Herb Rubbed Pork Sirloin

I have had this pork sirloin in my freezer for awhile. But the truth is, I had no idea how to prepare it. It looked like this giant slab of meat in the package, but once I opened it, I realized that it was actually two small pieces (totaling about three pounds) and that it was a very lean, boneless piece of meat. I was making this for a Sunday night dinner and wanted to do something fairly simple so I prepared a simple herb rub for it. 

All I did was cover the meat in the rub, threw it in my new cast iron pot, and let it cook for an hour and a half. The meat came out tender and moist and while it was resting, I made a quick gravy from the drippings by simply adding some flour to it and whisking while it bubbled until it thickened. The great thing about the gravy was that it really had a lot of the herb rub flavouring in it so a nice addition to the meat. 

The only thing is that I found this to be a little on the spicy side with the cayenne,  so if you don't like your food too hot, you might want to reduce it a smidge. 

Herb Rubbed Pork Sirloin

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 3 lb sirloin tip roast (pork or beef)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

• In a small bowl, mix the the garlic, onion, all the spices and the olive oil and allow the mixture to sit for about 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the roast in an oven safe pot or roasting pan.
• Roast about 1 hour and 30 minutes or to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees. Let sit 15 minutes before slicing. 

Recipe from www.allrecipes.com 

Simple Chocolate Ice Cream

Since spring has sprung here in Toronto (though it's currently being diluted with rain), I pulled out the ice cream maker I got for Christmas, from the depths of our storage locker. Admittedly, when I opened said Christmas present, I was a little disappointed since I'm not a huge ice cream eater. I like the odd cone once in a while, but had never considered making my own to satisfy those fleeting cravings. T had been challenging me to use the machine for a few months though, since space in our condo is at a premium, every kitchen appliance must be essential, so I finally cracked the box open and pulled out the recipe book.

I was immediately impressed by the variety of recipes -- coffee butter almond ice cream, pumpkin pie ice cream, mango gelato, cranberry sorbet -- but I always like to start simple so I opted for the Simple Chocolate Ice Cream. 

As I've mentioned, one of the things I love most about cooking is knowing and controlling what's going into my food. Though sometimes I prefer to be in denial. If knowing that ice cream is made solely from cream and sugar will cause you to faint, do not read any further. But with good quality and simple ingredients, you get a good quality dessert and this ice cream was nothing short of that. It literally melts on your tongue and it's so rich (not surprisingly) that you really only need a small serving to satisfy that sweet tooth craving. 

So, I am sure the ice cream maker sees a number of recipes this summer. In fact, the bowl is in the freezer right now just waiting to be used, so please, if you have a good recipe I should try, let me know! For now, here's a delicious one to kick off your summer.

Simple Chocolate Ice Cream

Makes 14 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 3 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

• Place the cocoa and sugars in a medium bowl and stir to combine. 
• Add the whole milk and use a hand mixer on low speed to combine until the cocoa and sugars are dissolved. 
• Stir in the heavy cream and the vanilla.
• Turn machine on and pour mixture into freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 25 to 35 minutes. 
• If you want a firmer consistency, place in an airtight container for about two hours. 

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos

One of the biggest kitchen challengs I have is how to dress up chicken. I wanted to use the flour tortillas I made, but since they were sort of time consuming, I was looking for quick to make with them. Months ago when I realized how much I loved Mexican, I tagged a recipe for lime chicken from http://www.allrecipes.com/ that fit the bill perfectly. 

This chicken was easy, refreshing and the lime added a nice light flavour to a simple meal. And, while this isn't how I made them, I bet it would be easy to let the chicken marinate all day in the sauce and then quickly cook them up when you got home from work for a fast and healthy weeknight meal.

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos

Makes 8-10 

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 10 6" flour tortillas

Directions

• In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onion, garlic and cilantro.
• Saute chicken in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until no longer pink, about 10-12 minutes.
• Add vinegar mixture and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
• Serve lime chicken in warm tortillas topped with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, salsa and sour cream.

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

Flour Tortillas

I have been busy. Two of my girlfriends have gotten married, we're down people at work so I've been swamped and T had knee surgery. So I've been out of the kitchen and eating a lot of cereal (hardly blog worthy!). But I've missed it like crazy. I've missed having down time and being alone in the kitchen, so as soon as I found some time, I made these tortillas. I knew they would take some time to make, but it was easy work and well worth the effort. 

The difference between these and the store-bought kind is unbelievable. These were warm, delicious, endearingly individual looking (i.e. not uniform -- at all), a just incredibly fresh tasting. I wouldn't make these all the time, and they would work better as a taco shape over a burrito, but boy they were good.

You can put whatever you want in them, but stay tuned to see what I filled these up with!

