Sunday Gravy

Ok so with this one I know my father and grandfather (also Al's) will probably want to comment :)

I will say I got this from them to begin with; every Italian family has a recipe for their sauce and our's is no different.

I have two sauces which I like to add or subtract from...

The first sauce; my fresh sauce was posted in my blog earlier and I have perfected it since then...this one is a good ol' stick your bones pot of gravy.

Start with a frying pan and a large sauce pot; you will also need 1/3 pound of veal chunks for stew, enough oxtails to equal 3/4 pound. In the sauce I made I purchased one large size ox tail piece from Doris' Italian Market. You will also need a medium size yellow onion; half of a green pepper; 4 cloves of garlic; 2 large bay leaves (or equivalent); 2 large cans of crushed tomato; water as needed; 1/4 of red wine (ehhhh maybe a little bit more); 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil; sea salt and cracked pepper to taste.

First dice your onion, green pepper and mince your garlic; then open your packages of meat. Season your meat lightly with sea salt and black pepper on both sides. Heat half of the oil in the sauce pot and the other half in the frying pan. When you get a light smoke on the oil add the onion and green pepper to the sauce pot; careful not to burn. In the frying pan place the veal and oxtail; brown lightly to get color do not burn either. Now add the garlic to the onion pepper translucent mixture; remember to turn the meat in the pan. Open the two cans of crushed tomato and pour into the onion, garlic, pepper mix; stir to not burn. Use tongs to take out the meat and place into the sauce pot. Take the pan off of the heat and add the wine to deglaze the pan; heat until it boils while scrapping the pan with the sauce spoon. Pour the wine into the pot with the meat, tomato, onion, garlic and peppers. Add just enough water to one of the tomato cans and make sure the meat is just covered with sauce. Next add the bay leaves to the pot and stir to combine. This is where I add about on 1 tsp of concentrated stock to the pot as well...bring the sauce to a slow simmer and reduce the heat for just a few bubbles. Cover the sauce and fahgedaboudit for about 6 or so hours.

When you return to your sauce make sure you stir it well and the meat should fall off the ox tail. Remove the bone from the ox tail and the bay leaves; now is a good time to "smoosh" the veal chunks with the sauce spoon so that it incorporates into the whole sauce. Stir the sauce well and remove lid to allow it to breathe...then add your salt and pepper to taste. Make sure you have you favorite crusty Italian bread handy to dip in and taste test...!

Serve with your favorite pasta (I used Dreamfield Spaghetti) and top with a dollop of Ricotta Cheese. Of course make sure there is a good parm on the table with slices of that yummy bread you have been sopping up the sauce with...remember save some for everyone else.

What to make for dinner?

If you are ever on the way home and wondering "what should I make for dinner," I hope you have a grocery store close by (in my case Doris' Italian Market).

Remember you are cooking for tonight; so why pick up the pre-made chemically engineered boxed dinners? In the same amount of time you can put something together you will be able to eat for the next few days, and feel good about it. I know a lot of you are thinking, I DO NOT WANT TO COME HOME, COOK, CLEAN, Blah blah blah... The whole idea is too cook for a more than one day and get creative with leftovers. I have taken left over chicken and made quesadillas, sandwiches, soups, etc.

Back to the task at hand; stop into your local market more so than your grocery store, and you will find produce that needs to be sold RIGHT NOW! At Doris' they always have a food service rack/ cart on the floor of the produce section; where you will find produce slightly bruised, sort of wrinkly, but $0.99 cents!!!!

Now take this new found knowledge and use it...in the old country/ about 50 yrs ago our grandparents use to buy fresh food and use it through out the week. In fact on Sunday Italian families would use up the rest of the food and have Sunday feast. Hence the awesome meat sauce, sourdough breads, meatballs, etc. Food is reusable so long as you allow it to be...make sure you stretch your food rather than just your dollar. And if you really do not like leftovers, get a dog...or make a compost.

Stuffed mushroom caps

Wow these were a hit...

