Citrus Tea-Rubbed Pork Loin- Happy Birthday, Margaret!

To many of your siblings, a walk through the orange groves was one of most exotic experiences of visiting the Goodwards.  So as winter breaks for the large Midwestern portion of the clan, some citrus tea seemed like it would be a welcome.  

For your Christmas baskets, I got some citrus herbal tea from Etsy, and supplemented it with some other herbal teas.  Then I found a recipe which uses it as a rub for pork loin.  

For those who prefer shrimp, you could also just mix the tea with some lime juice, olive oil and perhaps some curry powder, then marinade the shrimp for 20 minutes.  Then skewer it and grill it.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Citrus Tea
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 3-4 lbs. pork loin

Instructions:

1. Combine tea and salt and grind in a spice grinder until well combined.


2. In bowl, mix oil and tea to form a paste.


3. Rub paste over pork loin, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.


4. Remove pork from fridge, unwrap and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes per pound.

Mushroom Mac- Happy Birthday, Sam!

We celebrated Sam's birthday last Thursday by eating pizza at Donna and Sam's new house.  Kayte even brought a delicious fruit tart from a French bakery in St. Louis.


Here's a recipe using the mushroom powder we gave at Christmas.  Or you can dip a steak in it, then pan fry it and serve it with an herb butter.









Ingredients

• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 3 oz grated/dry cotija or parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons mushroom powder
• 4 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 pound of elbow macaroni noodles

Instructions
1.  Dice the celery, garlic, and onion; measure your milk, cheese, fat, and flour.  Slice the mushrooms.
2.  Start heating the pasta water.
3.  Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan and cook the celery, garlic, and onion until soft, 5-7 minutes.  Add in the flour and mix into a paste over medium heat, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes.
4.  Add the milk a little at a time, and stir vigorously but not extravagantly, until all traces of roux-lumps are gone.  Continue to stir and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, until the mixture is pleasantly thickened.  Reduce heat to low.
5.  Add in the mushroom powder, stir, and taste.  Don’t add any salt, because the cheese is plenty salty.
6.  Yeah!  Add the cotija or parmesan cheese.  High-five the person nearest you.  Kill the heat, stir to combine.
7.  Cook the sliced mushrooms in oil over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until they’ve lost most of their liquid, shrunk, and browned.  Cook in a single layer.
8.  Cook the macaroni in the boiling, salted water, and cook until al dente – then drain and incorporate into the cheese sauce.  Add the mushrooms, stir to combine, and serve.

Quote for the Day

I don't need Prozac--I just need olive oil.

--Claudia Bassols

Superbowl Apple Pie (By Request)

Except that it was served at Kayte's Superbowl party, this pie has nothing to do with football and everything to do with a book Keira and I like called How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. I thought actually making the recipe that ends the book would be a good weekend activity, and it was--up to the point where the dough was mixed and rolled out. After that, I was on my own.

Having no particular expertise in the art of pie-making, I was operating under the Mom Doctrine, which requires strict adherence to the directions of an unfamiliar recipe.  That dovetailed neatly with my interest in trying to making a crust the way we've all seen Mom and Gran Goodin do countless times in the past: with ice at the ready.

Crust

• 2 c flour
• 1 t salt
• 1 c butter
• 1/2 c ice water (I thought Gran used ice chips--maybe someone can clarify)
• 1 egg yok 

Sift flour and salt together in a bowl. Quickly rub small pieced of cold butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until the bits are the size of peas. Add ice water, starting with a few tablespoons and adding more as needed to moisten all the dough. Stir with a fork until mixture forms a loose ball. Divide dough in half and make two equal patties. Place on patty between two pieces of wax paper. With a rolling pin or bottle, roll into a 12-inch circle. Peel off the top piece of wax paper and turn into pie pan. Remove wax paper. Trim around edge. Roll out the top crust in the same way. Refrigerate both until ready to use.

Filling

• 5 Granny Smith apples 
• 3/4 c sugar 
• 1 t cinnamon 
• 1/4 t salt 
• 2 T butter 

Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, cinnamon and salt. Peel, core and cut apples into 3/8-inch slices. Toss the apples into the sugar mixture, coating them well. Arrange apple slices in the pie pan, piling them higher in the center. Dot with pats of butter. Moisten the edge of the bottom crust with water. Cover the pie with the top crust, trim the edge, then pinch the top and bottom edges together. Cut some vents in the top crust. To glaze the crust, mix an egg yolk with 1 T of water. Brush the mixture over the surface of the top crust. Bake 45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Remove pie and allow to cool before serving.