Fennel Applesauce

My new favorite web obsession is the Weelicious website. It has all kinds of awesome, kid-friendly and good-for-you recipes. LOVE IT!

I saw this recipe for Apple Fennel Puree and thought it was interesting. The kids love applesauce and eat it either by itself or on.....whatever. Most recently we've been putting it on waffles in the morning. Fennel is an awesome source of nutrition and has a licorice taste to it, so I thought that I'd give it a whirl. It came out great! It tastes like normal applesauce but with just a hint of that licorice at the end. It's not "sweet" though - so if you're use to eating sweeter applesauce, then you might want to add a little bit of sugar or something to it. I buy the kids natural applesauce - so they're pretty use to the not-as-sweet flavor. But just FYI that you might have to alter it a little bit to you liking. Also, you could up the apples to 3 instead of 2 ---that might help with the sweetness factor a little too!

Photo courtesy of Weelicious

Apple Fennel Puree

(Make 6 Baby Servings)

1 Fennel Bulb, fronds removed and fennel bulb (the white part) chopped
2 Apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I like to use Gala, Pink Lady or Fuji apples)

1. Place the fennel in a steamer pot over boiling water and cook for 4 minutes.
2. Add the apples to the pot and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until fennel and apples are fork tender.
3. Place the mixture in a food processor and puree.
4. Serve.

Pork Roast in Rich Red Wine Sauce

My goodness, this was so good. Seriously.......yum.


Pork Roast in Rich Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients --Serves 8

3 tablespoons canola oil
5 pounds boneless pork loin roast, tied (***I did not have it tied)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
4 cups Cabernet Sauvignon wine (***Yup....that's an entire bottle!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon peppercorns


2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour

Methods/steps

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the meat in oil to brown on all sides.

Add garlic, parsley, wine, salt and peppercorns. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 3 hours.

Remove meat and reduce stock to 1/3 of it's volume. Strain the sauce to remove the peppercorns.

Heat butter in a smaller saucepan. Add flour and cook 3 minutes, pour in the stock, and simmer to thicken.

Carve the pork and serve with sauce separately.

Additional Tips

You can use a smaller piece of pork for fewer servings, but leave the sauce recipe alone - the extra sauce helps permeate the meat with it's rich flavor.

---------------------------------------------
After I seared the meat, I sliced up an onion and browned it, then I added the other ingredients. I did not have any peppercorns, so I omitted those (although I did add some normal pepper). The sauce is SO good. Seriously, I'm trying to think of other things to put it on just so I can make sure every last drop gets eaten.

Just FYI -- I bought a 5lb roast and just used it for Darrin and myself. Then, I'm using the leftovers for 2 different meals. Leftover meal #1 is going to be pulled pork BBQ sandwiches and Leftover Meal #2 is going to be 7-Bean and Barley soup (using the bone from the roast and then throwing in whatever meat I have leftover). So don't let the "feeds 8" thing scare you off! :)

Garlicky Clams and Mussels

Clams and Mussels went on sale at Henrys, and knowing how much Darrin LOVES clams and mussles, I thought I'd grab some and make a yummy dish out of them! **Quick Rant --- I asked the seafood guy to give me 2 lbs of Clams (since they were big) and 1 lb of mussels (I cut the recipe in half). When I got home, I realized that over HALF of the mussels I was given were already open meaning that they were unusable. I could only use 19 out of my 40 mussels. I was NOT a happy camper. Note to self - from now on, when wanting mussels, go to a real fish monger where I can pick and choose the items I want. OK...rant over. **

Anywho - here's the pasta recipe that I used. It was DELICIOUS! I was licking up the bowl!

Garlicky Clams and Mussels Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 2 pounds baby clams (littleneck if available), scrubbed
• 1 stick of butter, cut into tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic, in all
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pounds fresh angel hair pasta
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

Directions

Bring a pot of salted water up to a boil. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil and the garlic cloves. When the garlic starts to turn golden discard the cloves, about 2 minutes. Add the mussels and clams to the oil. Cover the pan and saute the seafood for about 3 to 4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, or until the shells open. Remove the pan from the heat and discard any shells that did not open. Pour the seafood into a bowl and set aside. Place the saute pan back on the heat and melt the butter with the minced garlic, over medium-low heat, about 2 minutes. Drop the pasta in the boiling water and cook until the pasta is al dente, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the Sauteed mussels and clams with their liquid back into the pan. Saute for 1 minute. Remove the pasta from the water and drain. Place the pasta directly into the saute pan. Remove from the heat and toss the pasta with the mussels and clams. Season with salt and pepper. Mound the pasta in the center of an over-sized pasta bowl. Garnish with the grated cheese and chopped parsley