Cherry-Merlot Pork and Egg Noodles

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Cherry Merlot Pork Tenderloin and Egg NoodlesThis time of year things get so hectic. With all our favorite Fall activities, soccer games and practices, school obligations …often I find that my meal planning falls by the wayside. So, when asked to try a recipe from the Marzetti KitchensSM website to share with you guys – I jumped at the opportunity to try something new! But, it also had to be quick and easy, to accommodate our hectic schedules these days!

So, I’m glad I hopped on over there and checked it out. Because they really do have so many great recipes! I’ve always been a huge fan of their Caesar salad dressing that’s in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store. Can always find a bottle in my fridge, still working on finding a homemade recipe that lives up to it!

I happened to have a pork tenderloin that I needed to use, so this recipe immediately caught my eye. I adapted it a bit, mainly because I was feeling lazy and just wanted to sear the tenderloin in one piece. Then a quick sauce is made using Merlot, cherry preserves and dried cherries. The pork finishes cooking while the sauce reduces, and then at the end you whisk in butter to make the sauce thick and luxurious. Easy peasy, and so darned impressive! The flavor of the sauce was absolutely delicious, both sweet and savory. Served over a heaping pile of warm egg noodles and a side salad, it made for a hearty and filling meal that didn’t completely weigh you down.  A perfect seasonal dish that comes together quickly for these hectic fall months!

Everyone enjoyed it, and leftovers were killer made into a panini using some brie cheese. So if you’re like me, and in a bit of a recipe funk – head over to the Marzetti Kitchens page to check out all their delicious recipes! I know you’re bound to find something that will “Wow!” your family, just like this meal did for us!

Cherry Merlot Pork Tenderloin and Egg Noodles

Cherry-Merlot Pork and Egg Noodles

1 (8 oz) package egg noodles
1 pork tenderloin
1 1/2 cups Merlot wine 3 oz dried cherries, reconstituted
1 (10 oz) jar cherry preserves
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
2 Tbsp. olive oil
kosher salt
ground black pepper

Cook egg noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork tenderloin generously with salt and pepper and sear in hot skillet until well browned on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.

To the pan drippings add the wine, the cherry preserves and the cherries. Bring to a boil and return the tenderloin to the pan. Reduce heat to low and allow sauce to reduce, turning the tenderloin every few minutes to finish cooking evenly until the internal temperature reaches 160. Remove tenderloin from sauce and set aside to rest.

Meanwhile, whisk the butter into the sauce until well combined and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Slice pork into 1/2-inch pieces and serve over the egg noodles. Pour sauce over top of the pork. Serve immediately.

Source: adapted from Marzetti Kitchens

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Shrimp Saltimbocca

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Shrimp Saltimbocca

A couple of weeks ago we took Jon’s brother, who was in town visiting, to the airport up in Baltimore. I never miss an opportunity to visit a fancy grocery store, so we all went along for the ride. Had a nice dinner, hit up the sale racks at Antrho, and dragged Uncle Trevor through every aisle at Whole Foods before dropping him off at the airport. Then we stopped by the new Wegmans location in Crofton on the way home. I always love visiting their delicatessen, and I couldn’t resist having a few slices of the most gorgeous proscuitto I’ve ever seen sliced off to take home with me. And come home with me they did…along with some awesome peppered salami and sliced chorizo. I had to fend off Jon from eating all the “gabagool” in the fridge.

What he didn’t eat, I decided to use to do a fresh spin on one of my very favorite classic Italian dishes. Traditionally, this is made with a chicken breast. Which is awesome. But our local seafood joint happened to have some gorgeous, large shrimp in this weekend and the wheels in my head started turning.

It was a little bit more time consuming than chicken breasts, just because of wrapping shrimp individually in the prosciutto. But, your efforts are well rewarded. The salty richness of the proscuitto permeates the shrimp, rendering some of it’s fat and getting nice and crispy. Then a pan sauce is made from the browned bits, garlic, white wine, lemon juice, and butter. I served it over pasta, but I think it would be a wonderful appetizer or first course on it’s own. I’m so glad I remixed this one, because I think I like it better than the original!

Shrimp Saltimbocca

1 1/2 lbs large shrimp, peeled with tails left on
6 whole fresh sage leaves
6 thin slices of prosciutto, cut into 1×3 inch strips (4 strips per piece)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup dry vermouth or white wine
juice from 1/2 lemon
3 Tbsp. cold butter
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper

Wrap each shrimp with a piece of proscuitto and secure using a toothpick, or by placing 3 or 4 shrimp on a skewer at a time.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add sage leaves and the smashed clove of garlic. Cook until sage leaves begin to change color and are fragrant, about30 seconds. Remove the sage with a slotted spoon.

