The title should be more like “forgot and found”…

Last weekend when Marissa’s friends came up from Tucson, she and I made a grocery run to Food City for inexpensive Mexican food items. I found such a great price on poblanos that I purchased ten of the delicious and versatile peppers. I used 2 last weekend and placed the rest in one of the refrigerator’s produce drawers… and promptly forgot about them.

After discovering them yesterday, I quickly roasted, peeled, and seeded all eight. Two were used for these enchiladas and the remaining six will be put to good use in tomorrow’s post… stay tuned!

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Who would think that with four people living here, we wouldn’t be able to get rid of a box of blueberries in a week? I used a portion of the 2-pound box (from Costco, of course) for blueberry muffins, and another portion for blueberry pancakes, and was thinking the family would devour the rest. Well, they haven’t, now the sweet little gems are about to go south, so I have to bake again… this finally finished them off!

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On July 22^nd I used both Mission figs from the store and Kadota figs from my backyard tree to make pickled figs. Even if you don’t have pickled figs in your refrigerator, you can still make this delicious pork tenderloin by substituting fig preserves (available next to the jams and jellies at the grocery store).

Pork tenderloin is such an easy, yet elegant, the main course. The problem is that people tend to overcook pork which makes it tough and dry. The safe, and most flavorful, internal temperature to cook pork to is 150 degrees. If you don’t already own an instant-read thermometer, you should get yourself one ASAP. They are available just about everywhere, I’ve even seen them in grocery stores, and are an invaluable kitchen tool.

Traditionally I would use the grill for the pork, but when the temperature in the shade is 111 degrees “triple matchsticks”, as it was yesterday, the grill pan atop the stove is the way to go!

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Yesterday was my dear friend and mentor, Barbara Fenzl’s, birthday. Our tradition is to take each other out for a birthday lunch. I’m taking Barb to Modern Steak today for her celebratory lunch. So while we’re enjoying that, here is a couscous salad for you to enjoy. The picture above of my sister, Sloane, Mark Tarbell, me, and Barb was taken at a party a couple of years ago at Tarbell’s restaurant. The party was a fundraising event to celebrate after Mark won “Iron Chef America” on Food Network.

Happy Birthday, Barb. I love you and love all our time cooking together! xoxo

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It’s been overcast and threatening rain all week… and finally…RAIN!  Nothing more to say than… CHEESE!

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Today and tomorrow feature more recipes from the weekend with Marissa’s friends visiting from Tucson. When they arrived late on Friday afternoon, they promptly hit the pool to cool off and play volleyball and basketball.  There were also some wicked ping pong matches happening under the patio. I took a dozen pictures of the guys doing the “jump shots” at one end of the pool… showing off for the ladies and for each other. In every single photo, you can see the guys (John, Will, and Chris above – not pictured: Albert, Kevin, and Shoaib) totally enthralled with their moves – while the girls, (Paige, Astrid, and Marissa) at the other end of the pool, are completely oblivious of them… cracks me up!

There are two ingredients here that you may or may not be familiar with. If you’re not sure what either Nduja or piquillo peppers are, just click on their name and a link will take you to a previous post all about them. With all the young men to feed, I, of course, doubled the recipe.

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After making the Banana-Blueberry Muffins yesterday, I still had some of the streusel topping leftovers, so I sprinkled a little over the pancakes as they were cooking. Hey, one can never have too much streusel in their life! See yesterday’s post to get the ingredients if you don’t have any streusel mix laying around but wish to do the same. Just cut the quantities down to about a fourth of the original amounts. This is one of the Optimum wellness foods. Full of nutrients and great for the body.

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Now that Marissa is living back at home, the house is always filled with a boatload of friends. Her boyfriend, Albert, and three other friends from Tucson drove up yesterday and stayed overnight. Luckily, I picked up a 2-pound box of blueberries at Costco yesterday and I happily found 3 overripe bananas in the fridge. Thus they shall have these muffins plus blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Actually, by the time they roll out of bed, it’ll probably be more like brunch. The pancake recipe will be up tomorrow.

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I feel like a fraud, an imposter, a poser. Only a couple of days ago I came to learn that I had not posted one of my favorite foods on this site in more than 325 posts. Then when I finally do get a recipe up for cheesecake, I have to learn from a dear friend, neighbor, and faithful follower that today is National Cheesecake Day. How do I not know this already!? Out of all the foods that have a “National Day”, and there are about 475 foods that do, National Cheesecake Day is the one that I would actually honor.

For a full list, go to this LINK to check out when your favorite food is honored. (Disclaimer- I have no idea if this is THE official list, but it is what Google found for me) Or find out what food is honored on your special day. I just discovered that my birthday is National Potato Day – love it! Now I’m thinking that when I am not inspired to make something, I’ll just go to this list and make whatever food is “National” that day.  Good idea, or bad? I guess it depends if that day falls on January 8 (good!) or November 24 (bad!).

The recipe here can be configured in any way that best suits your needs. I love to make individual cheesecakes and use them for a salad course. You can purchase the pan HERE to make these little cuties yourself. As is, the recipe makes 24 individual cheesecakes to use as a first course or salad, plus a 6-inch appetizer cheesecake to be served with toasted baguette slices or crackers. Or it will make one full-size 9-inch savory cheesecake. It can also be cut in half to make just one 6-inch cheesecake.

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This is not one of those “superfoods” I’ve spoken of before like pomegranates, quinoa, blueberries, or salmon. This is a super wonderful new food I recently discovered … a new ingredient. A difficult thing to do nowadays… find something new that most people honestly don’t know about. My discovery is nduja (en-doo-ya), a soft, spicy, and spreadable salami. Have you heard of it? Have you ever even heard of a spreadable salami before? I know, me neither! Nduja originated in Calabria, Italy. It is the perfect blend of spicy, tangy, and smoky. A little goes a good long way. Just a couple of tablespoons are enough to enliven a whole pan of sauce. In Southern Italy, they spread it on grilled bread, on pizza, on pasta, or just on a cracker. This is seriously good stuff!

You can find it online at Boccalone, a super cool artisan salumi business located in Oakland, California. Just how cool are they? Their tagline is “Tasty Salted Pig Parts” … that’s pretty cool. Two 8-ounce chubs of Nduja costs $24.  That pound will go a long way to make some amazing dishes!  Here’s one recipe to get you started. Brilliant daughter, Marissa, suggested using the filling as a bruschetta topping next time – super idea – will do!  And just in case you missed it, the words of the day are “super” and “cool”!

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