Stormy Weather

It has been a stormy weekend. Saturday we had a tornado touch down about a mile west of us. And on Sunday another tornado touched down, this one did a lot of damage, about 3 miles east of us. A very unsettling weekend. The only good news was it cleared off Sunday afternoon so we were able to grill and enjoy our supper. kz has been craving creamed spinach so that was the start of the menu. Now we needed something to go with it. Jasmine rice is always a good choice. And for the meat we decided on grilled pork tenderloin, one of our favorites.
I put together a new marinade (even wrote down the ingredients in case it was a keeper) for the pork and let it marinate for a few hours while we watched the news and tracked tornado's! Our prayers go out to all the families affected by these terrible storms.

menu
creamed spinach
jasmine rice
grilled pork tenderloin
butterscotch pudding w/homemade whipped cream and snickedoodles
note: we had this dessert at our favorite weekend stop - 3 Squares -
and decided to try it at home. I used Dewars scotch in this version

creamed spinach
ingredients

2 10 oz packages frozen spinach, thawed

2 shallots, chopped

4 strips bacon,cubed
1 cup heavy cream
1tbls butter
directions
Drain spinach and chop. Cook bacon in large skillet. Add shallots as bacon begins to crisp.
Cook for 2 minutes, until shallots are tender. Add butter, spinach and cream. Cook until
heated through.

jasmine rice
ingredients
1 cup brown jasmine rice
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup onion
olive oil
directions
Coat large skillet with olive oil. Saute onions until soft and translucent, 5 - 7 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat. Add chicken broth, bring to boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 45 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat, let stand 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve hot

grilled pork tenderloin
2-3 lbs pork tenderloin

marinade

1 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbls soy sauce

1 tbls yellow mustard

garlic salt

dried basil

salt
pepper
directions
Mix all marinade ingredients in a large bowl
Place tenderloin in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade over pork, seal bag and marinate in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Grill tenderloins for about 25 minutes, turning frequently until internal temp reaches 155 degrees. Remove from grill and cover with foil. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

butterscotch pudding w/homemade whipped cream & snickerdoodles
ingredients

2 1/4 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Scotch whisky
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
directions
In a large saucepan, combine the milk and cream, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside. In a large, heavy skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the brown sugar, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly, to caramelize the mixture. (You will smell a characteristic nutty-caramel odor when the butter browns, signaling that the mixture is ready.) Whisking constantly, gradually add the butter/brown sugar mixture to the hot milk/cream mixture.

Put the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk in about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture. Whisk in the cornstarch and salt until dissolved. Whisk the cornstarch mixture back into the hot milk mixture in the saucepan. Add the scotch and whisk in. Whisking constantly, cook over medium-high heat until thick and just boiling. When the mixture thickens, the whisk will leave trail marks on the bottom of the pot and the mixture will have a few large bubbles boiling up to the top. Turn off the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract.Chill, uncovered, at least 2 hours, or overnight.

snickerdoodles

Now that everything is all done it is time to eat! Enjoy!