If you guys want to make a quick appetiser that's aimed to please; make sure you make this one.
You need two packages of white mushrooms (non-sliced); give them a good wash and pull out all of the stems. Buy a good loaf of sourdough bread and slice 2 cups into 1/4 in cubes; toast in toaster oven for 15 min or until lightly toasted. Place bread in a bowl and pour 2 tbsp of white wine, 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp of olive oil, 2 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 1/2 tbsp mayo, 2 good sized cloves of garlic minced, 3 good size leaves of basil chopped, 1 tsp of oregano, 1 tbsp of shredded parm, 1 tsp of sea salt, 1/2 tsp of black pepper, and 1 tsp of hot sauce (I used Crystal)...I also added 1/2 cup of chopped imitation lobster meat (use crab meat, etc) Mash all of the ingredients together extremely well, it's ok if the bread stays a little chunky.

Next fill the 'shrooms with the mixture and pack tight. Place on a baking sheet with tin foil and top the 'shrooms with parm. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 min. You can even finish them off on broil for 3- 5 min.
Awesome!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Soda - "Pop"

An American Icon

Pop, soda, soda-pop, fizzy drink, soft drink; all names of a product that Americans consume an average of 1.6 cans per day. This equals to an average of 584 cans of pop (1.6 cans x 365 days) per American each year. Wow, even bigger if you take the estimated American population which is roughly 309 million Americans, as of June 2010. We consume an average of 181 billion canes of soda!!!! The following number is probably a reason why American icons such as; Coca Cola and PepsiCo are included in the Forbes Fortune 100 list (#52 & #73 as of 2009). The term “soft”, in soft drink, is given because it is the opposite of “hard”; and alcoholic drinks were hard drinks because of their high alcoholic content. But where did we get this burping machine of a money maker in the United States?

We can trace the history back to the mineral waters found in natural springs; which was considered extremely healthy and people often bathed in it for its healthy properties. These waters were said to cure ailments and soon scientists discovered that carbon dioxide was behind the bubble formations in natural mineral water. Thank you scientists for your exploration of Carbon Dioxide bubbles, but how did you make them taste good you ask. In 1810 the first US patent was issued to mass produce “imitation” mineral water; to Simons and Rundell of Charleston, SC. Twenty-two years later in 1832 John Mathews, of New York City, invented an apparatus for making mass produced carbonated water; the mass produced modern soda fountain was then created.

At this point soda pop was available at your local pharmacy (drugstore) or ice cream parlors; pharmacists would concoct mixtures of roots, fruit extracts, flowers, bark, leaves, and elixirs such as pepsin. We will get back to pepsin because I am sure by now you are all ready putting two and two together. By now we started to mass produce soft drinks in bottles for sale to home. These first soda pops were capped with corks, caps or lids; but the carbon dioxide would escape because of the immense pressure. Some of the first bottle soda makers were pharmacists; in 1885 in Waco, TX a young pharmacist named Charles Alderton named a soda after his friend Dr. Charles Pepper. A year later in 1886 a doctor named John Stith Pemberton of Atlanta, GA created a soft drink called Coca-Cola. In 1893 a drink first known as “Brad’s Drink” was created by pharmacist Caleb Bradham in New Bern, NC. Another notable is from a guy who was a salesman and marketer named Charles Leiper Grigg; whom created a drink called “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Sodas” it was later shortened to 7 Up. Soon after the loss of carbon dioxide in bottled sodas; a Baltimore machine operator was granted a patent in 1892. The machine operator was William Painter and he created the first very successful method of keeping the bubbles in the bottle; the “Crown Cork Bottle Seal” or the simply the bottle cap.
So for most of us we know the history of Coca Cola; but if you do not it is very hush for the most part. The name Coca-Cola was suggested to Pemberton by his bookkeeper Frank Robinson; who also penned/scripted the famous logo of today. Nine servings of the soft drink were sold each day in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta. The first year sales of Coca Cola totaled an amount of $50; which was a loss for Pemberton whose expenses totaled $70 for the year. I do not think he complained for too long since Coca-Cola products are consumed at a rate of more than one billion drinks per day.

