Pork Loin Roast

We decided to post our chef night blogs because we did not want to forget what was cooked and how good it was. This has been hard for me this week and I apologize. I believe Sandy helped me make the roast, fresh green beans, Au gratin potatoes, but the poppy seed muffins were all mine, damnit. I really believe I (we) havent dropped the ball yet, except for me not blogging.

Here are some photos:

Pork Loin before...










Pork loin after...









Au Gratin Potatoes









Green Beans









Muffins

Pan Seared Salmon

OK... Quick blog time.

We had Maggies dad and sister over this time so i ended up not taking a lot of photos and hurrying myself a bit.

Also, decided to cook a fish dish for the first time in my life.
Since i dont eat fish or seafood its just kind of a random, "im out of time" decision based on how good the dish sounded when reading reviews online.

So with that in mind...

Pan Seared Salmon Filets with Dill Cream Sauce

First time cooking,preparing fish so i just kind of went with what i found online for preparation/execution. Everyone said they loved it and most had seconds. I even liked the taste, the cream sauce was fantastic, and went with the salmon flavor really well.

I served this with Cauliflour, Parsnip Puree, Pan Flashed Asparugus, and fresh Strawberry Shortcake for desert.

The Cauliflour/Parsnip puree was awesome (if i do say so myself) tasted like seasoned mashed potatoes and everyone seemed to clean their plate. (I had 3 helpings).

I also served some pan flashed asparagus tips that were simply seasoned with salt/pepper and lemon juice. They came out looking a little sad, but surprisingly tasted pretty good!


Desert consisted of a fresh strawberry shortcake i kind of made up on the spot, the cake i bought (hangs head in shame) but i sliced fresh berries, made up a strawberry compote with grand marnier to serve warm over the cold sliced berries, and made fresh whipped cream to top the whole thing. came out great, tasted fresh and light and not overly sweet (which is easy to do with this desert)

All in all, I think it was pretty tasty, probably not the best presentation, but for a rookie meal who really doesn't know fish or the profiles to shoot for with it. it felt like a success, Maggie said she loved it and she is a fish eater, so that made me feel great.

til next time...

Brian

Simple French

At the beginning of the day, I didn't have the slightest clue what to make. So... I browsed on the internet and decided on Chicken Cordon Bleu and an "Americanized" French menu. The French food is coming, but Julia Child and I have some work to do before we dive into the real thing. Big menu tonight, with a large portion of things I've never made before. As usual, I made a big mess of the kitchen.

I started the day making bread. I used the bread machine to mix the dough, but then did the rest old school. Rise, pound down, shape, rise, cook. Looked pretty good. Tasted better.

For the starter, I made French Onion Soup. Can't say it turned out that well. It was just okay. I cooked the onions until tender and then added them to a beef broth with a little salt and pepper. ...and then added more salt... and some more... and some more... Still seemed too sweet. The best (and worst) that you can say about it was that it tasted like onion soup out a can. Thanks Gail for that. ;)

Next course was the salad. The recipe called for oranges with the arugula, fennel, and olives, but I went with tangerines instead. The dressing was lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt, and pepper. The salad alone was okay. Can't say I cared for the arugula and the fennel is something that doesn't taste well alone. Black olives... are just black olives. The dressing I tasted as well and it was sort of hideous. Oily sticky sweet and peppery. Put together though, the salad and the dressing was surprisingly good. Best surprise of the night. Worth doing again.

Main course was Chicken Cordon Bleu. Never made this before, and it was less effort than I imagined. It was good. Not spectacular. I think it needed more salt. If/when I do this again, I think I might go with prosciutto instead of ham. Served with some steamed asparagus that I added at the last moment simply because I wanted to have a vegetable with the protein. Probably could have left that off. I've made better asparagus before. The veg was cooked just about five minutes too soon and I let it warm in the microwave. Mistake.

Lastly, I made crepes with warm berries, and bananas, and vanilla ice cream. It tasted like the after thought that it was.

Oh... have to say. Maggie and Brian stopped by BevMo for me yesterday. I asked for a couple of bottles of Sauvignon Blanc. Gotta say... the 2010 Vigilance was TASTY! Also had a bottle of 2007 Starmont and it was good, but not memorably so.

Big menu. Big mess.

Menu:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

French Onion Soup

Arugula Fennel and Tangerine Salad

Bread

Crepes