Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Marsala sauce

• 2 pork tenderloins
• 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 cup heavy cream (I used half and half)
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat pork tenderloins generously with mustard. Oil a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange tenderloins in pan, and brown the meat. Turn to brown evenly. Transfer meat to prepared baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Turn, and continue cooking for 20 minutes, or until desired doneness.
Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat in the same pan used to cook the pork. Cook shallots in butter until soft. Stir in Marsala, mustard, and cream, and cook until volume of liquid is reduced by half.
Slice pork, and place on a serving dish. Spoon sauce over meat, and serve.

Slow Cooker Chicken Parisienne

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• salt and pepper to taste
• paprika to taste
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
  
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Sprinkle chicken breasts lightly with salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. Place in slow cooker.
In a mixing bowl, combine the wine, condensed soup, and mushrooms. In another bowl, mix together sour cream and flour. Stir sour cream mixture into the mushrooms and wine. Pour over chicken in slow cooker. Sprinkle with additional paprika, if desired.
Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.


I made this as a 'bon voyage' meal for TJ and Alycia, a couple days before they left for their Roman holiday. I made the chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and broccoli, and took it over to their house, where we ate on the futon watching the Office, and then packed. Alycia thought the 'skirts reaching below the knee must be worn' rule for churches in Italy meant that she must wear skirts...

Morning Glory muffins

• 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cups white sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 apple - peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup apple butter
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil 18 muffin cups, or coat with nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, apple butter, applesauce and vanilla.
In a large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in carrots, apples and raisins. Stir in apple butter mixture until just moistened. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and spring back when lightly pressed.

Peanut Butter Soup

• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups diced, cooked chicken meat
• 1 cup peeled and cubed potatoes
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced zucchini
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 cup canned whole tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, combine the broth, chicken, potatoes, and carrots. Bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium. Cook for about 10 minutes, till vegetables are tender.
Add zucchini, broccoli, tomatoes, onion, and garlic. Simmer for about 8 minutes.
Add peanut butter, salt, and pepper; stir until peanut butter is fully blended. Simmer for 3 minutes longer.

Apple Muffins

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups chopped apples
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
4. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Garlic honey chicken

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple tidbits, drained with juice reserved
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook chicken thighs just until evenly browned on all sides. Place thighs in a slow cooker.
In a bowl, mix honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, ginger, and reserved pineapple juice. Pour into the slow cooker.
Cover, and cook 4 hours on High. Stir in pineapple tidbits just before serving.
Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Remove thighs from slow cooker. Blend the cornstarch mixture into remaining sauce in the slow cooker to thicken. Serve sauce over the chicken.

Apple Crisp

• 1o-ish apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 T vanilla
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 dash nutmeg
• 1/2 C cider (or water)
• 1 box white/yellow cake mix
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 3/4 C oats
• 1/2 C butter, melted
  

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, toss the apple slices with the lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spread apple slices evenly in a 13x9 pan. Pour the cider or water over the apples (this can be ommitted). You could also add caramel ice cream topping here.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together cake mix, brown sugar and oats. Slowly pour the butter, mixing, until you have a moist, crumbly 'dough'. Spread the mixture over the apples. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until crust is browning. (I put foil on for the second half of baking).


Another volume in the Apple Chronicles. We had a pizza party at our weekly radio show and since I didn't want to make pie, but I did want to use as many apples as possible, I decided to experiment in making apple crisp (which I think is better than pie, anyway).

Apple Spice Cake

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups apple - peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins or dates
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x4 inch loaf pan. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar, egg and oil. stir in the sifted ingredients. fold in the apples, nuts and raisins.
3. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean

Since I went a little overboard on my recent trip to the orchard and now have enough apples to put a pie on every windowsill in the country, I've been trying out some new apple recipes (A girl can only eat so much applesauce, ya know?) I made this fo rmy Monday night Church group and I was pleased with the outcome. Very easy, very moist and very yummy when served warm. I doubled the recipe and put it an extra egg, and baked it in two loaf pans.

Cauliflower Soup

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped
  
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 head cauliflower, chopped
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in potatoes and cook 5 minutes more. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in cauliflower, cover, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Puree in batches in a blender or food processor, or in the pot using an immersion blender. Return to low heat and stir in milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg and sherry. Heat through. Add cheese and stir until melted.

This is for real my new favorite soup! 'Bloom', our local high-end grocery store, had cauliflower and broccoli on super sale this week and, incapable of turning down a deal as I am, I of course bought copious amounts of the vegetables. But this soup was so easy, and unlike most super-fattening cream soups, this one gets it's consistency from the potatoes, and therefore is a healthier option. My mom and I cooked this up and Cody joined us for dinner- even he liked it, and that's saying a lot (this kid is a major vegetable hater). My parents called me from the road today to say "we didn't really get to talk about the soup, but we both thought it was really good!" This is a toe-warming soup, and goodness knows that this time of year my toes could use some serious heat.

Autumn Casserole

• 1 lb. sausage--cooked and drained
• 3-4 apples--sliced and chopped into fine pieces
• 1/2 red onion
  
• 1 acorn squash--halved
• 1 box Stove Top stuffing (I made my own- see below)

Place the two pieces of squash face down on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until tender. Scoop out the insides and add butter, salt and brown sugar to taste, and mix well. Mix together sausage, apple, onion, and squash and empty the mixture into a casserole dish. Layer the stuffing on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the stuffing is browning.

Um what could I possibly love more than apples, onions and squash- together?! This dish just screams scarecrows and spiderweds to me. I love the herb-y stuffing with the sweet apples and rich squash. It's just a jumble of really great flavors and it makes me feel like I'm sitting in a giant pile of leaves while I'm eating. Perfect.

Cornbread Stuffing

• 1 (16 ounce) package dry corn bread mix
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 small onion
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons dried sage
• salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the dry corn bread mix according to package directions. Cool and crumble.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the celery and onion until soft.
3. In a large bowl, combine the celery, onions, 3 cups crumbled corn bread, eggs, chicken stock, sage and salt and pepper to taste; mix well.
4. Place into prepared dish and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.