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My Chef's Hat - Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles
I have a love/hate relationship with the weeks leading up to Christmas. Love, because it means we are off work for at least a week. Yes, we still have basketball games and the bowl game, but there's no early AM alarm clocks or sitting in the office all day. Hate, because we get all kinds of treats and goodies in the office. Sure, it's great to get all of that stuff, but my waistline certainly doesn't like it.
About 3 weeks ago a box came to the office, specifically for me. I opened it to find a pork loin
I've never gotten one of these before, either as a gift or from the grocery store. And besides, I was having a holiday party that weekend and realized it would be perfect to use for that. So I was pretty excited.
I figured pre-cooked, it wouldn't take more than about 15 minutes to warm up. Well, that's not even remotely close. To do it properly, without cutting it first, takes about 40 minutes. But my goodness is it worth the wait! The whole kitchen smelled amazing, and the meat was incredibly tender and juicy. Even the white meat, which would normally get very dry.
I had some leftover, and rather than just pick at it every time I opened the fridge, I wanted to make a meal out of it. There are tons of recipes on Pinterest for pork loin, both new and leftover. I eventually came across the recipe for Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles. I was in kind of an Asian mood anyways, so this was perfect.
Here is the official recipe photo
Here's the pork in the overnight marinade
And here is my finished version
This dish was excellent. I was a little worried that doing a stir-fry of the pork loin might make it dry because this was essentially a 3rd cooking. The marinade kept that moisture locked in, and the only pieces I didn't care for were those that were the leanest to begin with. I was convinced I had more than enough marinade, but looking at the recipe photos I could have easily done more. There's really never such a thing as too much marinade. Also, I didn't add peanut butter so that made a difference in the consistency of mine.
There were so many flavors and vibrant colors going on in this dish as well. I roasted the peanuts slightly before adding them on top, and that just added to the overall flavor of the dish. I sauteed my veggies instead of adding them raw, which I do very often. It adds even more flavor while softening the veggies just slightly.
I will definitely be making this again, and soon.
Original Recipe Courtesy of Pinch of Yum
About 3 weeks ago a box came to the office, specifically for me. I opened it to find a pork loin
I've never gotten one of these before, either as a gift or from the grocery store. And besides, I was having a holiday party that weekend and realized it would be perfect to use for that. So I was pretty excited.
I figured pre-cooked, it wouldn't take more than about 15 minutes to warm up. Well, that's not even remotely close. To do it properly, without cutting it first, takes about 40 minutes. But my goodness is it worth the wait! The whole kitchen smelled amazing, and the meat was incredibly tender and juicy. Even the white meat, which would normally get very dry.
I had some leftover, and rather than just pick at it every time I opened the fridge, I wanted to make a meal out of it. There are tons of recipes on Pinterest for pork loin, both new and leftover. I eventually came across the recipe for Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles. I was in kind of an Asian mood anyways, so this was perfect.
Here is the official recipe photo
Here's the pork in the overnight marinade
And here is my finished version
This dish was excellent. I was a little worried that doing a stir-fry of the pork loin might make it dry because this was essentially a 3rd cooking. The marinade kept that moisture locked in, and the only pieces I didn't care for were those that were the leanest to begin with. I was convinced I had more than enough marinade, but looking at the recipe photos I could have easily done more. There's really never such a thing as too much marinade. Also, I didn't add peanut butter so that made a difference in the consistency of mine.
There were so many flavors and vibrant colors going on in this dish as well. I roasted the peanuts slightly before adding them on top, and that just added to the overall flavor of the dish. I sauteed my veggies instead of adding them raw, which I do very often. It adds even more flavor while softening the veggies just slightly.
I will definitely be making this again, and soon.
Original Recipe Courtesy of Pinch of Yum
Repeats with a Twist - Lottinvilles Restaurant & Bar, Edmond OK
I've gotten much too far behind with this blog. That happened when I first began 3 1/2 years ago, including twice when I went 3 months without a post. Completely unacceptable now, when I'm working so hard to grow the blog. I will say, this lapse happening during this time of year has given me a little bit of a pass, since so many are focused on the holidays. But that's over now.
