Christmas Day 2008: Stuffed Pork Loin with a Mushroom-Wine Gravy

I had so much fun creating my Christmas Menu this year. I started discussing it with my family about a month ago and we all agreed that we wanted something different - not a turkey! We thought about a Mexican meal, or maybe Spanish, or Italian. I decided to use Italian cuisine as my inspiration, and came up with this menu:

• Pork loin stuffed with a stuffing-spinach-red pepper mixture
• Mushroom-wine gravy
• Sides and Veggies (see this post): Cauliflower with Prosciutto and Tomatoes, Broccoli Rabe with Garlic, and Roasted Potatoes

The stuffed pork loin was my own creation. Here is what I did -

• Whole pork loin; I had a 7 pound piece of pork so we cut it in half and used half for the stuffed pork loin, and the other half for pork chops.
• 1 package prepared stuffing; I used stove top. I don't normally use or eat this stuffing alone or as a side, but it makes a great base when stuffing meat.
• 1 c frozen spinach sauteed with 1 finely chopped red pepper, until the red pepper is slightly tender.
• Olive oil, salt, pepper
• Butcher's string

Cutting the pork was the hardest part. Take your time and make long, even cuts and you'll have great results.

• First, make a cut down the side of the pork and almost all the way through to the other side. Open it like a book:

• Pound out the pork. After this step, one side was still a bit too thick so Jon had another idea - cut the left side of the "book" to open another flap, sort of like a book flap. Be very careful not to cut all the way through. When you open this next flap, you'll have what looks like a tri-fold brochure:

• Spread the stuffing in a thin layer onto the pork, and top with a thin layer of the spinach-red pepper mixture
• Roll the pork - don't roll it so it's in the same shape and orientation that you started with or you'll put too much pressure on the cuts and it may break. Instead, roll it from what would be the tops of the brochure pages (like these analogies?). Tie the entire pork with butcher's string.

• Rub some olive oil onto the pork and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Cook uncovered in a 475 degree oven for 20 minutes.
• Turn oven down to 350 and bake covered for another hour, or until the temperature of the pork comes to 150-155 (it will raise another 5-10 degrees after cooking). Jon bought us a great probe thermometer that sits outside the oven, with a wire connected to a probe that stays in the meat the entire cooking. It was really cool to be able to watch the temperature rise, and not opening the oven door to test the temperature helps with the cooking time and temperature.
• Let rest before slicing.

How beautiful is this pork?? Everyone stood around watching Jon as he sliced through the pork. There were many Ooohs and Aaahs as the spiral design in the center was revealed.


Mushroom-Wine Gravy
I found a recipe on the Epicurious site for a gravy that I liked so my sister jumped right into the kitchen and made it. We didn't use the roasting pan that the pork cooked in, but instead deglazed it with a bit of chicken broth, and then poured those drippings into a clean pot.

• 3/4 lb sliced white mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic put through the garlic press
• 1 c dry white wine
• 1 c chicken broth

Directions

• Add mushrooms and garlic to pan with drippings. Saute until mushrooms begin to brown, about 6 minutes.
• Add wine and broth; boil until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon, about 12 minutes. Our sauce never really thickened, so my sister made a slurry of 1/3 c chicken broth and 1 heaping tbsp flour and slowly added it to the sauce. It helped a bit. However, I kind of liked that it was more of an au jus rather than a creamy sauce.

Not only was this sauce delicious on the pork, it was perfect over the potatoes as well.
Here is my plate - I love all the colors!

I also loved my simple centerpiece -


And finally, our adorable dog being such an angel -

My Kitchen

Jon and I moved into our home almost four years ago - I can't believe it has been that long! We have done so much work that I don't think the original owners would recognize this place.

When we moved in, almost every room was pink, including the kitchen. Pink cabinets, pink counters, pink tile back splash, and pink walls. They even had a pink kitchen table... We immediately changed the walls which helped, but only a bit. Finally, about a year after living with the kitchen while we did other projects, we decided to remodel the kitchen.

Here is a picture of the kitchen just before the remodel:

When we remodeled we had gray Formica counter tops put in - I don't know why we made that decision - but just last week we had granite counter tops installed. Jon also put in a new faucet and garbage disposal after the install as well as a new dishwasher a few months ago (he's so good!).

Here are some pictures of where I spend so much time cooking and creating everything you see in this blog. Just one thing left to do - change the fridge from white to black.

Eventually we'll move to a larger home and I already have a huge wish list for our next kitchen. But for now I love this room in our first home together, and that makes cooking even more enjoyable for me than it already is.

Thanksgiving Decor

When we moved into our house a few years ago, all I wanted was my red dining room. I searched for the perfect red for months, and finally settled on a red that has a touch of orange in it when the sun hits it the right way.

We also found the perfect table, however every holiday it gets covered up with the table pad and place mat. This Thanksgiving I decided to go with place mats instead so you could see the beautiful wood of our table. I don't think I'll ever cover it with a cloth again!






Decorating this room for the holidays is always fun. This time I kept it simple with lots of fresh flowers. Here are some pictures of the table and buffet -

My sister added some candles to the table as everyone was at the buffet in the kitchen - it looked so pretty!

Halloween - Jon's Famous Chili

I love Halloween night! Handing out candy and seeing all the little ones in cute costumes is fun, but the best part is sitting outside with drinks and catching up with neighbors. We usually cook comfort food too. This year we invited a few friends over for Jon's famous chili. Since Jon is still in an arm cast, I was his hands for cooking! He directed, but I did the work (and the prep, and the cleanup...).

