Bacon Wrapped Mushroom Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Posted on 06/17/2013 by Jessica

I’m trying to clean out my freezer and do a little experiment in the process. I have this habit of stocking up on food when things go on sale and putting it in the freezer. What makes it a bad habit is that I forget about thawing something out for dinner and wind up buying more items for dinner, even though I have it in the freezer already!

I came up with this after finding a pork tenderloin in the freezer. I had some fresh spinach and bacon in the fridge I needed to use up, and all I needed to buy extra was fresh mushrooms!

I didn’t really spend time measuring this recipe out like I usually do, so adjust where your taste buds see fit.

2 1 lb pork tenderloins
3.5 oz shitake mushrooms, finely chopped
4 oz baby portabello mushrooms, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup tightly packed fresh spinach, chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 lb sliced bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium sized skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook 10 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Add heavy cream one tablespoon at a time, you may need a little more or less depending on the moisture in your onions and mushrooms, and cook until mixture forms a paste like consistency. Remove mixture and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, cut a pocket into both tenderloins making sure you don’t cut through the ends of the tenderloin, it helps to hold in the mixture. On a piece of parchment paper lay out bacon, overlapping each piece, with enough pieces to cover the length of the tenderloin. Stuff the pocket with half of the mushroom mixture and roll the tenderloin up with the bacon. Placed on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tenderloin.

Bake tenderloins for 30 to 45 minutes until cooked through. Allow to rest 10 minutes before slicing into medallions. Enjoy!

Pear And Bacon Stuffed Pork Chops With Gorgonzola Sauce

Posted on 01/08/2013 by Jessica

It’s a New Years resolution of mine to learn more pork recipes. As you can see, I only have a couple so far. I’ve been terrified of cooking pork loin chops just because they’re so easy to dry out, and I’m not a huge fan of eating shoe leather.

I’m not too familiar with cooking pork chops, but I know a lot of pork recipes use apples, and I thought about a pear and gorgonzola salad, and tried to figure out how to combine the two. This is what I came up with!

Sorry about not being able to see much of the pork chop in the photo! The sauce was so good, I got a little carried away!

For the pork chops:

4 boneless pork chops, butterflied
3 tbsp butter
3 slices bacon, diced
2 bartlett pears, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sear pork chops for 3 minutes on both sides, still folded over like they’re not split for stuffing. Set aside and keep warm until ready to stuff.

In the same skillet, cook bacon until browned on the edges, but still slightly raw in the center. Add pears and onions to skillet, and cook until softened. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in balsamic and brown sugar. When sugar is well blended into mixture, remove from heat and cool slightly. Spoon 1/4 of mixture into each chop and place in a greased baking dish.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

For the gorgonzola sauce:

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour*
1 1/2 cups milk
4 oz. crumbled gorgonzola

In a sauce pan, melt butter over medium low heat. Whisk in flour and let cook, stirring continuously for one minute, then whisk in milk. Continue to cook and stir until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and stir in gorgonzola a little at a time until well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, place a stuffed pork chop on a plate and top with heaping spoonfuls of gorgonzola sauce. Goes well with green beans and oven roasted sweet potatoes.

* I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour

Sausage And Sweet Potato Scramble

Posted on 12/18/2012 by Jessica

My husband and I recently went on an impromptu trip to Asheville, North Carolina (in my opinion a dining mecca) and intended on having breakfast at Tupelo Honey Cafe. When we got there, we were told they were closed a few days for some remodeling, and were directed upstairs to The Early Girl Eatery. It didn’t look like much, and I was heartbroken to not be having breakfast at my first chosen location, so imagine my delight when I saw this tasty treat on the menu! I scarfed down every last bit and was hoping that hubby wouldn’t eat all of his so I could finish his plate as well! Sad to say, I only got the portion I ordered! When I came back home, I knew I had to make this, and did several times for breakfast and even once for dinner!

