dishes to wash!), is that there are A LOT of leftovers. In the past I’ve made pot roast sandwiches and tacos. But this time, I used my leftovers to make pot roast empanadas. The dough for the empanadas can be found in the frozen food section of Fiesta or other Latin grocery stores (Goya and La Saltena are good brands). But, if you are not able to find these, puff pastry works as well. I use the empanada rounds made for baking, but there are ones made for frying, which you could also try out. It all depends on how health-conscious you are feeling that day!

Pot Roast

• 2-4 Lbs. Boneless Beef Chuck Roast
• Salt/Pepper
• All Purpose Flour
• 4 Tbs. Olive Oil
• 5 Garlic Cloves, Peeled
• 2 Cups Chopped Yellow Onion
• 2 cups Chopped Celery
• 3-4 Bay Leaves
• 1-Cup Dry Red Wine
• 1-Cup Beef Stock
• 2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 Beef Bouillon Cube
• Baby Carrots, Whole
• Small Red Potatoes, Whole
• 1 Tbs. Unsalted Butter, Room Temp

Preheat Oven to 325 F.

Season the roast by rubbing it all over with salt and pepper to taste. Coat roast evenly with flour. In a large pot (I use a Dutch Oven with a tight lid) heat 2 Tbs. oil over medium heat. Add roast and sear each side (including ends) until nicely browned. Remove roast.

Add remaining oil to pot. Add garlic, onion, and celery, plus salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring constantly, until tender. Add the bay leaves, wine, stock, Worcestershire, and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Add more salt/pepper if needed. Put roast back in the pot, along with carrots and potatoes. Bring to a boil and cover.

If you’re pot is oven safe, place in oven. If not, transfer to a roasting pan and the place in oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours until the meat is fork tender. About an hour into cooking, reduce oven temp to 250 F.

Once out of the oven, remove roast to a cutting board. Transfer half the sauce and vegetables to a food processor. Puree. Pour back into pot and simmer over low heat. Mix butter and 2 Tbs. flour in a separate bowl. Add to sauce and stir. Simmer until sauce is thickened. Add more salt/pepper if needed.

Slice meat and serve with vegetables and sauce.

Leftovers? Thaw empanada dough rounds. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place a spoonful of meat/vegetable/sauce mixture in the middle dough round. Fold dough over and seal ends by pressing down with a fork along the whole edge. Place empanadas on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Place in oven and bake until golden brown.

Enjoy!

The Perfect Tortilla Soup

For a while now, I have been on a quest to find the perfect Tortilla Soup. Needless to say, I tried the soup at many many restaurants here in Austin (So many, in fact, that people already knew what I was going to order when we went out to dinner. Ok, In retrospect, I might have been slightly obsessed). Anyway, some were better than others, but I still could not find The One. Disenchanted by my lack of success, I realized that perhaps the perfect tortilla soup was not out there, waiting for me in some Mexican restaurant, but rather, that it’s recipe was locked up somewhere in my brain, just waiting to be made. And that is just what I did. But I didn’t do it alone, of course. The saying goes, ”Two heads are better that one”, and in this case, that was definitely true. Miguel, my favorite co-chef :), and I taste-tested so many versions of the recipe, we probably gained 5 pounds, but in the end we found it. This recipe is as close to the fabled perfect tortilla soup of my quest as you can possibly get. And, I’ll let you in on a little secret. The secret ingredient is time. Let it simmer for as long as you can. That will make it ten times better, giving it just the right consistency and resulting in a more flavorful broth. Trust me, it will be totally worth the wait and all the stomach grumbling! Now, 5 pounds heavier and ready to order something else the next time I go out to dinner, I am happy to say, I have found The One.

The Perfect Tortilla Soup

• 2 Chicken Breasts
• 1 Large Onion, diced
• 1 Large Tomato, diced
• 4 Garlic Cloves, chopped
• 2 Packets Goya Seasoning with Cumin and Annatto
• 1 Tomato/Chicken Flavored Bouillon Cube
• Handful of Cilantro, roughly chopped
• Chili Powder, to taste
• Cayenne Pepper, to taste
• 1 Can Whole Tomatoes, drained
• 1 Can Yellow Hominy Corn, drained
• 1 Large Anaheim Chili, chopped
• 4 Corn Tortillas, cut into strips
• Avocado Slices
• Tortilla Chips
• Shredded Mexican Cheese Blend
• Lime Slices

Fill a large pot with enough water to make the desired amount of soup. Add the first 7 ingredients, along with salt and pepper. Place on high heat until boiling and then reduce to medium heat. Cover and let simmer until chicken is thoroughly cooked. The longer you leave this simmering, the more your broth will taste like chicken. Once chicken is cooked, remove it from pot and place in a bowl. Let cool. Lower heat. Broth will be used as the base for the soup.