Last month I decided to change platforms, going from Blogger to WordPress. I could have paid them to switch everything for me, and it would have been done in a matter of probably 3 days. But I didn't want to spend $150 for that so I did it myself. It's not hard, but it is really time-consuming. My whole focus became switching over, so I held of on new posts, even though I kept racking up restaurants. I finally finished the switch last Sunday, but then got swept up in finding a new theme. And then we left for New Orleans for the bowl game. I also planned to have the new theme done and ready to launch today. But the bowl trip completely threw me off, and the only thing I did last week was take pictures and notes for new restaurants. So now I'm that much more behind. No more excuses though. I will have this launch done by next Monday, and have got to get back to doing new posts regularly. I'm on a mission.
One of the things I've really struggled with in this blog are pictures. Some of my pictures are so out of focus it's ridiculous. And of course, food blogs are visual. So I'm quite sure I'm hurting myself with that. Every time I go through the blog to look for a post to use as Blast from the Past, I have to skip over the ones with bad pictures. I've decided to go back to some of those places and take better pictures.
The first of these is Lottinvilles Restaurant & Bar. Last spring I went for the first time with my friend Joe the night before NCAA wrestling championships. I had never even heard of the restaurant before, and Joe had found it on TripAdvisor. Being with a group of people I didn't know, I needed to be social and not focus as much on the blog post. My pictures reflected that, as some were horrible. My mom said it's because we were drinking. Nope...the 2 pictures in the middle were the worst, and the last picture of dessert was perfect.
A few weeks ago I was going to OKC to run a few errands, so I jumped at the chance to go back to Lottinvilles. The restaurant is in Edmond, and if you don't know where you're going you will never find it. My car GPS couldn't find it, but thankfully my phone GPS came to the rescue. The place is really pretty from the outside, with ivy climbing the walls and a really nice front entrance door. I'm sure it is gorgeous in the summer
The inside is very nice as well. There's a host stand as soon as you enter, and the entire space is kind of a large circle. Curve to the left, and there's quite a big bar area with a full bar with seating, and several tables. Curve to the right from the entrance, and there's a large open kitchen and a chef's table. I don't know that I've ever been to a restaurant with that before. The main dining room takes up the rest of the space, and at the back you walk up 2 steps to 2 larger group tables along the back wall.
The huge windows at the back let in lots of light. The ceilings are extremely tall, with exposed beams about 2/3 of the way up. There is a partial wall separating the main dining room from the other areas of the restaurant, and they have this very cool wrought iron design to create a higher separation with visual interest.
I arrived well after the lunch rush, so when the hostess offered me a booth I took it. I wouldn't normally do that or even ask if I'm dining solo and the restaurant is crowded. I'm glad I took the booth, because it is very comfortable and had great lighting for pictures.
The first thing that comes to the table is bread. On my last visit the bread was warm. It wasn't served warm this time, but that could be because it was lunch. Temperature didn't matter much though, because the bread has sea salt baked into the crust.
I only had one piece of bread, which for me is a big deal. It was excellent, but I didn't want to ruin my meal.
I considered getting the soup of the day because it sounded really good. However, the soup was spicy and it was 75 degrees outside...not a good combination. I love deviled eggs, and decided to go that route instead
The eggs change daily, and on this day it was topped with caviar and crabmeat. It was a very interesting combination with the bed of iceberg lettuce, and one I've never seen before. The bite of the caviar provided a good contrast to the creamy texture of the eggs. The crabmeat was just okay, but I was prepared for that going in. I'm such a crab snob that it would take a miracle to top the best I've had. I didn't let that stop me from devouring the whole appetizer.
Before I visited the first time, my friend Dianne raved about the blue corn enchiladas. She's never steered me wrong in the past, so I went with them. My picture from the first visit was awful, so I decided to get them again
These were just as delicious as my first visit. The red chile sauce was excellent, and the avocado added a great creamy contrast in texture to the rest of the dish. You wouldn't think that an egg would work with enchiladas, but then you would be wrong. I love that the egg was cooked over easy, and it basically melted into the enchiladas. Previously the dish wasn't warm enough for my taste, but this time it was much better. The green chile mac was even better than I remembered. It has a wonderful bite from the chiles, spicy but not overwhelming.
