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It Must be a food kind of day!!

As I was preparing the marinade this morning for our dinner tonight my brother called. We talked about our Grandma's Christmas gift, which has to do with food and we talked about what I was making for dinner. Then my sister called and we talked about the Carnitas she was making for the progressive dinner at the Ranch tonight. So it must be a food kind of day!

Chicken w/ Tomatillo Sauce
Marinade:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Splenda
1 TBS Chili Powder
1 TBS Cumin
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
Zest of 1 Lemon
Zest of 1 Lime
Juice of 1 Lemon
Juice of 1 Lime
3 TBS Olive Oil

Marinate Chicken in Ziploc at least 2 hours.
Grill chicken

Tomatillo Sauce

5 Tomatillos (Med-Lg) If usually buy 6 if they are med/sm
1 cup Chicken Broth

Remove Husks & Stems, rinse and place in pan w/ chicken broth. Bring to boil then lower to simmer cook covered for 8 min or until Tomatillos are soft. Let cool & drain out broth.
In blender add
cooked tomatillos
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Splenda
1/2 tsp Sriracha Sauce (Chinese Hot Chili Sauce)
1/4 cup Cilantro
1/2 cup green onion
1 garlic clove
juice of 1 lime

Blend, don't forget to remove the middle piece of the blender lid otherwise it will explode because of the heat. Cover lid with towel to stop sauce from shooting out while blending.

I usually make cook the sauce while the meat is marinating and then I blend it while I am grilling the chicken.

I usually serve this with rice and I pour the sauce over the chicken and the rice. Then for days after I enjoy the sauce with chips. Yum!!

Well I really do hope you give this a try. I know it is winter and most people don't grill outside but hey I have snow on the ground and I am grilling tonight. Grilling is a year round way to cook, even if you don't live in AZ.

Enjoy!!

(P.S. I just have to give credit where credit is due...this recipe is from the kitchen of my friend Bon.)

Hello...Is this thing on????

Hello.

I know it has been a while (8 months) since I have last posted here and I would like to say I am sorry and hopefully it won't be another 8 months until I post again. I make no promises though.

I just had to post tonight because I cooked our dinner in a way that would make my friend Bon so proud of me. I had a recipe to follow (the only way I like to cook) and well my ingredients were different. So after I panicked a little and told my hubby that we were going to go out to eat, to which he replied "I don't think so", I thought of my friend who is FABULOUS at improvising a recipe and I walked back into my kitchen. Guess what!?! It turned out wonderful. My daughter gave it 5 stars as did my hubby. My son gave it only 4 stars because "I reserve the 5 star status for my favorite meals only".

Well I am not gonna complain if 4 stars is my lowest score.

If you want to make the original recipe you can find it at Cook's Country.com and search for Cider-Glazed Pork Loin. I received this recipe from a friend who had tried it and loved it. Now just to give you fair warning when I went to the web site I found out that you get a 14 free trial and then it looks like you have to pay to see their recipe's. So If you decide that you wish to invest in this resource please forward any recipes that you try and like because I am just to cheap to do it. Seriously. I just can't. Or maybe it should read that I just won't. Now I will share my modified recipe with you and it will only cost you.....a comment to let me know what you think of it after you have tried it.



Cider-Glazed Pork

1 lb Pork slices , Sliced less than 1/2" thick
2 TBS Vegetable Oil
1 Large Shallot, thinly sliced
2 cups Apple Cider
1/2 cup apple butter
1 Bay Leaf
1 Sprig Fresh Thyme (I didn't have this on hand so I used 1/2 tsp dried)
1 tsp Cider Vinegar
Salt & Pepper

1. Heat 1 TBS Oil in large skillet over med-high heat until hot. Season Pork with salt & pepper on both sides then place in pan. Brown both sides and then remove to plate and cover w/ tin foil.

2. In same pan add 1 TBS Oil and add shallots and cook until golden brown. Increase heat to high and add Cider, Apple Butter, Bay Leaf and Thyme. Bring to boil and cook, stirring frequently until it starts to thicken.

3. Place pork back in skillet and cover. Lower heat to med and cook until pork is done, turning once.

4. Remove pork, yes remove it again, and whisk in 1 Cider Vinegar then return pork to pan.

I served it with Rice Pilaf and as an after thought I also served green beans (canned).
Next time I think I will precook fresh green beans and then add them with the pork in step 4 to serve them smothered with the sauce.

Well I hope you, all 3 of you who read this blog, give this recipe a try. It really is Yummy!!