Pork Roast with Balsamic Thyme Fig Sauce

Porchetta/Pork Roast

It has been a totally weird week. But, some of the highlights? I baked and decorated over 100 cookies during my own personal me, myself, and I Drop In & Decorate® party. Come to find out, RMHC’s have changed their policy and do not accept freshly made foods anymore, unless they have been prepared in a commercial kitchen. While I know I prepare using appropriate measures, I completely understand why an organization like that, dealing with such horrific illnesses, would put a rule into effect like that. But, what a bummer! All these cookies! Luckily, Road Home graciously accepted them.

(What I forgot to include last week was my attempt at chocolate candy modeling clay. Ha! That was interestingly easy…so I made turkeys to go with the cookies.)

Made clay, roll tummies...

Create the foundation/back/spine for the tummies

add belly

fill in feathers

Add espresso bean face and candy beak

add chocolate eyes and wattle and Gobble Gobble!

Even though my cookies went somewhere other than RMHC, the ladies were so, so lovely and were very eager to let me know I could prepare in their kitchens. Really? Well, the house I went to has up to 40 families and the kitchen is really big…with 3 or four ovens. Do you know how many cookies I can make in there? Anyway, they showed me a sign up sheet for when volunteers come in and cook for the families. What fun! I chose to begin on a Sunday, when the numbers are a bit smaller, for Breakfast and sack lunches. The director told me to plan on 15-18. What? No prob! I do that for work. Piece of cake. Dinners are for a larger number, anywhere from 40-60. I will work my way up to that one.

So, my first cooking outing for the RMHC is December 6th. I can not wait!!! What better way to give back?

Thanksgiving was interesting. There have only been a couple of holidays in the last decade with which I have spent them members of my family. This year, I chose to stay in Utah. Admittedly, had I known my housemates would act as they did, I might have chose differently. Nonetheless, I did go on an invigorating hike in the morning. There is still snow on the ground here from the “dusting” we received that week and the crisp day made for a fun walk.

I didn’t cook because my housemates’ family was all here for several hrs. So, no Thanksgiving recipe to share. I did indulge in some chick flicks, diet coke, and pizza. Yum! I know, you’re thinking pizza? Look, as I mentioned in this post on Thanksgiving/Holiday Tips, “Select reasonable-sized portions of favorite foods you don’t have year ‘round. Why waste your calories on foods that you eat all the time?” I eat turkey and winter squashes often. I don’t eat desserts, really. What don’t I eat because it’s a calorie buster? Pizza! That’s the food I chose to eat, my favorite food I don’t eat year round (anymore). Unfortunately, the housemates are having something tonight, too. So, my sea bass and autumn couscous I planned will have to wait for another evening.

In the meantime, here is a Pork Roast with Balsamic Thyme Fig Sauce I made for the crew one Sunday evening.

It came out awesome! And a "Seriously?" might have slipped when one of the clients didn't even try the sauce and went right for the hot sauce. I think it actually hurt my heart! The fig sauce was delish! Anyway...I love the digital meat thermometer we have here. I haven’t messed up a meat protein since I began using it. Very exciting.

Enjoy!

Pork Roast with Balsamic Thyme Fig Sauce

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Blend together 1 tablespoon (combined) of dried spices of your choice. (I chose rosemary, thyme, & oregano.) Add about ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of freshly ground pepper. (I like the random chunks of pepper when it comes from the grinder.) Lastly, add ½ tablespoon of minced garlic. Mix spice rub together with a little olive oil, just enough to make a paste. Then, rub it all over the pork roast.

Transfer the roast onto a rack, then into a pan. If you don’t have a roasting rack, consider using twigs of herbs, like rosemary, thyme, sage…whatever matches your rub. Roast the pork for 10 minutes to golden. Reduce oven temperature to 250 -300 degrees. Continue cooking for about 50-80 minutes (until the meat registers 150 degrees). Cooking times will vary depending on the shape of your roast.

Remove the roast from the oven and set on a cutting board. Cover the meat with tin foil and let it rest for about 15 minutes before slicing it. The temperature of the roast will continue to rise about another 5 degrees.