Will I go back again? No question. I want to do a group dinner at the chef's table.
Last month I decided to change platforms, going from Blogger to WordPress. I could have paid them to switch everything for me, and it would have been done in a matter of probably 3 days. But I didn't want to spend $150 for that so I did it myself. It's not hard, but it is really time-consuming. My whole focus became switching over, so I held of on new posts, even though I kept racking up restaurants. I finally finished the switch last Sunday, but then got swept up in finding a new theme. And then we left for New Orleans for the bowl game. I also planned to have the new theme done and ready to launch today. But the bowl trip completely threw me off, and the only thing I did last week was take pictures and notes for new restaurants. So now I'm that much more behind. No more excuses though. I will have this launch done by next Monday, and have got to get back to doing new posts regularly. I'm on a mission.
One of the things I've really struggled with in this blog are pictures. Some of my pictures are so out of focus it's ridiculous. And of course, food blogs are visual. So I'm quite sure I'm hurting myself with that. Every time I go through the blog to look for a post to use as Blast from the Past, I have to skip over the ones with bad pictures. I've decided to go back to some of those places and take better pictures.
The first of these is Lottinvilles Restaurant & Bar. Last spring I went for the first time with my friend Joe the night before NCAA wrestling championships. I had never even heard of the restaurant before, and Joe had found it on TripAdvisor. Being with a group of people I didn't know, I needed to be social and not focus as much on the blog post. My pictures reflected that, as some were horrible. My mom said it's because we were drinking. Nope...the 2 pictures in the middle were the worst, and the last picture of dessert was perfect.
A few weeks ago I was going to OKC to run a few errands, so I jumped at the chance to go back to Lottinvilles. The restaurant is in Edmond, and if you don't know where you're going you will never find it. My car GPS couldn't find it, but thankfully my phone GPS came to the rescue. The place is really pretty from the outside, with ivy climbing the walls and a really nice front entrance door. I'm sure it is gorgeous in the summer
The inside is very nice as well. There's a host stand as soon as you enter, and the entire space is kind of a large circle. Curve to the left, and there's quite a big bar area with a full bar with seating, and several tables. Curve to the right from the entrance, and there's a large open kitchen and a chef's table. I don't know that I've ever been to a restaurant with that before. The main dining room takes up the rest of the space, and at the back you walk up 2 steps to 2 larger group tables along the back wall.
The huge windows at the back let in lots of light. The ceilings are extremely tall, with exposed beams about 2/3 of the way up. There is a partial wall separating the main dining room from the other areas of the restaurant, and they have this very cool wrought iron design to create a higher separation with visual interest.
I arrived well after the lunch rush, so when the hostess offered me a booth I took it. I wouldn't normally do that or even ask if I'm dining solo and the restaurant is crowded. I'm glad I took the booth, because it is very comfortable and had great lighting for pictures.
The first thing that comes to the table is bread. On my last visit the bread was warm. It wasn't served warm this time, but that could be because it was lunch. Temperature didn't matter much though, because the bread has sea salt baked into the crust.
I only had one piece of bread, which for me is a big deal. It was excellent, but I didn't want to ruin my meal.
I considered getting the soup of the day because it sounded really good. However, the soup was spicy and it was 75 degrees outside...not a good combination. I love deviled eggs, and decided to go that route instead
The eggs change daily, and on this day it was topped with caviar and crabmeat. It was a very interesting combination with the bed of iceberg lettuce, and one I've never seen before. The bite of the caviar provided a good contrast to the creamy texture of the eggs. The crabmeat was just okay, but I was prepared for that going in. I'm such a crab snob that it would take a miracle to top the best I've had. I didn't let that stop me from devouring the whole appetizer.
Before I visited the first time, my friend Dianne raved about the blue corn enchiladas. She's never steered me wrong in the past, so I went with them. My picture from the first visit was awful, so I decided to get them again
 |
| Handmade enchiladas topped with red chile sauce, fresh avocado & a fried egg. Served with our green chile mac |
Will I go back again? No question. I want to do a group dinner at the chef's table.
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