Christmas (Dinner) Blogging

Of course there will be a whole lot of Christmas blogging going on, but first I have to write a bit about our Christmas dinner, as I still have the taste of the leftovers on my tongue, and it was darned good. PJ said he wasn't overwhelmed with a desire for ham, and we did a turkey for Thanksgiving, so I decided we'd do a pork loin. At the store there were 2 size choices, medium and really really big. Being our first time doing a whole loin, and there only being 2 of us, I went with the medium. I also looked for brining bags at Meijer, which I could not find, so the smaller choice was better anyway since I could fit it into a ziplock bag. The America's Test Kitchen cookbook (hereon referred to as ATK) extols the benefits of brining your meat, and I've wanted to try it. But the turkey was so big that I didn't have a proper receptacle, so I thought the pork loin would be good to try. HOLY COW (or pig as the case may be) was it amazing!!! A brine for those who don't know is a bath of water, salt and sugar. They don't suggest sugar for their turkey brine (I can't remember why) but for the portion of pork we had it was 1 1/2 quarts water, 3 Tbsp sugar and 3 Tbsp salt. I soaked the pork in there for an hour, following the directions to a T, and hoped for the best. PJ had asked earlier in the week if I wanted him to grill it, and as the weather was not atrocious I said YES! I prepared a maple glaze (also from ATK) and sent him outside. He worked magic. It was an amazing combination of super tender meat, cooked to perfection, and an incredible glaze (sweet with a hint of spicy). I had planned the menu out a few days before: pork loin, stuffing mix from Whole Foods Jason sent us home with after Thanksgiving (they had an extra bag), candied sweet potato casserole, skillet broccoli with toasted garlic and lemon, sauteed mushrooms with shallots and thyme, and pumpkin pie. Everything with the exception of the stuffing and pie came from the ATK cookbook, and was amazing. The stuffing I prepared by chopping up an onion, 2 celery stalks and a large carrot, sauteeing for a while, then adding to prepared stuffing. The pie came from the recipe on the back of the pumpkin puree can. Both turned out quite nice. Ava and I made the pie in the morning since it requires a lengthy cooking time and an even longer cooling time, and we even prepared our own whipped cream! (the best part about that was that the kids each got one of the beaters from the electric mixer). The skillet broccoli was awesome, and part of the reason I liked it was that it used the stalks of the broccoli as well- you just chop off the rough outer part (1/8 inch or so) and slice and cook with the florets. Really quick and easy, and I will definitely make it again. The mushrooms I almost didn't make, partially because I didn't want to buy fresh thyme and they didn't have shallots at the store (!!!). But in the spirit of using what I had, I substituted dried thyme and used a smaller amount of onion instead of the shallot and threw in some minced garlic, and they turned out great. Again, unbelievably fast and easy, and even Ava liked them! The sweet potatoes came from the csa. The recipe called for a pinch of cayenne pepper. I had chipotle chili pepper instead, so threw that in. The result was unusual but really great- you couldn't taste the hotness until after you had eaten the bite, and even then it was a faint trace. Very subtle. The sweet potatoes came out really sweet, with all the brown sugar, but would definitely make them again. I liked that you cooked them in butter and brown sugar and salt and pepper, before transferring to a baking dish, adding the topping and baking the rest of the way through. Again there was a little working around it as the recipe called for chopped pecans or walnuts to add to the topping, and I didn't want to do that either, but it turned out pretty good. PJ even called after eating his leftovers for lunch and said that if it's possible the meal was even better the 2nd day! So the lesson learned here people is that brining=good. I need to find some bags and brine the next chicken I roast. I'll let you know the results!