What is there not to like about a whole beef tenderloin?

For Christmas Day I offered to buy a whole beef tenderloin for the family celebration. Sara said “yes, please.” So off I went to Costco to buy an already-trimmed (of extra fat and silverskin) tenderloin. I cut it in half (easier handling in the oven), patted well with the spice combo (not herbs, but spices, which were a type of dry rub) then it was tightly tied with kitchen twine. They went into plastic bags (or wrap well in plastic wrap so it doesn’t leak) and I let them marinate in the refrigerator for almost 3 days. The recipe, from a class with Phillis Carey, calls for marinating the dry rubbed tenderloin for 4 days.

My cousin Gary and I drove to Sara’s and John’s (in Poway, CA) on Christmas Day and the meat went into the frig until about an hour before we wanted to begin cooking them.

After the dry marinating time, the two pieces were seared on all sides with EVOO, then placed on a rimmed baking sheet and into a 400°F oven. The recipe said 20 minutes, but ours took about another 3-4, I think, to reach 130°F. Actually both reached about 133°F when we got them out of the oven. In case you’ve never done one of these, let me just warn: the last 3-8 minutes are crucial – monitor the internal temp frequently. The internal temp rises quickly once the meat reaches about 120°. Be forewarned. The last thing you want is an overcooked tenderloin. Some in our group wanted more medium and we got that perfectly with the smaller piece.

A few days ahead I’d made the chutney, a kind of cooked relish of fresh cranberries, orange juice, sugar, dried mango chopped up and a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger.

So, there’s a photo of the finished pieces. Note one is larger – it went in the oven for about 5 minutes before we added the 2nd, smaller piece. So they both came out of the oven at the same time.

The meat was lightly tented with foil for 15 minutes, then carved in thin slices (recommended) and served. The recipe says to roast to 135°. I’m hesitant to go that high, so I took them out early. They continue to cook during the resting time anyway.

JUST WATCH THE TEMP CAREFULLY. When you pay $114 (that’s what this one was) for a hunk of good beef, you certainly don’t want to ruin it by overcooking. Just so you know, if you overcook beef, it gets tough.

What’s GOOD: loved the seasonings –  the beef was “hot” because of the quantity of pepper. If you’re sensitive to it, reduce the pepper from the mixture below. Loved the spices on it. AND loved the chutney. It’s perfect with a big hunk of beef. I had two small pieces, and after feeding 12, there was nothing but a small handful of beef tidbits left over. I think everyone went back for seconds, just about.

What’s NOT: if you’re sensitive to pepper, take it out of the recipe altogether, and if you are turned off by spices patted onto meat, reduce the quantity of the spices. Obviously, if cost is a factor, pass on this one as it’s an expensive entrée.

printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook 15/16 file (click link to open recipe)

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I don’t think I’ve posted a picture of this before. Bought the sign when daughter Sara, grandson John and I were on our cross country trip to deliver John to Virginia Tech. Found this at the gift shop at The Biltmore (Asheville, NC). My DH Dave would have absolutely loved this sign. He had a saying – – – don’t ever let a few facts get in the way of a good story. So when I saw this sign, there was no question I was buying it!

The photo was taken in my family room where I often sit and have a glass of wine in the evenings. Or a Fireball (like those?). Or a Fireball with a shot or two of Rumchata (oh my goodness, one of my favorites). Or an occasional Bailey’s with or without coffee. Over the last month I’ve been enjoying Trader Joe’s spiked eggnog.

New Years’ Eve will be spent quietly, I expect. A toast to 2020 to all of you, my faithful readers, that it will be a good year.

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Such a refreshing salad, and so low calorie it hardly counts. Yet it’s got great taste.