Brad’s Drink created in 1893 was made with carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils, cola nuts and pepsin. In 1898 Caleb wisely bought the trade name Pep Cola for $100 from a competitor in New Jersey. In 1903 Bradham’s neighbor designed the first logo for this new company known as Pepsi Cola. Believe it or not Pepsi went bankrupt in 1923 during the Great Depression. In 1931 Pepsi Cola was bought by Loft Candy Company and their CEO struggled to make the company a success; he even tried to sell the iconic company to the Coca-Cola Company who refused the offer.

Throughout the years cans were introduced in 1957 and plastic bottles in 1970. The tastes have changed and more competition has been introduced around the world. Even the icons of Coke (Coca-Cola) and Pepsi were forced to change their original brews. However, after 120 plus years of yummy goodness; we continue to consume the syrupy liquid commemorating belchers across this incredible country of the United States of America.

References
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/8459550/Fortune-100-Companies-List-2009
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/mw/wr/5/wr5_08_21_5.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population
http://www.usfirehouse.com/SodaHistory.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_drink
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpepsi.htm
http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/soft_drink.htm
http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/soft_drinks.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsin

More West Coast/ Pac Northwest

I continue to realize my style really mirrors the West Coast; from California to Alaska. Although I think I really stop in Washington State. Next is our final week which will be Hawaii and our luau.

This week we made food from Oregon, Washington, Western Idaho and Alaska. Our menu consisted of broccoli cheddar soup with toasted hazelnuts, grilled lamb with Brussels sprouts and hazelnuts, braised cod with cucumbers and ginger salad, zucchini and snow peas with basil, savory bread pudding, strawberry brulee, pea soup with crab meat and mint, hot smoked apricot salmon on mushroom soba noodle salad, blackberry barbecued chicken, beans with fresh oregano, walla walla onion rings, and (attempted) chocolate flourless cake with coffee cream anglaise.

Kim and I made the broccoli cheddar soup with toasted hazelnuts and it was awesome! The soup was easy to make; melt some butter, saute the leeks and onion then mix in the broccoli, carrots and chicken stock. Bring everything to a boil then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Then puree the soup and stir in half and half; then season with slat and pepper. Stir in about 2 cups of Tillamook cheddar cheese and top with chopped/toasted hazelnuts. Maria made the pea soup with crab meat and mint; this soup was surprisingly awesome and it follows the traditional pea soup recipe. The difference in this soup is when you garnish it with fresh crab meat and chiffonade mint leaves.

Mike made the cod and he braised it in the "salamander" because grilling the pre-frozen fillets would cause them to break apart on the grill. It turned out great and it was served with a cucumber/red onion salad which was dressed with pickled ginger and vinegar. The zucchini and snow peas were sauteed in butter and seasoned with salt and white pepper. The savory bread pudding is basically a wet/softer stuffing and was a good side dish. I called it bacon stuffing because the satueed bacon was all I could really taste in this recipe. Chef cued up all of the smoked salmons and showed us how to fabricate the fish; but Mike made the apricot glaze. It had good sweetness and a good touch of acid to it as well; overall great fish. My favorite was it's accompaniment of soba noodles and mixed wild mushrooms.The mushrooms were sauteed in sesame oil and then a mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic is added at the end. Very tasty and the soba noodles went great with the mix; which also had fresh asparagus.

I made grilled lamb leg; which I tossed in an marinated with the following mixture and then grilled to perfection. The marinade consisted of dijon mustard, minced parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, kosher salt, black pepper and red wine vinegar. After marinating the meat and grilling it to perfection; I put finished it in the oven for about 20 minutes because of the size of the meat. It came out medium rare and I sliced very thin; to the size of roast beef. It was incredible...be careful on grilling this piece of meat or any meat. Make sure you only use the grill to mark your meat and get the great taste; then finish in the oven to lock in the juices and not burn the flesh.

Another two dishes I made was a grilled chicken with blackberry bbq sauce, and walla walla onion rings. The chicken was grilled like normally and then I made a blackberry sauce which was made with; fresh blackberries, brown sugar, salt, white pepper, honey and soy sauce. I heated the mixture in a saute pan until the consistency of a sauce was met. I then added it to the chicken after it was almost done finishing in the oven. As for the onion rings I believe I inadvertently created a monster. I made a batter of equal parts flour and water; seasoned with salt and white pepper. Dip the sliced onions into the batter and then coat with panko bread crumbs; allow them to set up in the fridge and then re-dip them into the batter again and more panko. Then deep fry the rings or fry in a pan with oil...WOWOWOWOWOW!!!! They were awesome!!!