Shred chicken and add back to the pot. Turn heat back to medium. Add chili powder and Cayenne to taste, and if needed, more salt. Make it as hot or mild as you want to. Add tomatoes, corn and Anaheim. Turn heat to high. Let boil and then reduce to low. Add tortilla strips and let simmer until the soup thickens. For at least 20 minutes.

Serve with avocado, tortilla chips, cheese, and lime. and cold Tecate!

Enjoy!

Sweet Tooth: Marbled Ganache Chocolate Tart

Once in a while, there comes a dish that knocks me off my feet. And this chocolate tart, whose recipe I found on my first visit to Argentina, pretty much clotheslined me (In a good way, of course). The creamy ganache just melts in your mouth and the Dulce de Leche at the bottom is a nice little surprise waiting just for you. Plus, the swirly white and dark chocolate make it nice to look at (in the five seconds before you devour it). If you don’t like alcohol in your desserts (what’s wrong with you? No, just kidding), then you can forgo the rum, but I find it a good contrast to the sweetness of the other ingredients.

Marbled Ganache Chocolate Tart

• 7 Tbsp. Butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• ¼ cup Sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 1 Cup Plus 1 Tsp. All Purpose Flour
• 3 ½ Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
• ¼ Tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 200 g (or approx. 2 bars) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate, Chopped
• 100 g (or approx. 1 bar) White Baking Chocolate, Chopped
• 1 ¼ cup Heavy Cream
• ½ cup Dulce De Leche
• 3 Tbsp. Rum

Crust: Sift flour and cocoa powder together onto a clean, flat workspace (like your kitchen counter). Make a large well in the center, creating a sort of ring of flour. In the middle, place the butter and, using your hands, mix them together. Squishing butter and flout together with your fingers. Fun! Reform ring. Place Egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla in center. Knead with hands until a homogenous dough forms. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Roll dough out with a rolling pin over a floured surface and place over pie dish, trimming extra dough around edges. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Bake at 325 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes*. Chill until ready to use.

Ganache Filling: In a saucepan, bring heavy cream to a gentle boil. Meanwhile, place chopped white and semi-sweet chocolates in separate bowls. Once cream boils remove from heat and add half to each of the bowls. Gently shake bowls while adding cream to melt chocolate, mixing with a wooden spoon if not completely melted. Assemble tart as soon as chocolate is melted.

Assembly: Mix Dulce de Leche with rum. Spread mixture on bottom of piecrust. Pour semi-sweet chocolate ganache into piecrust. Over this, pour white chocolate ganache. Using a thin stick, gently swirl to create marbled effect. Refrigerate tart until ganache is completely set.

* Tip: to prevent dough from rising while baking, Place a piece of parchment paper or saran wrap over piecrust and add dry beans over that. The beans will act as a weight and prevent rising. They can be re-used.

Enjoy!

Mystery Ingredient of the Week: Piloncillo

Pilloncilo, or Panela, is unrefined raw dark brown sugar, made by boiling sugarcane and letting the juice evaporate. It has a sweet, caramel-y flavor. Since it is unrefined, it is healthier than white sugar. Because white sugar is made entirely of pure carbohydrates, it is basically empty calories with no nutritional value. Regular brown sugar is pretty much just as bad, since it is just white sugar with molasses added back to into it. Unrefined raw sugar contains minerals and nutrients that are removed from white sugar. Plus, it has less calories, approximately 11 per teaspoon, compared to 15 calories per teaspoon in white sugar. Piloncillo can be found in the “ethnic” food aisle of your grocery store.  It adds great flavor to desserts. I like using it to sweeten drinks, particularly Limonada de Panela, a refreshing dark brown sugar limeade. It’s the perfect drink for those hot Texas summer days!

            Limonada de Panela

•             1 cone of Piloncillo
  
•             Juice of approx. 5 limes, depending on size
  
•             3 Qts. Cold Water

            In a large pitcher, dissolve piloncillo in water by letting the pitcher stand at room temperature for about an hour. Once dissolved, add limejuice and mix well by stirring. Chill before serving.

Enjoy!

