Skordalia

For the potato cakes recipe, I made quite a lot of mashed potatoes. I really did. Bunches and bunches. I really like mashed potatoes, but this was going a bit far...

I made a bunch of potato cakes. We ate those. I served them with my last chicken post. We ate that. But I still had about 4 cups of mashed potatoes left over. What was I supposed to do with that?!

Ah. The internet. Thank you internet.

Skordalia. A Greek dip made with loads of garlic, and mostly, potatoes. Oh, and a TON of olive oil. What could be more perfect? Oh, if you don't have Garlic Olive Oil, I would suggest using Greek Olive Oil, like our Salonika, and 3-4 extra garlic cloves. Or more. This is a garlic dip after all. One recipe I saw called for 16 cloves. That may be too much. Use your own best judgement there.

As I already had the mashed potatoes, I didn't have to go through the trouble of cooking more, but here is the full recipe, because, unlike me, you do not have an insane amount of mashed potatoes in your fridge. Unless you do, then we can be best friends.

Skordalia

1 lb russet potatoes
2-6 cloves garlic
3/4 cup Garlic Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
crushed and toasted walnuts or almonds, optional
fresh herbs to toss in, not traditional, but awesome

Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water until they are cooked through. You should be able to slide a knife or fork into them with no resistance.

Mash them really finely. They should be very smooth.

Crush the garlic and salt together and mix into the potatoes. Beat in the olive oil and the lemon juice. The mixture should be as thin, or a little thinner than hummus. Taste for salt and pepper.

Add the herbs and stir through if you are using them. And sprinkle with nuts, if you are using those. (I did not)

Serve with chips, veggies, a spoon...

Pork Loin with Balsamic Mustard Sauce

At the grocery store the other day, I noticed a great sale on pork loin. It was half off. I was tempted to buy them completely out, but stuck with just two instead. If it had been seventy-five percent off, we would have pork loin all month long. Instead, I have this one and then, one more later this month. 

I decided to use one of our rubs on this. One of my favorites, the Prime Rub. It doesn't really add too much flavor, it seems more to bring the flavors out. It is not available on the web yet, but just come in or call for it. 

Pork Loin with Balsamic Mustard Sauce

3-5 lb pork loin
2 tbsp Prime Rub Basiks Seasonings
1 tbsp Salonika Greek Olive Oil

Sauce:
1 medium onion
4 tbsp Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp Salonika Olive Oil

Preheat your oven to 350degrees.

Rub the olive oil all over the pork loin. Sprinkle the spices to cover the whole piece. Put the loin into a deep sided roasting pan. Cover loosely with foil and place in the oven. In the last ten minutes, remove the foil. Depending on the size of your roast, it takes about an hour. Make sure that you cook it to an internal temperature of 145degrees.

To prepare the sauce, chop your onion thinly. I like tiny bits, but larger chunks are great. Saute with the olive oil over a medium high setting until they start to lightly brown. Add in the balsamic and the mustard. and stir to combine.

Turn the heat down to just medium and let the mixture simmer away until it thickens slightly. No longer than 7 minutes, or it may burn.

Let the meat rest for 3-10 minutes before slicing it. Serve with sauce on top.

Pumpkin Alfredo

I know that this isn't breakfast, but it is related to my recent pumpkin waffles. I had a half can of pumpkin left over and I needed to use it up. So, what to do with a half can of pumpkin? I thought about making pumpkin-cider donuts, but I am saving that for my husband's birthday. And if I make it now, I have to come up with something else for him. So I looked around the fridge and noticed some sour cream. So there we have it, Alfredo!

Pumpkin Alfredo

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp pumpkin pie spices
1 pint mushrooms
1/4 cup White Wine Jelly
2 tbsp Salonika Olive Oil
1 pkg pasta, any kind
Himalayan Pink Salt
Black Pepper

Heat the olive oil to medium in a high sided saute pan. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of the salt. Stir to coat with the olive oil and cover. Let them cook for about 6-7 minutes.

While the mushrooms are reducing themselves, cook your pasta in lightly salted water. When it is done, rinse in cold water and set aside in a large bowl.

After the mushrooms have reduced well, add the wine jelly and the spices and the pepper. Stir around and then stir in the sour and heavy creams.

Let that simmer for 1-3 minutes. Now stir in the pumpkin, making sure that everything is well combined.

If you have a large enough pan, pour the pasta into it and toss. If you don't, let it cook for another minute to fully heat the pumpkin too and then pour the sauce over the pasta.

*If you don't have wine jelly, substitute with regular wine and add 2-4 minutes to the cooking time to simmer off the alcohol.

Scallop and Tomato Pasta

This easy dish was created by my father because my mother wanted a light seafood dish. I got a little bite, it was great!

Scallop and Tomato Pasta

1 pk linguine noodles

1 small package of scallops, fresh or thawed

1 pint cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp Greek Olive Oil

Cook the linguine until it is al dente and set aside.

Warm the olive oil in a saute pan to medium high heat and saute the scallops until they are almost done, about 1 minute. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to the pan. Saute for another minute. Add the linguine and toss. Cover and let cook for one more minute.