Monday, October 26, 2009

Cherry Mustard Sauce and Weekly Menu 10/25 - 10/31

Matt's parents came to visit us this weekend which gave us a great excuse to go to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. We'd never gone before but it was such a beautiful place we ended up buying a membership & look forward to seeing it during all four seasons (plus they offer cooking from the garden dinners!). We were lucky & our grey skies cleared for our walk around the gardens & forests.
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Having house guests also meant for lots of yummy dinners coming out of the kitchen. Friday night, Matt roasted a couple of pork loins. He used the dried Michigan sour cherries that his parents had brought us to create an amazing sauce to top the pork.
Pork Loin with Cherry Mustard Sauce
The sauce really made the pork into something special. It would be perfect with other cuts of pork like chops & I think fabulous with duck as well.

Cherry Mustard Sauce

1 c medium bodied red wine (we used a Cotes du rhone)
1/2 c dry sour cherries, chopped
1 1/2 T whole grain Dijon mustard
1 T butter

Put the wine, cherries & mustard in a small skillet over medium heat. Simmer for about 15 minutes to reduce slightly & rehydrate the cherries. Whisk in butter.

Makes about 1 cup

On to Menu Planning Monday...

Roast Chicken with Parsnips, Carrots, Potatoes & Fennel

Sweet Potato Ravioli & Spinach in Cream Sauce

Greek Lamb Patties with Fennel Tzatziki - This lamb was going to be Moroccan patties last week but we had leftover chili instead. Since we got fennel in our CSA box we decided to go Greek instead.

Chili Cornbread Pot Pie

Thursday we are going to see The Importance of Being Earnest at the Guthrie so we'll be eating dinner out.

Recipes to Rival Challenge - So I can't tell

Roast Kabocha Squash with Cheese & Sausage - If you missed this dish last year check it out because it is such a fall winner.

I'll also be making a couple soups for lunches using some butternut squash & some celeriac.

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13 comments:

  1. cherries and mustard, eh? those are two things i've definitely never tasted in tandem, but dang it if it doesn't sound great!

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  2. wow!! what a menu!! i need to be more adventurous when it comes to meal planning!! ;)

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  3. I absolutely LOVE fennel - I've bookmarked your fennel tzatziki to try next time I see it at the public market.

    Thanks.

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  4. The sauce looks magnificent! BTW, what is that spiny round object in the third picture?

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  5. Fresh Local & Best - It is the remains of a dried flower. thought it was pretty cool.

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  6. Incredible menu. I love cotes du rhone. I recently had it with a food and wine pairing - duck with blueberry compote

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  7. kat, that is a magnificent sounding sauce. I bet the tanginess of the cherries & mustard infuses into one great taste.

    Your menu for the week sounds incredible... sure you don't want to start a boarding house. I'm pretty good at peeling potatoes & setting the table!

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  8. It does sound great. I bet it was a mazing. Truly I am a sucker for mustard. I use to love mustard on my toast when I was a kid. (yup, a little strange, I admit it).

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  9. Suzee - 1/2 cup of dry cherries

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  10. I love having houseguests and the excuse to cook something a bit special! That sauce looks wonderful. We're thinking about having goose for Christmas and I think this sauce would be magic with it!

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