Island Pork Tenderloin

2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2 1/4 - 2 1/2-lbs total), trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup pineapple juice
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon Tabasco


Preheat the oven to 350^F.

Stir the salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder and cinnamon together in a small bowl and then rub it all over the pork.  Heat the olive oil in a heavy, oven-proof, 12-inch skillet over medium high heat. Brown the pork on all sides, turning occasionally, about 5-6 minutes.  Remove from heat, but leave the pork in the skillet.  Pour the pineapple juice into the skillet.

In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco.  Pat the mixture on top of the pork. Place the skillet in the oven and roast the meat for about 20 minutes at 350^ or until it reached 140^ on a meat thermometer inserted in the center.

Remove from oven and let pork stand, loosely covered with foil, for about 10 minutes before slicing.

This was very good (though a bit garlic-y for my taste, so next time I'll reduce the amount of that!)   I served it with Pineapple Fried Rice.  And I will make both again!!

Adapted from a recipe found on Pinterest which linked me to this Blog: http://littlebcooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/island-pork-tenderloin.html  (Thank you Little B!)

Brown Butter and Sage Chicken Chunks

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup sage leaves
2 Tablespoons Butter

Cut the chicken into small chunks (about 1-1/2 inches) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Melt the butter in large skillet over medium-high heat and cook until the butter begins to brown and turn fragrant.  Add the chicken and sage and cook for about 3 minutes without stirring until the chicken begins to brown.  Stir, turning the chunks and sage to brown evenly, until thoroughly cooked and coated in the butter, about another 3-4 minutes.  Serve hot.

This was very good!  And fast!!  Would definitely make it again.  Found on Pinterest.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Amazing Buttermilk Syrup

Buttermilk Pancakes with Amazing Buttermilk Syrup

PANCAKES:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp butter, melted

SYRUP:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup + 1-1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar into a bowl.  Add egg, buttermilk and melted butter and whisk until well combined.  Pour 1/4 cup portions onto a hot, buttered griddle and cook until golden brown on both sides, turning once.  Makes 12 delicious, melt-in-your-mouth pancakes.

For the syrup (and don't skip this because it is so much better than regular syrup with these pancakes!):  In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and buttermilk.  Heat over medium heat until sugar completely dissolves and just before it comes to a boil.  Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla.  It will foam up so be prepared!  Serve hot with the pancakes.  Your tummy will thank you!

These are the BEST pancakes I've ever eaten in my life and the syrup was AWESOME!  I halved the original recipe since it's only John and I for breakfast but we ate them all!  Seriously!

Found on Pinterest and traced to chef-in-training.com.

Seattle Cream Cheese Dogs

Seattle Cream Cheese Dog on the left.

1/4 cup butter
1 large Walla Walla or other sweet onion, thinly sliced
4-oz cream cheese, softened
4 hot dogs, or your favorite sausages
4 hot dog buns
Brown  Mustard

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook slowly until they soften and turn deep brown, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, grill or pan-fry the hot dogs and toast the buns.

Spread the softened cream cheese on the buns, top with the grilled hot dogs, onions and brown mustard and serve!  Go Seahawks!  It's Super Bowl Sunday after all!

These were delicious!  This may become my go-to hot dog, cause I really liked them!

Crock Pot Navy Bean Soup

Crock Pot Navy Bean Soup

1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb dried navy beans
1 cup mashed potatoes (prepared without milk and butter)
1/2 cup shredded carrot
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 meaty ham bone or 2 smoked ham hocks
32-oz carton chicken broth
Water
8-oz diced fully cooked ham
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley, if desired, to garnish

In a saute pan over medium-high heat, cook the onion and celery in the olive oil until vegetables are tender and starting to change color.

Place the washed beans, mashed potatoes, shredded carrot, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaves and ham hocks in the Crock Pot.  Add the sauteed onion and celery and the chicken broth.  Add water to cover beans by about 2 inches.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

About 1 hour before you're ready to serve the soup, saute the diced ham in the butter until it begins to brown a bit.  Stir into the soup and let cook until dinner-time!  Sprinkle each bowl with parsley if desired.

Good soup!  Adapted from a Taste of Home recipes (Contest-Winning Ham and Bean Soup)

Spiced Rum Cake

Cake:
1 package Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Yellow Cake mix
1 small package instant French Vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
Dash nutmeg
4 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled
1/2 cup Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
1 tsp sugar

Preheat oven to 325^F.

Place all ingredients in large mixer bowl and blend well (about 3 minutes on medium-high speed ought to do it).  Meanwhile, grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.  Once your batter is well mixed, spoon it evenly into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the batter and place the pan in the oven for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

About 55 minutes into your baking time, prepare the Rum Syrup:

Rum Syrup:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 cup Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum

In a saucepan combine the butter, water and sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in desired amount of rum.

When the cake is done, remove it from the oven, but leave it in the pan.  Using a wooden skewer, poke holes in the hot cake and brush on the glaze, making sure to let some dribble down the edges of the cake inside the pan.  Use about half the glaze and be patient!  Let it soak in before you add more glaze.  Let sit in pan for about 10 minutes.

Turn the cake out onto a serving plate and brush the rest of the glaze on the top of the cake, letting the syrup absorb into the cake between brushings.  Be patient!

Let the cake cool completely before serving.  This cake is awesome made the day before you serve it. Great with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream!

Grinch Cookies

I found this recipe on Pinterest and could not resist making them!  They were so cute....plump little crinkled green cookies glistening with powdered sugar with a red candy heart in the center!  Any Grinch fan would love these!

Grinch Cookies

1 box French Vanilla cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 drop green food coloring
Confectioner's sugar for dusting/sprinkling
Heart Shaped decorating candies/sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350^F.

Cream together the cake mix, oil, eggs and food coloring until it's completely mixed and forms a ball of dough in the bowl of the mixer.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Drop by tablespoons into the confectioner's sugar and roll into balls.  Place on parchment lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart and press a heart into the center of each ball.  Bake for 8 minutes or until just set.  (Mine took closer to 10 minutes!)  Let cool on the cookie sheet for at least 2 minutes before attempting to transfer them to a wire rack.  They are very soft and will fall apart if you try to do this before they are cool enough!  Trust me, I mangled several before I realized what I was doing. They oozed between the wires and fell apart.  :-(

So...mine did not look like the pleasingly plump little morsels on Pinterest....mine spread and were much flatter and all the confectioner's sugar completely dissolved into the cookies.  I was a little disappointed, but they were still tolerably cute.  And they tasted pretty good, though they do not keep well at all.  They dry out really quick, but since they only make a couple dozen cookies, that shouldn't be a problem for anyone who has kids!

If I were to make them again, I would use a scant 1/2 cup of melted butter instead of the oil and use the Non-Melting Confectioner's Sugar from King Arthur Flour.