Griller Flavors!

Grilled Pesto Pork Loin with Balsamic Onion Jam and Kale Potato Cakes
The grilling season is in full-swing and my sweetie and I have been taking full advantage of our awesome new grill (which may just be one of the greatest Craigslist scores of all time). With our friends Spencer and Hillary coming over for a little weeknight dinner, I wanted to make something that could be mostly prepared ahead of time and then finished when the guests arrive. Don't let the multiple steps intimidate you. This is actually a very fast and easy meal to put together. I really suggest trying the Kale Potato Cakes as a side for other means or the Onion Jam as a topping on any number of proteins. I served the dinner with a simple cucumber and tomato salad dressed with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Dessert was provided by Spencer. Apple pie. It was delicious. 

Ingredients
- 2 1-1/2 lb. pork loins
- 4 cloves garlic
- a small handful of chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves, divided
- 8 large fresh basil leaves
- juice from one lemon
- 1/4 c. sun dried tomatoes packed in oil
- about 1/4 c. olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 3 large yellow onions, peeled, sliced in half lengthwise and then cut into strips
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. cooking sherry
- 3 medium sized russet potatoes, peeled
- 1 bunch of kale, leaves pulled from thick stems and roughly chopped
- 6 large green onions, trimmed and white and green parts finely minced
- 1 bunch fresh chives, minced
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 c. flour
- vegetable oil for frying

PESTO PORK LOIN
In the bowl of a food processor combine peeled garlic cloves, fresh basil leaves, about half the Italian parsley, and lemon juice. Pulse until the garlic and herbs are nicely minced and combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add sun dried tomatoes with their oil and run the food processor. While the mixture is blending, slowly add more olive oil until the pesto begins to have a smooth, creamy texture. It might take between 2 Tbsp. and 1/4 c. to get it right. Season pesto with a few grinds of pepper and about 1 tsp. of salt. Set aside. Prepare pork loins by patting them dry with a paper towel then sprinkle all sides with salt and pepper. Place loins in a resealable plastic bag or glass container and cover all sides with pesto mixture. Cover tightly and allow to marinate at room temperature for about twenty minutes if you are intending to grill immediately. Otherwise, cover and marinate in refrigerator overnight.

When you are ready to grill, remove pork from refrigerator for about 20 minutes before cooking. Heat the grill while waiting for the meat to warm up a bit. Place on a hot grill and cook for about 15 minutes, turning frequently, to cook thoroughly on all sides. A thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat should register about 145˚F to have the meat at medium rare. Remove from heat, tent with foil, and allow loins to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving with Balsamic Onion Jam.

BALSAMIC ONION JAM
Good things come to those who wait. People rush the caramelizing process too much. It takes at least a good 45 minutes of low heat to get a good, sweet brown on the onions. Be patient. Cook the jam the night before. Just set the onions on a low stove and go about your business. They only need to be stirred occasionally.

Begin by melting butter in a large heavy pan (I like using my cast-iron skillet for this) over a medium heat. Add sliced onions and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Let them soften in the butter over medium for about 5 minutes until they begin to turn translucent. Then, turn the heat down to low, give them a good stir, and walk away.

Feel free to check back on the onions every 15-20 minutes for a good stir. They will begin to brown and then turn really soft at about 45 minutes. At that time, turn up the heat to medium-high. Add balsamic vinegar and cooking sherry to the pan. Stir mixture together and allow liquid to cook off and infuse into the onions. Once all the liquid has simmered away, about 5-8 minutes, remove onions from heat. Store in refrigerator if you're making them ahead of time. Allow to come to room temperature before topping pork loin with such a delicious concoction.

KALE POTATO CAKES
This is my newest adventure in kale. I LOVED it. I served them with "Sri-rancha" - basically Sriracha hot sauce mixed with ranch dressing, but sour cream or ketchup will do just fine.

Begin by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch kale leaves for about 1 minute until they are softened slightly and bright green. Drain the hot water and rinse leaves with cold water to stop cooking process. Squeeze out any excess water with your hands and place leaves into a large bowl.

Peel potatoes and then grate them into bowl with kale using the large side of a box grater. Add chopped chives, green onions, and remaining Italian parsley to the mixture. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add beaten egg and flour to the mixture and combine thoroughly. It's really easiest to do with your hands to make sure that everything is properly distributed. Heat enough oil in a large, heavy skillet to cover the bottom of the pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot, add the kale-potato mixture in 1/4 c. mounds.

