Simple Comfort Food

Getting back from a post-holiday vacation leaves nothing in the refrigerator and the desire to eat take-out.  That is what we have been doing.  To compound things we decided to split our bedroom in two so that Storkbite could have some of her own space and her parents could have theirs.  Needless to say, I’ve been trying to come to terms with the root vegetables in cold storage before Thursday when I get a 20 lb. box and 5 lbs. of apples.   On the two occasions that I actually cooked, I made enough so we could have delicious leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We are all looking forward to going over the river (The Hudson) and through the woods (Southern Indiana) for some holiday fare at Grandma’s!

Chicken Pot Pie

A fellow mom and her husband have really refined the chicken pot pie to a very elegant comfort food and I decided to reproduce.  I try to follow recipes and then deviate when I get close to the end so I’m not sure that my pot pie was as good as hers.   The great thing was that I made two and Storkbite and I had very tasty lunches for several days after pot pie night.

My fellow mom sent me the following link where you can find the illegally reproduced recipe from Cook’s Illustrated.

Pork Tender and Green Beans

One of the easiest meats to cook is the pork tenderloin.  For this pork tender I coated it in salt, pepper and Herbes de Provence then browned it in a cast iron skillet on all sides.  I popped it in the oven at 350 degrees under a tent of foil for about 20 minutes.   Slice and serve.

On the side we have green beans almondine with garlic and rice and leftover potato snowflake rolls from Thanksgiving.

If you don’t already know how to make that, here’s how:

• 1 1/2 lbs. of green beans
• 4 oz. almonds (sliced or slivered)
• 2 tbs. butter + 2 tbs. olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Saute almonds in butter and olive oil, add thawed or steamed green beans. Toss with almonds until warm and coated.  Salt, pepper and serve.