Beef Tenderloin with a Mushroom Wine Reduction
February 22, 2013 - Written by Diana
Beef Tenderloin Over Creamed Kale
My husband picked up a Dry Aged Beef Tenderloin from Bluescreek Farm Meats this week and I knew it was the beef we could use for a special dinner. I was looking forward to trying out the tenderloin – which I’ve never cooked before. I love an opportunity to try out something new, but it can be a little scary trying out something new when you know if you mess up. That’s it, we’re eating it anyway because we spent the money already. This one though, this was a big winner.
I researched the best cooking methods, and there was a consensus that high heat quickly was the way to go. I couldn’t use salt, because my husband is on a low sodium diet and meat carries its own sodium, so I wanted a way to keep it moist and flavorful but without added sodium. I decided to try out my dehydrated mushroom powder on the tenderloin. Last year I took mushrooms, dehydrated them, and then pulverized them to make it into a powder. I think mushrooms in gravy compliment steak. I …
Swiss Chard, Spaghetti Squash, Chicken and Mushrooms in a Maple Basalmic Vinaigrette
March 14, 2012 - Written by Diana
Yeah, Yeah, I know, the name is too darn long, but what should I leave out? Look at the photo, the whole thing is pretty and leaving anyone of those things out would make a not so interesting meal – visually and tastefully (flavorfully?). I still have spaghetti squash in my cold basement, but I fear it won’t last long since it’s been so warm and we need to work it in to our recipes since winter is quickly coming to an end. Chard has been regularly showing up in our Weekly Market Bag along with mushrooms less frequently. I thought this meal, stacked and then drizzled with a maple basalmic vinaigrette would be really delicious, and it was. The maple sweetness took the bite off the vinaigrette and the vinegar cut the sweetness a little.
I had plenty of spaghetti squash leftover, as well as chicken and chard (that I hadn’t covered in vinaigrette). My second meal of the week I added pasta and pesto and my third meal of the week I took the pasta dish and …
Chicken, Kale and Potatoes
February 25, 2012 - Written by Diana
Cooking from what you have on hand can sometimes feel like a chore because we can’t always make what we have a taste for and instead have to make our tastes fit our refridgerator and pantry. Lots of greens in the fridge right now – which means I need to make sure to get them into our dinners and lunches. We receive a bag of groceries each week that have local, and non-local seasonal produce and artisan goods that are also mostly organic. I wondered if I would be able to keep up with the produce – and the greens have started to pile up because my husband and son don’t throw it in as often as I do. So while I was on a trip to Vermont, the greens weren’t used – except for arugula, my son loves that on his sandwiches. Today I used my dutch oven to use some of the produce I received in my Weekly Fresh Market Bag.
Kale, shallot and potatoes along with chicken and some white beans are not only delicious, but packed full of good stuff; just what I …
Grilled Mozzarella and Kale Pesto Sandwich
February 12, 2012 - Written by DianaHave you ever been thinking about how to make a dish, or an ingredient you want to use and someone posts a dish that you say – Yes, I can make my dish this way and use her idea to do it. I had some fresh mozzarella that I wanted to use, plus I had Kale. I knew I wanted a grilled cheese, but I didn’t know how to do it, until I saw @erikakerekes – tweet. She said “{In Erika’s Kitchen} My ongoing love affair with kale: Kale pesto http://t.co/bqsFCuD0 #recipe #Superfoods”. That was my trigger. I could make my grilled mozz sandwiches with kale pesto, and dip the sandwiches in pasta sauce.
Tonight for dinner we made a Kale pesto – not to exact recipe – I used kale and chard and forgot the lemon because I was making a small amount – though I think it would be good to add. I broke open a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce and we dined. My husband thought it was wonderful and suggested it would be a great grilled cheese to go along …
Sweet Potatoes and Kale
February 8, 2012 - Written by Diana
I love sweet potatoes and kale, such a great healthy combination. How are your winter stores holding up? The sweet potatoes were in our basement cold storage and holding up really well. These were potatoes we grew from slips in our garden, so I’m thrilled to have them in such good shape in February.
We have been picking up a market bag from a grocer. Each week is a surprise, but usually contains greens, fruit (apples, pears, oranges) some sort of grain, and usually bread and veggies. Most of it is organic, and as much as possible local – not easy to do this time of year. Last week we received some dinosaur kale. Lovely bright and green dinosaur kale.
Recently I saw an episode of The Chew where Michael Symon attempted a 5 in 5 – which he failed to complete on time, but it had the ingredients I love together – sweet potatoes and swiss chard. I took his idea of grilling the sweet potatoes and sauteeing the chard, but substituted kale. Instead of a vinaigrette, I squeezed …
