Goodnight Irene!

So apparently there is a hurricane coming;  so bring out all your hurricane/Irene reference.  Best thing for a hurricane is alcohol and we have plenty of it.  I'm also playing a storm/hurricane themed playlist but Erin really isn't getting into the hurricane party mood :-(  Anyway, on too the food.

Chicken w/Wine Braised Mushrooms

So we have two nights of dinners to update everyone on.  Last night I made Chicken and Wine Braised Mushrooms with a Quinoa Pilaf.  So to premise this dish, it is the first time I've ever cooked quinoa and also the first time we have ever eaten it.  It has a very nice flavor (I cooked it in chicken broth), has the texture of a split between tapioca and over cooked pasta I would say.  The pilaf was made with some shallots, carrots and then tossed with chopped walnuts and parsley.  We both enjoyed it, but something about the quinoa did not agree with Erin's stomach.  Oh well, more quinoa for me!  The chicken was basically just sauteed with a little oil, salt & pepper.  The mushrooms were cooked down till soft then I added in about 3/4 a cup of white cooking wine and let that cook for a while till the mushrooms started to really soak up the flavor of the wine.  Other than Erin liking, but not being able to "stomach" the quinoa it definitely was a very good dinner.  And the quinoa is very good for you since it is high in Iron and Protein. 

Saturday morning before the bad weather started to come in I wanted to get a bike ride in and luckily I was able too.  Today I did 8 miles from home to the trail, a few laps around that and then back home.  I was even able to get up a portion of the pain in the butt hill that I have to ride up on the way back.  We prepared a little for the hurricane too; went shopping on Friday to pick up some non - refrigerated stuff just in case we lost power.  We made some huge blocks of ice as well to use in our cooler and filled up a bunch of my hockey water bottles with fresh water.  Overkill....maybe, but we'll see.  I also brought in my grill that I haven't really been able to use; being on the third floor really doesn't make it easy to use. Breakfast was awesome and consisted of what I like to call the Sunrise Omelet.  It has so much color it's just reminds you of the sun rising.  Red, orange and yellow peppers, shallots, mushrooms and cheese, just plain great! 

I was going to try and do a quick run through of a taping for my web show (name to be announced Monday or Tuesday) but with the crappy weather and not knowing what will happen, I decided against it.  Tonight's dinner was Grilled Pork Tenderloin with a Lime Peach salsa.  I added a side of green beans to the dish and that was about it.  The pork was grilled with a paste of garlic, oil and pepper on top and if I may say so, cooked perfectly!  The Lime Peach salsa had a nice flavor and the mint that was also in it gave the pork a very light, fresh taste.  Next time I might try to use a little less lime juice and do more of a peach salsa; something a tad bit sweeter.  After cooking this dish, one of my favorite things in the food world is pork tenderloin.  So easy to cook, and there is so much that you can do with it; the ideas are limitless.

Well the storm continues, and will only get more severe over the next 12 hours or so.  Probably no blog till late tomorrow or Monday.  Nothing interesting planned for dinner tomorrow, we have a bunch of leftovers and canned stuff that we make pretty quick.  If you're in the path of Irene, please be safe and I'll talk to everyone after the storm is over.  Night all!