Portabella Fries with Meyer Lemon Sauce

Meyer lemons were on the menu at the first Mystery Ingredient Club event, and they

caused a bit of a ruckus in my kitchen.

 

My husband was horrified that I would prepare something exotic and inedible (it happens). Will is the type of physician who is dead calm in emergencies, the kind of doc you want in a life or death situation. But he can get excited about food, and not in an anticipatory, lip-smacking way. I'm not saying he's an ole stick in the mud.

He's not.

But he doesn't want anyone messing with his dinner.

 

That said, if a category existed for Missionary Position food, it would be his favorite.

 

"What are you doing with those rubbery-looking lemons?" he asked when he saw me open the "mystery ingredient" jar.

 

"I don't know," I admitted.

 

It was the truth. I didn't have a clue what to do with a Meyer. I'd been attracted to the pretty jar, and now I'd saddled nine sweet bloggers with the responsibility of preparing recipes for the MIC party.

 

 

If you missed the recap of the MIC's feast, click HERE to meet the great cooks who participated in the event--they prepared ambrosial food, the kind that will have you rushing to make a grocery list.

 

"Well, I have an idea," Will said. He channeled Elvis for a moment, then he requested a fish sandwich, thinking (hoping?) that I would use lemons as a garnish,

keeping them far, far away from his nourishment.

 

I kept looking for ideas and found one (see below). But I had promised to cook a Missionary position sandwich, and I keep my promises.

 

So Meyer lemons were discreetly tucked into a fried Tilapia Po'boy.

 

 

I gathered up my leftover Meyers and studied a recipe at The View from Great Island.

I would deep fry portabella mushrooms and make a sort of lemony aioli dipping sauce.

 

This is an anti-Will recipe for sure, but he loves anything that's deep fried, and I decided to give it a whirl.  Note: If you want to see how it's done "proper," as we say down South, please visit The View from Great Island. 

 

To Make the Batter:

2 c buttermilk

1 c all purpose flour

(I added sea salt, pepper, lemon salt, and preserved Meyer lemon bits.)

 

 Procedure:

Whisk buttermilk and flour. Add seasonings.

 

I set up a "frying" station. I put flour in one large plastic (shallow)

container. Beside that, I poured the buttermilk/flour mixture into another container. Next to that, I

put a cookie sheet (for the "dipped" mushrooms to have a landing place on their way to the frying pot).

 

I don't have a deep fat fryer, so I poured canola oil into a Dutch oven.

It's best to fry only a few mushrooms at a time. Turn them over once or twice--or thrice.

When the mushrooms are brown and crisp, transfer to a serving platter (line it with paper towels).

 

These mushrooms tend to get soggy after a while--if you have any leftovers, that is.

 

Expect amazing flavors when you combine portabellas and lemony things.

The batter is a 2:1 mixture of buttermilk and flour, which I seasoned liberally with sea salt, pepper, lemon salt, and the Meyer lemon "bits" (see above).

After frying the first batch, I made the aioli:

Duke's mayonnaise
preserved Meyer lemons (juice and pulp)
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
(I added fresh minced garlic and a little honey, too)
 



I texted a photo to my eldest son, Chef Trey,

and he texted back: "Porta-too-mucha. Less is more!"

 

Soon the platter was empty.

Will gave the mushrooms a thumb's up.

 



By making these fries, I stepped out of my culinary comfort zone -- and Will's. 

 

But it was worth it.

 



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Asian Pork Tenderloin with Spinach and Sugar Snap Peas

 

"What's for dinner?"

 

When strung together, those three words can strike terror into my heart.

Sometimes I just don't know what to cook.

 

Does that every happen to you?

 

Do you flip through old magazines, hoping a recipe will catch your fancy?

 

 

One rainy day, while watching Food Network, I was fascinated by the way Chef Anne Burrell put together a sublime dish--grilled pork tenderloin with an Asian marinade and a mirepoix of spinach and sugar snap peas.