Fry each cake on both sides for about 2 minute per side until they are hot and golden-brown. Remove from hot oil with a spatula and drain on a paper towel-lined cookie sheet. Blot out excess oil from top with a paper towel. Continue working in batches, adding more oil as needed until all the cakes are cooked. Serve immediately. Or, if you are preparing ahead store in an airtight container until you are ready to finish up. To serve, heat up in a 400˚ F oven for about 10-12 minutes. They will crisp up perfectly.
 

License to Grill

Super Secret Service Sauce Burgers with Triple Threat Roasted Balsamic Potato Salad
Summer is finally here and it's time to relish in the long hours of light and balmy summer air with what else? Grilling. Nothing says summer better than firing up the grill for an evening of burgers, beer, and friendship. For several days prior towards our grilling-get-together, I mused over the possibilities and decided I had to develop my own "secret sauce" for our burgers. Lucky for you, I decided not to keep it a secret. Instead, I want to share this delicious jalapeño-spiked dressing with the masses. And what better side for a tasty burger than a decidedly non-mayonnaise based potato salad? It was a hit. This seasoned burger was easy to make and with caramelized onions . . . a complete masterpiece of grilling. Seriously. It's worth the effort. This recipe seems very involved, but it's really quite easy. Much of if can be done ahead of time and stored until you are ready to grill.

Ingredients
- 2 lbs. ground beef
- 8 hamburger buns
- sliced tomato
- lettuce
- sliced cheddar cheese
- garlic salt
- onion powder
- Worcestershire sauce
- salt and ground pepper
- 1/2 c. mayonnaise
- 1/4 c. ketchup
- 2-3 Tbsp. Sriracha sauce
- 1/4 c. diced pickled jalapeño peppers
- 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, diced into 1" chunks
- 3 Yukon Gold potatoes diced into 1" chunks
- 3 red potatoes, diced into 1" chunks
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 3 medium sized sweet yellow onions
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1/4 c. chopped Italian parsley
- 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2-3 large shallots, peeled and sliced thin crosswise
- juice from one lemon

SUPER SECRET SERVICE SAUCE
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, ketchup, Sriracha sauce, and jalapenño peppers. Season with 1 tsp. garlic salt and 1 tsp. of onion powder. Taste. Seriously . . . taste it for seasoning. Do you like it? Most likely it needs to be seasoned with salt and fresh ground pepper. Add a little of each. Taste again. If it is seasoned to your liking, go for it. If not. Try spicing it up with an extra squirt of Sriracha sauce and some extra salt and pepper. When the sauce it seasoned to your liking, cover in plastic wrap and store in fridge until you are ready for use. Can be made ahead of time, at least a day or two in advance if necessary.

TRIPLE THREAT ROASTED BALSAMIC POTATO SALAD
Preheat oven to 425˚F. Line a heavy baking sheet with foil and spray down with cooking spray to prevent potatoes from sticking. Arrange potatoes and sliced shallots on the baking sheet in a single layer and drizzle with 2-3 Tbsp. of good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dried oregano. Toss lightly with your hands to make sure that the oil is evenly distributed on the potatoes. Roast in oven for 25-30 minutes, until the potatoes have soften and are beginning to turn brown on the edges. If you taste one, it should be tender and sweet with a slight crispness in the skin.

Set potatoes aside for a few minute to cool and then place in a large serving bowl. Squeeze the juice from one lemon over the potato mixture and drizzle with 1-2 additional Tbsp. of olive oil to make sure than potato salad is moist. Toss with Italian parsley. Season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. If you make this ahead, you can store it in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, covered in plastic wrap. If made shortly before serving, leave out, covered in plastic to be served at room temperature. So yummy!

 THE BURGERS
I have always believed the best way to make a slam-dunk burger is to season the meat prior to grilling. To make this flavorful beefy-beast, place ground beef in a large bowl and sprinkle liberally with salt and fresh ground pepper. Add 1-2 tsp. of garlic salt to the mix and 3-4 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce. Work seasoning into ground beef with bare hands. When ingredients are thoroughly combined form 8 palm-sized 1/4 lb. patties with hands and arrange on a waxed-paper lined cookie sheet in a single lager for grilling. Press a small indentation into the center of each burger before grilling. This ensures that the burgers will remain flat and won't puff up when you cook them.