This is a salad that’s already in my repertoire, and was posted years ago – I looked it up, in 2012. I altered it a little bit, added a tiny bit more mayo to the dressing, and here it is. The kale is an addition to the original – it was is just a Napa cabbage salad. No darker greens in it except some chives. But this new revision is so much better. It’s a very light salad. Refreshing. Would be wonderful for a summer barbecue. I loved the look of the radishes, that I painstakingly julienned. I tried using my mandoline and it was just impossible to work for radishes. I don’t know why. Took about 10 minutes to do the radishes. The kale was already pre-washed (Trader Joe’s) so I merely chopped it up more finely. Added the celery, made the buttermilk dressing that has no added oil (just the mayo which provides a little bit) and as I mentioned, put in a tad more mayo to it this time. I tossed it just before serving, although those kinds of greens can stand well. There is about a cup of leftovers which I’ll enjoy for my dinner one night soon. I expect it will still be fine.

What’s GOOD: the lightness of it – easy to make, and delicious. I doubled the recipe and I saw several people take seconds. I like this salad a LOT.

What’s NOT: well, maybe just the julienne-ing (is that even a word?) of the radishes, but you don’t have to do that part – just chop them any way you want. I merely wanted the finished dish to be more attractive.

printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook 15/16 file (click link to open recipe)

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Oh my goodness – 1999. It was a good year.

Since I’ve been going through old photos – throwing out lots – archiving some – and scanning them in rather than keeping them in boxes and albums – I ran across this picture. Taken in my kitchen in the house we lived in before we bought this one in 2003. I wore glasses most of my life – until I had cataract surgery about 5 years ago, and now I don’t have to except to drive. My hair is more white now, although I think you can still tell I am/was a blonde. And there in the foreground a rose that my DH, Dave, had cut from our garden. He loved roses and would cut them and bring them to me wherever I was working in the house. This day, obviously, in the kitchen, and we were drinking red wine. Isn’t that wine glass a hoot? I think we left those glasses in our Palm Desert house when we sold it 10 or so years ago.

Christmas is a time when I feel nostalgic. I miss Dave so very much – it’s been nearly 6 years (in March). He was such a part of my life for 33 years, 31 of them married. We had so much fun entertaining here at home, or going out on the boat, sharing our love of red wine (I still have 200+ bottles in the cellar which I’m drinking, slowly but surely). We shared many activities at our church, and both of us sang in the choir for about 15 years. Dave also loved Christmas, as I do. As I write this, all my gifts are wrapped, Christmas cards have all been mailed, and I’m going to one of my book clubs this evening, for our annual potluck dinner, taking a salad (new recipe). If It’s good, I’ll share it with you in coming days. My cousin Gary is arriving on Monday to spend a week with me. We’ll be with daughter Sara for Christmas Day and the 26th also.

My daily food and cooking routine is kind of boring, although I’ve found a great chocolate chip cookie recipe that doesn’t contain wheat flour, since wheat products are a no-no on this Gundry diet I’m still on. I did make some delicious Indian Butter Chicken the other night. I’ll need to take a photo of it and could post it – made in the Instant Pot. I make lots of soups, but they’re ones I’ve made and posted, or they’re kind of boring and not worthy of a post. My normal dinner is salad with some kind of protein on it. I made my favorite sheet pan dinner the other night for a group of friends – it’s here on my blog already – Sheetpan Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, Sourdough Croutons and Squash. So delicious. And I’ve found that I can have small amounts of artisan sourdough on my diet. Yeah! I’m attending a family gathering on Saturday and will make the Bombay Cheese Ball and some kind of salad. The salad is also a new recipe – if it’s good I’ll post it. Maybe when I visit Sara next week I can get her to post something. She’s been baking up a storm (cookies that she gives to their customers).

Meanwhile, I hope each and every one of you has a very good holiday – whether it’s Christmas, Kwanzaa or Hanukah. I’m planning on having a wonderful time. And enjoying Trader Joe’s already bottled and spiked eggnog. Oh my, is it ever good. They’re totally sold out at my local store. Cheers!

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Montluçon just means this pie’s origins are French. This is a marvelous brunch dish, or hearty entrée for a holiday breakfast. Or a light Sunday supper, even.