A family sized meal:

1 lb bulk breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean and the like)
6 slices cooked, diced bacon
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
3 diced green onions
4 oz sliced mushrooms, shiitake or cremini
10 eggs

Place sweet potatoes in a large sauce pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook and crumble sausage over medium heat. Add mushrooms and onions and cook until mushrooms are soft. (For a more healthful alternative, drain fat from the sausage, remove from skillet and cook mushrooms and onions in a few teaspoons of olive oil, then add sausage back to the skillet.)

When potatoes are soft enough to pierce with a fork, drain and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes then add to skillet with sausage. Stir in bacon. Scramble up eggs in a mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper, and add to skillet. Allow to firm up a bit before stirring or you’ll have minced eggs instead of nice big chunks! Serve with your favorite breakfast sides!

Shrimp And Mushroom Stuffed Flounder

Posted on 06/19/2012 by Jessica

The seafood counter had some beautiful flounder fillets come in and I knew I wanted some for dinner, but was not wanting to spend the money for lump crabmeat to stuff it with, so I thought “What about stuffing it with shrimp?” $17 for half a pound of crab versus $10 for a full pound of fresh shrimp was a no brainer. Time to come up with something new and here it is!

3 flounder fillets, about a 1/3 a pound each
3/4 lb fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half
4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves minced garlic
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp cajun seasoning
a few turns salt and pepper
extra cajun seasoning and panko for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a fry pan and add mushrooms, garlic, and onions. When mushrooms start to soften, add shrimp and cook until shrimp start to firm up. Remove shrimp mixture to a mixing bowl. Wipe out fry pan and return to heat with the bacon. When crisp, remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate and pat to remove some of the grease, then add to the mixing bowl with the shrimp. Add mayo, breadcrumbs, seasoning, and salt & pepper, and stir to combine.

Place flounder on a piece of wax paper or foil and pat dry. Spoon 1/3 of mixture across the center of one piece of flounder and roll up to resemble picture above. Place on a greased baking sheet and top with a sprinkle of cajun seasoning and panko. Repeat with remaining flounder fillets.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with a salad and your favorite oven-roasted veggie.

Caribbean Salmon With Pigeon Pea Succotash And Mango Bacon Cream Sauce

Posted on 03/07/2012 by Jessica

This is the reason I carry a piece of paper in my pocket at work! I came up with this plantain chip crusted salmon after learning salmon was going on sale. I knew I wanted to use mangos with it, in a sauce or salsa, but figured out I wanted to try a mango bacon cream sauce after watching an episode of “Chopped” that very night. The pigeon pea succotash was inspired by a co-worker who first introduced me pigeon peas and rice. This is a really great, easy dish, and looks great too!

For the salmon:

4 6oz. salmon fillets, skinned
6 oz. plantain chips, crushed (Sold in bags like potato chips)
2 eggs, beaten

For the succotash:

1 tbsp canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15oz. can pigeon peas, drained
1 15oz. can black beans, drained
1 11oz. can crispy corn, drained
1 jarred roasted red pepper, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice

For the cream sauce:

1 mango, peeled and chopped
4 slices cooked bacon
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Start with the salmon. Place crushed plantains in a bowl and beaten eggs in another. Dip salmon in eggs first, then crushed plantains, coating well on all sides. Place coated salmon on a greased baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. While salmon bakes, prepare succotash and cream sauce.

For the succotash, heat oil in a medium sauce pan, over medium heat and cook onion until soft. Add garlic and cook and stir for one minute more. Add remaining ingredients for succotash, cover, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until serving.

To prepare the cream sauce, place mango and bacon in a food processor and pulse until well blended and smooth. In a sauce pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in flour, and cook, stirring continuously for 2 minutes. Slowly stir in cream, and cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in mango and bacon mixture.

To serve, place a piece of salmon over 1/2 cup of succotash and pour a tablespoonful at a time of cream sauce around the salmon, about 4 tbsp total, (more or less to taste). Enjoy!

