Monday, January 23, 2012

Stuffed Pork Loin......

Hello,

Its been a while since I have posted sorry if anyone has come here and haven't found anything to there liking.  Recently I posted on my How To: page "How To Butterfly A Pork Loin".  I thought since I posted it I should at least give my idea of what to stuff it with.

"Stuffed Pork Loin"
You can stuff it with whatever you would like, but this particular Pork Loin I stuffed with dried fruit.  I like to take whatever dried fruit I have available.   I do however prefer to use the following: Dried Apples, Figs, Cranberries, and Apricots.  If you have other dried fruit available feel free to use what you like instead.

To get the fruit ready for stuffing I prefer to cook them.  In a small pot I add all the fruit that I would need, chopped yellow onion, dry or fresh thyme, salt, pepper, and a piece of butter.  After all of the ingredients are ready I cover them with water.  Just enough water to cover nothing more,  to much water would make it be soupy. You don't want that!  After the fruit becomes very soft and the water is just about gone you can remove it from the stove and cool it off.  I prefer to have the filling made the day before I have to stuff the loin. 

After you have butterflied your pork loin which you will see in my "How To" video you will place your filling on your meat and roll up.  I used to and many people still do,  like to tie the meat with cooking string.  I rather not these days.  Extra step for the same results I think. 
"Sliced Pork Loin"

Place your meat in a baking pan sprinkle with coarse black pepper, salt, and olive oil.  Cover with a lid or aluminum foil.  Your oven should be preheated at 400F degrees.  I prefer to bake it covered for the first 45 minutes and remove the covering so it can get some good coloring.  I then depending on the size of your loin continue to cook for an additional 30- 45 minutes or until done.  I try to reach at least 160-165 degrees on my meat thermometer.  You can tell from the picture to the right that if you rolled it properly it looks nice how the meat and fruit is wrapped together.  Try not to cut the meat to hot or it tends to fall apart.
Good luck and let me know what you stuff your next piece of meat with.

 Mo

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Stuffing Your Chicken Breast

Hello,

Recently I wrote a post on how to stuff a chicken breast.  A chicken breast can be stuffed with pretty much anything.  Herb bread stuffing, sauteed vegetables, spinach and cheese, etc.  I posted a video on my "How To" page of how to butterfly a chicken breast.  You can go to my "How To" page and watch several other videos of "How to".

Mo

Monday, January 16, 2012

Information:

Hello,

I don't know how many of my followers are coffee drinkers, but I do know we all are in the same boat of wanting to save some cash.  If you noticed the ad to the right for coffee I have a savings for you:

  Free Shipping on order $35+
- Use coupon code for $5 off your first coffee purchase- BLOGME5

Every little bit helps so I thought I would spread the word.

Mo


Friday, January 13, 2012

Information:

This is not my typical post, but I wanted to share with you all the following information that I found:

Are you in the need for some new dishes for your home?  I am not, but I do love nice dishes.  When I got married I actually asked for platters and bowls for my new home because I like to dress a nice table when I have a party.

Today I checked out "Cream Embossed Dinnerware".  I never knew what "embossed dinnerware was until tonight.  You must check it out to know exactly what I am talking about but I will try my best to describe it.  If you ever saw dinnerware and the design was raised so the plate wasn't so flat, that is "embossed".  It is very pretty from what I saw.   There's even a set of dinnerware with seashells on it. Those are my favorite.  Some of the prices are expensive for my wallet these days, but I didn't realize I could find a really nice pattern at my local "Target". 

Okay during the summer I like to invite some family and friends to a BBQ at my home a few times during the summer.  Usually I would have soda, water, kids drinks, and alcohol all stuffed in a cooler, but today I saw "Galvanized Beverage Tubs".  It is the coolest thing to have for an outdoors or even indoors party.  They even come with legs so its not sitting on the ground or needing to find table space.  I saw one where you could actually personalize it with your family name on the outside of it.  The cost was reasonable and anyone could afford it.  I am seriously considering one for this summer.

I am sure many of you have noticed that I do not do a lot of desserts in my blog, this is because I am not a big fan of them.  One because unlike cooking a savory dish which you can add a little this add a little that, desserts are pretty specific.  If you make a cake and don't add the right amounts there usually isn't any saving this dish.  I do on the other hand like to make things that can be individual per guest.  Such as ice cream or parfaits, etc.  "Glass Dessert Dishes" are perfect for these types of desserts.  With a glass dish you can layer the desserts with fruit or cake and show off the beautiful layers.  It makes your guest think you spent a lot of time on them.  I like it when they think I have been working hard in the kitchen for them.  Makes them enjoy it that much more.

I hope this bit of information was helpful let me know what you think.

Mo

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Stuff My What???

Hello,

Everyday when I am at work we prepare a boneless chicken breast dish for sale.  The other day I decided to make the chicken dish, so like usual it is something that we haven't had before.  Don't ask me why I am always going out of the box.  I just like to be different I guess! 