Having made this about 4-5 months ago and having taken pictures of it, I was finally getting around to doing something with the photos. I thought I’d posted this recipe years and years ago – because I’ve been making this forever (I believe I made this the first time in 1981), and I was going to update the photos. But I certainly can’t find any post on my blog about it. I served it to a group of friends who came to my house to watch a movie. It was a fund-raising event I did for my P.E.O. chapter in which they bid on coming to my home to watch The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society movie. Our book group had read it a few years ago, and the movie is available on amazon prime (I think that’s where I found it) and I’d serve lunch. So, I prepared a meal suitable for the movie title – potato pie.

The recipe came from an ancient French cookbook I had (or still have somewhere) from Sunset Magazine. How many times have I made it? Probably 15-20 times. It was a frequent entrée I served over the years when Dave and I did brunch on our boat. We’d invite a group of friends (4 guests plus us) for an early morning sail on a Saturday or Sunday (after church), we’d brew up a big pot of strong coffee, I’d have fresh fruit, maybe sausages, maybe a green salad, and after we’d enjoyed a late morning brunch I’d serve some kind of dessert. And champagne would be a featured item on the menu. Normally I prepared the pie the night before, let it sit out on the kitchen counter overnight to cool, took it to the boat and reheated it in the small oven onboard. Once heated I’d pour in the additional cream through the little window in the piecrust that was called for in the recipe, let the cream soak in a bit, then slice it and serve.

There’s nothing all that unusual about it – a rich, buttery pie crust is made. You can use the most recent pie crust recipe I posted in 2018 that uses some cornstarch. It was a winner of a recipe. You’ll need to double the recipe to get enough for a top crust too. The top crust is important – it holds in the moisture so the potatoes steam-cook. Do notice, there is no cheese in this recipe.

The potatoes are thinly sliced (use the food processor so they’re evenly sliced, or a hand-held slicer), layered with salt and pepper, then the top crust is affixed. Cut a hole in the center so the steam can escape and pour in most of the cream. Bake until golden brown, then when you’ve removed it from the oven you add the extra cream, as I mentioned. Be sure to use enough salt – potatoes require a LOT of it.

What’s GOOD: can be made ahead and reheated. Wonderful flavor. Rich. Hearty. Different.

What’s NOT: only if you’re on a carb-restricted diet, it wouldn’t be so good for you! This is a tried and true recipe. Surprisingly it doesn’t have all that many calories – moderate fat grams, however.

printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook 15/16 file (click link to open recipe)

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Like Pecan Pie? Like chocolate? What a combo.

Pecan pie has never been something at the top of my sweets list of likes. My mother used to make one at Christmas or Thanksgiving because my dad liked it. Not me so much – mostly because they were always too sweet and sticky. A bite or two over my lifetime, yes, I’ve had a slice. But not usually by choice – only if it had been embarrassing to not take some. I’d pick at it. Well, now, with this recipe, from a Phillis Carey class, I may be on the bandwagon – but only if it’s made this way. With chocolate on the bottom. And whipped cream on top. The crust I can’t have, although I now have a pie crust recipe that’s lectin-free – haven’t tried it yet. This pie isn’t quite as sweet as some, and the sticky texture wasn’t quite so predominant. I ate the interior of the pie and all the whipped cream. So delicious.

The original recipe came from Rachel Ray. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if a chocolate pecan pie has been around the block over the years. Who knows, really, where it originated.

What’s GOOD: the chocolate layer inside. The not-quite-so-sticky filling. And definitely the whipped cream that cuts the richness.

What’s NOT: only the work required to make a pie crust and pie.

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Soft, flavorful lemony cookies. With a lemon glaze.

At Phillis Carey’s cooking classes, she always serves some kind of dessert. Even if dessert isn’t the focus of the class. At this particular class she made these cookies. Sorry to say, I didn’t eat them, but my friend Cherrie did, and pronounced them delicious. Kind of like cake, she said, but not. She mentioned the lemon flavor in the glaze added a lot. These cookies aren’t overly sweet, just so you know.

