Feeling Clamy

Mr. Johnson and I were feeling adventurous last night and decided to steam clams for the very first time. We followed a recipe from What's Gabby Cooking, adding a little extra red pepper flakes (for an added kick) and some cilantro (for additional flavor).  They turned out great! We'll definitely be making them again soon and I'm eager to try other broth variations, now that I know how quick and easy it is.  It's certainly a dish you can play around with!

Image from What's Gabby Cooking, but mine looked pretty much the same!

For my Seattle friends & family, we bought the clams at the Central Market in Shoreline and I was really impressed with their seafood and meat selections. Check it out sometime!

Purple Friday!

Since we missed opening day at Husky Stadium at the end of August, tomorrow marks the Johnson's first official Husky tailgate and home game of the season. Wooohooooo!!!!  I have an annual tradition of buying a new piece of Husky gear each year before the first game.  A little late, I popped in to the team store at lunch yesterday and I think my excitement got the better of me:

New Husky shirt, a UW collar for Molly, W socks, 2 new tailgating cups and a UW cowbell!!! (more cowbell!!!)

I'm ready to go!  The Dawgs take on the Idaho State Bengals at 12pm tomorrow and  I LOVE an early game because that means a breakfast tailgate!  Tonight's task will be to decide what delicious snack I will bring to accompany the mimosas and bloody mary's.  Big hits from the past include:

Maple Bacon Doughnut Holes

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Mmmmmm.... my mouth is watering.  I can't wait! I'm off to scour the interwebs to find my next great breakfast creation.  Until net time..... GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!

What's for Dinner?

The hubs and I aren't super in to Valentine's day.  Never really have been.  But never-the-less, we decided to use it as an excuse to make ourselves a nice dinner and enjoy some fancy cocktails at home together the other night.  Oh alright, twist my arm!

I volunteered to be the chef for the night and make an old favorite - Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Rosemary Cranberry Sauce.  Mmmmmmm. This is no pinterest find m'friends. This is straight from Mamma-O's recipe stack.  As always, it came out amazing. Recipe below.

To go with the pork, I made some lemon asparagus and decided to try this new mashed potato recipe - The Best Mashed Potatoes. Perhaps it was the name that drew me in, but oh boy it did not dissapoint.  Rich, creamy, flavorful - delicious!

For dessert, I decided to try my hand at individual Chocolate Lava Cakes.  I cooked mine too long and they ended up being just individual chocolate cakes, but the Tillamook Coffee Almond Fudge ice cream I bought to go along with it "came out" great and saved the day.

All in all, it was a nice night in with satisfied bellies and lots of puppy cuddles.  Oh yeah, and I got some pretty flowers too :) Thanks Steve. Valentine's Day isn't so bad....

Recipe for Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic-Cranberry-Rosemary Sauce 

 

Ingredients

• 1can of whole cranberries -  or make your own cranberry sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary - I double cause I LOVE rosemary
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin
• salt
• pepper

The sauce is the best part, so I encourage making extra by doubling (or even tripling) the first 5 ingredients - you can never have too much sauce! :)
 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Add olive oil to a saute pan over medium-high heat.
3. Pat pork loin with paper towels to dry. Season liberally with with salt and pepper and place in pan.
4. Sear pork on all sides, transfer to baking dish and pop in the oven
5. Roast until thermometer inserted into center registers 155, about 20 minutes.
6. While the meat is cooking, add butter, onion, and rosemary to saute pan and cook until onions are soft, about 3 minutes.
7. Add chicken broth and mix
8. Add cranberry sauce and balsamic vinegar and bring to a boil, reducing heat to medium-low and simmering for ~15 minutes, until sauce has thickened.
9. When the meat is done, let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a plate and tent with foil.
   
10. Scrape meat bits and juices left in the pan into the sauce
11. Slice tenderloin to desired thickness and serve with sauce.

Lasagna Soup

Pinterest is my new favorite thing, and it has been responsible for quite a bit of experimentation in my kitchen lately.  Most of my experiments have been pretty successful so far, which is encouraging for a girl who rarely found herself in the kitchen before. The subject of this post, and current front runner for Best Pinterest Find to Date, is the amazingly delicious recipe for Lasagna Soup.

The first time I tried this gem of a recipe, it was a blustery Seattle day that called for a good movie, the couch and some tasty comfort food.  This soup was perfect!! I intended for the leftovers to last through the week for lunches and quick dinners, but between Steve and I, it didn't stand a chance making it through that first night.  I highly recommend giving this soup a try the next time you want to warm up on a cold day this winter.  You could even spice it up with whatever you like from your favorite lasagna (mushrooms, zucchini,  other veggies, etc). The "cheesy yum" scooped on top is one of the best parts of the whole thing, so don't forget that.  Enjoy!

Lasagna Soup Recipe

Yield: 8 servings

Here's what my creation looked like. I'll work on my food pics.

Ingredients for the soup:

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
• 3 c. chopped onions
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 c. chicken stock
• 8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
• 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Ingredients for the "cheesy yum":

• 8 oz. ricotta
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• pinch of freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color. 

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. You may even want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. This would be an especially smart move if you are anticipating any leftovers. 

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. 

Right before serving, stir into the soup mixture the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese. Eat it up, YUM!!!!

Source: Adapted from 300 Sensational Soups by Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds, as seen in the February-April 2011 edition of At Home with Kowalski's magazine from Kowalski’s Markets.