Simply Yummy Pork

I've actually had this recipe for a few months, and keep meaning to post it, but as you can tell, I've been neglecting my blog for a while. Somehow real life has been taking up too much of my time! Anyway, I love this meal because it is sooo easy, and sooo quick; the other night, I did all the prep and cooking in less than 45 minutes. Even better, wrapping the tenderloin in prosciutto keeps the pork nice and tender which is great for me since I tend to have a propensity for overcooking pork. Probably the best part is that the kids will eat it!

I found this recipe on Real Simple, and was reminded that I really like that magazine as source for weeknight meals. I always forget about it, and then when I re-discover it, I am so happy I did. The recipe calls for red Bartlett pears, but I've just always used the green ones. I am not sure that it really makes a difference which pears you use -- I've always been happy with the results. Either way, do make sure that you use firm pears so that they don't turn to mush during the roasting process. And, I've used both fresh thyme and dried thyme. If you have the fresh on hand, use it -- but if not, the dried thyme will work too.

Prosciutto-wrapped Pork with Sweet Potatoes and Pears
(courtesy of Real Simple Magazine online)
Serves 4

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 lb), peeled and cut lengthwise into wedges
2 firm red Bartlett pears, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons of olive oil
8 sprigs of fresh thyme
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 piece of pork tenderloin (about 1 1/4 lbs)
1/4 lb of thinly sliced prosciutto
1 tablespoon of honey

-- Heat oven to 425F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes, pears, thyme, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Roast for 15 minutes.
-- Meanwhile wrap the pork in the prosciutto, slightly overlapping the slices to cover the pork completely.
-- Push the vegetables to the sides of the baking sheet, place the pork in the center, and drizzle the pork with honey.
-- Roast until the pork is cooked through, and the pears and potatoes are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Let pork rest about 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with sweet potatoes and pears.

Apple and Cheddar Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I have to admit that I am addicted to my iPhone. As I told one friend, it has everything I've been missing all these years. One of reasons I love it is all of the different apps that I can use on it -- and not just apps to kill time, but things that actually increase my productivity and efficiency! Among my favorites is the Dinner Spinner from Allrecipes.com. I use it a lot when I am trying to figure out what to cook for dinner. Today I knew that I had to use some chicken breast, so I pulled out my trusty iPhone, typed it into the Dinner Spinner search engine, and the very first result that came up was for chicken breast stuffed with apples and cheddar. It sounded yummy, and bonus! -- I had all of the ingredients already in my kitchen. The original recipe can be found here, but I made a few changes and tweaks. This is my version of the recipe.

Apple and Cheddar Stuffed Chicken Breasts
(serves 2-4)

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup chopped Granny Smith apple
2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon panko
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 /2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon Colman's English dry mustard powder
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

-- Combine apple, cheese, panko, curry powder, allspice, and dry mustard. Set aside.
-- Flatten chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness.
-- Divide apple mixture between chicken breasts, and roll up each breast. Secure with toothpicks.

-- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Brown stuffed chicken breasts.
-- Add wine and 1/4 cup of chicken broth.
-- Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink.

-- Transfer chicken to a serving platter.
-- Combine 1 tablespoon of chicken broth and cornstarch; stir into juices in pan.
-- Cook and stir until thickened. Pour gravy over chicken and serve.

This was really easy and didn't take long at all. While the chicken was cooking, I roasted some fingerling potatoes, and sauteed some sugar snap peas. It turned out to be a tasty meal and the house smelled delicious when my husband came home from work. The chicken recipe is one I think could be very flexible -- you could choose a variety of different spices to add to the apple mixture like cinnamon or nutmeg or cayenne. And as my friend Tracy says, pork makes everything taste better, so next time I might also add some prosciutto or bacon to the apple mixture.