Before I get into the recipe, look how cute our Daisy Mae looked as she waited for our guests to arrive:

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Jon's Famous Chili

Ingredients (for about 10-12 large servings)

• 4 pounds ground beef
• 2 chili kits (or you can use your own spices; the kit has chili powder, cayenne, paprika, salt, onion/garlic, cumin, and masa)
• Additional cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 jalapenos, chopped (seeds as well)
• 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes; 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes; with juice
• 1 16 oz can of tomato sauce
• 3 cans beans; we used 2 cans of dark red and 1 can of light red

Directions

• Brown meat; add some of the garlic; drain fat. We did this in batches in a pan, and then put the meat into a pot.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together. We kept adjusting the spices until it was just right. Even when we use the chili kits, we always end up using more cumin, chili powder, salt, and sometimes cayenne.
• Let is simmer on the stove for an hour or two. The chili is best the next day! Warm sourdough bread goes perfectly. I also like to mix some sour cream and shredded cheddar into my bowl.

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Drinks

I heated some apple cider in a pot. Instead of spiking it, I let everyone add however much spiced rum they wanted. We garnished our mugs with a cinnamon stick.

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Here are Danielle, Stacey, and Jenny finishing up their chili and cider -

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Fall Flowers

I picked up a few bouquets of flowers at the market and made this cute fishbowl arrangements for our dining room. I had some gold "rocks" from Christmas last year that I added to the bottom of each vase. The center vase was a little fuller and taller than the other two. Aren't they pretty?

Happy Halloween!

Dad's Birthday Dinner - Lots of Delicious Food!

My sister came home this weekend so we could celebrate our dad's birthday. We decided to cook and celebrate at my house.

THE MENU...

To start: Corn Chowder, With or Without Crab, and With or Without Jalapeno Cream

Dinner: Filet Mignon with a Garlic-Shallot-Red Wine Sauce, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with a Parmesan Crisp, and Roasted Asparagus

Dessert: Homemade Chocolate Cake

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Corn Chowder
My dad loves soup so I decided to start with soup instead of salad. I read through several corn chowder recipes just to get ideas, and then made up my own. It was the BEST soup I have ever made. Everyone loved it and my mom even commented that it was restaurant quality. I got some crab meat to stir into each bowl (instead of cooking it in the soup since we all don't like crab). I also made a jalapeno cream that a few of us drizzled on top for some heat and extra flavor. I had a hard time getting a clear picture, but you can still see how colorful it was.

Ingredients (for six servings)

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 stick butter plus 2 tbsp butter mixed with 1 tbsp flour
• Cumin and cayenne, about 1/4-1/2 tsp each
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen corn and 1 14-oz can creamed corn
• 1 cup heavy cream

Directions

• Heat 1/2 stick butter in a soup pot. Add onions, green and red peppers, and celery. Saute about 7-8 minutes.
• Add corn, creamed corn, broth, cream, and spices. Bring to a boil
• Whisk in the butter-flour mixture and simmer for 15 minutes.
• When ready to serve, mix crab into each bowl if desired. Top with some jalapeno cream.

Jalapeno Cream

I found this recipe on epicurious.com as part of a roasted pepper soup recipe. I thought the cream would go nicely with the corn chowder and it did!

Ingredients

• 3 fresh serrano chilies or jalapeños, seeded and chopped fine (I used 2 jalapenos)
• 1 large garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt (I didn't use the salt)
• 1/2 cup crème fraîche or sour cream (I used a little less than 1/2 cup sour cream)

Directions

• In a blender blend together the chilies, the garlic paste, and the créme fraîche until the mixture is combined well.
• Force the mixture through a fine sieve set over a small bowl (to remove the seeds)
• The serrano cream may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and brought to room temperature before serving.

I have some cream leftover and I may mix it into my cream cheese chicken sauce tonight.

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Dinner...

Jon cooked the filet the same way we did several weeks ago. We used Sebastiani Cabernet Sauvignon for the wine sauce.

Potatoes...I love potatoes. I never cook them because Jon doesn't like them! How can you not like potatoes? Anyway, tonight my sister and I made roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

• Roast garlic by chopping off the top, drizzling with olive oil, wrapping in tin foil, and cooking in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. When done, mash each clove with a knife or spoon.
• Cook potatoes in water until tender; we made about 3 pounds. Drain and move to a large mixing bowl or keep in the pot.
• Start to mash the potatoes with your hand mixer; turn speed up and slowly add in 1/2 stick of butter, 1 cup of whole milk, 1-2 tbsp salt, and the roasted garlic. For creamier potatoes, use more milk or add in some heavy cream.

Parmesan Crisps

I topped each serving of potatoes with a parmesan crisp.

• Mix 1 cup of parmesan cheese with 1 tsp flour.
• Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray, and then cover with parchment paper.
• Spoon some of the flour-cheese mixture on the paper, leaving about 2 inches between each spoonful. Press into a flat shape.
• Bake on 400 for about 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool completely on the sheet.
• These can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container using wax paper to separate the layers.

These little crisps looked nice on the plate and tasted great too. I'd make them for a salad as well.

Asparagus - we tossed the asparagus in a baking pan with olive oil, salt, and ground black pepper. About 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven is perfect.

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I made a centerpiece for the table with branches and leaves I found in our front yard. Um...actually I cut a few branches off Jon's favorite shrub. It was so pretty with the floating candles and low lighting -

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About an hour after dinner we enjoyed a chocolate cake that my sister made from scratch. Good thing she likes to bake because I probably would have bought a dessert :) As I've said before, I'm not a baker!! I hate measuring everything so precisely and not being able to play with the recipes. My sister made a delicious cake that was the perfect ending to a great birthday dinner for our dad. And after dinner we all sat down to watch the Red Sox-Cleveland game. Unfortunately the Red Sox ended up losing, but watching baseball with our dad is something we always enjoy!