What You Should Have Eaten #54

 Veal Scallopine with Dijon Sauce, Asparagus, and Avocados

So, let’s start off this newly budget conscious feature with a veal recipe. Veal’s cheap, right? What’s that, it’s not? Damn.

So, yeah, I didn’t use veal. I talked with one of the meat guys at Kroger and he suggested breakfast pork loin cuts. I also went cheap on the dry white wine. I picked up a bottle of Flip Flop Left Coast Riesling for $4.99. It was very average. Not crappy, not spectacular, just run-of-the-mill.

There’s not much to be said for the recipe itself. It’s extremely simple. I did, however, have a small problem with the pork chops staying seasoned and floured, so they pretty much just ended up plain, but the sauce fixed that.

I don’t know how this would have tasted with veal, but it was damn good with the pork. Hell, the kids even ate it. I didn’t give them any of the sauce, because I knew they’d turn their noses up at it, but they pretty much ate everything else.

What You Should Have Eaten #48

Cumin and Lime Roasted Pork Tenderloin
with Spicy Creamed Corn

Looks like I’ve forgotten to take a picture of the recipes for both the drink and the meal. Sorry about that. I did find the meal online, though, so you can view it here. Andy looky here! It’s the drink recipe, more or less. Same ingredients, but I’m pretty sure the portions are different.

I’m getting to the point in my life where I don’t like wasting time on mediocre things, especially alcohol. I’ve found a great vodka I like (Vikingfjord), a gin that has totally reversed my opinion about gin (New Amsterdam), and now I’ve found my rum. Of course, the rum pictured isn’t it. I picked up a bottle of Oronoco Brazilian rum but put it back because I thought it was too expensive. I ended up picking up this bottle of Treaty Oak Platinum rum, a brand born and bred in Texas. It’s better than Bacardi, but it’s still just rum to me. I did, however, pick up a little airplane bottle of Oronoco as I was checking out. I ended up trying it, and oh my God it was incredible. Very smooth, the faintest hint of vanilla…like the Vikingfjord and New Amsterdam (who I just learned has a vodka, too, so I’ll have to check that out), this is something I can pour over ice and drink straight.

As for the drink itself, it was too sickly sweet. Maybe more rum and less cherry brandy and it’ll be a bit better.

Imagine my surprise/dismay as I was setting out all the ingredients and couldn’t find the tenderloin. Turns out it fell out of one of the grocery bags into the trunk on the way home the previous day and I didn’t notice it. My sister, bless her heart, came through and picked up a replacement one on her way over to the house. There’s one of the perks of having a regular adult dinner guest.

As with anything, I cut out the onion. I also cut the jalapeno dosage in half. I like flavor, not kick.

When I prepare something that doesn’t turn out right or DOES turn out right but just tastes like crap, I’ll be honest about it. But when I make something that ends up being spectacular, you’re going to know about it. This was one such meal.

The meat was incredible. It ended up being ever-so-slightly pink on the inside. It was moist (sorry, Big V) and extremely flavorful. The corn had just the right amount of seasoning to it between the peppers, the garlic and the herbs. The creaminess of the corn is up to the diner’s discretion. If you don’t like it creamy, use a slotted spoon to dish it up. If you DO like your corn a bit creamier, then…don’t.

The kids liked this, too. I kept some corn on the side to prepare without the special trappings. I love it when a meal comes together like this.

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas looming on the horizon. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Eaten #33

German Potato Salad with Kielbasa and Baked Beans

My grandpa “wrote” a cookbook a few years before he died. I’ve only made two dishes out of it, and that was when I was in college. One was a horrible, horrible concoction (BLT Soup), and the other, his German potato salad, was a big success. My grandpa opened a deli after he retired from the insurance game, and it was well-known and well-respected in Dubois County. Along with his Rueben sandwich, his potato salad was legendary. Heck, he was even a guest teacher one day for my middle school home ec class, and we all learned how to make his potato salad. I’m not expecting this recipe to be better than his, but dammit if it doesn’t sound tasty.

