Mum’s Birthday: Three Course Meal…

Yesterday I had written out this blog entry only to erase it before publishing, so here I go again…

Finished up cooking brunch at the Harbord House during the World Cup Final. Drove home, but before getting there dropped by a Sobey’s to grab a couple ingredients for the dinner. Here is said dinner…

First was a Greek salad with feta. When I say Greek Salad I mean one that doesn’t incorporate lettuce, or greens. Greek salad should only be with vegetables, a salad that Greek’s could be proud of if they were coming to dinner. That being said, I mixed together kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, shallots, and cucumber with dried oregano, lemon thyme (picked from the garden), extra virgin olive oil, coarse sea salt, and cracked black pepper. Finishing it off with a piece, or chunk of feta with a touch of dried oregano.

Second course was a slow roasted pork tenderloin. No fancy marinades on this tenderloin, only salt and pepper. Accompanying the pork was fresh Ontario carrots (not peeled, just washed), and asparagus, which I tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, and then grilled. The starch was tagliatelle pasta. Allowed the pork to rest (how very important not to skip) while we ate our salad then came back into the kitchen to bast the tenderloin in butter, garlic, shallot, and lemon thyme. After slicing the pork I took the butter mixture further and made a brown butter sauce, that I then tossed with the tagliatelle. Mum said it was one of the most tender pork she has had ever, I’d have to agree. Thanks in part to not over cooking it, by which I mean that it still has colour in the center, and allowing it to rest. How the resting step is underrated and under used in most kitchens be them home or professional.

Third and final course was Peaches & Ice Cream. Picked up a triple ripened Ontario peach and Pralines ice cream. I decided to brulee the peach wedges in sugar on the stove top slowly, simultaneously coating the peaches in sugary heaven, and softening them even more. Only needing a spoon to cut away a piece at a time. Since ice cream is a culinary hurdle I have not tried yet I opted for store bought, which honestly is pretty damn good.

So that was it, having earlier in June given her her big present (Eagles tickets) I had to come up with something for her actual day. I wasn’t going to ask her to dress up and come out for a restaurant meal on a Sunday night when I know shes been out on the porch reading the papers and being very comfortable doing just that, so why tamper with a good thing…