Herb Crusted Pork Rub

Here is a quick and easy rub (from Paula Deen) that I used on a nice pork tenderloin. It would be great on any pork roast actually.

Since I've had a nice healthy pot of herbs growing on my back deck all summer I used fresh herbs, but this would work with dried herbs too. Just use less because the flavor is more concentrated.

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme (or use 1 tsp dried)
2 teaspoons minced fresh basil (or use 1 tsp dried)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (I haven't tried growing rosemary yet, maybe next summer)
4 teaspoons minced garlic (I'm sure you could use 1 tsp garlic powder, I just happen to like cooking with the real stuff)
Place the in a small bowl with 1 tsp salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix it all together and rub it all over the tenderloin, or whatever cut of meat you've decided to serve.

Cook the roast according to whatever method you feel like using. You can roast it, you can grill it, you can brown it first and then slow roast it....

The important thing is to make sure the pork is cooked through (but not overcooked). I like to bring my tenderloin (since it is a smaller cut of meat) to 155 degrees (Get a Meat Thermometer if you don't have one) and let it sit for five to ten minutes before carving. The roast continues to cook while it sits and doing it this way insures that you won't overcook the pork, which makes it tough not tender.

By the way, I didn't actually measure any of the above ingredients. I just eyeballed it.

Spiffy Food Storage Spuds

I'm trying to include food storage items in our meals occasionally.
A - I'm learning how to cook with them
B - I'm actually using them and thus rotating them
C - I don't have time or the inclination to go to the store (which brings us back full circle to A & B

Last night I pulled out the Potato Flakes. We know these are pretty yummy anyway, as far as reconstituted mashed potatoes go. Hey, they'll never take the place of REAL mashed potatoes but boil up some milk and some butter to reconstitute them and they aren't half bad (in a pinch).

I was serving up a nice pork tenderloin which doesn't make a lot of drippings, thus no gravy. But I wanted to kick the potatoes up just a notch so I rummaged in my fridge and found a container with Feta Cheese.

Perfect!

I mixed a handful of Feta Cheese into the hot mashed potatoes, let them sit together for a few minutes and served them up.

Creamy! Tangy! Yummy! Easy!

One of these days I need to try making Potato Flakes with the dried milk and dehydrated butter that I have stored. Has anyone out there done this yet? Any hints on working with dehydrated butter?

Chicken Enchiladas

Got home from church hungry! Opened the freezer and saw that we had chicken thighs and tortillas in there. I knew we had cheddar and pepper jack cheese and instantly decided to make chicken enchiladas.

These are so easy to make, I semi-defrosted the chicken and cubed it up pretty small and browned it. I then actually shredded about half of the meat in the Cuisinart after it was cooked . I just really like the texture of the shredded chicken when I'm eating an enchilada. I put it back in the pan, added some chopped onion and garlic and cooked that up together for a few minutes then added my go to taco seasoning from Costco and let it all simmer together while I got the pan, the sauce and the cheese ready.

I sprayed a 9x13 pan lightly with vegetable oil and grated up a little bit of pepper jack cheese and lots of cheddar. Of course, you can change the amounts based on your own taste.

I did not have a can of enchilada sauce in the basement so I Googled it and found an interesting idea on AllRecipes.com. One of their recipes suggested using a combination of salsa and cream cheese. Amazingly I had both of those items in my fridge so I dumped a little more than 1 cup into a saucepan and added about 4 oz of cream cheese, roughly cubed into six pieces. I set that on the stove over low heat and just let the cream cheese melt into the salsa. I whisked it all together and then spooned it on top of the tortillas before adding the cheeses and chicken. We discovered, since I'd made more than needed, that this is actually quite yummy as a dip for tortilla chips.

I rolled up the tortillas over the filling, placed them seam side down in the pan, spread a little more sauce over each enchilada, sprinkled them liberally with cheese and then as a nice finale, diced up a fresh tomato from the garden and added that to the top. They baked at 350 degrees for not quite 20 minutes and then we devoured them. Simple, inexpensive and Yummy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

I used fresh celery (chopped) and garlic (minced), sauteed in butter (okay, not healthy, but I didn't use much and I refuse to believe that FAKE butter is better for anyone).

Then I added equal amounts of chicken broth & water and dumped in a couple handfuls of dried carrots and some dried onions (YEAH, I used my food storage!). Then I added a shake of peppercorns (just don't bite into one - SPICY!) and a couple of shakes of Italian Seasoning. I brought this to a light boil and then let it simmer for half an hour.

Then I cut up two chicken breasts into bite-size pieces, turned up the heat to medium and added the chicken to the broth. After the chicken had cooked for 15 minutes I turned up the heat to medium high and once the soup was boiling again I dumped in a couple of handfuls of egg noodles, letting them cook until tender. Then I served it up in my pretty soup bowls and enjoyed!

Oh. My. Goodness! You should make this.

Italian Sausage Pasta Toss

Brown a package of Italian Sausage, cut into slices (we like to partially freeze it and cut the slices before cooking).

Add some chopped fresh vegies and sautee until they are tender. We used red, yellow & orange sweet peppers but it would have been yummy with asparagus or broccoli or tomatoes, etc.

Cook a package of bow-tie pasta and toss the meat and vegies with Italian Salad Dressing (to taste).

It was yummy and light. We will be making this again

Rebecca's Perfect Lemon Bars

EVERY time I eat these I am amazed all over again at their yumminess. They are light and lemony with just the right combination of tart and sweet.

We served these at Emily & James' wedding reception.

Crust:
2 c flour
1/2 c powdered sugar
2 sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut up
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with non-stick foil, letting foil extend about 2 inches above ends of pan. Put flour, powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and salt in food processor, pulse until small crumbs form. With lightly floured fingers, pat over bottom of prepared pan. Bake 18 minutes, until pale golden.

Filling:
2 c granulated sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 Tbsp, freshly grated lemon peel
1/2 c fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
Garnish: powdered sugar

Beat sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl with mixer to blend. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon peel and juice, butter and salt; beat until well blended. Pour over hot crust. Bake 20-22 minutes until set. Cool completely (will take about 45 minutes). Refrigerate for 1 hour. Dust with powdered sugar. Lift foil by ends to a cutting board. Peel back foil and cut into squares. Serves 24.

This recipe comes from the Naperville Sixth Ward Relief Society Cookbook and was submitted by R. C.