Tuna Cakes

A while ago, on one of those typical lazy Sunday afternoons, my channel surfing led me to the Food Network. “Tyler’s Ultimate” was on and crab cakes were on the menu. As I sat on my couch watching Tyler (whose gorgeous kitchen I totally want, by the way), I got hungrier and hungrier. Man, those crab cakes were looking really good. And they looked so easy to make…. Suddenly, it dawned on me: I should make crab cakes! Excited, I headed to the kitchen. But a quick search of my fridge’s contents revealed no fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, a grocery item that, unfortunately, does not really fit into a college student’s budget. I did, however, find two cans of white albacore tuna in my pantry. And, thus, tuna cakes were born. These tuna cakes are a dinner favorite at my house now. They are easy and inexpensive to make, but taste like a million bucks. I use sourdough bread for the breadcrumbs because they add a nice flavor to the cakes. Also, I use freshly made breadcrumbs rather than the dry store bought kind because of the moistness they provide. However, any type of bread or store bought bread crumbs may also be used.

            Tuna Cakes

•             Approx. 5 slices of Sourdough Bread, depending on size
  
•             Fresh Cilantro
  
•             2 Cans of White Albacore Tuna, drained
  
•             1/4 cup Mayonnaise
  
•             1 Egg, beaten
  
•             3 Tbsp.  Diced Green Onions
  
•             1 Tsp. Lemon Juice

            To make breadcrumbs: place bread in a food processor along with a handful of cilantro. Pulse until bread has been broken down into crumbs. If you’re using store bought breadcrumbs, use ½ cup.

            Divide breadcrumbs evenly into two bowls. Set one aside. To the other, add the remaining ingredients, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Add enough oil to a large skillet to cover the bottom (about 1 inch in height). Heat over medium heat. Form mixture into patties. Coat patties with the additional breadcrumbs. Place in skillet and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Drain patties on paper towels before serving. 

Enjoy!

Just Like The Real Thing: Potato Risotto

There are few other dishes that intimidate me quite as much as Risotto. I think it might have to do with the fact that when it comes risotto, timing is everything. The slightest misstep results in a yucky sticky mess. I know that practice makes perfect, so believe me, I'm practicing a lot. One day I’ll be able to make delicious creamy risotto with my eyes closed (hopefully). Until then, here is a recipe for a Potato “Risotto” which has all the creamy deliciousness of the real thing without the yucky sticky mess failure part. It is easy to make and REALLY yummy. It’s a great side dish, although, I wouldn’t think twice about eating it by itself.

Potato Risotto 

• 4 Medium sized Potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
  
• 1 Yellow Onion, chopped
  
• 2 Cups Warm Vegetable Stock (Like Swanson’s)
  
• ½ Cup Heavy Cream
  
• ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese
  
•  2 Tbs. Olive Oil

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and add potatoes. Cook until golden. Add onion and cook for two minutes. Add vegetable stock. Lower heat and cook until liquid has evaporated. Add heavy cream and let simmer. Sprinkle with Parmesan and add salt/pepper to taste. 

Enjoy!

Lasagnaaaaahh!!

Garfield and I have quite a few things in common, our love for lasagna being one of them. Lasagna, that perfect combination of meaty sauce, gooey cheese, and crunchy pasta, is quite possibly, my favorite food. I am not a big fan of ricotta cheese, so I use a béchamel sauce instead. Béchamel is a creamy sauce consisting of a flour-butter Roux whisked together with milk and flavored with a dash of nutmeg. Its preparation requires a bit of elbow grease but it is totally worth it, as it is the perfect compliment to the meat sauce.  This is the recipe for lasagna that I have been eating since I was kid, and it still continues to be my favorite. There is no better sight than that of the meat sauce (easily the best part of the whole thing) bubbling around the sides of the casserole dish. The mix of shredded cheeses give the lasagna a nice saltiness, while the fresh mozzarella provides the gooey factor. I use no-boil lasagna noodles since they are easier to deal with and soak up the sauces better, resulting in a moister lasagna. Lasagna takes a while to make, but in my opinion, all that prep and baking time is totally worth the first bite.

            Meat Lasagna

• 2 Tbs. Oil
  
• 1 Cup Chopped Yellow Onion
  
• 6 Garlic Cloves, minced
  
• 2 Lbs. Lean Ground Beef
  
• 1-Cup Dry Red Wine, like a Cabernet
  
• 2 Cans Diced Tomatoes, with Juice
  
• ¼ Cup Tomato Paste
  
• 2 Tbs. Chopped Fresh Basil
  
• 1 Stick Unsalted Butter
  
• ¾ cup All-purpose Flour
  
• 4 Cups Milk
  
• Pinch of Nutmeg
  
• 1 Package of Shredded Parmesan, Pecorino, and Asiago Cheese Mixture
  
• 1 Box of No-Boil Lasagna Noodles
  
• Fresh Mozzarella, sliced

Meat Sauce: Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add ground beef. Cook Until browned, stirring to break up.  Add wine and cook until evaporated. Stir in tomatoes with juice and tomato paste. Salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Add Basil and take off heat. Set aside to cool.

