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Friends Food Fun

FFF EP-50 PORK TENDERLOIN WITH PINEAPPLE SALSA

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httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVyn7ZZNkF4

Too tired to read then click play on the box below to hear the blog read to you by Brian (and occasional comment by Helenka when I screw it up).

Hello, Culinary Playmates:

It is I, Helenka, your fearless advocate of gustatory creativity (aka I eat weird but really tasty food and think you should, too).

This episode had nothing weird in it (well, except for a handful of inventive substitutions). What? Is Brian not playing with his food any more? Not to worry. He chose to make an exquisite Grilled Pork Tenderloin accompanied by a Sautéed Pineapple Salsa. So-so-so yummy! Oh, wait. It was unusual and unconventional which does make it a titch “weird”, so I’m still qualified to write about it!

When people think about grilled meat, they’re usually expecting strongly-flavoured rubs and grilling sauces (containing lots of pepper, garlic, etc.). To be honest, we both like those, too, especially when the zing permeates throughout the meat and we get to play with the gooey tomato-based sauces (which usually involves licking our fingers a lot).

But to treat a gorgeous length of pork tenderloin to not only honey mustard but extra honey was brilliant. I usually don’t expect to be chewing sweet meat, so it was a delightful surprise, followed by the shock to the tastebuds when I swallowed the fruity-veggie (hot-hot-hot) accompanying salsa. Thank goodness there was a sprightly side salad so that I could cool my mouth off … well, until the next bite and swallow. Brian may have had all the fun of playing with the food, but I was on a roller-coaster eating adventure! See me so not complaining.

Variations:
Some of you may wish to have alternatives to cooking pork. In this case, I believe you have many possibilities for substitutions. You could do beef tenderloin (or individual steaks) with an orange zest-honey-honey mustard rub and a mandarin orange-sweet cherry-onion salsa.

Or individual lamb loin chops with a crushed mint-oregano-rosemary-honey-honey mustard rub and a papaya-peach-onion salsa.

Or skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs with a macerated raspberry-honey-honey mustard rub and a green mango-pear-onion salsa.

Or even thick salmon steaks with a mashed ripe apricot-honey-honey mustard rub and a halved red seedless grape-apple-onion salsa.

I can imagine your eyes glazing over because of the repetition of “honey-honey mustard rub” but, in my inventive culinary opinion (not to mention usual bossiness), both the honey and honey mustard are integral to maintaining a sweet taste as well as promoting the natural chemical reaction from the application of direct heat to the grilled surface. As for the salsa, onion is terrific for balancing the sweet fruit as well as complementing any combination of herbs and spices (that I’m leaving up to your imaginations). Just remember to keep the flesh sweet and the salsa spicy hot and you’ll end up with a winner of your own!

Helenka’s and Brian’s Nostalgic Meanderings:
Usually it’s only Helenka who goes meandering through the cobwebs of her mind (until Brian tries valiantly to rein her in). But this time we’re both here with a very simple but powerful reminder of memories that will forever be with us.
H: “I love the sound of sizzle.”
B: “Me, too.”

Well, that’s a wrap for another winter episode for early February, 2012. I don’t know what the weather’s like in your neck of the woods, but we’ve been spoiled with little snow, no wind, lots of sun and blue skies (and an unusually vivid tropical hue of blue in the lake) though – alas – I fear winter’s about to give us an unwanted present tomorrow (snow showers in the forecast). So we think it’s the perfect hint-hint-hint for you to make this recipe and dream of summer. Fruit, veggies and grilling spell instant summer, even if the sizzle is only possible in your kitchen and you don’t look out the windows. Until next time, have yourselves a great week and don’t forget to have fun with your food, too!

Enjoy!
B&H =;)

Please note: We prepare, taste and review the recipes in the cookbook. However, in an effort to respect copyright, we are not able to reproduce the actual printed recipes here. If you do have the book, please follow along with us.