Maria and I made the dish pictured above; which was strawberry brulee. This desert is awesome and is made with pastry cream. Cream three egg yolks with the 1/2 cup white sugar and 1 tsp of corn starch first and then slowly whisk in a boiled mixture of; one tsp of vanilla, 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup of milk. After everything is incorporated bring the mixture to a boil constantly stirring to not burn the bottom of the cream. The mixture will thicken after it begins to rapidly boil. Pour the mixture into a bowl and place on top of ice to quickly drop the temperature. After completely cooling the mixture make sure you spoon out into bowls 1/2 way and then add sliced strawberries; fill the rest of the way. Sprinkle sugar over the top and torch the sugar to make the brulee crust. Awesome desert and I can't wait to make it at home...!

This was a great class this semester and tonight we finish off in the islands of Hawaii!!!

California Dreamin'

I think I found my style of cooking...

I love cooking with fresh ingredients, mixing flavors from all over the world, such as incorporating Pan-Asian and Italian influences into dishes. All of these characteristics are found in California cuisine.
We made the following while listening to Mammas and the Pappas, and The Beach Boys...chilled avocado and cucumber soup, warm scallop salad with tomato, mint and lime dressing, sauteed duck breast with port wine reduction, Monterrey jack and green chile polenta, fried fennel and creamed spinach.

Maria made the chilled soup and believe it or not it was really good. I liked how the cucumber helped incorporate all of the flavors. You put all of the following ingredients into a blender and puree; then you add a little milk at a time until consistency is met. The following ingredients to puree are: heavy cream, avocado, cucumber, lime juice, chicken or vegetable stock, plain yogurt, garlic, sour cream, dill, parsley, salt and white pepper. Remember to peel and seed the avocado and cucumber...

I made the sauteed duck breast with port wine reduction...hint it's the awesome pic found to the left. The port wine reduction is a reduced blend of sauteed minced shallots, port wine, duck fat and brown stock. The duck is very easy to cook and I cooked ours to medium rare. In fact you can not get salmonella from duck because it is a water bird. You want to reserve some of the fat for the flavor on this bird.
Make sure you season your duck breast very well with salt and black pepper. Then remember to score the duck fat on the breast; heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and place the breasts fat side down. Pan sear the breasts until brown on both sides and finish in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes to get the medium rare doneness. Awesome dish and I used the polenta Christine made along with her creamed spinach for the plate.

I also fried small pieces of the sliced fennel and it was battered using a tempura batter. The Asian dipping sauce was made using soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, shallots, Dijon mustard and salt/pepper to taste. This was another short week but the food was awesome again...

The second half of this week we catered an award banquet and it was awesome to see the food we whipped up being enjoyed by others.

¡Arriba! Tex Mex Comida

We ran to the border in creating dishes from Tex-Mex cuisine.

Our menu consisted of LBJ chili, jalapeno cornbread, crab quesadillas (empanadas) with green chile chutney, lone star chicken-fired steak with creamy gravy, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas, wedding cookies, pork flautas, guacamole, pico de gallo; and a tex-mex plate consisting of shrimp tacos (with green chile sauce), cheese enchiladas, Mexican rice and refried beans. To finish off the two evenings with a classic desert...flan!

The chili is very simple to make and it's very beefy; in fact it tasted to me like pot roast. You brown some cubed beef chuck and set aside; then saute onion, garlic, add the spices, return the meat and add diced tomatoes. Then you top it off with some stock; adjust the seasoning and simmer. Viola! It was good with the jalapeno cornbread we made...

The cornbread consisted of a homemade recipe no quick cornbread muffin box on this one. Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; add cream style corn, shredded cheddar cheese, 2 beaten eggs, sour cream and a minced jalapeno. Pop it in the oven in a greased muffin tin; for 30 -40 minutes at 400 degrees..and BANG!

