This Week for Dinner – Weekly Meal Plans, Dinner Ideas, Recipes and More!: Recipes

Category: Recipes

Thursday, February 2

Island Pork with Sticky Coconut Rice

My friend Jessica had us over for dinner a few weeks ago and served Island Pork with Sticky Coconut Rice. People. PEOPLE. You are going to love me (well, Jessica) forever for introducing this recipe to you. I am head over heels for this dish.

The rub for the pork is savory and the glaze is sweet and the flavors all complement each other in such a lovely way…and there is just enough heat. Enough that I can taste the kick, but not so much my kids wouldn’t eat it. Quite the opposite, they loved it, too. The technique yields a perfectly cooked pork tenderloin – tender and juicy. And the sticky coconut rice? Again, it just pairs so nicely with the pork…and, seriously, I could eat it for dessert. Yum yum yum. Last selling point…the recipe is quite simple to prepare and doesn’t require any super fancy ingredients. I personally just had to pick up some pork and coconut milk at the store – everything else was already in the cupboard!

Without further ado, the recipe!

Island Pork with Sticky Coconut Rice
Someone named Mary Fetzer gave Jessica this recipe. The pork preparation originally comes from an Epicurious salad recipe. You could bop over to their website to check out the salad, but I really loved the pork served with the rice.

For the pork:
- 2 pork tenderloins, 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 pounds total (they generally come in one package together)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil

Rub:
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix “Rub” ingredients, then coat pork with spice rub.

Heat olive oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet.

Mix glaze ingredients. Pat onto each tenderloin and roast in the center of oven until instant read thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each tenderloin reads 140°F, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let pork rest 10 minutes in skillet. Slice into 1/2″ – 1″ slices and serve over sticky coconut rice, pouring some of the remaining glaze over the pork and rice.

Sticky Coconut Rice
- 1 1/2 cup jasmine rice
- 1 15-oz can regular or light coconut milk
- 1/3 – 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 cup milk

If rice is not pre-rinsed (the bag will tell you if it is), rinse with cold water until water runs clear. Put rice in a medium sauce pan and combine with coconut milk, milk and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring regularly, then reduce heat to low and cover pot. Simmer for about 25 minutes (could take up to 45 minutes depending on the rice). Stir regularly.

Rice and pork may be served with fresh, cubed mango, but this is optional (although I am certain it is delicious!).

Serves ~6 adults.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 8:05 am 20 Comments
Categories: featured recipes, main dishes, Recipes
Friday, January 27

Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Today I have a simple and easy lunch or dinner recipe for you. It is Friday after all, may as well take it easy! And it’s so yummy that after eating it Cate declared I was the best cook in the world. (I think her dad must be paying her to always say such nice things about me.)

We used to have a CPK ASAP near our house and they served a pesto chicken salad sandwich that I loved. Loved so much, in fact, it was one of the few things I could eat when I was pregnant. Well, the CPK ASAP is gone and with it my sandwich.

I’ve taken matters into my own hands. While I haven’t yet tried my hand at the yummy pizza bread that they used, I have nailed the pesto chicken salad aspect of the sandwich. I made it for the first time last night and it was so easy and so yummy. Definitely will be making it again…and again…and again!

Pesto Chicken Salad
From Jane Maynard, inspired by CPK
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup basil pesto
- salt
- 1 heart of romaine lettuce, chopped

Cook the chicken breasts however you like (I boiled mine until cooked through – it’s easy and you’re just going to mix it with sauce). Shred chicken and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with a bit of salt.

Mix together mayonnaise and pesto. Add half of this mixture to the chicken and mix well. Add the other half of the mixture to your chopped romaine lettuce. I like to mix them separately so that if we have leftover chicken we don’t have lettuce that will go wilted and yucky mixed in – the next day I can throw together a little sauce and lettuce. Make sense? Serve on your favorite bread.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 8:53 am 17 Comments
Categories: featured recipes, main dishes, Recipes
Thursday, January 19

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars (No-Bake)

Ahhhh, Pinterest. How we love thee!

This recipe is yet another wonderful thing I discovered on Pinterest. I was able to quickly whip these up today with ingredients that I always have on hand. Gotta love non-complicated, fast and easy recipes!

Cate took a bite and said, “Wow! These taste even better than they look!” I’ll take that! They basically taste like no-bake cookies, but I like that they are in bar form – it’s much easier to make them look pretty!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars
From Love Veggies and Yoga (I rewrote the recipe so it’s shorter and reflects exactly what I did…click through for a more thorough description some options for making the recipe vegan)
- 1 stick butter (4 ounces)
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups oats (I used Quaker rolled instant oats)
- chocolate chips to sprinkle on top (butterscotch or peanut butter chips would be good, too)

Line an 8×8 pan with foil and spray with cooking oil.