By the time she'd plated the food, I'd already made a grocery list.

Asian Pork Tenderloin with a Spinach and Sugar Snap Pea Mirepoix

 

                                                               Source: Chef Anne Burrell,  Food Network.

 

Marinade:

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

fresh ginger -- 1-inch, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 scallion, chopped

Zest of 1 orange

 

Main Dish:

2 to 4 lb pork tenderloin

2 tablespoons coriander seeds (ground)

 

Mirepoix:

1 lb fresh sugar snap peas

1/2 pound baby spinach

1 scallion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, smashed

1-inch piece of ginger, chopped

 

Optional:

(my addition) 1 box Thai kitchen's Pad Thai Noodle Kit

 

Prepare marinade by combining first 6 ingredients. Place pork in a deep bowl

and add marinade. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and marinate for 2 hours.

Remove meat (reserve marinade) and sprinkle coriander over the pork.

Pour marinade into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reducing liquid somewhat.

As Chef Anne says, the liquid absolutely must be boiled vigorously (read her recipe HERE). I was a bit scared at this point, but the aromas from the pan soon calmed me down.

 

Remove pan from heat and set aside. This will be the sauce for the pork.

 

Prepare the grill.

Add pork to rack and sear on all sides. Scoot the meat to the edge of the grill and continue cooking. Chef Anne advised 7 to 10 minutes. But I just had to cook it a bit longer because I am chicken when it comes to pork.

 

Remove tenderloin from grill and let it "rest" for at ten minutes or so.

Meanwhile, remove stems from the sugar snap peas. 

Remove stems from spinach.

 

You'll need:

Sea salt (or Kosher salt)

Ice

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

1 (1-inch) piece of fresh ginger

1 scallion, sliced

 

Put salt and ice in a large bowl and set aside. This is your "water bath" to blanch the peas.

Place peas in a pan and boil for 4 minutes. Put peas in water bath. Remove peas, drain, and set aside.

 

Coat a pan with EVOO and add ginger, garlic, and scallions. Sautee until the scallions are soft and translucent. Add sugar snaps, tossing in the seasoned oil. Add spinach and keep tossing until the spinach wilts.

Remove from heat.

 

Prepare noodles. I only followed the 1st step of the directions, eliminating the egg, etc. I cooked the noodles, drained them, and returned noodles to the pot. Add Thai sauce and mix.

 

Slice the pork, arranging it on the mirepoix of spinach, sugar snaps, and noodles.

 

Drizzle with (boiled/reduced) marinade.

 



It sounds complicated. A hand-wringing sort of meal.

But it's really easy.

The fragrant marinade will wing its way from the grill to your kitchen, scenting the air with ginger.  Best of all, for at least twelve hours, you won't have to face the age-old question:

What's for supper?

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Summer Side-Dish: Herb-Roasted Tomatoes

Tomato season is almost here. And I have the perfect low-calorie side dish. It's one of those no-fuss recipes that pays you back a thousand times in flavor: herb-roasted tomatoes.

 

It looks like a peaceful setting.

You'd never know that this tablescape had been attacked by five pygmy goats.

 

Here they are, watching. And waiting.

 

The minute my back was turned, the goats ran off with two long tomato vines and a loaf of bread.

Once, the table was overturned.

Needless to say, it was an adventure, one that ended with Advil (for me) and tomatoes (for everyone else, goats included).

 

 

I found this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens Low Calorie magazine. Each serving (2 halves) has 75 calories. I added more herbs and Tabasco (I'm a Louisiana native, and all cooks must use Tabasco--a state culinary law).

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My Hassle with Hasselback Potatoes

For the past few months, I've been looking at Pinterest photos of a sublime Swedish side dish called Hasselback potatoes. How hard can this be? I asked myself.

The answer is: Hard.

