So as I said my sister in law Michelle was in town and we had tons of fun things planned for the weekend! A picnic was one of them, and it turned out the location was a surprise even to me.  As you know we have been in Kansas City for about 9 months now, we moved here from Central California.  As you can imagine I miss my wine!!!!!!! Let's not even talk about the weather........  We have been to a couple of local wineries here and were MAJORLY disappointed! Then after a morning of apple picking and pumpkin farms we were ready for our picnic.  On the way to a park that I knew of we spotted a sign that said Winery 4 miles this way.  What the heck? How bad can it be? Nothing could be worse than the elderberry and apple wine...... Four miles later we pull into this winery that looks every bit the same as a Artisan, Craft winery in Lodi, Cali.  Hmmmm, this looks better than the others here.... Let's keep going.  The parking lot was overfull and we had to park in the field.  Busy? Oh yes this winery was crazy busy! We waited about 30 min in line just to get to the tasting room. My hopes are rising as a crummy winery wouldn't be this busy would it? I was so pleasantly surprised when I took the first sip and it was palatable! Then they had 2 wines that I actually liked!!!! You can't grow traditional wine grapes out here in the Midwest, too hot and then too cold. So they grow grapes I had never heard of, Chambourcin, Norton, and here is the kicker...... Concord.  Concord grapes are for jelly and jam NOT wine!  The Chambourcin was really quite surprising though. The winery had beautiful grounds and we had our picnic here!

Ok on to the recipe!
1-2 1lb pork tenderloins
1/2 tsp of each: salt and pepper, ground ginger, onion powder, garlic powder
2-3 tbs dijon mustard
1 large onion bachee french loaf bread
1 round of brie cheese
2 tbs truffle aoli or regular mayonnaise

Rub the seasoning on both sides of the tenderloins

Spread the mustard on both sides of the tenderloins.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 40-50 min.  Take out of the oven and let rest and cool till almost room temp.  Slice the onion loaf in half long wise and spread butter on both sides and toast in the oven for a couple of min.

Slice the tenderloins in half long wise also and place on the bread.

Oh by the way grey meat is over cooked meat and yucky.  Pork is juicy and flavorful when it is still slightly pink. You wont get sick, so please stop overcooking your pork. Just a friendly reminder.
Trim the Brie round and slice and place on the pork.

Place back in the oven at 350 for 5 min until brie is all nice and melty!

Spread the aoli/mayo on both halves and place back together.  Wrap the sandwich in foil and then cling film/saran wrap very very tightly! Place something heavy like a brick or a heavy pot lid on top of the sandwich to compress it.

Once you are at your picnic location, or just when you are ready to serve, slice the sandwich and serve with fresh grapes and a nice dry light wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio, if you will only drink red wine Pinot Noir would be great also.

Perfect picnic sandwich!

First things first, My Camera is Back!!! My Camera is back!!!! I hope that you can tell the quality difference and that you are as happy as I am!!!
Ok on the to recipe..... (too silly...)
I made this thinking that my very picky husband would love the flavors and go crazy for it!  Little did I know that when I so lovingly purchased all the ingredients and planned his welcome home dinner that he had filmed at a pig farm....... Turns out the Micro Brew that he was filming donates all their used Mash (the left over grain from beer brewing) to a local piglet farm.  This farm does not  grow pigs to maturity for slaughter.  They just raise piglets to be sold to grow to be slaughtered by a different farmer.   So he spent all day last Friday with these adorable little piglets and what do I do when he gets home?  I feed him pig.
Now mind you pig is normally one of his most favorite meats of all time.  Need anyone mention the word Bacon around a man..... we all know the answer to that.
So I thought I was doing an amazing meal for my absent husband.   Wrong!  Now mind you this meal is AMAZING, just not to someone who just loved on some little cute piglets!

3-4 thin cut pork chops
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 tsp ground cumin
1 package black bean tagliatelle Here is the site to purchase Pappardelle's
2 tsp minced garlic
1 Hatch Chile diced how to roast hatch chiles or 1  4oz can green chiles
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3tbs butter
1/2 cup white wine
2tbs tequila
juice of one lime
1 cup heavy cream

Place pork chops in a large zip loc bag empty contents of ranch dressing mix and 1tsp of cumin in bag and toss to coat.  Chill for 30 min. 
Heat oven to 350
In a hot non stick pan (no oil) sear pork chops on both sides

Place browned pork chops in a baking dish and bake for 10-15 min depending on the thickness.  Meanwhile, boil salted water and cook the tagliatelle, drain and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking process, reserve.  To make the sauce: In a sauce pan saute the minced garlic, the hatch chile, cilantro, and butter till combined and creamy. 

Add the wine and tequila and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 10 min.

Make sure the wine you use is the wine you serve with the meal. And ahead an have a glass while you are cooking.  You deserve it!

  Add the heavy cream and heat through.  Add the pasta to the pan that you browned the pork in to absorb that flavor and pour the sauce in and bring to a boil.

On a large serving platter plate the Tagliatelle and place your pork chops on top. Serve and relish in the compliments and oohs and aahhs... unless your husband has just been to a piglet farm.....

Did anyone catch the Monty Python reference????



I am not a big red meat-eater, much to my carnivore boys dismay. So I am always trying to find new and exciting ways to serve up pork and chicken.  I love blueberry lemon muffins, I am not quite sure where I made the leap from muffins to pork chops, but boy am I glad I did!

4 boneless pork chops

salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup apple juice divided 1/4 and 1/2 cup

1 cup fresh blueberries and 1 tbs cornstarch

1 tbs fresh grated ginger

juice of 1 lemon and zest of same lemon (it is easier if you zest the lemon before you slice it open to juice it)

1-2 tbs flour and 1-2 tbs butter

Coat the blueberries with the cornstarch in a small bowl.  Salt and Pepper each pork chop add to hot non stick pan over medium high heat. Cook 3 min on each side (more if you are using thicker chops), you want to hear a good sizzle when the meat hits the pan. Carmalzation makes everything yummy. Remove chops and keep warm under foil.

Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of the apple juice.  Add the 1 cup blueberries over medium low heat and cook 1 minute.  Add the ginger and the juice from half of the lemon. Be careful not to get the seeds in. Place the pork chops back in the pan add the 1/2 cup apple juice bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.  Add the flour and butter and cook till juices thicken.

Plate and sprinkle lemon zest on each chop and serve!!  The wilted Spinach and Corn on the cob are great accompaniments to this meal.

3lb Pork Shoulder trimmed of fat

2 cans crushed pineapple undrained

1 cup Light Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Packed Dark Brown Sugar

3 Tbs Sesame Oil, Olive oil to coat pan

Salt and Pepper, and ground Ginger to taste

Sprinkle Salt and Pepper and ground ginger all over pork. Heat Olive Oil in a large Dutch Oven and sear pork till brown on all sides.  Place in Slow Cooker fat side down.  Add the remaining ingredients, cover and cook on high for 4 hours or untill for tender. When done remove pork let rest 10 min and shred the meat with 2 forks.

To add a festive touch serve in a pie plate and top with the sliced off green of a pineapple!