December 11 - Cathelyn's Penne a la Vodka

Pork menudo became an instant favorite of Daniel. As for Cathelyn, she chose Penne a la Vodka.

Besides the vodka, the sundried tomatoes gave the dish its unique twist.

If you are thinking of making this dish vegetarian, feel free to exclude the bacon and add in more butter or use olive oil to saute the garlic and onion.

Penne a la Vodka
Ingredients
1 package of penne pasta
12 pieces of sundried tomatoes, sliced into thin strips, softened in 1 cup of warm water
1/4 lb chunk of Schaller & Weber double smoked bacon, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, minced
100 ml. heavy cream
1 cup of Vodka or Vermouth
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp butter
freshly ground pepper





Cooking Time
Cook the penne pasta as instructed in the package.
When selecting bacon, get a chunk from your butcher shop or gourmet store.
This kind of bacon is not as fatty when cooked.
In a large pan, fry the diced bacon.
Add the garlic and onion and cook until caramelized.
Add the sundried tomatoes together with the water and cook for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are tender.
Add the heavy cream, cheese and butter.
Lower the heat.
Adjust the taste (by adding more cheese) to make sure that the sauce is not bland.
Add the vodka (or Vermouth) and quickly mix in the penne pasta.
Add some freshly ground pepper.

December 11 - Daniel's Pork Menudo Dish

This version of Pork Menudo became an instant hit to my son, Daniel.

I was careful not to put so much water. The sauce is just enough to cover the dish without making it soupy.

A diversion to normal recipe is using chickpeas instead of green peas. So if your kids are not used to the taste of chickpeas yet, then feel free to use green peas.


Pork Menudo
Ingredients
1 package of pork tenderloin (about 3 lbs), cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp paprika
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, minced
4 medium sized tomato, diced
4 Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced crosswise
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 big Yukon potatoes, diced
1 can of chickpeas
1 cup raisins
salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 cup water




Cooking Time (45 minutes)
Heat the olive oil in a large pan or wok.
Saute the garlic and onion until caramelized.
Add the tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are wilted.
Add the pork tenderloin and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the chorizos, potatoes, paprika and 1 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the pepper, chick peas and raisins.
Add some salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for another 10 minutes.
Be careful not to make the potatoes mushy.
Add the grated parmesan cheese and cook for just 3 minutes to melt the cheese.

December 11 - A Very Festive Potato Salad

I earned a lot of points serving this very festive potato salad to my husband.

Besides having that wonderful "red" color (make sure you use fresh red beets and not canned!), the different vegetables mixed a lot of unique tastes to an otherwise boring potato salad.

Do not hesitate to add onion and cheddar cheese to your salad!

I served this potato salad with baked ham, another favorite of my husband...

Russian Potato Salad

Ingredients
12 small buttercream potatoes
4 red beets
4 medium sized carrots
1 green bell pepper
1 large sweet onion
4 boiled brown eggs
3 tbsp of tillamook cheddar cheese, diced
2 tbsp superfine sugar
dash of salt
dash of freshly ground pepper
1 cup mayonnaise





Preparation and Cooking Time (1 hour)
Use a big bowl to mix in all the ingredients.
Boil the vegetables with the skin on (20 minutes for the pepper, onion and carrots, 30 minutes for the potatoes and beets).
Peel the skin off and dice the vegetables, eggs and cheese.
Mix all the ingredients together with sugar, salt, pepper and mayonnaise.