Combine and melt butter, white sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder and milk in a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium-high heat – bring to boil, let boil for 90 seconds, stirring continuously, then remove from heat.

Add peanut butter and vanilla (vanilla can bubble up on you, so add carefully). Mix until smooth. Stir in the oats.

Pour into pan, spreading evenly. The mixture will be very hot so be careful! Give it a few minutes to cool, then press a handful of chocolate chips into the top.

The original recipe says to put them in the freezer for an hour. I did this and they were very hard to cut. I had also used waxed paper instead of foil with spray. I could not for the life of me get the bars to pop out of the pan – it was crazy town. I think if I had just refrigerated for 20 minutes or so they would have been set and much easier to work with.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 3:10 pm 12 Comments
Categories: Recipes, sweet things
Tuesday, January 17

Cooking the Perfect Steak

We rarely eat red meat, so when we do, we make sure it is high-quality and delicious. My favorite cut is filet mignon…when cooked correctly, it is just so darn tender and tasty. When Nate’s mom was here last November, she made us a fantastic dinner, which included some filet. While we were debating about how to cook our beautiful hunks of meat, she mentioned that she and my father-in-law had used a technique from America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Illustrated that worked beautifully. We dug around the Internet, found the recipe and…

Sorry for the not-so-pretty photos. Truth is I wanted to eat the steak more than I wanted to photograph it!

…PEOPLE. This is the perfect way to cook steak. Seriously. Perfect. It comes out medium-rare and is so juicy and tender. For those of you scared of red/pink in your meat, please believe me when I tell you medium-rare is the way to eat your steak. REALLY. The flavor and texture are so much better than medium or well-done, but it’s still hot and cooked through just enough. The first time I ate a medium-rare steak was at Donovan’s Steak House and I have never eaten it another way since. It’s the only way to go!

So, back to the Cook’s Illustrated technique…you salt and pepper the steak and then bake it in the oven BEFORE searing it on the stove. The reasoning is that your steak will cook evenly throughout and that the final sear will give the steak a nice, caramelized crust. We found another blogger who had used this recipe and he said that it’s been consistent every time. I love reliable recipes like that!

The Perfect Steak
Method & recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, but I’ve written it out here in my own words, so if something goes wrong blame me
- 2 boneless strip steaks 1 1/2″ – 1 3/4″ thick, about 1 pound each (filet mignon or ribeye may be substituted)
- Salt & Pepper (I like to use coarse versions of both)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil (2 tablespoons for filet mignon)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven.

Cut steaks vertically in half so you have four 8-ounce steaks. Let rest outside of the fridge for about 15 minutes. Dry off steaks with a paper towel then pat liberally with salt and pepper. Place steaks on a wire rack on top of a rimmed cookie sheet so steaks are not resting directly on the pan. Insert an instant-read, oven-safe thermometer into one of the steaks, then put steaks in the oven until the internal temperature of the steak reaches 90 – 95 degrees for medium rare (20-25 mins) or 100 to 105 degrees for medium (25-30 mins). GO WITH MEDIUM RARE!

Heat oil in a heavy bottom skillet over medium-high heat on your stove. We used one of my copper-core heavy bottom frying pans – I think a cast-iron skillet would be ideal, but mine is buried in storage somewhere. When oil starts to smoke, sear the steak in the pan ~ 2 minutes per side. Sear the edges as well, ~ 1 minute per edge.

Place steaks back on rack on cookie sheet, tent with foil and let rest ~ 10 minutes. Eat!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:48 am 16 Comments
Categories: featured recipes, main dishes, Recipes
Tuesday, January 10

Call for ‘Recipes’: LUNCH IDEAS!
Bethanie, a long-time reader, recently emailed me asking if I would be willing to put the following question out there: What do you pack for your kids’ lunches? Like my daughter, her child doesn’t have the ability to heat food at school but is sick to death of sandwiches. I am in the exact same boat, so I was totally down with this call for “recipes” of sorts!

AND…for that matter…I’m having a bagel for lunch today. Which is what I had yesterday. Not exactly nutritious and definitely boring. SOOOO…

Today’s Call for Recipes is three fold!
- What do you pack for kids’ lunches, especially where they can’t reheat food?
- What kinds of food do you pack for your own lunch?
- If you eat lunch at home, what are you eating?
Bethanie ended her email with “I know the blog is ‘This week for DINNER’, but I’m desperate!” and I actually feel the same way. I’m good about getting my dinner plan together each week, but I’m terrible about lunches! Can’t wait to see all of your great ideas and tips!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 1:16 pm 50 Comments
Categories: call for recipes, kids
Tuesday, January 3

Julia Child’s Chocolate Mousse

Yeah, yeah, I know. 95% of you just made new year’s resolutions to eat healthier. And here I am tempting you with chocolate mousse. I’m kind of evil. Plus, I’m looking out for the 5% who didn’t make such lofty goals…there is far too much health food talk going on around the food blogosphere right now. We want chocolate. We need chocolate!

