Bacon-Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

This was another AMAZING dish we got from the Food Network magazine. I love baked potatoes but really don't care to take the time to actually bake and prepare them. Plus they never seem to taste as good as the restaurant. This was a great substitute, and I think might actually be even better!!! I served sour cream and extra butter along side.

2 lbs small potatoes
1 cup milk
1/2 stick butter
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Crumbled bacon
Sliced scallions

• Peel potatoes, then simmer in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes). Cool slightly.
• Heat milk with butter then mash with potatoes.
• Stir in cheddar cheese and desired amount of bacon bits.
• Top with sliced scallions

Rosemary-Mustard Pork with Peaches

I got this recipe from a Food Network magazine (yes, I'm still LOVING that subscription!) and it's one of our new favorite meals. I'm not a big fan of fruit with my meat, but this was absolutely amazing! I'm glad I didn't eat with my eyes on this recipe :)

2 - 1 lb pork tenderloins, trimmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Vegetable oil (for the grill)
3 firm, ripe peaches, halved, pitted, and cut in to wedges
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 lemon
2 tsp whole grain mustard
1/4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary, plus 1 or 2 small sprigs

• Preheat grill to high and lightly oil
• Pat the pork dry and season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning, until marked (about 10 minutes)
• Meanwhile, combine peaches, wine, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Remove strips of zest from lemon with a peeler and add to the pan. Squeeze in lemon juice. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the peaches are just tender (5 to 7 minutes). Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Add mustard, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 pepper to the juices in pan. Transfer 1/3 cup of the liquid to a small bowl and stir in the chopped rosemary. Brush on to pork and continue grilling about 10 to 15 more minutes (until temperature in center of meat reaches 145 degrees).
• Meanwhile, simmer the remaining liquid in saucepan until syrupy (about three minutes). Remove from heat and season with salt. Return the peaches to the pan along with rosemary sprigs.
• Slice the pork and serve with peaches.

Salmon Picatta

A little while back, Olive Garden had salmon picatta on their menu. It was my favorite dish there, unfortunately they replaced it with a basic grilled salmon. I finally got around to finding a recipe for a picatta sauce and made some myself :) As usual, we used both salmon and halibut for this dish.

1 lb center-cut salmon fillet (skinned)
1 cup dry white wine (divided)
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large shallot (minced)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
4 tsp capers (rinsed)
¼ cup reduced fat sour cream
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

• Cut salmon fillet in to 4 pieces. Place in a large skillet and add ½ cup wine and enough water to just cover the salmon.
• Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer, turn the salmon over, cover and cook for 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring, until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
• Add remaining ½ cup wine, boil until slightly reduced (about 1 minute). Stir in lemon juice and capers; cook 1 minute more.
• Remove from the heat, stir in sour cream and salt.

Salmon with Beurre Blanc Sauce

I have quite a few dishes piling up (literally and figuratively) so I figured I should probably start posting a few of them! I apologize if I fill your dashboard up with my posts :/

The first dish is another fish dish that my entire family (aside from Isaiah, but he's just picky) likes! Yep, even my dad who hates fish... I've always LOVED the salmon at Anthony's because they put this great beurre blanc sauce on it. I decided to see if I could find a recipe for the sauce and try it out myself. I couldn't find any cedar planks to cook it on or I would definitely have done that as well!

4 fish fillets (we used Salmon and Halibut)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup dry white wine (such as chardonnay)
½ cup white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot
1 lb unsalted butter (cold)
Kosher salt (to taste)

• Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add fish fillets and cook for approximately 10 minutes on each side. While fish is cooking, prepare the sauce.
• Heat wine, vinegar, and shallots in a saucepan until the liquids boil. Lower the heat a bit and continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced down to about 2 tablespoons. This should take about 10 minutes.
• When the liquid is almost completely reduced, cut the butter in to ½ inch cubes. Be sure to keep them cold until the mixture has completely reduced.
• Reduce heat to low and start adding the cubes of butter, one or two at a time. Whisk rapidly with a wire whisk. As the butter melts and incorporates, add more butter and continue to whisk. Once you are to the last couple cubes, remove the sauce from the heat. Whisk in the last few cubes, whisk for a moment or two more.
• Originally, shallots are supposed to be drained from the sauce, but they're good left in as well. Should be thick and smooth. Pour over fish fillets and serve immediately.

Rosemary Baby Reds

This is a side dish I threw together for dinner one night because I was REALLY in the mood for some good baby reds and rosemary. I didn't do any measuring, so I'm guesstimating at how much of each item I put in. If you want to adjust these measurements to your taste, go ahead!

6 baby red potatoes
2 sprigs rosemary
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt (to taste)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut the baby reds into 1/2" pieces
• Pull the rosemary off the sprigs and mix with olive oil in a large bowl.
• Put potatoes and salt in bowl and toss. 
• Place in 8 x 8 or 9 x 13 pan and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Stir about half way through baking time. Edges should be starting to brown when they are done.