Tenderloin: Always a good decision

If I want someone to propose to me, I will make him this. If I want someone to forgive me, I will make him this. If I want peace in the Middle East, I will make them this. Though maybe I should just leave that to negotiators who actually know what they are doing. Still, you see where I am going with this.

I am back in Atlanta for my Dad's birthday and I wanted to make something especially special for the occasion. About a year ago, my best friend linked me to this and I have been desperate to make it ever since. So, I called my mom and told her to get sirloin cut Chateaubriand at the butcher. For a number of reasons, we ended up with tenderloin - it is never a problem to have tenderloin. Also, since I have an almost pathological aversion to cilantro, I had to tweak the sauce a bit.

I really cannot adequately express to you how delicious this is. Nor can I describe my glee when I managed to cook it perfectly (medium rare, cooked evenly). And I really cannot convey the look of unadulterated bliss on my Dad's face. The tangy topper compliments the buttery meat so well that it's just sinful.

You really need to make this. Right. Now.

Bomboloni- Italian for Fried Dough

This has been a big week for me. Huffington Post made me a legitimate blogger and my first articles went live, the ACC (lawyers, not sports) picked up my antitrust primer, and even AboveTheLaw, comment trolls and all, noticed me. While I'm at it, there's a book here.

Crazy stuff.

Anyway, I decided to celebrate by making something extremely delicious and extremely unhealthy. Not to mention that anyone who says that they don't like fried dough is either lying or selling something. But... well... why stop at frying things? Why not also stuff them with dark chocolate? Oh yes, I went there.

I did, in a sudden burst of generosity/realization that I would eat them if they stayed in my house, take the batch in to the contract job I've been working this week. My coworkers were kind enough to demolish the pile in short order.

Behold.

On rainy days and split pea soup

When I was a little girl, my mother found this weird powdered vegetable soup at Sam's Club and brought it home for my sister and I to be able to make as a snack. I was completely obsessed with this soup. It was thick and smooth (It was powdered after all, chunks would have been creepy) and was exactly what I wanted on rainy days. My sister did not share this passion, but that was fine, more for me! One day it stopped appearing at the house and I've never seen it since. My tiny heart broke.

Years later, I still revel in the idea of a thick green soup on overcast days.

This morning was one of those where, though you get out of bed at a perfectly reasonable hour, it's debatable whether you ever actually wake up. The apartment was dark thanks to a few drizzling cumulus beasts and I absolutely had to have soup. Of course, I didn't have what I needed in the apartment. Again. Blast! Off to the store I trudged to pick up some split peas and diced ham... and while I was there a few other tasty treats, but that's neither here nor there.

And now I have a delicious, non-powdered, split pea soup to get me through my sleepwalking day.

Oh? You want to know how to make it? Ok then.

Chicken Tetrazzini?

This is my baby (One day I will have the full set and, on that day, I will become invincible... in the kitchen... or something):
And I get to make things like this in it:
Tasty looking, no?

Southern Living has a section called "Mama's Way or Your Way," and last month that featured chicken tetrazzini. Usually I side with the "Mama's Way" side of things, butter and all (yes, I exercise a lot to make up for these decisions). This time, however, some of the changes in the "Your Way" portion appealed to me. Still, the thought of bottled alfredo sauce is quite upsetting to me. So, my brilliant answer to this problem is to combine the two. I've used the mornay sauce from the original, but tossed in the peas, mushrooms and some pancetta (instead of prosciutto)from the modern choice. The reason for the "?" in the title is simply that I'm not sure it still counts as tetrazzini after all of these changes, but we're going to pretend that it does.

I frequently combine bits of separate recipes to make one delicious dish, though it's rarely quite so convenient as two opposite pages dealing with the exact same food. If you're wary when it comes to trying to piece together a (yummy) Frankenstein (well, technically the monster) recipe, this is probably a good way to start. After you've worked on a few this way, you'll start feeling a lot more comfortable taking a hatchet to all sorts of recipes.

On to super secret option C.

Sometimes you have to atone

On occasion I try to cook something new, usually because I am out of food and hungry. Generally speaking, this goes very well, or at least is sufficiently tasty to get me through the night. There are days, however, that are a bit less successful. Monday was one of those days. I took a series of perfectly good ingredients and ended up, somehow, with a salt lick. Because I am as stubborn as the day is long, I still ate a good bit, once I removed the salty cheese portion. After this mini-debacle, I needed to make something new and tasty - both at the same time - thus reestablishing my kitchen prowess.

Bolognese sauce to the rescue! In what I believe to be one of the more embarrassing omissions in my self-training, I've never actually made a bolognese. Today, I remedied this, and learned a few things along the way. For example, did you know that there is a product in the grocery store called "Meatloaf Mix"? Well there is. It's a combination of beef, veal, and pork meat that is perfect for something like a bolognese, despite the inherent creepiness of a single ground meat product produced from three separate animals. However, in a concession to health..ish... I decided to use about 2/3 strange meat mix, and 1/3 ground turkey. Also, once again, the store has decided to sell things in annoying quantities. Namely: each ground meat product comes in a 1.3lb portion, and I really don't need to use more than 2 lbs of meat in a single dish. I mean... come on. A girl has to draw the line somewhere.

This is extremely tasty. Extremely. So, next time you're at the store, grab the nearest blended ground meat product and go nuts!