What Ali cooked...

    On Saturday night, Arnauld and I were invited to dinner with Ali and Erik in Stamford.  We were excited to spend the evening with our pals and Ali is a self proclaimed "foodie" so I knew she'd whip up something delicious.  I knew I wasn't planning any major cooking endeavors this weekend, so I asked Ali to write my first guest post.  Hopefully this will just be the first of many from my friends!  Here is goes...


Jess and Arnauld came to dinner in Stamford with me and Erik Saturday
night. We kept it simple, but added a few special things to make each
part of the meal special. First, I made a simple green salad with
romaine lettuce, endive, tomatoes, and avocados. I made homemade
balsamic vinaigrette to make it extra delicious. I usually just toss
ingredients in, taste, and add more of something to make it how I like
it, but I will try and replicate a "recipe".

Ali's Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

 Ingredients


1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (Grey Poupon)
extra virgin olive oil (1/2 cup to 3/4 cup)
balsamic vinegar (1/2 cup, maybe)
salt
pepper
oregano (or Italian seasoning - whatever you have on hand)

Blend all ingredients until dressing is thick and creamy.

I also made my new favorite side dish, a little something I like to
call "Mash". It is a take on mashed potatoes and is really easy and a
great way to hide veggies! Here's the "recipe".

Mash

 Ingredients
2-3 potatoes, maybe 4
2 or 3 large carrots
1/2 -3/4 o head of cauliflower
1/2 cup milk, or so (whatever kind you have on hand)
3-4 cloves garlic (or more if you like this garlicky)
2-3 tablespoons butter (margarine, whatever)
sour cream (if you have it on hand)
salt
pepper

Peel and chop potatoes and carrots into small chunks. Cut cauliflower
into similarly sized pieces. Put all ingredients in a large pot with
cool water and bring to a boil. Once cooked through and soft, drain
and return potatoes, carrots and cauliflower to pot. Mash as you would
for mashed potatoes and add milk, butter, and, if using, sour cream.
Mash to desired thickness and add salt and pepper to taste. You can use
hand mixer, stand mixer or even an immersion blender (which is what I
used).

Last, I cooked pork tenderloin. I know Jess and Arnauld eat a lot of
chicken and butternut squash, so I wanted to do something a little
different. This recipe I borrowed from Ina Garten (The Barefoot
Contessa) off the foodnetwork. It's a simple marinade and easy to
cook.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/herb-marinated-pork-tenderloins-recipe/index.html

Herb Marinated Pork Tenderloins

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 lemon, zest grated
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 to 6 lemons)
• Good olive oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt
• 3 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each)
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, mustard, and 2 teaspoons salt in a sturdy 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the pork tenderloins and turn to coat with the marinade. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove the tenderloins from the marinade and discard the marinade but leave the herbs that cling to the meat. Sprinkle the tenderloins generously with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large oven-proof saute pan over medium-high heat. Sear the pork tenderloins on all sides until golden brown. Place the saute pan in the oven and roast the tenderloins for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meat registers 137 degrees F at the thickest part. Transfer the tenderloins to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Carve in 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices. The thickest part of the tenderloin will be quite pink (it's just fine!) and the thinnest part will be well done. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm, or at room temperature with the juices that collect in the platter.

Those 3 dishes, on top of a little wine and good conversation made for
a really fun, relaxing evening! I'm so happy Jess and Arnauld came
over!




Ali also tried a brand new dessert for the evening that she didn't include in her post.  Here is a picture of her apple cinnamon dumplings and chocolate banana dumplings.