Shrimp And Grits

Posted on 02/01/2012 by Jessica

A Southern tradition. I’ve had several versions of this and have yet to find one I don’t like! This is my version, taking my favorite ingredients from the Shrimp and Grits I’ve had at restaurants and from recipes I found on the internet. Sometimes I surprise even myself and with this recipe, I did just that! It was so good, I can’t wait to make it again!

I used fresh local shrimp in this dish, and I’m a firm believer that you should always buy seafood from the U.S., not the farm-raised stuff from Thailand! Not only does it taste much better, but you’re helping out an industry that has been dwindling because of the bad economy and outrageous gas prices!

For the grits:

1 cup quick cooking grits
3 cups water
4 oz roasted red peppers, chopped
1 cup shredded colby-jack cheese

8 oz bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 lbs fresh 21/25 shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 oz cooked Andouille sausage, chopped into half moons ( I used Johnsonville “New Orleans Brand”)
2 tbsp white wine
6 tbsp flour
3 cups milk
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning

Start the grits. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, stir in grits, and cook on low for 5 minutes. Stir in cheese and roasted red peppers. Keep warm while preparing the gravy.

Place bacon in a stockpot and heat over medium heat until bacon is crisp. Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Add onion, green pepper, and celery to the bacon grease. Cook veggies for about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and the sausage. Cook until shrimp are firm and pink, then remove from the pot. Set aside and keep warm. Pour in wine then stir in the flour. Slowly stir in milk, then Cajun seasoning. Cook and stir continuously until thickened, then remove from heat.

To plate, pour 1/4 of the grits on a plate, then 1/4 of the shrimp, then cover with gravy. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Repeat with remaining ingredients for 4 servings. Enjoy!

“Man Approved” Quiche

Posted on 11/25/2011 by Jessica

Real men do eat quiche! Especially when it’s loaded with bacon, onions, mushrooms, asparagus, and cheese! Since it was the day before Thanksgiving, I wanted to cook something light, and not spend too long in the kitchen since I would be cooking for hours the next day. This recipe uses refrigerated pie crust, so it’s very easy to prepare. Just serve with a pre-washed salad blend from the store, and you’ve got tasty meal!

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces, rough ends removed
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
5 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
pepper
1 9 inch refrigerated pie crust
3 eggs
1 cup half & half
1 1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
dash nutmeg (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are nicely browned, about 20 minutes.

While onions cook, unroll pie crust into a greased 9 inch pie plate or flan dish. Pierce dough with a fork in several places in the bottom and sides to keep crust from bubbling up while baking. Place in oven and bake 10 minutes.

Stir in asparagus and mushrooms with onions, and cook until asparagus is slightly softened, then stir in bacon, and simmer 5 minutes. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs until well beaten, then whisk in half & half. Add a sprinkle of salt, about 2 turns of a pepper grinder, and nutmeg (if desired).

Sprinkle half of the cheese on top of the baked crust, then spoon veggies evenly on top, the sprinkle with remaining cheese. Pour egg mixture evenly over cheese and veggies. Bake for 30 minutes, until browned, and center is set. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy! (We sure did! :))

Santa Fe Swine Chili

Posted on 10/23/2011 by Jessica

Chili has to be one of my favorite dishes, period. I could eat it once a week, even in the hottest months of summer, so I just had to come up with another chili recipe to add to my repertoire, and why not make it with pork tenderloin? I like to top my chili with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and Fritos, though my hubby prefers tortilla chips. Load it up, or eat it straight out of the pot, it’s delicious!

2 lbs pork tenderloin, cut into bite size pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
6 slices cooked bacon, chopped
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can beef broth
1 15 oz can kidney beans
1 15 oz can black beans
1 4 oz can chopped green chiles
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp oregano
3 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cayenne

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for at least 8 hours. Serve with your favorite chili toppings!

*Note, this is a great workday meal! Just chop veggies and tenderloin the night before and place in baggies in the fridge. It will save time on your way to work and you’ll come home to an easy, no fuss dinner! 🙂

East Of The Oven

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