Royal Foodie Joust Entry: Pork and Asparagus Rolls on Wilted Spinach

Here is my entry for this month's Royal Foodie Joust for which the 3 ingredients are, lemongrass, almonds and asparagus. Even the littlest noseminers liked this one.


Pork and Asparagus Rolls on Wilted Spinach
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

12 spears asparagus
4 one-inch thick slices pork tenderloin
2 four-inch lengths of lemongrass
1/4 cup whole unsalted almonds
2 teaspoons orange marmalade
6 ounces fresh baby spinach
1 Tablespoon thinly sliced green onion
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon Sherry
2/3 cup beef stock
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste
neutral oil such as canola for frying

Remove woody ends of asparagus spears and tie the spears together. Cut the outer leaves of the lemongrass away from the tender centers and set aside. Steam asparagus spears with water prepared with these outer lemongrass leaves and salt. Steam lightly for 2-3 minutes only. Set aside.

Pound tenderloin slices thin. Do this very gently. Pork tenderloin is already very tender and over-pounding will cause them to break up. Spread 1/2 teaspoon orange marmalade on each pounded filet.

Cut asparagus spears into 3 inch lengths. Set 3 cut spears (the end with the top intact) onto the smaller end of the filet. Roll up tightly and set aside, seam side down while you roll the other filets and asparagus.

Grind 1/4 cup almonds fine. Add salt and pepper to taste and roll each pork and asparagus roll in the almonds.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add each coated roll, seam side down, to the pan and cook
until well browned on each side. This takes 6-8 minutes for each roll. Set aside and keep warm.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Chop one length of lemongrass (with harder outer leaves removed) and add to the oil. Heat briefly until fragrant - just a few seconds will do it. Add spinach and stir just until wilted. Remove to 2 plates and top each mound of spinach with 2 asparagus and pork rolls.

For sauce - stir together soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon thinly sliced lemongrass stalk, green onion, garlic, Sherry, stock and cornstarch. Pour sauce ingredients into the same pan used for the spinach and heat until thickened.

Pour sauce over rolls and serve immediately.

Veggie Wednesday: Cauliflower and Pear Curry

Cauliflower and Pear Curry

Last week we had one of those throw-together-meals for dinner. Cubed chicken breasts, bagged frozen veggies and bottled curry sauce. I also had a few pears on-hand that needed to be used, so I threw them into the mix. The combo of cauliflower and pear was so good that I decided to make it again as a vegetarian dish.

Ever since my friend Jodie sent me a bunch of fun stuff from Japan, including several packages of Vermont Curry, I've been hooked on it. It's sweeter than most other curries and smoother, as well. I took the Wafuu recipe from Saveur and did my own thing with it, using pears rather than apples and using my own blend of veggie. Here is the recipe with my changes in blue. Of course, the curry blend you use will change the flavor of the finished dish, so make sure to use a curry you're fond of.

Japanese-Style Chicken Curry
(Wafuu Curry)

SERVES 4

Wafuu curry has a cult following in Japan, where many fondly remember eating it at home and at school functions. The recipes vary from cook to cook, and often include a host of "secret" ingredients like chocolate, milk, miso, and dashi (a stock made from seaweed and bonito flakes). Unlike most curries in other countries, this one is thickened with flour, which creates a smoother texture.

3 cups Chicken Stock
1 tbsp. canola or peanut oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" chunks (I left this out)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh ginger
1 medium yellow onion, 1⁄2 finely chopped, 1⁄2 cut into
1" pieces
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. curry powder, preferably S&B brand
2 tbsp. crushed tomatoes
1 dried bay leaf
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut crosswise into 1⁄2" rounds (I used red and green pepper slices)
1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into 1" chunks (one head of cauliflower florets and NO potato)
1 small fuji apple, peeled, cored, and coarsely grated (I used 1/2 a pear grated and one half sliced)
1 tsp. honey
1 tbsp. soy sauce
Steamed short-grain white rice (no rice here - just the veggies)

1. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a medium pot over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season chicken thighs all over with salt and pepper to taste, add to the skillet, and cook, stirring and turning frequently, until deep golden brown on all sides, about 4 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, transfer the chicken to a large plate, and set aside.

2. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and melt the butter. Add the ginger, chopped onions, and garlic and cook, stirring often to scrape up any browned bits, until the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is evenly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the curry powder and the tomatoes, stir well to combine, and remove the skillet from the heat. Add 1⁄2 cup of hot chicken stock and whisk vigorously to combine, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of skillet. (The browned bits will contribute greatly to the taste and color of the curry.) Whisk the curry mixture into the pot of simmering chicken stock, then add the reserved browned chicken thighs, onion pieces, bay leaf, carrots, and potatoes. (This is where I added the cauliflower, onion and peppers) Bring the curry to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes (only 20 minutes were necessary to cook the cauliflower and peppers).

3. Add the apples, honey, soy sauce, and salt to taste to the curry and stir well to combine. Cook the curry, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat, until the flavors meld, about 5 minutes more. Serve the curry with steamed rice.

I added the sliced pear close to the end so it didn't become mushy during cooking.