Béchamel: Melt Butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Add flour and stir constantly until smooth and thickened (Do not let burn). Gradually whisk in milk, until well blended and smooth. Raise heat to medium and whisk constantly until boiling (This is the elbow grease part!). It is important that you whisk the entire time, so as to not let sauce burn or stick. Sauce will begin to thicken until it starts gently boiling. Reduce heat to low and whisk in salt and pepper to taste, as well as the nutmeg. Remove from heat and let cool.

Assembly: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a 13x9 inch-baking dish, place a layer of lasagna noodles. Top with 1/3 of meat sauce, 1/3 of Béchamel, and 1/3 cheese mixture. Place another layer of noodles on top and press down, so filling comes out of the sides. Repeat layering two more times. Top it all off with sliced fresh mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, until cheese on top is slightly browned and filling is bubbling along sides. Remove from oven and let rest for 20 minute before serving. Garnish with chopped fresh basil. 

Enjoy!

Tilapia Ceviche

To be honest, Ceviche has always made me a little weary. I think it’s the whole “raw fish” thing that always prevented me from enjoying it. But, after much research into whether or not it was really safe to eat, I decide to make it. You see, while the fish is not cooked in the traditional sense of the word, it is “cooked” by the citric acid in limejuice, which breaks down (or denatures) the fish’s protein, thus making it perfectly safe to eat. After learning all of this and actually tasting the Ceviche, I kicked myself repeatedly for not having made it before. Because the truth is, Ceviche is delicious, refreshing, and quite healthy. Plus, you don’t actually have to cook anything, which means fewer dishes to wash, and that’s always nice. The main thing to keep in mind when making Ceviche is freshness. Only buy FRESH fish. That means, get it at your grocery’s seafood counter (preferably on a Thursday or Friday, the week’s best bets for fresh fish) or if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby, at the fish market. Using frozen fish will result in a mushy and less flavorful dish. I use Tilapia because it has a nice subtle flavor, contains very low levels of mercury, is low in calories and fat while still containing lots of important nutrients, and is relatively inexpensive. The Ceviche can be served alone, or accompanied by tostadas, tortilla chips, or crackers. I like serving it on top of fried plantains, because it’s just the perfect blend of healthy and fried. This recipe will serve about 5 people for one meal, or two very hungry people for two meals, which is the case at my house!

 

            TILAPIA CEVICHE

•      1 lb fresh Tilapia Fillets
  
•       Juice of about 8 limes, depending on size
  
•      ½ Large Red Onion, finely chopped
  
•       ½ Beefsteak Tomato, finely chopped
  
•       Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
  
•      1 Avocado, diced
  
•      1 Habanero Pepper, stemmed and seeded,  finely chopped
  
•       Olive Oil
  
•       Salt     

            Slice Tilapia Fillets into small pieces. Place in a bowl with limejuice. Cover and refrigerate for at least 5 hours. The fish will take on a white opaque color. Once ready to serve, add onion, tomato, cilantro, avocado, and habanero. Add olive oil and salt to taste. Mix to incorporate.

CAUTION: Use care when handling Habanero. If you prefer, wear food service gloves to avoid any irritation, which might occur while handling it (I didn’t do that and my hand burned for hours afterwards). Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards and keep them away for your eyes (once again, speaking from experience :(]

Enjoy!

Make Your Own: Dulce De Leche

 Milk and sugar. Slowly simmered until the sugar caramelizes and produces a sweet, thick, and creamy spread. Now that's the stuff of dreams. Well, at least MY dreams anyway. I' talking about Dulce de Leche, that wonderful stuff which goes well on pretty much anything. Cake, crackers, toast, pancakes, cookies, ice cream, flan, cheese.... I could go on all day. 

Dulce de Leche, and its many sweet cousins (The Mexican Cajeta, the Colombian Arequipe, the Peruvian Manjar Blanco...) have been finding their way into American supermarket shelves over the past few years. Usually, you can find at least three different brands of Dulce de Leche in the grocery store. But, if you don't like any of the brands available, you can't find any, you're a do-it-yourselfer, or you just want to impress someone with random culinary knowledge, here is an easy and rather inexpensive way of making Dulce De Leche. This is not the traditional recipe, which would require quite a lot of time and constant supervision. If you are interested in the traditional way of making it, however, Alton Brown has a great recipe for it. 

