~Simple Skillet Pork w/Green Beans~

Wow!  I can't believe the last time I posted it was Thanksgiving!  Where've I been since then?  Well, just about everywhere.  If you go to our family blog, you can get all caught up if you'd like; but in the last few months, we managed to spend the holidays with both our families (in UT and CO), and moved to and got settled into our new home in Stuttgart, Germany. 

Now that we're pretty much settled in, I'm starting to spend more time in the kitchen again (especially since my work schedule has allowed this to happen as of late--early nights, gotta love 'em!).  However, I just haven't felt like blogging about cooking lately.  I just thought that tonight, I'd give it a try.  Maybe this will inspire me to dust off my other cookbooks...perhaps to bake up something nice and sweet!

So you guys know how I LOVE simple recipes?  Well, this particular recipe is just that..  If you were to make it for your friend's they'd mistake it for something you spent the entire evening slaving away to make.  It makes for a wonderful presentation, yet you use very few ingredients--some of which you probably have just lying around in your kitchen.  Chicken is really played out in our house, so pork was a nice change.  And mushrooms are a favorite.  It's always nice when you get to decide just how many mushrooms to put in the sauce.  The recipe called for 2 cups, but I LOVE mushrooms and loaded them in.  This cream sauce was the bomb too....oh my goodness....just take the recipe and try it!

Simple Skillet Pork with Green Beans

by Kraft Food & Family (Spring 2011)

1 lb. pork tenderloin

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 lb. thin fresh green beans

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup Kraft Light Honey Dijon Dressing

2 oz. Philadelphia Neufchatel Cheese, cubed

1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

1.  Cut meat into 3/4 inch thick slices; flatten to 1/2 inch thickness.  Season with garlic powder and black pepper.  Heat oil in large non-stick skillet on medium heat.  Add meat; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done.  Transfer to platter; cover to keep warm.

2.  Add beans to skillet; cook and stir 4 or 5 minutes until crisp-tender.  Transfer to platter with meat.

3.  Cook and stir mushrooms in same skillet 1 minute.  Add next 4 ingredients; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until Neufchatel is completely melted and sauce just comes to a boil.  Serve over meat.

I subscribe to the Food & Family magazine and without fail, they've got several recipes that I'm dying to try.  And ALL of the recipes are as simple as this one, yet utterly delicious.  I'll be making a few more dishes out of this month's issue this week!

Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

I don't know why I never thought to pull recipes from the Cooking Light website a long time ago.  Everything I've tried so far in the last week or so has been fantastic.  Seriously. 

I would never have thought to use pecans as a base for pasta sauce.  Ever.  I was a bit concerned making the sauce as I'd over-toasted the pecans before putting them in my food processor.

By the way, I just got a Cuisinart food processor the other day at JC Penney's.  It was on sale for $99.99.  I've been dying to get one and finally broke down.  So I thought it would get it's debut helping me make this dish.  When I smelled the pecan puree, I worried that the dish would taste burned, but it didn't.  And then adding the mushrooms to the sauce?  It was fabulous--I mean FABULOUS!!!   

Both my husband and I devoured this dish.  I really had to try hard to leave some leftovers to take for lunch today.  And today, I couldn't wait for lunchtime.  Now I'm sad it's all gone.

Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

by Cooking Light

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

1 cup water

1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided

6 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms

4 cups cooked egg noodles

Chopped parsley (optional)

 

1. Place pecans in a food processor; process until smooth (about 1 minute), scraping sides of bowl once. With processor on, add water and 3/4 teaspoon salt; process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once.

2.  Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

3.  Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

4.  Add shallots and mushrooms to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in pecan cream; bring to a boil. Cook 1 1/2 minutes. Place 2/3 cup noodles on each of 6 plates. Top each serving with 1 chicken breast half and 1/3 cup sauce. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

I will, without a doubt, be making this pasta dish again and I want to try variations of the recipe...perhaps try a different nut (walnut maybe?) and pair it with rice. Delicious!

Barefoot Bloggers: Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Chelle of Brown Eyed Baker chose this week's recipe--Ina's Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup! This is my first Barefoot Blogger assignment and I was especially excited. I really do love mushrooms, so it was perfect. I actually made the soup over the weekend and was surprised to find that everyone enjoyed it. I was only able to reserve about two cups or so as leftovers, which a friend and I indulged in earlier this week. Yummy!

The recipe called for a couple types of mushrooms, but I wasn't able to get my hands on either porcini or cremini mushrooms. So I just bought the typical packaged mushrooms you can find at any grocery store and they worked just as well. After all, the fact that I still had the shiitake and portobello mushrooms still made it wild, right? Here's a picture of all the mushrooms I had:

I've seen leeks before but hadn't used them in a recipe until now. Like an idiot, I got ahead of myself while reading the recipe and mistakenly mixed the leeks into the broth.

Lucky for me, I still had enough leeks left to saute the mushroom caps with later on. And it actually wasn't too bad a mistake after all. I think I enhanced the flavor of the broth in the process!

While this was cooking, I took a small taste of the mixture and it was delicious! Maybe it was the good Riesling white wine I used (I accumulated a good collection of wines at our housewarming party). I actually saved all the vegetables from the broth and ate them later on as well. It was wonderful!

As I mentioned earlier, I served this at a dinner party I had last weekend and it was a hit. The only picture I got of a family member was of my brother, Jon. He liked the soup too, although the first thing he said after his first spoonful was, "hey, where's the meat in here?" So typical. It was actually kind of cool that evening too, so it was nice addition to the dinner table. If you're interested in trying it, you should! Here's the recipe (taken from the Food Network website):

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

5 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms

5 ounces fresh portobello mushrooms

5 ounces fresh cremini (or porcini) mushrooms

1 tablespoon good olive oil

1/4 pound (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1 carrot, chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme plus 1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves, divided

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup half-and-half 1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a dry paper towel. Don't wash them! Separate the stems, trim off any bad parts, and coarsely chop the stems. Slice the mushroom caps 1/4-inch thick and, if there are big, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, the onion, carrot, the sprig of thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add 6 cups water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. You should have about 4 1/2 cups of stock. If not, add some water.

Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat the remaining 1/4 pound of butter and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the leeks begin to brown. Add the sliced mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the half-and-half, cream, and parsley, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and heat through but do not boil. Serve hot.

Serves 5 to 6.