Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin

The Marinade:

• 2 cups coarsely chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 to 4 Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, seeded and chopped (or any hot peppers you like)
  

Place ingredients in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth.

Slice 1 (1 1/2-pound) pork tenderloin lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, the other side. Open halves, laying each side flat.

Combine pork and green onion mixture in a dish or large zip-top plastic bag.
Cover or seal; marinate in refrigerator 3 to 24 hours. Remove pork from dish or bag; discard remaining marinade.

Prepare grill.

Place pork on grill rack; grill 8 minutes on the first side then 4 minutes the second side or until meat thermometer registers 160° (slightly pink). I placed it directly over the hot coals and left the cover off. It really depends on your grill and how hot the coals (or burners) are.

Slice thin and enjoy with cole slaw, roasted fingerling potatoes and even a mango salsa!

Cheesy Herbal Pizza Dough

Delicious pizza crust recipe to make the night before.

• 3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
  
• 1 tsp instant yeast
  
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
  
• 2 Tb olive oil
  
• 1 1/4-1 1/3 cups water (enough to make a smooth, soft dough)
• 2 Tb grated Parmesan
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  

1. Mix together all dough ingredients and knead on a lightly-floured surface until smooth and soft. Do not over-knead; dough should hold together but look rough on surface.
2. Allow to rise in a warm place, covered, for 45 minutes.
3. Refrigerate dough for 4-36 hours, to allow dough to slowly rise and develop flavor.
4. Shape into a 12-14 inch circle, top as desired, and bake on a pizza stone 400º for about 10 minutes, or until just beginning to turn golden.

Mint Limeade

The perfect thirst quencher on hot summer day!
Mint simple syrup can keep for a while in the fridge.
It's also great with lemon juice.
Try it with some vodka or light rum. Cheers!

Mint Limeade

Makes about 2 quarts

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
  
• 1 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, washed with stems removed
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• ice
• club soda
  

1. Make mint simple syrup by combining sugar, water, and mint in a saucepan and bringing it to a boil then immediately allowing it to simmer for 2 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Strain the leaves.
3. To assemble the limeade, add about 1 ounce each of the simple syrup and lime juice in a tall glass filled with ice. Top with about 6 ounces of club soda. Stir. Garnish with fresh mint or a lime wedge.

The mint was picked fresh from the garden. If you are not a green thumb, try growing mint. Or maybe not. It spreads fast and is fragrant and nice to pick. I find our little mint patch gets cut and used regularly for this particular drink. In the past I muddled the leaves, but who wants leaves in their drink? The mint syrup is a perfect solution to this problem and lends a refreshing green hue to the drink. Use a sprig of mint to garnish your glass.

Baked Stuffed Sole

When I browse the seafood counter at the local Shaw's, I often look but don't buy, opting for something easier, such as sushi.
After having some of my own fresh-caught flounder, as prepared by cousin Alan during our family reunion, I was wowed and inspired by his recipe. What I learned, simply, is to use Ritz crackers and mayo and crab meat for stuffing. In this case I tried chopped up shrimp. The shrimp adds a nice texture and it could even fool you into thinking it was lobster. Delicious!
So good, I want to make it again for dinner tonight.

Start with 2 filets of sole (aka flounder)
mix up:
6 Ritz crackers, crushed up using your hands
a dollop of mayonnaise (Hellman's of course)
a squeeze of lemon
chopped up parsley and green onions
6 shrimp, cooked and chopped up into small morsels

Put a heaping scoop on each filet, tuck ends under and place in a buttered baking dish. Top with a couple more crushed crackers and a pat of butter. Bake at 400º for 10 minutes.

The taster overwhelmingly approved this recipe!

Charcoal-Grilled Chicken Wings

Purchase 3/4 lb "party wings" and "drumettes" per person.
Marinate 30 min to an hour or longer in 2 cups water, 2 TB table salt, 2 TB sugar.

Remove from brine and pat the chicken dry. Liberally sprinkle with smoked paprika and grind on some pepper.

Grill off coals first side (but close to the coals, you just don't want them to catch fire) with grill covered for 8 minutes.
Flip onto the coals and finish uncovered for 4 more minutes, a total of 12 min. You may want to flip them around
at this point to make sure they get nice and browned.

If your parts are larger, naturally they just need more time. The problem is, I don't know how much!
I would keep them over indirect heat a bit longer before "finishing" them over the coals.

A nice touch, to make them the best ever, is to include a foil packet with holes punched, filled with mesquite chips.
You don't need to soak them.

Marinated Chicken Breasts

What I like about this recipe is that I can use fresh herbs from the garden and it's absolutely bright with flavor and delicious. You can also prep the marinade and freeze chicken in it (perfect since we always freeze chicken when buying it).
Skewer up some onions, peppers and mushrooms, spray with cooking oil, season then grill them. Serve with rice pilaf.

Ingredients

• 1 to 2 tablespoons vinegar, like cider, balsamic, or red wine
• 2 to 3 teaspoons dried herbs, like thyme, oregano, rosemary, or crumbled bay leaf
• 1 to 2 tablespoons mustard, whole grain or Dijon
• 1 to 2 teaspoon garlic or onion powder, optional
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, each about 6 ounces

Directions

Put the vinegar, herbs, mustard, powders if using and oil in a large re-sealable plastic bag. Close the bag and shake to combine all the ingredients. Open the bag, drop in the chicken breast in the bag. Close and shake the bag to coat evenly. Freeze for up to 2 weeks.

Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, under cold, running water, or in the microwave at 30 percent power for 1 minute at a time.

Heat a grill. When the grill is hot, place the chicken on the grill and cook for about 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. You can also bake the thawed chicken in a 375 degree F oven for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Chocolate Cream Pie

My apologies- the camera is broken so no pics!
The taster loved licking the bowl of chocolate clean, even getting it
all in his hair.

This is one of those desserts where you will lick your plate clean!
We made it for a pot-luck event.

Oreo Cookie Crumb Crust
9" pie plate

Pulse 16 Oreo cookies, broken in pieces, in a food processor 15 times.
Melt 2 TB unsalted butter and pour into the machine as it runs for another 15 seconds.

Pour mix into a pie dish and use the bottom of a measuring glass to press the mixture down.

Bake on middle rack at 350º for 15 minutes.
Let cool for a half hour, while you make the filling.

Chocolate Cream Pie
Serves 8-10
Allow 40 minutes prep plus 3 hours chilling time

Filling
2 1/2 cups half & half
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks
2 TB cornstarch
6 TB (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
1 tsp vanilla extract

Bring half & half, half of the sugar and the salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.

As the half & half begins to simmer, in a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, the remaining sugar, and cornstarch together until smooth.

Slowly whisk 1 cup of the hot liquid into the eggs to temper them. Then slowly add this mix back into the saucepan, heat reduced to medium. Continue to whisk constantly until thickened and a few bubbles break at the surface, about 30 seconds.
Off the heat, whisk in the butter, then the chocolates, and finally the vanilla until completely smooth.

Pour the warm filling into the pie crust. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top so it is on the surface of the pudding (to prevent a skin from forming). Refrigerate until filling is cold and firm, about 3 hours.

For the topping:
Whip together 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream, 2 TB sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, until soft peaks form (or the whisk begins to "hold" the whipped cream).
Spread the whipped cream over the top of the pie.

Serve and enjoy!