Bandwidth concurred as he watched me trying to insert greasy, melty bacon wedges into a potato's delicate accordion pleats.  "Which recipe did you use?" he asked.

Didn't use one, I said. I just eyeballed some pictures on Pinterest. I'd rubbed olive oil on the skins, then coated each tater with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Next, I cooked the potatoes for 30 minutes so they'd be easier to cut. But maybe I'd cooked them too long, or else I'd cut the slices too

deeply, because the bacon just wasn't fitting into the pleats. (And the center cut bacon was 99% fat, which didn't help.)

Bandy whipped out his iPhone and found a recipe. "Did you butter the pleats before you added the bacon?" he asked.

You mean, like, butter them INDIVIDUALLY? Who has the time? I've got a rib roast on the grill and bread in the oven.

No prob, I said. I'll just melt some butter and pour it over the pleats.

Bandy snorted when another potato fell apart. "If only your publisher could see you now," he said.

"Get me a toothpick," I said, trying to decide if I wanted to skewer the potato or my son.

"Chill," he said. "You should've frozen the bacon."

Yeah, I could totally see how that would help. When it comes to cooking, or just about

anything, hindsight has 20/20 vision.

To make matters worse, when I cooked the potatoes a second time, I didn't bake them long enough, and Dr. Will pronounced them DOA.

Aside from that, I thought they tasted like loaded baked potatoes. But neatly sliced. To be honest, loaded spuds are lots easier. My no-recipe recipe had, like, 5 steps.

After I cleared the table (carefully saving the uneaten potatoes--they'll make great hashbrowns), I

Googled Hasselback Potatoes. I found a Food Network recipe HERE. Yeah, frozen bacon

would have helped. But it will only help so much if you are an exhausted cook. And for me, well, how can I stuff bacon into itty, fragile wedges?  I can barely type text messages. It's a fat-finger thing.

Have you made Hasselback potatoes? Were they truly a hassle or easy?

Warm Potato Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

I come from a long line of Southern women who believe that side dishes are a blend of nutrition and art. My mother will never serve corn and fried apples at the same meal--unless she balances the yellows with green beans or asparagus. She plays matchmaker with "sides," as she calls them, aiming for complimentary companions.

Entrees are easy, but I worry and worry about side dishes. I've been known to fall into a broccoli rut. My mother always tries to repeat flavors. If she marinates a chicken with lime juice, she will serve a key lime pie for dessert.  A Granny Smith smothered pork roast will be paired with an apple raisin salad or apple tarts. And so on and so forth. A warm potato salad with a bacon vinaigrette is the perfect accompaniment for roasted chicken.

Warm Potato Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

Serves 4 4 potatoes, cut into 1/8" slices 2 cups chicken broth 4-6 strips of bacon, fried and crumbled 1/4 cup green onions, chopped 2 Tablespoons bacon drippings 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 Tablespoons champagne vinegar 2 Tablespoons country style Dijon mustard sea salt to taste freshly ground pepper to taste fresh thyme and Italian parsley roasted red bell pepper (optional) Fry bacon and onions. Set aside and reserve 2 tablespoons of drippings. Slice potatoes (unpeeled for a rustic salad) and place in a saucepan. Add 2 cups chicken broth. Cook potatoes 15 minutes over a low flame. Drain potatoes and place in a bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup chicken broth. Into a clean bowl, add broth, olive oil, mustard, vinegar, and bacon drippings. Whisk and pour vinaigrette over potatoes. Sprinkle with bacon and chopped herbs. Cover potatoes (I use a large dinner plate) and steep 15 minutes. Remove plate (or lid) and stir potatoes carefully, making sure you distribute the vinaigrette. For perky color, add a sliced roasted red bell pepper. . . . 

Print This Recipe

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Adapted from a recipe in Potatoes: A Country Garden Cookbook.

Have you ever fallen into a "side" slump?

What are your go-to side dishes? Do you have favorite pairings?

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