Friends Food Fun

FFF EP – 43 Chili Glazed Salmon

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httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-n96vhqeVE

Hello, Culinary Playmates:

It is I, Helenka, your fearless advocate of gustatory creativity (aka I eat weird but really tasty food and think you should, too). It seems as if Brian and I didn’t have enough chili sauce in the last episode (Chili Mango Chicken), so we decided to have some more. A lot more. Hmmm. Is that another Teletubbies moment, or just simple recognition of something that tastes very good? Well, whatever the motive, this was an excellent recipe to make. I also have this opportunity to correct a misconception from my notes last time (when I was bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t eat salmon from Lake Ontario in a counter-argument to locavore cuisine). I met someone on the boardwalk bridge in front of my castle over the weekend and learned that our wee lagoon is stocked annually with baby salmon and other varieties of fish. So, indeed, there are salmon in Lake Ontario, though not to a commercial level. [::glances over at Brian with a wistful look:: Oh, Brian, will you catch me a salmon? Please? Brian merely rolls his eyes.]

Mind you, in addition to creating this really easy salmon dish (accompanied by broccoli with parmesan), Brian and I certainly did get up to some antics, enjoying a wee drink (or was it five!) of Bailey’s Irish Cream that had been previously chilled in the freezer. I even communed with the floor (very briefly). Well, as we did remind our viewers, we like to mix SF in … occasionally … so perhaps we’d lost our inertial dampeners at that moment. [Note to self: Self, keep baffling the audience with Memories of McKay. Rodney, that is!]

But, speaking of … memories, Brian and I have a whole bunch of them. Or had. What memories? Well, the President’s Choice Memories of sauce collection. We began buying them up avidly when they were first introduced onto the grocery shelves. In fact, for a while, I believe I had more Memories sauces than food in the fridge (probably battling for supremacy with the umpteen jars of olives and pickles). It was almost as if we could close our eyes, get spun around until dizzy, then point to a spot on a globe. And there would be a sauce for it. We each had our own faves. Brian always liked grilling shrimp (mmmmmm, lots and lots of shrimp) with the Thai sauce while I believe I made ribs a few times with the Patagonia sauce, for an unusual taste sensation. But it was no wonder they were so popular. They were very tasty and affordable. Check out some of the various flavours here: Unfortunately, a number of them have been retired over the years (and we miss them a lot).

Since those early days, we’ve both grown more confident, becoming more creative in food prep, with sauces being an easy way to experiment. If you’re putting unknown ingredients together, start out with small quantities of each item, adjusting the proportions to suit your taste. I’m sure you’re already more than aware of my hand-waving during tasting as I try to describe the layered nuances of various sensations on my tongue and and what lingers after I have swallowed. You may find that one ingredient is dominant when the sauce is still in its raw state, but will recede into the background after it has been cooked. And that’s all a part of the experimentation: to have fun and to surprise yourselves. Hey, we do that all the time. If that weren’t the case, we would not have learned that we like to over-garlic a lot of dishes (or, as in this case, over-ginger). So, don’t be afraid to try out strong flavour combinations. If you goof, you don’t necessarily have to throw out your experiment. You may be able to save it and intrigue unsuspecting guests who may not be aware that the spoonful of honey, or wine, or hazelnut oil was an afterthought. You’ll have averted a culinary collapse and learned that you can indeed overcome a variety of obstacles. [Speaking of obstacles, I may have already mentioned this … waaaay back … but I was making … er … trying to make crème brulée for a special dinner for Brian. But the stupid dish refused to become firm. Though I was on the verge of feeling frantic, I simply turned to my freezer, removed the always-chilling bowl of my ice-cream maker and turned the potential disaster into a supremely luscious, creamy vanilla ice cream (that included the essence of a Bourbon vanilla bean pod). I also felt vindicated, years later, when I read a semi-professional cooking magazine that compared different recipes for crème brulée and learned that there are a number of ways the finished product could be sabotaged. But, alas, I didn’t know that at the time. As I’ve said … cooking is a learning experience that never stops.]

In any case, go ahead and try things out. See if your tastebuds compare to your friends’, or are there subtle or wildly diverging differences. If there are, could it be related to where you grew up and what you ate as a child. ::giggles:: Considering Brian’s childhood when compared to mine, sometimes I wonder how we could possibly have anything in common. But that’s the wonder of food. Sometimes all it takes is an open mind (and an open mouth)!

Well, that’s a wrap for our second fall episode for 2011. Until next time, have yourselves a great week and don’t forget to have fun with your food, too!

Enjoy!
B&H =;)

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Please note: We prepare, taste and review the recipes in the cookbook. However, in an effort to respect copyright, we are not able to reproduce the actual printed recipes here. If you do have the book, please follow along with us.