Tenderloin Steaks with Red Onion Marmalade

We still have a few steaks leftover from the fabulous Omaha Steak package Justin got for Hanukkah. We vowed to try a new recipe with each cut of beef, hoping to add some "favorites" to our on-going collection of recipes. I paired this with garlic mashed potatoes and some steamed spinach. The onions have a nice sweet, slightly acidic flavor to them, which really went well with the meat. And the potatoes. Well, who doesn't love some roasted garlic?! And a whole head of garlic in these? Yum!! They were uber-delicious. Both recipes are, of course, from Cooking Light.

Tenderloin Steaks & Marmalade
Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 large red onion, sliced and separated into rings (about 2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed (1 inch thick)

Directions

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan. Cover and cook 3 minutes. Add vinegar, honey, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to pan. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 8 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally.

3. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, thyme, and pepper evenly over beef. Place beef on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; broil 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with onion mixture.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients

• 1 whole garlic head
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound peeled Yukon Gold or red potatoes, quartered
  
• 3 cups water
  
• 1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
   
2. Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate cloves). Rub oil over garlic head; wrap in foil. Bake at 375° for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Set aside. Discard skins.
   
3. Place potatoes in a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook 15 minutes or until very tender. Drain. Heat milk in pan over medium heat until hot (do not boil). Add potatoes, salt, and pepper, and beat at medium speed of a mixer until potato mixture is smooth (I just used a handheld potato masher, since I'm not a fan of using a hand mixer for mashed potatoes). Add garlic pulp, and stir well.

Pork Tenderloin & Goat Cheese Smashed Potatoes

Yet another 2 recipes from Cooking Light -- November 2008 edition. Costco has such a wonderful deal on pork tenderloins, we always have at least 1 in the freezer. So I'm always on the lookout for new recipes that use pork tenderloin, which is one of our favorite cuts of meat. This recipe is so quick and easy, it's a great recipe for weeknights when you're short on time. Full of flavor, easy to cook, and goes well with just about any side dish you might have on hand. I chose to pair it with the Goat Cheese Smashed Potatoes, which is also a quick and simple dish.

Paprika Spice Rub

• 1/4 cup paprika
• 2 T salt
• 2 T ground cumin
• 2 T brown sugar
• 2 T chili powder
• 2 T ground black pepper
• 1 T garlic powder

Combine all ingredients; store in airtight container.

Pork Tenderloin with Paprika Spice Rub

• 1 tablespoon Paprika Spice Blend
  
• 1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Rub Paprika Spice Blend over pork. Place pork in a roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 500 degrees for 20 minutes until it reaches 155 degrees.

Goat Cheese Smashed Potatoes

• 3 pounds peeled baking potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 T butter
• 3/4 cup goat cheese
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 3 T chopped fresh chives (I used green onions instead and thinly sliced them)
  

Directions

1. Place potatoes in saucepan and cover with cold water to 2 inches above. Add 1/4 tsp salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 min or until tender; drain. Return the potatoes to pan over low heat; add remaining 1 tsp salt and butter to pan. Mash potatoes until desired consistency.
2. Add cheese and pepper to potato mixture; stir until cheese melts. Stir in milk; cook 1 min until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in chives.

Chicken Fricassee & Roasted Brussels Sprouts

We've recently found a love for Brussels Sprouts, despite the negative connotation the public seems to give them. These little gems are really quite delicious when seasoned properly, and I highly recommend you try them, even if you've had negative past experiences. The chicken is SO easy to cook -- marinate it overnight and it's ready to go whenever you are. Both recipes are from Cooking Light -- Chicken is from Jan/Feb 2009 edition, Brussels sprouts from Dec 2008.

Chicken Fricassee Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 T chopped fresh thyme
• 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1 large onion)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth

Directions

1. Combine mustard, 1 Tablespoon parsley, 1.5 tsp thyme and chicken in a large plastic bag. Toss well to coat -- chill 8 hours, or overnight.
2. Remove chicken from bag, discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, cook 5 minutes on each side until browned. Remove from pan.
3. Add chopped onion to pan, and saute 5 min or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic to pan, and saute 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine and chicken broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in 1 Tablespoon parsley and remaining 1.5 teaspoons thyme. Return chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 min until chicken is done. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon, and keep warm.
4. Cook sauce, uncovered, over medium heat 4 min or until slightly thick. Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tablespoons parsley.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Chestnuts
Ingredients

• 4 cups trimmed and quartered Brussels sprouts
• 1 1/4 cups halved chestnuts (I roasted fresh ones)
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• dash of ground red pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine sprouts and chestnuts in a large bowl. Add oil, salt and peppers; toss well to coat. Spread in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until sprouts are tender, stirring after 15 min. Remove from oven. Add butter to sprout mixture, tossing until butter melts.

Grilled Pepper Steak and Herb-Roasted Onions

Tonight's dinner was superb. Really, fantastic. We grilled top sirloin steaks, which were so darn simple. Just drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and coat with cracked pepper. Then grill to perfection (135 degrees for me)! Yum.

And Ina Garten's Herb-Roasted Onions were such an easy compliment to the dinner. I'd definitely recommend the recipe, especially the vinaigrette. It's pretty versatile and would taste good on just about any vegetable, or even used as a salad dressing.

The original recipe is here, but I'll repost for convenience sake too.

Ingredients

• 2 red onions
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves (I used oregano instead, personal preference)
  
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.

3. For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the onions and toss well.

4. With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a sheet pan, reserving the vinaigrette that remains in the bowl. Bake the onions for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and browned. Toss the onions once during cooking. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.

Cauliflower Garlic Mashed Potatoes

This recipe came from a girl in one of the recipe exchanges I participate in. Not sure where got it from, but it's darn tasty! I figured it would be healthier than regular potatoes, and because yellow cauliflower was on sale this week, this recipe was added to the menu pretty quickly. The texture is great -- they really do taste like mashed potatoes!

Ingredients

• 1 medium head cauliflower
  
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
  
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
  
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
  
• 1/8 teaspoon straight chicken base or bullion (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon salt)
  
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or dry chives, for garnish
  
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

1. Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat.

2. Clean and cut cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until well done. Drain well; do not let cool and pat cooked cauliflower very dry between several layers of paper towels.

3. In a bowl with an immersion blender, or in a food processor, puree the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, Parmesan, garlic, chicken base, and pepper until almost smooth.

4. Garnish with chives, and serve hot with pats of butter.