Our crab quesadillas were ok...they needed more seasoning and I am not sure why they are called quesadillas when they are fried and look like empanadas. You make the dough using masa harina, flour, shortening, chicken stock and salt. Then roll it out and cut circles to fill; next fill them with a heated mixture of crab meat, diced onion, tomato, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Close them up and fry in a pan of oil heated to 375 degrees. Cook until golden and drain on paper towels...Yeeeehawww! The chutney from Peggy's group was killer; ours was burned by someone who forgot she was cooking chutney. Glad we have other groups in the class. You combine the following ingredients bring them to a boil, simmer for 20 minutes and cool. The ingredients are 2 roasted jalapenos diced, toasted and ground Mexican oregano, slivered almonds, lime juice, cider vinegar, sugar and salt.

The lone star chicken fried steak with creamy gravy, mashed potatoes and black eye peas was like eating down on the range...mmmmmm mmm. The steak was tenderized beef round; beaten with a hammer. You dip the steaks in a milk egg mixture then dredge in seasoned flour; then pan fry and drain on paper towels. Make your favorite mashed potatoes to go with the steaks. You make the gravy in the way of a bechamel. Use the dripping fat from frying the steaks and add flour to make a roux; then add warmed milk and whisk until combined. This dish was again very good and easy to make.

Maria made the Mexican Wedding cookies and they were really good for something that feels like you should be throwing them at your arch rival baseball team. These are creamed butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. You then stir in flour, add chopped pecans, chill the dough for one hour; next make balls out of the dough, bake for 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven and then roll in powdered sugar.

The pork flautas were really good...they were stuffed with pulled pork in a corn tortilla and pan fried. The guacamole and pico de gallo I have made a hundred times. This time was no exception...awesome! I added a little tomatillo (green tomato) to the guacamole and it turned out great. The Tex-Mex plate was a combination of all of our efforts and it turned out great; especially the enchillada. The brown sauce which was poured over the top was GREAT! The flan is a combination of sugar, lemon juice, milk, eggs, condensed milk and vanilla. You make the custard and a caramel separately. Pour caramel in the bottom of a small tin then fill with custard after it hardens. Next put in a shallow pan and add water to the pan to go up 1/2 way on the tin. Next bake them for 30 minutes at 325 degrees...cool in the fridge and serve COLD! These turned out great and even my Latinos were impressed.

Overall great menu and definitely had fun working with this one...

The Southwest & Rocky Mountains

Southwest cuisine consists of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming...at least according to American Regional Cuisine, Second Edition by Michael Nenes.
The influences for this region consists of mainly those blazing trails to settle the West and of course the Native Americans.

Our menu consisted of grilled vegetable gazpacho, spicy pork empanadas, marinated dried bean salad, roasted lamb, fingerlings with parsley basil dressing, and lemon chess pie.


The grilled gazpacho was made by Christine and it tasted great! She grilled the red onion and zucchini; then roasted the green pepper. Process the concasse tomato, peeled cucumber and garlic with the roasted/grilled vegetables. Thicken with bread crumbs and V8 juice; then add cilantro, vinegar, salt and pepper. Chill the soup thoroughly and serve in a cold bowl with minced cilantro. I made the pork empanadas and they were awesome. To make the dough you need equal parts cream cheese and butter (1/4 cup each), 3/4 cup of flour, 1/4 tsp of baking powder, a dash of vinegar, tbsp of water, salt & pepper; work with your hands and make a smooth resilient dough. In a pan saute ground pork, onion, garlic, serrano chile, peeled/seeded/diced tomato, cilantro, salt and pepper. Roll out the dough to 1/8 of an inch, cookie cut some circles and fill with the drained/cooked filling. Press them closed and either pan fry them or deep fry them. You will love these empanadas...I used a tsp of ground cayenne to kick up the heat; it is of course "SPICY" pork empanadas.

Chef cued up our roasted lamb which was rubbed and roasted in the oven. Mike created the fingerling potato recipe and it was great. Good mix of flavors and the basil made it really nice...as for the marinated bean salad it wasn't my favorite because I felt it was too boring.