Bacon Pie

Bacon Pie

Bacon pie, it turns out, may be just a joke. Dear George asked if I ever made bacon pie - my response was, "What's that?" He told me he had friends who talked about a pie that was popular in Upstate New York and made it out to be the best stuff going. The only reference I could find online was at an urban dictionary - something about it being consumed with root beer. I also consulted Mr. Dave, author of Ridiculous Food Society of Upstate New York and he told me the only pie he could recall having was more akin to the Bisquick 'Impossible Pie' type and served with gravy rather than having gravy in the pie. Oh, and Dave has more bacon recipes than a person should and each one looks heart-stoppingly delicious. And I do mean heart-stoppingly.

No matter, I came up with my own recipe based on what George told me, which was, "eggs, sausage, bacon and gravy". There are several other names I could think of for this pie like: Heart Attack Pie, Stroke-For-Sure Pie, Go-Broke-Quick Pie or Lard Butt Special, but I think for now we'll just go with Bacon Pie.

I had one child tell me, 'this should be a daily food here'. Yeah -- it's good. As always, eat at your own risk.

Bacon Pie

Bacon Pie
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

1/2 pound bacon - cut into small dice
1 pound breakfast sausage - cut into small chunks
12 eggs
1 double pie crust for 9-inch pie
flour
milk or water
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pie dough and set aside. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat eggs well and cook until no longer runny (scrambled eggs - folks). Set aside in a large bowl.
Cook bacon and sausage in the same pan until the bacon is crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and put into the same bowl with the eggs.
Turn the heat to medium-low and add flour to the drippings - there should be about 1/2 cup of drippings to which you would add 3/4 cup flour. Whisk the flour into the drippings and slowly add water or milk (it really is just a preference here) until a thick gravy forms. Cook for several minutes to cook out any flour taste. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add eggs, sausage and bacon back into the gravy. Stir until everything is well coated.
Pour into the bottom pie crust, top with remaining dough and vent with a knife.
Bake for 30 minutes or until top is browned and filling is bubbling out the sides of the crust. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Don't eat this more than once a year.

Veggie Wednesday: Sofrito Rice and Beans

Sofrito Rice and Beans

Sofrito is an ingredient that plays a very large role in any type of Hispanic cooking. However, there are two distinct ways of making it; one involves tomatoes and one does not. I've used both and it really depends on my mood as to which will find its way into a dish, but for this dish it was the green sofrito made without tomatoes.

This sofrito is another of those things I made by throwing together the ingredients until it 'looked good'. There is a good recipe for it HERE. I simply tossed green peppers, cilantro, garlic and onion into the blender and chopped it fine. I store mine in the freezer in small batches until needed.

This isn't a typical Hispanic recipe - just something I made for lunch when this was all that I had on-hand.

Sofrito Rice and Beans
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons oil
1 cup green sofrito
2 cups uncooked rice - rinsed
3 cups cooked pinto beans
4 cups water plus more as needed

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot and add sofrito. Cook and stir until fragrant. Add rice and toss until well coated with oil and sofrito. Add beans and stir until well mixed. Add 4 cups of water and reduce heat to very low. Cover tightly and check every 5 minutes - stirring to keep rice from sticking. This is completely contrary to the usual method of cooking Puerto Rican rice and beans - that one you want to have stick to the pot!

Add water if necessary and cook with the lid on until the rice is tender. Salt if necessary and serve.

Bacon in the Budget

Bacon Pancakes - recipe below

Bacon is quickly taking on a role as the new chocolate as of late and I'm on that wagon, for sure. Bacon lovers are coming 'out of the closet' with a fervor and I'm more than happy to join the ranks of newly outted pork belly fanatics whether it's PC or not.

However (come on, there has to be a 'however' here) bacon is expensive and not-so-good for a person's health. What to do? Bacon ends. I'm not talking the fat-only type, and don't let your butcher get away with handing that to you, I'm talking the kind with a good amount of meat still on them and all the flavor of the more picture-perfect slices. There are many areas where you can actually purchase boxes of bacon ends for your freezer. If you don't have that available, ask at the meat counter.

Here's the health part; it doesn't take a lot of bacon to get a good bacon flavor. Take those ends and cook them up until crisp. Drain well and crumble into bacon bits. While you're at it, save the bacon grease for other uses. Strain out the cooked bits of bacon and freeze the leftover drippings in small containers. It only takes a tablespoon or so to add flavor to soups, stews, casseroles and gravies.

This recipe is for Bacon Pancakes. In a family as large as ours, the bacon budget can get out of hand rather quickly. To have all the flavor without all the cost, try crumbling bacon right into the pancakes as they cook. Everyone in the family loves these.

Bacon Pancakes
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

1 recipe pancake batter (use whatever you really like - my favorite is still the BH&G New Cookbook basic recipe)
1/2 pound bacon cooked crisp and crumbled

Ladle pancake batter onto hot griddle in the amount desired (1/3 cup works well) and top with crumbled bacon. Flip when bubbles appear on surface of pancake and edges are dry.


You can always mix the bacon right into the batter, but I find that the bacon that rests on the bottom of the pan gets too done that way.

Other Bacon Recipes:

Bacon at Cooking with Anne
Bacon at A Thousand Soups


More on Meal Planning and Budgeting:

More on Food Budgeting
Budget Meal Planning
What's For Dinner?

P.S. Check out Cooking with Anne and Short Order Mom on Parentdish.com today!