Grill burgers for 4-5 minutes per side over a hot grill for medium rare. Top with cheese and cover to melt for 1 minutes. Remove from grill and tent with foil for several minutes before serving. Slater burgers buns with Super Secret Service Spicy Sauce then sprinkle bottom with caramelized onions. Top with a burger patty, tomato slice, lettuce, and bun top. Serve with potato salad. It's seriously so good. I promise. The sauce definitely has bite to it. If you like spicy stuff, you won't be disappointed.



 

Gone Crabbin'

Kickin' Crab Dip

Josh (of "Josh Steele's Slammin' Salmon Chowder fame) invited us to go down to visit his family for a weekend of small town relaxation. His parents live on 15 acres, complete with horses and a feisty terrier named Rocky. Part of the weekend plans included an afternoon (which turned into an evening) of crabbing on the Oregon coast. I had never been crabbing before, but I was definitely up for the adventure. It all started with buying shellfish licenses, crab nets and bait boxes, pieces of raw chicken (for bait), and a lengthy drive on on a twisty road out to the docks. Josh took us to his favorite spot between a couple of fishing boats. We dropped our nets with wide-eyed fantasies of delicious, juicy crabs scuttling eagerly to their doom. It didn't happen quite so easily. The sea lions kept busting open our bait boxes and taking the chicken for themselves. We came up empty or with baskets full of female crabs, which you have to throw back. A couple of local fisherman kept giving us tips (more than a few times we heard: "You know where there's a lot of crab? Up at the restaurant up there! Ha! Ha!") We had caught a few rock crabs worth keeping, but the real prize was the dungeness crab with its softer shell and sweeter meat. We didn't give up. We wanted a cooler full of crab. The temperature dropped and daylight waned, I was really feeling ready to pack it but, but we decided to push through, move our nets, and try a few more throws. Glad we did! Maybe the crabs got dumber. Or maybe it was just the sea lions taking off for another dock, but we began pulling nets full of keeper crabs. Exhausted on the drive back home, I thought to myself, "You know what would be good with these crabs? I jalapeno-spiked mayonnaise." I was right.
Ingredients
- 1 c. mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp. Sriracha hot sauce
- 1/4 c. chopped pickled jalapeno peppers
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together mayonnaise, hot sauce, peppers, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. That's it! Dip crab into sauce. It would also be a great dressing for shrimp, salmon, or pretty much anything delicious from the sea.

Vodka: What Can't It Do?

Mascarpone Vodka Sauce with Turkey Meatballs
Maybe it's something floating around the autumn air, but lately Angie and I have been on the same food wave-length when musing over our dinner plans at the office. The other day I mentioned, "Do you know what I've been in the mood for? Spaghetti and meatballs!" Angie exclaimed, "Me too!" And we began comparing notes for potential pasta and ground-meat permutations. Mascarpone cheese is always a good idea and I have recently been gifted a fantastic bottle of vodka- this variation on vodka sauce seemed like a natural fit. Enjoy a heart bowl on a chilly October night. Keep in mind, the delicious herb-laden marinara base to the sauce makes more than enough for leftovers. Whip it up, save all about about 3 cups and freeze the rest for a future lasagna recipe.

Ingredients
- 2 medium yellow onions, finely diced
- 1 c. carrots, finely diced
- 4 stalks celery, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 c. Italian parsley, chopped, divided
- 1/4 c. fresh basil, chopped
- 1 c. good quality vodka
- 4 oz. mascarpone cheese
- 1 tsp. sugar
- salt and pepper
- 3 lengths Italian turkey or chicken sausage, removed from casings
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 2 slices whole wheat bread, torn into small pieces
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp. herbs d' Provence
- 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
- milk
- 1 c. grated Parmesan cheese, divided

DELICIOUS HERBY MARINARA SAUCE
Heat 1/4 c. olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic for about 3-4 minutes until they become soft and fragrant. Add carrots and celery, cook until vegetable begin to soften, 2-3 minutes. Add fresh thyme, 1/4 c. Italian parsley, and fresh basil. Stir to combine. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until sauce begins to thicken.

At this point, you have a delicious and complete marinara sauce. Enjoy with pasta, chicken, eggplant, or anything or use as the base for about a thousand other sauces.