Meanwhile, to prepare the Fig Sauce, gather the following:

2 cup chicken broth
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
3 cup diced fresh figs
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 Tbsp. brown sugar (optional)
1 Tbsp. arrowroot dissolved in a small amount of water

Add chicken broth, thyme, and figs into a deep skillet. Bring to a boil, then lower to medium heat, add arrowroot, and cook for 5-10 minutes (or as long as needed), stirring often until the sauce is thickened. Use the spoon to mush the figs while stirring. (or an emulsion blender works fabulously!) * You may need to adjust the ingredients a bit for your preferred thickness/consistency.

* Substitute arrowroot for cornstarch on a 2-to-3 basis; 2 teaspoons of arrowroot equals 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of cornstarch.

Giving Thanks...

Thanks to all my visitors, regular and new, who continue to support me and Mele Cotte. Wishing all of you a blessed day.

3 Bean Loaf

Vegetariano/vegetarian

I realize my baking has increased lately (as I cheer silently and do a little dance). And, it will continue to do so since the time is coming to make Christmas cookies again. (Please check my December ’07 archives for my 12 Days of Cookies and my December ’08 archives for my Piatto Dulce/Dessert Plate).

But, even with the baking, I have been eating more than just egg whites and cottage cheese for breakfast. There have been two other meals in the day I consume. While cleaning out the pantry this weekend, I decided to try my hand at a meatless loaf. Yup. Meat loaf, minus the meat! It was a lot easier than I thought, didn't require me using tofu, and the end result was an awesome bean loaf. (if I do say so myself) The combination of flavors with the coriander and cumin reminded me of eating a quite meal in a small local restaurant in the city. (Okay, why did Memories just pop in my head???) Next time, I might go less with the black beans, though.

Because I “threw” in items as I went, I didn’t think about what to serve with the loaf. Next time, I believe a taziki or dill sauce will do fabulously! In fact, the “batter” appeared really versatile. Making tiny patties, topping with a tomato slice, with the sauce would be an awesome appetizer. Or, cut the loaf in cubes and do the same thing. Cutting the loaf might compromise the outside crunch a free handed mold creates, though. Hmmmm…all these thoughts are coming to my head as I write this. I am glad I have leftovers to practice with this week!

Enjoy!

3 Bean Loaf

1 14-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 14-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed

1 14-ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 ½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs

½ cup golden raisins

1 cup water

½ cup chopped onion

1 ½ cup chopped celery
2 carrots, chopped

2 tablespoons grape seed (olive or sesame works as well)

2 eggs
2 tablespoons (no salt) ketchup (Heinz has a no salt in stores)
2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon each of salt, ground coriander, cumin, & chili pepper

freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Line a 9X5 loaf pan with foil and spray with vegetable spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Sauté onions, celery, and carrots until fork tender.
In the meantime, puree the beans, crumbs and eggs using a food processor. Add water as needed. (It okay I it doesn’t all get blended. Chunkiness is good!)Transfer into a large bowl. Add sautéed vegetables, cheese, ketchup, tomato paste and seasonings. Mix well, adding more bread crumbs if too wet. (I use my hands for this part.)Transfer into loaf pan (Or, free-form 1 loaf or several mini-loaves. The first picture is free-form.) and bake at 350 for 40 minutes until browned and firm. Yields 4-6

Create Smiles with Drop In & Decorate®!

Hopefully, you’re all aware of Drop In & Decorate®, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, founded by the fabulous Lydia of The Perfect Pantry. To quote Lydia “The idea behind Drop In & Decorate® is simple: bake some cookies; gather a group of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, your worship group or book group to decorate the cookies together; donate the cookies to a nonprofit agency serving basic human needs in your own community.”

Pillsbury and Wilton even recognizes this event! Pretty cool, huh? It really is a fun thing to do. Lydia has made very easy and stress free but offering a guide with all the need-to-know about hosting a lil’ get together. Just head over to her site.

I have participated twice, now. Two years ago was my first party (cookies donated to Woodland Ridge Assisted Living & Memory Care), as well as last year (with cookies going to the Ronald McDonald Gatewood House, the same house to which I brought the cake and cookies.). The parties were a great way to give back, and get the newbie teachers together at my school for some grown up time. Since I have moved 1900 miles from my home in Atlanta, it will be kind of hard to have the girls over again for a third time. My solution (with not knowing anyone here)? A three person party, me, myself, and I. I was by myself this weekend, as my housemates took off somewhere. What better time to take advantage of bringing myself back to some former form of normalcy than to bake?