Maria made the "Just Pie" I mean Chess Pie. In fact that's how the name was derived by people thinking it was named chess pie. The funny thing is this pie is an East Coast pie which made it's way into the Southwest cuisine. Awesome Pie! First you whisk 4 eggs at room temperature and then add each of the following ingredients one at a time. Make sure each ingredient is fully incorporated until you move to the next one. The ingredients are in this order: 1 1/2 cups of granulated white sugar, 1 tbsp of white cornmeal, 1 tbsp all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 5 tbsp of melted/room temperature butter, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 5 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp lemon zest, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Pour into a pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 30 -40 minutes. Pull out of the oven, cool the pie to set. Dust with powdered sugar and viola! This pie is awesome for "just" being pie...

Overall a very quick week, but none the less it was a lot of fun as usual. In fact the name for my empanadas are now: "Alpanadas"...Thanks Chef Bill I love the new name.

Lip Smackin' Good!

Just in time for the summer we made food from the Central Plains.
You know what goes well with taking American Regional right now; the documentary on the History Channel - America Story of Us. The show has gone along with the cuisine we have been making in class.

The menu consisted of Beef Barley Soup, Wisconsin Cheese and Beer Soup, brownie pudding cake, Kansas City BBQ Ribs, Steak Fries, Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes and Basil, Roast Chicken with wild rice and dried fruit stuffing, corn and wild rice cakes, morel mushrooms with spinach, Garden Lettuce and goat cheese salad, Stuffed Pork medallions with fruit sauce, macaroni and cheese, and sour cream coffee cake. I know this seems like a lot of food but we did this in two days.

The beef barley soup was great and very easy to make; you brown the meat, then sauté the vegetables, add the barley and coat in the small amount of fat used to sauté the vegetables. Then you add the tomato product and pince; add the herbs, stock, Worcestershire sauce and simmer for 30 minutes or until the barley is tender. Remember to skim the fat if any floats to the top like the BP Gulf Oil Spill.

The cheddar beer soup was another easy to make soup. First sauté onion, celery and red bell pepper; cook until translucent. Add flour to the mix and whisk to make a roux; add the seasonings and cook for about 3 minutes. Add a 12 oz can of beer and 2 cups of chicken stock; stirring vigorously until the roux dissolves and simmer for 30 minutes. Separately heat 2 cups of milk and add to the soup; remove the pot from the heat and stir in 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Adjust the seasoning add cooked sausage and you are golden...awesome soup!

This time I made a desert; Brownie Pudding Cake. The brownie pudding cake is just like a molten lava cake. First you cream the sugar, butter, eggs, cream and vanilla. Then add a sifted mixture of flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt to the cream mixture. Grease a loaf pan or square pan and pour in the batter. Separately boil 1 1/3 cups of water; add it to a mixture of cocoa powder and brown sugar. Make sure to add the water slowly you want the melted chocolate mixture to stay semi thick; like a fondue. Pour the melted chocolate over the batter and pop it into an oven for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Ok so the ribs were a-mazin'! We have an awesome smoker in class but you can create a kettle smoker at home or buy a small smoker. First thing first; remove the membrane off the back of "back ribs." Then rub with a dry rub of chili powder, sugar, paprika, celery seed (or celery salt), onion powder, kosher salt, ground cumin, dry mustard and cayenne. Then smoke for about an hour/ hour and a half. Take the ribs out and lather on a good amount of BBQ sauce; then place back in the smoker for another 30-45 minutes. MMMMM lip smackin' good!!!

The other dish definitely worth talking about is our stuffed pork tenderloin which was sliced into medallions. The pork tenderloin was split and then mallet beaten; stuffed with nut and re-hydrated dry fruit. Then you roll up the tenderloin, layer with bacon and truss. Then bake until 155 internal temperature is reached.

Everything else turned out great! The goat cheese salad was very refreshing, the sour cream cake Maria made was very tasty and a good way to top off the evening. We sprinkled the cake powdered sugar and drizzled caramel. The corn cakes were a little burned and the sides were all pretty easy. We also stuffed another pork tenderloin with minced/ sauteed chorizo and garlic.

Overall an awesome evening of culinary yummyness...