Resolutions be damned, this mousse is too good not to share. For those of you who are crazy enough to have cut sugar and/or chocolate out of your life, well, just tuck this recipe into the back of your brain for a day that you feel like cheating.

After Thanksgiving I had a hankering for some honest-to-goodness chocolate mousse, mousse without whipped cream mixed in. I did a little web search and came across a blog post by David Lebovitz where he had made Julia Child’s recipe. Since both of these people are beyond trustworthy in the chocolate department, I decided to give it a try. All I have to say is Julia knows her chocolate. It was beyond rich and the texture was just what I was looking for. Ooo. La. Laaaaa.

Observe the texture. THAT is mousse.

Warning: you may die eating this mousse. That is how rich this dessert is. A dollop of whipped cream on top is advised.

Warning #2: This recipe requires lots of bowls. That’s just how Julia rolls.

Chocolate Mousse
Adapted from David Lebovitz’s adaptation of Julia Child’s recipe found in Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Knopf) (the only reason I made adaptations is because I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand, and the mousse still came out. PHEW. Click here to check out David’s version that is more true to Julia’s recipe.)
- 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (Jane note: my butter was salted, it’s what I had)
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler over simmering water until smooth. Remove from heat.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. (Jane note: David suggested that you can also use a handheld electric mixer, which is what I did.)

3. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above (Jane note: again, I used an electric mixer). Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla.

5. Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don’t overdo it or the mousse will lose volume. (Jane note: but be sure that it is ALL incorporated…I was so worried about losing volume that there were pockets of mousse that didn’t get the egg whites that were all wrong texture-wise…a bit more mixing would have solved that.)

6. Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm.

The mousse can be refrigerated for up to 4 days. Servies 6-8.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:54 pm 9 Comments
Categories: featured recipes, Recipes, sweet things
Tuesday, December 27

The Cranberry Cutie Mocktail…and a $50 Giveaway!
This giveaway is now closed. But if you’re looking for a yummy mocktail, keep reading!

Time for my second Sierra Mist Natural mocktail post, just in time for New Year’s Eve!

As you know, my first post featured the Frost Bite Mocktail, a recipe I received from Sierra Mist Natural. This time around I was asked to come up with my own recipe using Sierra Mist Natural. So, I thought, and I thought, and I thought some more…and all of that thinking actually worked. I’m happy to introduce you to the Cranberry Cutie! Or, if you live on the East Coast, The Cranberry Clementine! But ‘Cutie’ is, well, cuter.

Nothing quite says the holidays like cranberries and cuties, and I thought both of those flavors would be mighty delicious combined with a little lemon-lime. And I was right. Yum yum!

I’ll share my recipe for the Cranberry Cutie, but first a giveaway! One of you lucky people will win a Sierra Mist Natural holiday gift pack (shaker set, sugar garnishes, party glasses) and a $50 AMEX Gift Card! That’s right, $50 just for you to spend how you like…and a cute set to get you mixing up drinks to your heart’s content!

To enter the giveaway:
- Share your favorite mocktail or cocktail drink in the comments…and the drink’s recipe if you have it!
- For an additional entry, get those creative juices (and drinks!) flowing! Share your most creative Sierra Mist Natural mocktail or cocktail recipe on the Sierra Mist Facebook page.
- Be sure to leave TWO separate comments on this post if you do both of the above to get your extra entry!
Comments must be posted by Midnight PT on Monday, January 2. Winner will be announced on Tuesday, January 3.

Good luck with the giveaway and I can’t wait to see all your creative cocktail and mocktail ideas!

Cranberry Cutie
From Jane Maynard, This Week for Dinner
- 3 ounces Sierra Mist Natural
- 3 ounces Cranberry Juice
- Juice from 1 cutie/clementine orange
- 1 ounce lime juice
- Cutie slice and cranberry sugar for garnish

In a shaker filled with ice, mix cranberry juice, cutie juice and lime juice. Add Sierra Mist Natural and stir. Strain into two martini glasses with edges that have been dipped in cranberry sugar (sugar optional). Garnish with a cutie slice.

Note: This post is part of a sponsored campaign that I am participating in. My opinions are my own and the drink I created is DARN GOOD.
Posted by Jane Maynard at 4:59 pm 77 Comments
Categories: featured recipes, Giveaways, Recipes, sweet things, the goods
Tuesday, December 20

Salgar ROCKS…and Recipe for Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

I am so voting for Leslie Knope because she truly is a visionary. She is the brains behind salgar after all, which is nothing short of a revelation! Plus, salgar is going to save me a lot of $$$ that otherwise would have been spent at Starbucks.

