I have copied and pasted this post from another board I frequent. The response was low, so I figured I'd take it from a strategy game forum to one concentrating on cooking. In no way, shape or form am I a kitchen expert. I'm just a guy that likes to muck about with food. Any feedback would be appreciated. --- So, I've now done two amazing dinners in a row at home. I will describe the first one. I bought a 3.3 pound pork tenderloin and cut it into 3 roughly equal sizes. I put 2 in the freezer and soaked one in a white wine (cheap), mustard seed, rosemary, fresh cracked pepper (black, white, green, red) and sea salt marinade. I prepped the meat by stabbing it a dozen or so times on each side, so the marinade would soak in further. I let this soak for 2 days, turning every 12 hours. I skewered (after the bamboo skewers soaked in water for 25 minutes) red bell pepper, onion, cherry tomatos, squash and some dried, shiitake mushrooms that were soaked for 30 minutes in a mixture of water and, Australian red wine (expensive). I peeled and nuked 3 smallish potatoes in the microwave for 10 minutes then mashed them up with a mixture of melted butter, milk, 1 egg and the last of my tube of wasabi paste. Oh yes! Can't forget the garlic, fresh cracked pepper, and sea salt. I just used a garlic powder, as we bought a ton of it on sale, much cheaper than fresh garlic. I'm skipping ahead... before doing the skewers and mashed potatoes, I fired up my tiny grill-for-two and made sure to lay down a generous supply of mesquite woodchips (soaked in water for a while) on top of the hot charcoal. I took the pork loin out of the marinade and cut a huge slit on the non-fatty side, into which I put 6 cloves of fresh garlic and about 1/5 of a white onion, chopped into garlic clove sizes. (I couldn't fit any more, as it was a tiny, 1 pound loin. Originally I wanted to put the mushrooms into it as well... but there just wasn't room.) I tied some kitchen twine around the loin to keep the contents from spilling out. That puppy was slapped on the hot, smokey grill and cooked for 20 minutes, then turned over, cooked for another 20 minutes, at which point I put my skewers and green onions on the grill (NOTHING like green onions on the grill) and my mashed potatoes in the oven at 200 degrees Farenheit. When everything was finished we had a feast like no other! We watched 'American Movie' while dining. A movie I had seen before, but appreciated yet again. So, that is the first of my one-two punch dinner combo. Sorry the picture quality is low. It was quite dark and I couldn't see to focus the camera, and I was using flash. I despise flash. I noticed that these two dinners that were excellent both had themes running throughout. Now, I've always had a cooking philosophy that deals with tying all the dishes together. Perhaps through using 1 spice in all the dishes (to varying degrees, and naturally with different spice accompaniments). This dish had a theme that involved preparation, as did the second dish which will not be revealed today. This dinner involved soaking. Not only did I soak 2 of the ingredients (mushrooms, pork loin) but also 2 of the cooking implements (bamboo skewers, mesquite wood chips). I believe that due to this, in part, the individual components of the meal meshed together very well. Or maybe that is the hippy in me. :P The second meal involved lots of chopping. Mmmmmm! vV www.vicvegas.com