Oh, and I mentioned having eaten a cheesecake made in the instant pot? Here’s the link to it. I’m not going to write up a post about it because I haven’t made any cheesecake in the IP yet. The Bloomingdale’s chef had found the recipe online:

Instant-Pot Oreo Cheesecake from My Baking Addiction (blog).

The cookie recipe came from Giada, by the way.

printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook 15/16 file (click link to open recipe)

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You can never have too many recipes for salmon. This one is easy and quick. Rich? Yes. So good, though.

Another one of the recipes from the salmon class with Phillis Carey. Very simple to make – done all in one pan. You’ll need some fresh dill (which really adds so much flavor) and heavy cream and a lemon. The salmon is pan-seared then removed while you make the sauce. Once it’s done, you add the salmon back in and cook it for a minute or two at the most. See? Easy. Phillis suggested serving this with orzo and spinach. You’ll want something carb (orzo, rice) or carb-like (riced cauliflower, millet) to soak up any extra sauce and juices from this.

What’s GOOD: how easy. Delicious. Tender texture. Loved the dill in it.

What’s NOT: nothing at all.

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Trust me on this one – so delicious. The Brussels sprouts are raw – it’s the bacon dressing that makes it kind of warm.

This was a stunner of a recipe at a recent class with Phillis Carey. She made a huge amount of it and I gobbled every bite on that plate. I have all the ingredients in my frig right now, to make it myself. The recipe came from Rachel Ray (from her magazine, I think).

Phillis cut up the apples in advance and kept them soaking in Sprite (or use water with some lemon juice) until she was ready to assemble. The pecans were toasted ahead also. The dressing she made at the moment – mostly because you start off with some bacon slices and you use the bacon fat + some EVOO (yes it needs it) to make a bacon vinaigrette. If you made the dressing ahead, the bacon at room temp would congeal and you’d have to heat it up anyway. So just keep the bacon grease in the pan once you’ve fried up the bacon pieces.

She told us that for this salad she uses her food processor to slice the Brussels sprouts – she likes them sliced at 3mm (one of the slicing disks that comes with a food processor) and she stands each trimmed B.S. in upright (several of them in the feed tube) and slices away. It takes just a minute or two to make enough for this entire salad. The Manchego cheese may be grated or in small slices/shaved. The recipe calls for Fuji apples, or Ambrosia. Phillis said she bought Ambrosia and mentioned that if you buy organic (sweet crisp style) you can leave on the peels.

What’s GOOD: this salad is stupendous. It will be my dinner tonight, and probably for a couple of nights to come. I won’t mix it up to keep it, however. Maybe the B.S. can be done ahead, the pecans too. The dressing except the bacon fat could be done ahead too.

What’s NOT: there are several steps to making this . . . would be a marvelous one to make or take to a Thanksgiving dinner, just saying .. .

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Pure heaven. How could it not be pure heaven when there is so much heavy cream in it.

This is another recipe from a Phillis Carey class. And I’m telling you, these sweet potatoes are just to-die-for. And funny thing, on this anti-lectin diet I’m on, I can have  heavy cream and Parm AND sweet potatoes (because they’re a resistant starch). I ate every bite, and would have been happy to have seconds, but I didn’t.

This dish is very easy – truly it is. You can make it up ahead, sliced, layered, add the cream mixture, or wait until later. Either way is fine. If you’re going to transport this, I’d suggest waiting to add the liquid. Takes about an hour to bake in the oven. Feeds a lot – although if they’re anything like me, and seconds were available, it wouldn’t feed as many! On my notes I wrote “beyond fabulous.” Does that tell you what you need to know?

What’s GOOD: how unbelievably silky tasting these are – the cheese (not all that much) – the cream. The little bit of cayenne. Oh my yes, make this.

What’s NOT: well, only the fat grams. Don’t read the nutrition on this. Know it’s something you’ll have as a special occasion.

printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook 15/16 file (click link to open recipe)

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