Grilled Peach Salad

I haven't been doing much cooking this summer. We spent most of June on vacation, so there wasn't much opportunity to cook. But, we're back in town and enjoying all the produce that summer brings with it. Last week I got some gorgeous peaches in our CSA delivery and wanted to use them for more than just a snack or dessert. So, I put together this salad last night -- it was shamefully easy and quick. In order to bring out even more sweetness in the peaches, I grilled them using my stove top grill pan. I certainly could have used my outdoor grill, but I wasn't about to fire that thing up just for a few peach halves. In this case, the grill pan did the trick. In addition, I added sliced chicken breast to make it a meal, but you use another protein like shrimp or even finely sliced beef instead. And I chose watercress only because I like the peppery taste, but you certainly use a different green, or a combination of them.

And this is one of those recipes for which I didn't really use defined quantities. It's a salad, so you can just use as much or as little of the ingredients as you like.

Grilled Peach Salad

(serves 2-4)

2-3 peaches, halved and pitted

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tbs canola oil

Salt and pepper

1 lb bocconcini, each ball halved (or other fresh mozzarella cut into bite-sized pieces)

Watercress

1-2 tbs lemon olive oil (or fresh lemon juice from one lemon plus 1-2 tbs olive oil)

-- Brush butter over both sides of peach halves, place on grill pan heated to medium-high heat. Cook peaches until grill marks appear, about 5-6 minutes per side

-- Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper

-- Heat canola oil over medium high heat, and add chicken breasts. Cook chicken breasts until just opaque

-- Remove peaches from heat, and slice into quarters

-- Remove chicken from heat, and slice thinly

-- Add watercress, bocconcini, and chicken to bowl. Season with lemon olive oil*, salt, pepper, and serve with peach slices on top.

*If you don't have the lemon olive oil, just whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil until emulsified, then add with salt and pepper to salad.

Chicken Paillard with Lemon and Shallot Sauce Served Two Ways

I threw a dinner party on Saturday night that required a few trips to Whole Foods as well as our neighborhood mom-and-pop grocery store. As a result, I have been unmotivated to see the inside of either place for a couple of days.  Tonight I figured I would slap together whatever I could find in the refrigerator.  I normally have at least one chicken breast in my freezer, and tonight I happend to have two.  I also had some shallot left over from the other night, and about two dozen meyer lemons from my tree in the back yard.   I decided this was enough to make some kind of chicken cutlets and a sauce.  

The organic chicken breasts that I buy are always very thick, and I almost never use them whole.  In most cases, I slice them through the middle -- I am just too impatient to wait for the thick ones to cook.  I am also lazy, so in most cases I won't even pound the chicken breast to create a uniform thickness.  I guess that means that my recipe isn't a true pailliard, but what the hell -- it's my blog, I'll call it what I want.  

Since I essentially made this up as I was going along, the ingredient amounts aren't exact, but are probably a pretty good estimation.  

Chicken Paillard with Lemon and Shallot Sauce

(serves 2-4)

4 chicken breasts, about 1/2 inch thick

2-3 tablespoons canola oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1-2 tablespoons minced shallot 

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken broth

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt to taste

-- Pat dry chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper

-- Heat canola oil in skillet over med-high heat

-- When oil is hot, add chicken and sear about 2-3 minutes per side

-- Remove chicken when just opaque, tent with foil, and set aside

-- Reduce heat and add shallot, cooking until soft and fragrant, less than 2 minutes

-- Add butter and let melt

-- Add flour and wisk to incorporate it into butter

-- Add chicken broth, then increase heat to allow sauce to reduce

-- When reduced by almost half, add lemon juice

-- Let reduce a little more, add salt to taste

-- Return chicken to pan to rest in sauce for about a minute 

-- Serve breasts with sauce spooned over top

I served the chicken to my husband and kids with quartered potatoes and peas -- a solid, balanced weeknight meal.  For me, I had some arugula I wanted to use, so I shredded a breast, and served it over a little salad I made with the arugula, thinly sliced red onion, kalamata olives, and thinly shaved slices of parmigiano cheese.  Instead of a dressing, I just drizzed a couple of teaspoons of the sauce over my salad.  The combination of the arugula with the sauce was really tasty.  I think that I will also use this sauce on fish in the future.