Pork Cutlet with Peanut Sauce

It's not often that half a can of coconut milk determines dinner but that happened tonight.  I had the coconut milk left over from my curry the other night and I didn't want to make another curry so I wondered what to do. What can one make for dinner with half a can of coconut milk? Peanut sauce! I went off to the store to find some fish or pork that would be good with peanut sauce. Some fresh sole but they were tiny little fillets, hardly bigger than minnows. Spring Salmon, yuck. Pork. Everything is expensive except the tenderized cutlets, which I've had success with in the past, so I snapped them up. Protein for 2 for less than $3 just makes dinner taste that much better! Also Fern doesn't like fatty meat so the lean cutlets are perfect.

I got my potatoes going and prepped the carrots and corn. Since it's frozen corn I'm doing both together in the microwave.  The cutlet rub:

1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp flour

I didn't have a bag to shake it in so I sprinkled the whole lot over both sides of the cutlets and put them in hot oil. They'll take about 3 minutes in there. While the cutlet cooked I made the sauce.

Peanut Sauce

in a small sauce pan put:
1/2 tsp flour
tsp oil
cook off the flour taste and add:
1 oz chicken stock (3 tablespoons)
1/2 can coconut milk (the raison d'etre)
1-2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tsp soy sauce
optional 1/4 tsp cayenne or few drops tabasco sauce

Turn the pork cutlet over.

Simmer the sauce a few minutes and add more chicken stock if it gets too thick. Serve over the pork cutlet. I like peanut sauce so I put it on my potatoes as well. Fern doesn't like stuff on his potatoes but he cleaned all the peanut sauce off his plate.

Sirloin Tip Roast Beef with gravy

A small roast was on special and we haven't had beef for a while so I picked it up.  I was out of Beef Rub but I wanted to make gravy so I didn't want too much salt on the roast anyway.  Instead I used half a teaspoon of salt and fresh ground black pepper to season the roast.  Then I seared it all round on the stove and finally put it in the oven at 250ºF for about 1 hour and 40 minutes for a two pound roast. I use a digital meat thermometer with a cable that runs out the oven door so I can see what is happening without opening the oven.

I paired the roast with mashed potatoes and steamed carrots and broccoli.  I put the carrots in the steamer for about 5 minutes then put the broccoli in and when it's almost done but still crisp, run everything under cold water to stop the cooking. When the roast is out of the oven resting and potatoes are mashed, put the vegetables in the pot on low heat with a pinch of salt, butter and extra virgin olive oil. When extra virgin olive oil is cooked gently at low temperature it's flavor improves dramatically. When extra virgin olive oil is heated too hot, it becomes bitter, so care must be taken. That cooked flavor on the vegetables is what I'm looking for but I also have to heat the broccoli and carrots to the center, so the pot must be tossed regularly.

I used the pan drippings for the gravy, putting a teaspoon of flour in and cooking off the flour taste.  I added an ounce or two of chicken stock because I didn't have any beef.  It didn't make a huge difference.  I added the blood from the resting roast and half a cup of red wine. A dash of Worcestershire and cook the wine taste off. Hot horseradish is the condiment. I did add some salt to my beef on the plate because there wasn't enough on the outside. It was all very good, a delicious rainy day meal.

Prawn Linguine

We had a large late lunch so we wanted something lighter for dinner. I suggested prawns and pasta in tomato sauce and Fern agreed.  I diced a shallot and started browning it while I crushed a couple of garlic cloves.  I put the garlic in with the onion for a minute or two before removing all from the pan. Next in a little butter and garlic I cooked the prawns to almost done.  I should have taken them out and put them aside because I hadn't started cooking the pasta yet but I didn't think of that and I added the onion and garlic back in. I used a 500ml (2 cup) jar of Fern's canned tomatoes. I tried putting them through the food mill without success.  The potato ricer did a nice job.  I could have used the immersion blender but I find it aerates the mixture too much giving the sauce a milky appearance.

I put the linguine in boiling water and set the timer for 10 minutes. I added a little dried basil, salt and pepper to the sauce and let it simmer gently till the pasta was done. I plated the pasta and prawns and sprinkled some grated parmesan over top. It was really good, Fern's fresh canned tomatoes were packed with flavor. This was the first time I have had pasta with a seafood tomato sauce that I liked. The prawns were over cooked and rubbery so if I had held them back till the last few minutes of the pasta cooking the dish would have been perfect. If I didn't have Fern's canned tomatoes for this dish then I would start with fresh tomatoes. Commercial canned tomato sauce doesn't have the right flavor for this dish.