Once I trimmed the chicken breast of all the excess skin and fat that was left on it, I had to decide what to make with it.   Don't you just hate when you pay for the fat and excess skin?  I know I do...  These particular chicken breast were rather thick this time around, so I decided to "STUFF THEM"!!!

"Stuffed Chicken Breast"
Everyone loves a stuffed chicken breast.  Now the question I had to ask myself was, what was I going to stuff them with?  I never want to spend to much time on it so I remembered seeing some flame roasted peppers and onions in the freezer. "Why we would have ordered this I have no idea...But it worked out in my favor this time"  So I decided to stuff it with the flamed roasted peppers and onions, some oven roasted tomatoes, chopped fresh basil and feta cheese.  Had no clue how it would turn out but it was "DELICIOUS".

The first step in stuffing a chicken breast is butterflying it.  Butterflying is when you cut open the breast without cutting it into two pieces.  I will post a "How To" video on how I prefer to butterfly a chicken breast soon.  So be on the look out for that.  So good luck when you try this dish.  I prefer to use a very sharp paring knife.  Lay the breast flat and with the pointed part of the knife carefully cut down the side of the breast to make a butterfly.

INGREDIENTS:
BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN BREAST
FRESH PEPPERS AND ONIONS
OVEN ROASTED TOMATOES
FRESH BASIL
FETA
GARLIC
OLIVE OIL
SALT AND PEPPER
PAPRIKA 

The filling: since everyone won't have already prepared fire roasted peppers and onions I would recommend the following:  slicing some peppers of your choice and onions and sauteing them in the frying pan with garlic, salt and pepper, add oven roasted tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes, fresh chopped basil and crumbled feta.  With your chicken add salt and pepper, garlic and olive oil.  Stuff your chicken breast not so it is over stuffed but just enough to close the chicken breast.  I like to add some color to the chicken so I don't have to brown it in a pan by sprinkling it with paprika.  Place the stuffed breast in a baking dish and bake for 25 - 30 minutes in a 400F degree oven.  This recipe was very good, but you can stuff your chicken with anything you would like.  A bread stuffing, sauted spinach and pinenuts, a cheese blend, etc.  The possibilties are endless.  Let me know what you came up with.

Mo

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Prices Are Going Up....

I have a little FYI for everyone:


I don't know if everyone realizes that I work for a local gourmet-to-go and catering shop.  I've worked here since I was 19 years old.  All of our ingredients we get at wholesale prices.  I was informed yesterday that "ground beef" was going way up in price.  So I just wanted to let everyone know that reads my blog, that may be affected by this.

So if you are a ground beef eater, you may want to stock up on ground beef this week especially if it's on sale at your local grocer.  You can buy it and freeze it for future use.  According to the USDA you can keep ground beef in your freezer for 4 months before it starts the process of getting freezer burned.  You need to make sure your freezer is working properly.  I've actually kept ground beef longer than that.  I used a food saver machine to suck all the air out of the package.  Air is the biggest killer of meat and most foods I think.

I am not a big ground beef eater.  So if you are looking for an alternative you can substitute with ground turkey or ground chicken.  Not only can you save a few dollars some times you can also save some calories.  I try to make the substitute whenever I can.

Well I hope this is helpful to all that it will affect.

Mo 

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

New Year, New Ideas...

Hello,

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone's New Years celebration was all that you wanted it to be and more.  I kept my celebration to a minimum, stayed up  until the count down and then went to bed.

With a "New Year" comes "New Ideas" in the kitchen.  I know everyone is thinking about their New Years Resolutions, which we make every year.  Like most it is to get healthy and drop a few pounds.  Some will keep them, many will start, and most will say "Screw it!!"  This year I like many others, will try and get healthy and drop a few pounds.  I am starting in my kitchen! 

"Roasted Cauliflower w/Garlic and Parmesan"
I personally love to eat my vegetables, but eating them the same way every time can get "BORING".  I love roasted vegetables.  You  can pretty much roast anything.  To try and get a variety of vegetables into my diet I wanted to try cauliflower.  By the way I don't like cauliflower.  I love broccoli, but cauliflower to me just has a different taste I can't get pass.  So in thinking of the idea "You can roast anything" I decided to see if I could make cauliflower taste delicious.

I made "Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic and Parmesan Cheese".  It was "DELICIOUS"!!!
Cut your cauliflower into florets not to large.  In a bowl  mix a little garlic, salt, pepper, a little Parmesan Cheese and olive oil.  Mix everything together with the cauliflower, put it onto a cooking pan and roast 400F degrees until the stems are soft to your liking.  There should be some color on your cauliflower.  If you already like cauliflower you will love this dish and if you don't you will now love cauliflower.  Enjoy!!!

Mo