Think Spring!

As you might guess by my lack of posts over the last month I have been extremely busy.  Weekends have been jam packed with birthday parties, christenings and catching up on work. This weekend was the first weekend in a LONG time that we had no commitments.  It was so nice.  Yesterday we took S to lunch at All Aboard Diner. She is slightly obsessed with trains currently so she really enjoyed it. We got to eat around the counter where the train brings out your food.  Every time the train came out she yelled "Here it comes!"  It was super cute. 

Today I got quite a bit done around the house which makes me extremely happy. What was even better than getting some cleaning done was that I actually had time to make dinner this evening.  Granted it wasn't anything fancy but it was actually a home cooked meal for a change. I realize that this menu isn't really appropriate for a Chicago Winter meal but I think I had myself convinced it was Spring since it was nice and sunny out and I was a cleaning machine. 

Menu

New York Strip Steaks
Roasted Potatoes
Watermelon & Baby Arugula salad

I got the recipe for the Watermelon & Baby Arugula salad  from the Food Network Favorite Recipes cookbook. The recipe serves 4 to 6. I received the cookbook as a Christmas gift (thank you Lisa). This was the first recipe I made from it but there a bunch of really great recipes so I'm sure I will be sharing more of them in the future.

Salad:
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
4 pounds watermelon, preferably seedless, rind removed, cut into 3/4 inch cubes (about 8 cups)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
8 cups baby arugula (about 4 ounces)
3/4 cup crumbled ricotta salata or feta cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/2 cup pitted Niçoise olives (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1) For the salad: To mellow the onion, soak it in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain well, pat dry, and put in a serving bowl

2) Meanwhile, make the dressing: Whisk the vinegar, salt and black pepper to taste in a bowl. Gradually whisk in the olive oil, starting with a few drops and then adding the rest of the oil in a steady stream to make a smooth dressing.

3) Toss the watermelon and oregano with the onions and the dressing, taking care not to break up the watermelon chunks. (The salad can be made to this point up to 30 minutes in advance)

4)When ready to serve, toss the arugula with the dressed watermelon. Scatter the cheese, olives (if desired) and a generous grinding of black pepper over the top.

Note - I used Feta and added the olives.  The salad was absolutely delicious.  It would be a great salad for Spring/Summer. I also skipped the step of mellowing the onion.

For the potatoes, I had some small red potatoes on hand.  I cut then into small chunks. Cut up some small chunks of Spanish onion.  Combined them in a zip lock back with a drizzle of olive oil.  Mixed well. Sprinkled with Montreal Steak Seasoning.  Removed them from the bag and placed them in an oven safe dish with a lid.  I baked them on 350 for approximately 30 minutes.

I marinated the steaks with a little Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and seasoned each side with Hula Girl Coffee Rub.  I cooked these on the stove using a grill pan.  I would estimate that I cooked them for about 7-8 minutes on either side for a medium temperature.

Pork Tenderloin with Hula Girl Coffee Rub

Menu:
Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa
Island Teriyaki Udon Noodles and Vegetables






Recipe:

Pork Tenderloin
Lightly cover bottom of oven safe dish with olive oil
Generously cover pork tenderloin with Hula Girl Coffee Rub. I used 1/8 cup of the rub. The tenderloin I used was 1.5-1.75 lbs.  I started cooking the tenderloin on 350 degrees but turned the oven up to 375 towards the end to try to get a bit of a crust on the pork.

Mango Salsa
2/3 cup frozen Mango chunks, defrosted (diced)
1/2 large jalapeno pepper (diced)
2 slices of red pepper (diced) - approximately 1/4 cup

1/4 cup red onion (diced)

6 cilantro leaves chopped
 (I would add a little more cilantro next time around. Unfortunately my cilantro plant looked quite sad so this was all of the cilantro I had)




Island Teriyaki Udon Noodles and Vegetables
1/2 Red and Yellow Pepper (sliced)
4 large button mushrooms (sliced)
Remainder of the red onion used in the salsa (sliced into chunks) - approximately 1 medium red onion
a bit of chopped ginger root (approximately 1 tablespoon)
1 3/4 cup of bok choy (chopped)
5 baby carrots (sliced)

Cook above (reserve the green parts of bok choy until the end) in 2 tablespoons of Toasted Sesame Oil.  After a few minutes of cooking at 1/4 cup of Soy Vay Island Teriyaki.  Continue cooking on low. Add a dash of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. I prefer to keep a bit of crunch to my vegetables.

In a separate pot cook Udon noodles as directed.  I used Koyo Organic Udon Asian Pasta.  The package comes with 3 separately wrapped bundles of noodles. I used 2 of the 3 in my recipe.  Once your noodles are finished drain them and add them back to the pot you cooked them in with 1/4 cup of the Island Teriyaki.  Stir to cover the noodles. At the same time add the green parts of the bok choy to finish up the vegetables.

Combine noodles and vegetables in a serving dish. Sprinkle with Sesame seeds.

Slice pork tenderloin and serve with Mango Salsa.







Next time around I would probably sear the pork tenderloin first before putting it in the oven to get a nice crust on it.  My other option would be to grill it which was my original intent. I realize these are probably not the best directions for making this dish. I tried to write it down as I was cooking but I will try to do better with documenting next time around. 

From a timing perspective this took me about an hour and twenty minutes total to make. That included prepping vegetables and plating the dishes and quick break to entertain the baby.

If anyone tries this dish I would love to hear your comments.