Pineapple Coconut Chicken Curry

I had chicken breasts in the fridge so the only question was what to make with them.  I decided on a curry. I diced my chicken breasts into one inch pieces, which was a little too big, and put them in a plastic bag with a tablespoon of flour and half a teaspoon of salt. Shake and put aside. Next I diced an onion and fried it lightly golden, added a sliced carrot to sweat,  then removed them from the pan. Next I fried the chicken pieces to almost done then took them out of the pan.

Now the pan was nicely seasoned so I added one teaspoon of flour and two tablespoons of curry powder and 2-3 tablespoons of oil and cooked off the flour taste.  Then I added 1/4 cup chicken stock and half a can of coconut milk. I added half a can of pineapple pieces, the onions, carrots and frozen peas and cooked them in the curry for about 5 minutes. I added more chicken stock when it got too thick. Next I put the chicken in so it could finish cooking for 5 more minutes.  I shook a few drops of Tabasco sauce in for heat and served it over basmati rice.

It was one of my better curries.

Halibut with Lemon Sauce and risoto

I found a halibut steak on to clearance for less than half price. I poked it, the meat sprang back so it wasn't too old. I grabbed it and headed home. Halibut for two for $5 oh boy!

I got the arborio rice on cooking in some fresh stock and got the carrots going in the steamer.  I prepped the broccoli and grated parmesan for the rice.  In a small sauce pan I put a tsp of flour and a tbsp of oil.  I cooked the flour taste off and added half a cup of chicken stock then whisked the lumps out. I squeezed out a lemon and added the juice and a good pinch of salt.

I have served fish steaks before and the soggy skin and bones never seem to go over well so I cut the meat off the bones and skin. It was quite easy once I got going.  I put 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in mortar and ground the lumps out.  I seasoned both sides of the fish and got the frying pan hot, medium high heat. They took about 4 minutes on one side then 2 minutes on the other.

The vegetables I finished with extra virgin olive oil and butter. It helps to have it on the burner on low to cook the oil just a little. The rice is cooked in chicken stock then stirred the last bit adding stock slowly to get a smooth creamy result.  Obviously that didn't happen here. It was a bit gloppy but it tasted great.

I spooned lemon sauce over the fish and the broccoli.  It was all quite delicious and a refreshing change from snapper!

Southwest Chicken with Salad

Chicken tonight and Fern is making a salad and he peeled the potatoes.  So all I have to do is bone the breasts, pound them flat, season and BBQ them and make mashed potatoes. On my potatoes I hid some artificial bacon bits with some chives under the sour cream. (I have no shame) Fern made the salad so I'm not sure what he put in it but next time I'll have him make the mashed potatoes instead. The chicken I sprayed with oil and BBQ'd to get the grill marks. 2 minutes rotate, 2 minutes turn over, 2 minutes rotate, 2 minutes and they're done.

Here is my spice rub.

Southwest Spice Rub


2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp granulated garlic
4 tsp kosher salt (1 tbsp + 1 tsp)
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp cayenne

Carved Pumpkin and Pork Chops

Several kids commented on the pumpkin, it's inspired by The Scream. It was much easier this year.  Partly due to me practicing cake decorating and making other food decorations.  A Y shaped peeler and a fine knife are key. The knife I used was about 2" x 3/8" blade, thin and flexible. The key was starting out with a plan. In this case, The Scream. I cut the eyes, nose and mouth then carved the creaseas around the face. and finally the ears. The hair is inspired by Medusa, really I was just trying out the spiral corer or whatever it is. Also I cut the access hole in the back, which made everything much easier. It took about two hours overall.

I spent all afternoon doing the pumpkin so dinner was pretty basic.  I put

1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

in the mortar and crushed all the lumps. Then in a plastic bag and shook the chops individually to coat them. Ordinary mashed potatoes topped with sour cream and artificial bacon bits. Broccoli and carrots steamed and finished in butter and extra virgin olive oil.  The chops were fried but I could have sprayed them with oil and BBQ'd them. Fern's home made ketchup is the condiment.  Dinner was good, not great, but  good. Young people noticed my pumpkin, that's an achievement!