Food, Fun, Whatever !!

This was a pretty good week - stuck to my menu… well, close!

This week's Sunday Roast was also my Heart's birthday dinner - his choice: pork tenderloin with apples & a good grainy Dijon mustard, roasted vegetables (red potatoes, parsnips, and carrots), homemade applesauce

Sliced open two tenderloins, not all the way through

… filled with grainy Dijon mustard and Macintosh apple slices

.. tied up and coated with some more Dijon mustard and a little olive oil

Vegetables were tossed with olive oil and Herbs de Province

Homemade applesauce: three granny smith apples & two red delicious - a little water & a little rum / brown sugar / allspice / cloves - brought to a boil and simmered for 30 minutes

Tenderloin roasted for 50 minutes at 375-degrees

Vegetables roasted with the tenderloin and then continued to roast for an additional 20 minutes at 425-degrees while the tenderloin "rested"

Gravy: one package dry pork gravy mix, 3/4c water, 1/2c Merlot, heaping scoop of grainy Dijon mustard, splash of Worcestershire sauce, and freshly ground pepper

All served up - YUM!

Another quick dinner because I have a 7pm everything Thursday and my Heart is coming back from an event in DC. Bought a package of English muffins so … eggs benedict seems appropriate and decided to make it marginally healthier by adding spinach: Eggs Benedict Florentine

I LOVE these little egg pods - they are easy to use and very easy to wash BUT.. because I don't use them that often I Always forget - Put The Pod in a little glass bowl to "hold" it when you drop the egg in it because I ALWAYS lose the first egg into the sink. Just a little olive oil on a paper towel wiped around the pod is enough to "grease" it

Bring about 1 1/2" of water to a full boil and then drop to a steady simmer and lower the pods onto the water and cover - cook for 4-6 minutes depending on how hard you want the eggs

Toasted English muffins topped with wilted fresh spinach. I think I found a way to squeeze the water out of the spinach that works - fresh spinach in a colander, poured over a full kettle of boiling water. Let the water drain out and then took the wet spinach and put it in a small towel and twisted the towel… it is fairly easy to twist the towel and definitely worked better than trying to wring out the spinach by hand

Topped with some Hollandaise sauce - and I totally cheated for the Hollandaise and used a package. I know I should make it from scratch but I am on a time frame here and don't have time to finesse the sauce or have it not turn out

The poached eggs

And finished with more Hollandaise and some freshly ground pepper. The eggs were perfect, the whites cooked and the yolks lovely and runny … I would have taken a picture but we were starving.. YUM!!

It was a cold, blustery day and this is a great bit of comfort food that carries a bit of heat

Saute cubed green & red pepper, onion, ham steak, freshly crushed garlic, and a chopped jalapeño

Next: thyme and tarragon and a large can of chopped tomatoes, liquid included and about 1/2c merlot - simmer 30 minutes

Add in a handful of defrosted shrimp

And simmer for another 20 minutes while the long grain rice cooks

My Heart likes a little of the broth..

but I like mine soupier and we both like hot sauce added. YUM!

This seemed like a good idea for a quick dinner - definitely fit the bill

Four eggs scrambled and added a scoop of the chive cream cheese for seasoning and to add some richness to the eggs

Toasted English muffins topped with chive cream cheese

..topped with smoked salmon

…finished with the scrambled eggs and some freshly ground pepper - really simple but delicious and very satisfying after a day of skiing. Next time I think I will do something closer to an Eggs Benedict with a poached egg topped with hollandaise