Tonight’s drink is a Calvados Cocktail. Calvados, grenadine, orange juice and orange bitters. I’m cheating a little bit. I’m using Applejack, a blended apple brandy, instead of actual Calvados. When this bottle is gone, though, I’m going to spring for the real stuff.

Three-quarters of an ounce of grenadine? I hope the OJ ends up cutting the sweetness/syrupiness of this concoction, because I’m already expecting this to be almost sickly sweet.

Yup, still too syrupy. Less grenadine, more OJ maybe, or even some more Calvados.

My kids balked at the idea of baked beans, so I let them dress up the boring old can that I bought. I’m going to include back, bratwurst, and a little experimental sauce of root beer and beer, with some cheese and bread crumbs on top. It’ll be prepared on the stove, then tossed in the oven for a bit to actually bake. I’m excited!

My homemade sauce includes A&W Root Beer, a little bit of Sweet Water Motor Boat Ale, some Dijon mustard, some Heinz 57 sauce (well, really, the Kroger equivalent), and a dash of Worchestershire.

This is only the second time I’ve cooked bacon in the oven. Last time it didn’t turn out too well because I was experimenting and not following any specific directions. Hopefully this time it’ll turn out different.

With the amount of pig I’m putting in these beans, I’m renaming this Super Pork n’ Beans. This is going to be epic.

Since I don’t like onions (and they don’t like me), I’m using a bit of garlic instead.

This is the first time I’ve worked with kale. I hope it doesn’t make the potato salad taste awful.

Did I also forget to mention that before the beans go in the oven, there’s going to be a layer of Colby jack cheese and a layer of crushed Lays honey barbeque chips added to it? Yeah, this is happening, people.

Holy freaking moley, that was a damn good dinner. I was a bit worried when the topping to the beans caught on fire in the oven, but I caught it before it burned too much, and I was able to scrape off the burned part. Next time I’ll know not to use the broiler.

My oldest son helped me come up with the ingredients for the beans. The root beer and bratwurst were his idea. He didn’t eat a damned bit of it. His loss, really. He also chose dessert: root beer floats with cookies ‘n cream ice cream. No happy plate, no dessert. My daughter at least tried everything, and she liked the potatoes and the meat from the beans. My youngest son ate his salad and his siblings’ salads. My sister and I made happy plates, though. I’m about to enjoy a float. I’ll also be enjoying leftovers all week.

What You Should Have Eaten #20

Make-Up Pecks

(Yeah, I went British with my title so I could get it to sound like make-up sex. I'm that guy.)

I realize I’ve been lax in my food-related postings. Work has been pretty hectic since about Thanksgiving, and my blog suffered. While work is still busy, it’s slightly LESS busy, and I’m hoping to get the blog a bit more regular, starting with the food posts. So here's a run-down of what I've been cooking lately. Click on the titles to go to the recipes.

Kentucky Bourbon Brownies

Island Bird: Pineapple-Rum Chicken

Jack Daniels Bread Pudding

Chicken, Corn, and Black Bean Stoup

Larfleeze's Orange Lantern Cookies

 

Turkey Club Super Mashers

Pork Chops with Grainy Mustard and Raisin Sauce (Let me know if you're interested in this one. I couldn't find the recipe online, so I'll get a picture from the book if you want it.)

Ginger-Soy Chicken on Shredded Lettuce

Peasant Soup

Spring Chicken with Leeks and Peas Served with Lemon Rice

Chicken and Rice Stoup

Swedish Meat Dumpling Stoup (with grilled ham and gouda sandwiches)

And just for kicks and giggles, here's some of what I was drinking when making these. Thrown in here is a shot of my liquor cabinet. It's well-stocked, and there's some vodka in the freezer, some advocaat in the fridge, and some aromatic bitters and grenadine on the top shelf.