December 2 Meal: Dinner with Old Friends

It had been over three years since Colleen and I had seen each other.  She's a friend of mine from our summer study abroad in the Netherlands, where we were roomates.  Since the last time we saw each other Shaun and I moved into our house and Colleen and her husband, Chris,  had lived in Alaska, Pennsylvania, and now Maryland and had baby boy!  On their way back up to Maryland from Florida they took a stop by our house for dinner.  It was great to see them and meet the new addition to their family!  We had Lemon-and-Prosciutto-Stuffed Pork Loin Roast with Broccolini, Risotto with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Basil, Spiced Carrot-Apple Soup with Fresh Mint, and Lemon Souffle Tartlets with Sugared Almonds and Blackberry Sauce.

Lemon-and-Prosciutto-Stuffed Pork Loin Roast with Broccolini
Like usual, I bought our food for the week at Whole Foods on Monday.  One thing I didn't consider was that the pork loin would not last until Thursday.  On Wednesday night I checked out the date to sell by and it was Wednesday.  Shaun did a little research online and confirmed that we should have cooked it by that Wednesday.  That left only one option, make the pork loin on Wednesday and hope we could re-heat it on Thursday without making it too dry.  Fortunately, it turned out alright.

 The difficult part is first cutting the pork loin.  You have to cut it so that it rolls out into a large flat piece.  The prosciutto, lemon, and a panko/chive mixture get layered on the meat.  Roll the meat and tie in a few places with kitchen twine.  Roast for about an hour, changing the temperature 15 minutes in.  To re-heat the next day I added some chicken broth to the pan and cooked for 20 minutes at about 350 and roasted the broccolini at the same time.  The flavor was good, but it's probably not my favorite was to eat pork.

Yumminess: 7 out of 10

Risotto with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Basil
I think it's some sort of pre-requisite that Bon Appetit have a risotto recipe every month.  This one features butternut squash, leeks, and basil.  The squash is sauteed for 5 minutes, then the leeks and thyme are sauteed.  The rice is cooked with gradual additions of hot chicken broth and the squash is added back in.  Finish off with Parmesan for a bit of a nutty flavor.  The outcome was OK, but I am just not a huge butternut squash fan.

Yumminess: 6 out of 10

Spiced Carrot-Apple Soup with Fresh Mint
This soup is great as long as you like ginger.  Just a small amount of the soup was plenty for me.  Boil sauteed onions, and fresh carrots, apple, chicken broth, and ginger.  Blend it all in the food processor, adding apple juice concentrate, nutmeg, and allspice.  Top with a little bit of fresh apple and mint. 

Yumminess: 6 out of 10

Lemon Souffle Tartlets with Sugared Almonds and Blackberry Sauce

This is a great dessert for people who are lactose intolerant.  Rather than regular butter, you use pareve margarine, which is dairy-free.  First, make lemon curd with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, egg yolk, salt, and margarine.  To make the souffle filling mix the curd with beaten egg white, cream of tartar, and salt.  I'm not sure if I've already said this, but folding things together is my least favorite thing to do during cooking.  The crust is made from flour, sugar, lemon peel, salt, and margarine.  There was a lot of crust and it ended up baking thick in the mini tart pans, so I'd recommend using less of the crust.  The final step is the blackberry sauce.  The sauce is just thawed blackberries that are strained to get the seeds out.  The recipe called for a lot more blackberries than were necessary to make enough sauce for the four of us.  Add a few toasted sliced almonds to the top of the souffles with the sauce and that's it.

Yumminess: 7 out of 10