Let’s start at the beginning. I’m a little bit in love with the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate at Starbucks. However, there are two things wrong with this love affair. First, it costs me too much money. Second, they only serve the stuff during the holidays. I’ve kind of sort of half-heartedly tried to replicate it at home before, but never with much success. Probably because I wasn’t trying that hard.

This year, things are different. Which brings me back to Leslie Knope. When she introduced the world to salgar last week, well, I knew that my days of whipping up salted caramel hot chocolate to rival Starbucks’ had finally arrived. And I was right.

For those of you who don’t watch Parks & Rec (p.s. you should be), salgar is simply sugar and salt mixed together. Sure, everyone thought Leslie was crazy, but I’m a believer.

Which brings us back to the quest for the perfect salted caramel hot chocolate recipe. On Sunday I pulled all my ingredients together. Yummy hot chocolate. Perfect whipped cream. Caramel sauce. Salgar.

I nailed it. And I might even be so brave as to say that it’s better than Starbucks. The best part? When the whipped cream and salgar topping are gone but you still have hot chocolate left, you can just throw a little more cream and salgar on top! For some reason Starbucks doesn’t let you go back for seconds. Who needs them?

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
From Jane Maynard, This Week for Dinner
- Hot chocolate (whatever kind you like…but make sure it’s not flavored with cinnamon or peppermint or anything like that…just something pure…my favorite is melting chopped chocolate in milk)
- Salgar (see below)
- Perfect whipped cream (click through for “recipe”)
- Caramel sauce (the kind that’s made for going on/in drinks, I got mine at Starbucks, I’ve seen it at other stores, too)

Make your hot chocolate and pour in a mug. Add a pinch or two of salgar and a swirl of caramel sauce. Stir well. Top with whipped cream, another swirl of caramel sauce and salgar. Drink and get ready to thank me for transporting you to hot chocolate heaven in the comfort of your own home.

Salgar
From Jane Maynard, This Week for Dinner, inspired by Leslie Knope
- 1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar (i.e. sugar in the raw)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sea salt.

Mix. Done and done.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 7:00 am 16 Comments
Categories: fab faves, featured recipes, Recipes, sweet things
Monday, December 19

Perfect Whipped Cream
Whenever I go to Cafe Borrone, I order hot chocolate. For one reason. The whipped cream. It is HEAVENLY.

I’ve been trying to perfect it and I think I’ve got it down. In fact, the last time I made whipped cream, Cate took a taste, looked up at me and said, “Mom, why is this whipped cream so good?”

“Because I’m so awesome.” That was the correct response, right?

Anyway, it’s super simple to achieve nirvana with whipped cream. There are only two ingredients: cream and powdered sugar (the powdered dissolves better than granulated). And there are just two little things to remember when you’re whipping it up with your beaters or mixer:
1. Don’t be stingy with the sugar. Seriously, no skimping! I mean, don’t go too crazy…but you should at least be approaching crazy.
2. Whip it until it is THICK.
That’s it. Throw that cream on some pumpkin pie or hot chocolate and I promise you’ll love me forever.

Speaking of hot chocolate, I have my best hot chocolate post ever planned for tomorrow. Be still my beating heart…you do not want to miss it.
Posted by Jane Maynard at 8:01 am 11 Comments
Categories: Recipes, sweet things
Friday, December 16

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…Birthday Cake Time!

While the rest of the world is celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and the like…you know holidays involving winter, snow, lights…well, our house is celebrating birthdays galore! Both of my sweet daughters were born just a week before Christmas. It’s crazy town. But (as long as I can survive the stress) it’s lots of fun!

Since their birthdays are so close to Christmas, each year I make them whatever birthday cake their little hearts desire to make sure their day is special and non-Christmasy.

Anna is having a “Glamour Party” this year, which evolved into a “Hello Kitty Glamour Party” when she discovered the Hello Kitty plates and napkins at Target. So, a Hello Kitty cake it is! Hello Kitty by the way is an AWESOME subject for a cake. SO easy. Thank you, Anna! She was so cute this morning, staring at her cake the whole time she ate breakfast.

Cate picked out some kitty cat cupcakes from my favorite kids’ cake book. For some reason I thought Juicy Fruit was white. It’s yellow. So yeah, yellow ears and whiskers is what we got. I’m pretty sure Cate won’t mind!

Because I would like to make this post semi-useful to you, I used regular buttercream frosting this year (adding a little cream cheese to the frosting for Cate’s red velvet cupcakes). And I most definitely did a crumb coat on the Hello Kitty cake (a thin layer of icing on the cake that picks up all the crumbs, followed by 10 minutes in the freezer before doing the final coat of icing). And for the kitty eyes, just use a food writer on M&Ms. Instant cat eyes!

Even though the birthday cakes invariably cause me to stay up way too late at night, I must admit the torture is fun.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 10:11 am 18 Comments
Categories: kids, Kitchen Tips, sweet things