Cooking
Sage and apple stuffed pork loin: I tested this out for Thanksgiving as an alternative to turkey and tried it again this past weekend for “Girlsgiving”. The stuffing is sooo yummy, and it gets so flavourful cooking with the pork juices and mustard. It works with both tenderloin or a loin roast, the only thing that changes is cooking time. Rough recipe below for the stuffing, will work on a formal recipe for the website including instructions for the pork.
4 tbsp butter
2 small shallots or 1 small white onion finely diced
1 stalk celery finely diced
6 sage leaves (4 used in pan, 2 finely diced in at the end)
1 apple (honey crisp) finely chopped
2 tbsp dried currants
4-5 cups fresh white bread, small cubes (about half a loaf)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Cracked black pepper
1 tbsp grainy mustard
1/2 cup chicken broth/stock
In a pan (cast iron or non-stick) heat 2 tbsp butter to medium and once melted add in the shallots, celery and sage leaves. Sautee until onion and celery are soft. Add in the apple and currents, continuing to cook for 5 minutes until the apple begins to soften (you don’t want apple sauce, just a bit of tenderness to the apple). Add in your bread and another 2 tbsp of butter - try to not stir a ton as you want the bread to toast a bit on the bottom. After 2 mins, stir, and wait again - repeat until bread seems toasty and crisp throughout. Season with salt and pepper, add in the grainy mustard and stir well so the mustard is well distributed and the mustard seeds start to pop a little in the heat. Then add in the chicken broth/stock and turn off the heat. The stuffing should have enough moisture that it somewhat sticks together when pressed.
Other things I cooked:
Superhero muffins: These are my favourite muffins that actually keep me satiated through the morning. Baked up a batch of these and froze half of them for future me.
My Zuchinni Chicken Burgers: my friend and I made these on Friday night, always a great go-to for a quick, flavourful burger!
Spaghetti sauce: One Sunday I made a batch of spaghetti sauce to put into portions in my freezer for easy meals in the future. It was a beautiful fall day here so was nice to spend some time doing slow cooking.
Veggie broth: I’m trying to waste less food so one thing I had seen my friend @cashinbakes do is to make vegetable broth out of all of her veggie scraps. Since I was using onion, celery, carrot and mushrooms for my spaghetti sauce I put all the scraps from those, as well as a few whole versions in a pot with some herbs and water and let it simmer for a few hours. I froze it to use as a base in soup this winter.
English muffin pizzas: A childhood classic, I buy jarred pizza sauce, and then top with any veggie I have on hand. My favourite move is to slice kale really thinly and top the pizza with it, allowing some to go onto the cookie sheet. When I cook them at 400F, the kale on the pan gets crispy like kale chips.
Drinking
This delicious bourbon cocktail. It’s like a French 75 but with bourbon - I would never think to combine bourbon and prosecco but it was soooo tasty. Going to be a go-to cocktail for winter!
Following
@thefirstmess for her plant-based inspiration. I’ve posted about her before but especially with all this fall veg in season, I check Laura’s page the most for recipes. I have her apple kale salad with miso-mustard dressing saved for next week!
Listening
Obviously to just Adele on repeat.
Using
My Dutch oven*. With soup and braising season here I use this more and more. If you aren’t ready to invest in Staub or Le Creuset, Lodge is a great budget brand. I’ve had mine since 2017 and it’s well-loved and used, but still in great condition.
Thinking
About brunch. I went for my first brunch since the pandemic this weekend, and it was so lovely to check out a different part of the city and catch up with old and new friends. I love making brunch at home but sometimes it is nice to go out and have the restaurant experience.
Laughing
I love him!
Have a great week!
Kaleigh
*affiliate link, but as always, if you can, shop local!