Flour Tortillas

Makes 14-16 tortillas

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp lard
• 1 cup hot water

Directions

• Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and mix.
• Add the lard and use a pastry cutter to combine the ingredients until they look like coarse crumbs.
• Slowly pour in the hot water, stirring to bring the mixture together. Lightly knead the dough 30 to 40 times until it becomes a cohesive ball and becomes less sticky (this will happen the more you knead).
• Roll into ping pong sized balls, place on a tray, cover with a tea towel and let rest for about 30 minutes.
• When you're ready to make the tortillas, heat a dark or cast iron griddle to medium - medium high heat. 
• One by one, roll out the balls of dough until very, very thin. Place one at a time on the griddle and cook on each side for about 20-30 seconds. You'll know to flip because large bubbles will form on the side. Flip and then remove from the heat once the tortillas are still soft but are slightly brown in spots. 
• Remove and stack tortillas as you cook them, covering with a tea towel to keep them warm.

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Sweet Potato Burritos

We have all been told to never judge a book by its cover. Well, I'm learning to not judge a recipe by its title. 


As a newish cook, I still find it difficult to read through a recipe and have a really good sense of what it's going to taste like. So when I saw the title, Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos, I wasn't sold. I couldn't get my mind to understand what the combination of sweet potatoes and beans (and mustard?!) would be like, but how could 1,218 people who gave it 4.5 stars on www.allrecipes.com, be wrong? Well, they weren't.


In just three short weeks, we've made this three times. It is so good, I can't even begin to explain it. The sweet potato doesn't have a very powerful flavour and while it adds more than just being a filler, it doesn't compete with the beans. And the best part is that this dish is screaming healthy. I mean, sweet potatoes and beans and spice? If I didn't douse these in sour cream, we'd be looking at a serious health food here. 


So now you have it. Sweet potatoes and beans = a match made in heaven. 


Sweet Potato Burritos
Makes 12 large burritos
Printable Recipe


Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans black beans, drained
• 1 can kidney beans, drained
• 2 cups water
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 4 tsp prepared mustard
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 cups sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed (boiled or roasted)
• 12 10" flour tortillas
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine the black beans and kidney beans and roughly mash.
• Heat butter in a medium saucepan and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans and gradually stir in water -- you want them to be thick still and not too runny so you might not need as much as 2 cups of water.
• Remove bean mixture from heat and stir in chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.
• Warm stack of tortillas in the microwave for 45 seconds to make pliable.
• Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between tortillas. Top with cheese and roll tortilla and place seam side down in a baking pan. 
• Bake for 12-15 minutes until slightly browned.
• Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Oven-Baked Bacon

Bacon is one of my weaknesses. For years, I was a vegetarian, but secretly, on Saturday mornings when T and I would go out for breakfast, I would indulge in a few strips of bacon. There's something about the saltiness of it that I crave and it just completes a Saturday morning breakfast.

But no matter how much I loved bacon, I rarely made it myself. I found it super messy and I hated that hot oil always popped up and burned me and covered my stove top. Baking my bacon though has changed all of this. It is a foolproof way to cook bacon and I always  have perfectly cooked, non-curly bacon that has an easy clean up. The other great thing is that it is one less thing I have to watch on the stove when I am making eggs, pancakes and vegetables. 

Oven-Baked Bacon

Ingredients

• strips of your favourite bacon

Directions

• Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and place a cooling rack on top.
• Lay strips of bacon out on cooling rack in a single layer and put in centre rack of oven. Turn oven on to 400 degrees (do not preheat) and bake for 18-20 minutes or until bacon has reached desired crispness.
• Remove tray from oven and transfer bacon strips to a plate lined with paper towels to remove excess grease.

Thank You!

A few weeks ago, Ann from Apples and Twinkies awarded me with a Stylish Blog award and I have also been honoured by Stephanie at The Starving Artist with a Lovely Blog award. What a treat and an honour for my little blog! 


Ann has been one of my most regular followers and her constant comments have been a huge boost for me. She has a wonderful blog with lots of great recipes, so go check her out. Stephanie is a relatively new food blogger but she always has amazing recipes with a neat take on presentation, which I love.

As part of these awards, I am supposed to tell you seven things about myself, and direct you to a few of the new blogs I have found. So here goes:


Seven things about me:


1. I have an adorable puggle -- pug x beagle cross -- named Cooper.


2. I have been a Toastmaster for 5.5 years and just last month, completed all the requirements to be honoured as a Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest honour. (Toastmasters is an international organization that promotes communication and leadership)


3. I live in Toronto where we are enjoying a lovely, snow-filled winter. (and today it's a warm and sunny 4 degrees!)


4. I still use a paper day planner and love it.


5. I read about one book per week, all taken out of the Public Library.


6. Having my nails done every week is one of my biggest luxuries.


7. The Sound of Music is my all time favourite movie. I even had a surprise Sound of Music themed wedding shower!


Some amazing blogs I have discovered over the past year:

• Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean
• Bridgette at La Bella Cook
• Kaitlin at Whisk Kid
• Jenny at Picky Palate
• Katerina at Culinary Flavours
• Andreas at Delta Kitchen
• Bonnie at From a Writer's Kitchen
• Autumn at Good Eats Girl
• Rita at Sage Cuisine