After beginning my morning with breakfast (a few tasty eggs whites and a banana – ugh), a load of laundry and the gym, my workout was cut short when I dropped off a 45 lb. grip weight on my toe. And, can I say, Wow!?!?!? Or Ow works, too! Those things hurt a lot more than a 45 lb. child stepping on my toe!

Once home, I decided to get my Drop In & Decorate® on. I used the same cookie recipe as always. It truly is no-fail. I love, love, LOVE this recipe.

Okay, every once in a while, a baked cookie falls to its doom. So, I had to observe the 5 second rule and take a nibble.

But even before the tasting party...The dough comes together beautifully and rolls out so smooth! All it needs is a little smoosh with the fingers to bring the dough scraps back together. And, with the refrigeration, the cookies don't expand a lot at all from its orginal shape after baking.

The icing recipe I used was a little different. My cookie decorating skills are to be desired and, rather than follow my regular pattern of slapping some fondant on the cookies, I used an icing recipe that called for corn syrup. I liked it much, much better and am pleased (for the most part) about how the cookies came out. But, like many others things I do, the more tired I get, the less detailed and care I take. Also, the icing takes a lot longer to harden because of the corn syrup...a good 24-48 hrs. depending on how much is on each cookie. I bagged some too soon. Whoops!

I am not sure which house I am donating to, but will let you know ASAP! There are three in SLC. Whichever one I head to, I ended up with about 100 cookies. So, I think that's pretty good for a days work.

In the meantime, I want you to plan your own party! This is a great way to get friends together. Or, grandparent/grandchild fun. Why not have your kids host a party? Kids need to know how to give back, too!

Last year worked best for me. As host, and knowing many were non-bakers, I issued a few sheets of parchment paper and cookie cutters to borrow with the invite. Everyone showed with a cooked batch of cookies ready to go! This made less work for me! All I did was the icing, and provided the decorating sugars, etc. Fun, eh?

Listen, I know Thanksgiving is in a few days. But, December 4 is National Cookie Day. Yes, there really is a National Cookie Day. And, it falls in perfect timing to rope in the fam, don’t you think? Did I mention that Drop In & Decorate® and National Cookie Day both pose as a great preamble to Shortbread Day on January 6 and National Pfeffernuesse Day, December 23? Uh huh! See! Wait… Pfeffernuesse…. hmmmm I recall….(insert flashback thought bubble here.) Ha!

Have a great week, everyone!

Oh Baby! Cupcakes!

viso innocente/baby face

My mom left earlier this week, but while she was here, we hung out in the bookstore for a while. She looked for books to read on her flight while I flipped through …. cookbooks, of course! I really enjoyed Planet Cakes, not because of the “how to”, but for the ideas!

As I mentioned the other day, I see baking in my future. Too bad my front office ladies or friends are nearby for me to bring the goodies too. I need to find a Ronald McDonald House to donate to, here.

I made vanilla cupcakes and, admittedly, didn’t feel like making 24 baby faces during my “practice”. So, I filled some and made make-believe hostess cakes.

Then, I used some of that ganache for this birthday cake.

The idea came from another cake book I flipped through while at the bookstore, but can’t remember which one! It is new and has an amazing chocolate torte of some sort on the cover. Ooooh! My memory is going so quickly. It is a simple yellow cake a with buttercream and ganache. The "candles" are Pirouette cookies.

This weekend? My house mates are away, so I may go hog-wild! Who knows what I will bust out. Time will tell! ;) But, first I will be supporting Christy at the Annual Holiday Art show at the Flynn Artipelago.

Vanilla Cupcakes
Adapted ever-so- slightly from Planet Cakes

2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ cup whole milk
1 Tbsp of vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcakes. In a small bowl, whisk the flours. Set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth for about 3-5 minutes, or until mixed and fluffy. Add vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk. Mix until incorporated but do not overbeat! Be sure to scrape down the batter in the bowl occasionally to ensure the ingredients are well blended.

Using an ice cream scoop, add the batter into the cupcake liners. One scoop should fill a liner about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 10 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.