The easy way requires a can of condensed milk, a pot of boiling water and about 2 hours of your time. 

1) Peel the labels off of the can.

2) Poke 2 holes on top of can with a can opener. VERY IMPORTANT STEP! Otherwise it could explode :(

3) place can in pot. Cover with water until just before top of can. Simmer on medium high heat.

4) Make sure water level is always constant. In about 2 hours, you should have Dulce de Leche.

Enjoy!

Mystery Ingredient of the Week: Gandules!

Chances are, you've never heard of gandules. Or if you have, you've probably never tried them. Gandules are a type of pea (called green pigeon peas in english) that usually come from Ecuador and are widely used in Puerto Rican and Dominican cuisines. They are high in protein content and can be found in the "ethnic" food aisle of the grocery store (Goya sells canned ones, which are easier to cook since it eliminates the pre-soaking step). I was introduced to them by a Puerto Rican family friend, and have been hooked ever since. My favorite way to cook them is by making Arroz con Gandules (rice with gandules), a hearty dish which I usually serve as an entree, but is surprisingly a great accompaniment to brisket. I hope you give gandules a try. Maybe you'll discover you love them as much as I do!

 

Arroz Con Gandules

•  Bacon, or Smoked Sausage, or Ham chopped
• Garlic, chopped
• 2 cups Rice
• 4 cups of water
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1 packet of Sazon Goya with Coriander and Annatto
• 1 can of Gandules

Add just enough oil to cover the bottom of a pot. Place over medium high heat. Add meat, bell pepper, onion, and seasoning. Saute until onion becomes translucent, stirring constantly. Add garlic and gandules. Add rice. Mix well. Add water and turn up heat to high. Add salt to taste. Let boil until water level has reduced considerably and turn heat to low. let simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Two for One: Pork Tenderloin

When it comes to grocery shopping, frugality has become my new motto. So, imagine my excitement when, on my last trip to HEB, I found a 2.5 pound pork tenderloin for $5! That' s a really good deal, especially since it's one of the leanest meats available, and less fat means more usable meat. Pork tenderloin is very easy to cook, and can be seasoned with pretty much anything you like. The main thing to remember when cooking pork is not to overcook it, because you'll end up with a dry piece of meat. Therefore, a meat thermometer is a good tool to have. A range of 150 to 165 degrees F will result in a tenderloin that's moist and safe to eat. I chose to do a pineapple pork tenderloin because I have fond memories of the pineapple glazed pork my mom used to make when I was kid, but it could have easily been seasoned with chipotles in adobo sauce, or honey mustard (Like I said, the seasoning possibilities are endless). The best part about this dish, however, was that I got two different meals out of it. The first night I served the tenderloin with rice and steamed broccoli, and with the leftovers, I made yummy tacos al pastor (pictured). Two delicious meals for the price of one, now that's a great deal!

Pineapple Glazed Pork Tenderloin

• 2 Pork tenderloins, 1 to 1 1/2 lbs each
• 1 can of sliced pineapples, juice reserved
• soy sauce
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• Salt and pepper

Generously rub tenderloins with salt and pepper and place them in a roasting pan. With a large fork, poke holes all around the tenderloins and insert chopped garlic pieces into the holes. In a bowl, combine one part soy sauce to two parts pineapple juice. Pour this mixture over tenderloins and let marinate for at least an hour. 

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place sliced pineapple rings on top of and around tenderloins. Put roasting pan in oven and roast to about 160 degrees on a meat thermometer, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest about 5 minutes before slicing to serve. 

Leftovers? No problem! Chop leftover meat into small pieces and place in a saute pan with a bit of oil, chopped white onions, and fresh chopped cilantro. If you like a bit of heat in your food, you could also add some hot sauce (I use Cholula, because it's not too hot and adds a nice flavor). Lightly coat corn tortillas in oil and place them on a cookie sheet. place about a tablespoon of the prepared meat filling on each tortilla and fold over. Bake in a 300 degree oven until tortillas start to to harden and are a golden color. 

Enjoy!

The First Post

Hello out there! If you are reading this, awesome. That means someone else besides my mother and my neighbor's cat decided to check the blog out. So thanks! 

Spoon diaries is a documentation of my forays into the culinary world, which are sometimes successful and sometimes not, but I pretty much enjoy them all.  All the recipes on here are ones that I've tested (and tasted!), some which I've made up myself, some which are family recipes, others that look yummy and want to try, and some are recipes that, through trial and error :(, have taught me to be a better cook. I hope that you enjoy them, try some out, and discover (or re-discover) that your passion for cooking is as big as mine!

Thanks for dropping by!