VODKA SAUCE
To make the vodka sauce, take 3 cups of the Delicious Herby Marinara Sauce in a Dutch oven and add 1 c. good quality vodka. Simmer over medium-low for about 20 minutes for sauce to thicken. Add 1/4 c. mascarpone and 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheeses. Stir warm sauce until cheeses are melted and well combined. Season with additional salt and pepper and pour over cooked pasta to serve.

TURKEY MEATBALLS
Preheat oven to 350˚F and spray a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray, set aside. In a large bowl combine ground turkey, chicken sausage, torn bread pieces, herbs d' Provence, poultry seasoning, 1/4 c. chopped Italian parsley, 1 egg, a splash of milk, and 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese. Mix with hands until ingredients are thoroughly combines. Form meat mixture into 2" balls and arrange in prepared baking dish. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, until meatballs begin to brown. Serve over prepared pasta and vodka sauce. It's good stuff!

Well Equipt 1

Whisked Away: Homemade Garlic Aioli

Part of making magic in the kitchen is having the right tools for the job. While some of my favorite kitchen gadgets are fancy pieces of pricey machinery (I fully intend to write love letters to my food processor and stand mixer), others are basic, low-tech, inexpensive tools that are indispensable in creating delicious creations. The first of these is the humble whisk. I have two of these handy tools in my drawer- a silicon whisk I use with my non-stick and enamel cookware, and a regular wire whisk for other jobs. Dressings, whipped cream, fluffy eggs, sauces, meringues, and rues can all be accomplished with a flick of the wrist and your trusty whisk. So let's all celebrate this utensil and its knack for effectively incorporating air into some of our favorite recipes.

You may ask . . . "Why the hell would you bother making your own mayonnaise?" Uhhh . . . because it's delicious and easy to make. This garlic aioli takes a little bit of elbow grease, but is a tasty and versatile condiment- use it as a dip for sweet potato fries, a sandwich spread, or a topping for grilled salmon. Seriously . . . try it and you'll be hooked.

Ingredients
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp. white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
- 3 clove garlic, minced
- fresh ground pepper

Combine egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar, Dijon, and salt in medium bowl. Whisk until well blended, about 30 seconds. Slowly (seriously, this is important) add 1/4 c. olive oil a few drops at a time into egg mixture, whisking constantly for about 4 minutes. The aioli will begin to thicken. Then gradually add the remaining cup of olive oil in a very slow, thin stream, whisking constantly until mixture becomes thick (about 8 minutes). Don't rush this process or the mixture won't thicken. When the aioli becomes thick, add minced garlic and season with fresh ground pepper to taste. Cover and chill. Aioli can be made two days ahead of time. Keep chilled. Remember, there is raw egg in the recipe, so it's not the kind of thing you want sitting around for weeks. The fresh, creamy taste is unbeatable! You'll never want to go back . . . although, admittedly, your arm will get a little sore from the whisking.

Feelin' Saucy

Simple and Delicious Marinara Sauce

Periodically I like to whip up this simple and delicious sauce. The recipe makes a bloody ton of this tasty, vegetarian sauce which is great on its own and can serve as the basis for a variety of pasta sauces and other recipes. Although it has to simmer for about an hour, this sauce is a great time saver for us busy, working people because it can be divided up and used for so many other dinners. I use about 3 cups for dinner that night and then divide the remainder into 3 and 4 cup portions destined for the freezer for future recipes. Master this recipe and a world of new doors will be opened to you! (I promise to include twists on this basic recipe in future blogs that mean fast and cheap dinners for family and buddies.)

I usually chop all my carrots, onions, garlic, and canned tomatoes in the food processor. If you don't have a food processor, just chop ingredients up to a fine mince with a sharp knife and try to buy crushed canned tomatoes.

Ingredients
- 3 28 oz. cans diced tomatoes, finely chopped up in food processor
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large yellow onion, peeled and finely minced
- 2 carrots, peeled and minced
- 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
- salt and fresh ground pepper

Heat olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add minced onions and cook over heat, stirring often, until softened (but not browned), stirring occasionally, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and carrots. Cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, sugar, and thyme, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for about an hour (maybe a bit longer), stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve about 3 cups of finished sauce over 16 oz. of your favorite pasta or divide up and save for future deliciousness.