Add the shrimp to the pan, and cook until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook on other side until golden brown, about 3 more minutes. Remove the garlic clove and discard. Remove the shrimp and keep warm. Repeat with remaining shrimp.

If there is any excess fat in the skillet, pour it off. Add the chopped garlic, stir in the vermouth, scraping up the browned bits, and simmer until it’s reduced to about 3-4 Tbsp. Stir in lemon juice.

Turn heat down to low, and whisk in the butter. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over shrimp, and crumble (or serve whole) the fried sage leaves on top before serving.

Source: adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, May 2008 via Elly Says Opa

Oreo Cheesecake Bites

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Oreo Cheesecake BitesI think my boys are the biggest Oreo fans in the world. And, I think I just happen to be one of the biggest fans of cheesecake in the world. So when I came across these perfect little bites of deliciousness on Mel’s site, I knew they had to happen. Like, immediately. And happen they did.

A breeze to throw together – an Oreo crust, reserving a few cookies to chop up and add to the cheesecake mixture that I quickly whipped together while I toasted the crust for a few minutes in the oven. The hardest part is of course waiting for them to cool. Then they’re cut into squares and drizzled with dark and white chocolate. So not only are they easy, they’re impressive too. Perfect for the football get-togethers everyone is sure to start having!

The original recipe was for a 9X13, but I halved it to fit in an 8X8 – so you could certainly double this version. We all enjoyed a few last night, and I’m packing up the remainder to take to our late night rocket launch party tonight. Our relatively small NASA base here on the Eastern Shore is launching a rocket bound for the moon’s orbit this evening.

The payload it’s carrying is LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer), and it’s kind of a huge deal for us. If you’re in the area of the Eastern seaboard (north or south), go outside and look to the skies. Then come back here and tell me if you saw it! For those of you who aren’t in the viewing area, the launch will be broadcast live on NASA TV. I can’t wait to see Twitter light up with folks thinking it’s a UFO. We really are so excited, I couldn’t be prouder of all the folks at Wallops Flight Facility. Good luck lighting the candle on this bad boy, guys. Praying for fair skies, and no fishing boats in the hazard area!

Oreo Cheesecake Bites

20 Oreos, divided
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 lb (2 packages) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 oz semisweet chocolate
2 oz white chocolate

Preaheat oven to 325. Line an 8X8 inch baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Roughly chop remaining cookies. Set aside.

Finely crush 12 Oreo cookies and combine with melted butter. Press evenly into bottom of the prepared pan using a drinking glass. Place in oven for 5 minutes.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add sour cream and vanilla, mix to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Gently fold in the chopped cookie pieces, and pour batter into the prepared crust.

Return pan to oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the center is almost completely set. Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 2 hours.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely cooled, at least 2 hours. When chilled, remove and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place the pieces on a wax or parchment lined baking sheet. Melt the chocolate in seperate bowls (using 1 tsp of vegetable shortening helps to get a drizzling consistency) and use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate over the cheesecake bites.

Chill the bars until ready to serve.

Source: adapted from Kraft Recipes, via Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Roasted Lemon Chicken & Potatoes

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Roasted Greek Lemon Chicken & PotatoesAndrew, our oldest, just marched off to his first day of kindergarten today. Tears were shed by me, but he couldn’t have been more happy or excited to be going back to school. It’s just hard for me to swallow the pill that he’s not mine to take care of all day anymore. I’m not sure who’s going to miss him more – myself, or his little brother William.

Back to school also means busier evenings with after school activities, homework, and sports all going on simultaneously. So, a one dish dinner – in which everything is thrown together and roasted, is always a great trick to have up your sleeve for a weeknight meal. Ina’s original recipe calls for all bone-in chicken breasts, but my little ones love their chicken drumsticks, so I just use a whole cut-up chicken instead. The white wine and lemon juice, combined with the drippings from the chicken create and awesome pan sauce. And the potatoes and Brussels sprouts just soak up all that delicious flavor while they cook.

And if there does happen to be any leftover chicken, it makes the most awesome chicken salad sandwiches to go into a lunchbox the next day. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Roasted Lemon Chicken & Potatoes

1/4 cup olive oil
9 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine
zest from 2 lemons
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano (I used 1 Tbsp fresh)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, minced
1 lb Brussels sprouts, halved
2 lbs baby red potatoes, halved
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 lemon
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt.

Pour the sauce into a 9×13 baking dish. Add the potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and season with salt and pepper.

Pat the chicken dry and place them skin side up over the sauce and veggies. Brush the chicken breasts with the olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon into wedges and tuck it among the pieces of the chicken.

Bake uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the vegetables and pan juices.

Source: adapted from How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten