whoda thunk it?

i'm excited about dinner tomorrow night. not tonight, but tomorrow.

and with the size my butt is, you'd think i'd be more excited about food every.damn.day.

but i'm not. tomorrow, however, is an exception.

we're going back here. yes, we just went for Husband's birthday. but when there, we saw a table card for an event they're having tomorrow night...a clambake.

holy freaking crustaceans, Batman!

being West Coasters, neither of us have been to a clambake. i'm not sure if it's actually in the restaurant, or in their courtyard outside, but in either case, this is gonna be fun.

unfortunately, it's been a week of really good eating. i made a pork tenderloin that was way super good...and if you're interested, here you go:
preheat oven to 375-400
get 1 pork tenderloin 1-2lbs
large ziplok bag - inside bag add 1tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp seasoned salt, 1 -2 tsps each dried basil and oregano. shake to combine.

put your tenderloin in and shake to coat.

next, take three strips of bacon and wrap around the tenderloin, secure with toothpicks if needed.
coat in olive oil, put in a foil lined 9x13 baking dish. bake at 375 for 45 or 400 for 60 minutes, or until internal temp reaches 155 and bacon is crispy.

remove from oven, wrap in foil and let rest for 10 minutes. eat 'em up. yum.

good food part two

one of our favorite, inexpensive and good places to eat is the Old Spaghetti Factory. regular readers may remember it as the site of Brendan's birthday party. one of our favorite dishes is their Browned Butter with Mizithra cheese. way, WAY yummy.

try this. cut up two sticks of butter and put in a saucepan. melt over low heat really slowly. once it begins to boil, stir constantly to prevent residue from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

As the butter cooks, it will start to foam and rise. Continue stirring, otherwise the butter foam could overflow (about 5 minutes) and catch fire. Once the butter stops foaming and rising, cook until amber in color (about 1 to 2 minutes). It will have a pleasant caramel aroma.

Turn off the heat and remove pan from burner. Let the sediment settle to the bottom of the pan for a few minutes. Pour the brown butter through a strainer into a small bowl. Do not disturb the residue at the bottom of the pan.
The brown butter can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated in a microwave as needed.

Boil the pasta of choice until Al Dente. Drain pasta and divide into four servings. Spread 1/4 cup of Mizithra over each pasta serving. Top with 1/4 cup of hot brown butter. (actually i do it the other way, butter first, then cheese. if you can't find Mizithra, which is a hard Greek cheese, you can use a Romano blend...it'll almost be the same)

tonight: Husband's birthday finishes at our favorite Japanese restaurant. i must now cut coupons for dinner...local papers run a buy one, get one free up to $20 offer and with ten people coming, they do come in handy.

bon appetite!