For the Lovelorn: November 2010

This week's plan is:

Beef Tenderloin with Rice and Broccoli and Squash
**We discovered the perfect way to cook thick cut steaks! It's from America's Test Kitchen. We used the same method for cooking a whole tenderloin. Check out the recipe here: Tenderloin. If you can't see the recipe, message me and I'll find it for you.
**The trick is to cook them in an oven at 275 degrees for about 30 minutes (longer for the whole tenderloin) and then finish them by searing them in an oven. It seems backwards, but it's awesome!
**I made the compound butter that is shown on the tenderloin: garlic, shallots, parsley, butter, salt & pepper.
**Doing a whole tenderloin was delicious and much cheaper than individual steaks! I think the whole tenderloin cost $15? if most people in your house like their steaks done to a similar temp. I'd suggest it! A 2 lb. tenderloin would have easily fed 4 of us.
**Squash just sounded good, so I roasted it in the oven with the meat and topped it with butter and brown sugar... Can't get much better than that!

Spicy Pasta with Sweet Potatoes
**This was a recipe i found in Better Homes and Gardens. It looked interesting, so I wanted to try it!
**This pasta was a little weird, but it grew on us as we ate. I think It would be better if you halved the peanut butter, and increased the cream cheese by an equal amount. It was a little like eating spaghetti and peanut butter. It did NOT reheat that well, keep that in mind.
**Here's the recipe...
     1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes (about 2 cups)
     1/2 tsp each sugar, chili powder, and cinnamon
     8 oz dried rigatoni
     1/3 cup peanut butter
     3 oz cream cheese, cut into chunks
     2 tsp Asian chili sauce (Sriracha)
     1 Tbsp soy sauce
     6 green onions, thinly sliced
1. Preheat oven to 450. Oil a rimmed baking pan and set aside. Toss sweet potato cubes in a bowl with 1 T olive oil, sugar, chili powder, and cinnamon. Spread in prepared pan and bake 20 minutes or until tender. (Lauren's note: These were delicious as-is!!)
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water.
3. In a saucepan combine peanut butter, cream cheese, chili sauce, and soy sauce. Whisk in 3/4 cup of the hot pasta water. Stir over medium heat until heated through. If too thick, stir in additional water. Stir in most of the green onions.
4. Serve sauce over pasta with sweet potatoes and remaining onion. Serves 4.

**This pasta was a little weird, but it grew on us as we ate. I think It would be better if you halved the peanut butter, and increased the cream cheese by an equal amount. It was a little like eating spaghetti and peanut butter.

Turkey Burgers with Rosemary Mayo and Chips and Salad
**I love turkey burgers. I'll eat them just about any way they're fixed. I saw this recipe for Chicken Burgers, and just substituted the Turkey Burger patties I had in the freezer.
**Technically we had these for lunch on Saturday before I had to work, but they were delicious! I threw some spinach leaves and a tomato on each one, with the Rosemary Mayo, and they were great!

Hot Wings with Chips and Guacamole
**Eric came over for the game on Sunday and brought some chicken wings with. Chicken wings might be my favorite food of all time. We tried some new sauces, but the tried-and-true favorite is still Franks Red Hot. And staying true to the commercial, "I put that sh!t on everything!"
**Can't beat fresh Hot Wings.
**Oh, and I made some guacamole too.

Bon Appetit!

Enjoy some photos from our summer!

We went to Hudson to tour some life sized replicas of Columbus' ships the Nina and Pinta. It was pretty cool! A crew of guys sailed them around the United States stopping periodically to show them off. It was really interesting!

Life size replicas of the Nina and Pinta

Erin and Shirley waiting to go aboard the Nina and Pinta

SJ checkin' out the Saint Croix River

For Dad's birthday Ryan and I spent the weekend in Wausau. Dad and I canned some Chili Sauce (straight from Gram's recipe!) and I made him a birthday pie.