Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The What's for Dinner Game

It's been awhile since we've played What's for Dinner. OK, come to think of it perhaps we've never played What's for Dinner but we're going to start ......... right now!!!

Why? Because I'm coming up blank on having anything interesting to talk about. I always say if you don't have anything interesting to say then serve some food.

Here's how we play. I tell you what we had for dinner last night and you tell me what you had for dinner last night. This is reaching some new level of dried up creativity, second only to Twitter.

This was our dinner.


Left to right: Oven potatoes, asparagus and stuffed pork loin.

Oven potatoes are easy. I simply boil red potatoes until they're tender, cut into pieces and place on a baking sheet. Brush them with some oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in a hot oven (400 degrees) until brown and crisp.

The Other Mother made a version of these that she called oven fries but they were positively swimming in oil. This was my attempt at making them a teensy bit healthier.

The asparagus is simply cooked until dark green and served with a little butter.

The pork loin is easy and delicious. It's a favorite around here.

Stuffed Pork Loin

1 pork loin roast
flour
1 egg, beaten
seasoned bread crumbs
Oil for frying
One 8 oz. container onion & chive cream cheese spread
10 dried apricots, diced

Mix cream cheese spread and apricots. Set aside. Dredge all sides of the pork loin in flour, dip in beaten egg, turning to coat all over. Coat in seasoned bread crumbs and brown lightly on all sides in a fry pan with 1/4 inch of oil. Place roast on a baking sheet and with a very sharp knife, cut a pocket in the side of the meat, being careful not to cut through the ends. Fill the pocket with the cream cheese mixture and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1-1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of the roast.

Here's what it looks like on the plate.



The onion/chive cream cheese and apricots sounds like a strange mix but trust me, it's delicious.

So, now it's your turn to play. What did you have for dinner?

And be sure to get back to me if you have a recipe that will chase the creative doldrums away.

24 comments:

Maya Sara Matthew said...

Dinner last night was a chicken curry with chapatis.Chicken curry with tomatoes,cilantro and capsicum. Chapatis are whole wheat indian bread, rolled out with a rolling pin and roasted on an iron griddle called a tava.Imam Basant mangoes for dessert, its mango season in India.

Lynn said...

No dinner last night; I secured blessed freedom from cooking because dh was out for a business dinner. I'm finding that after years of loving to cook, I'm now tapped out. I still love good food and get inspired sometimes, but now I'd mostly cook soup if I could get away with it. What a terrible confession!

Vee said...

Oh shoot! You caught me on a bad day because yesterday I was too tuckered to even think about cooking. John graciously brought home a pizza and it was delish. We have the leftovers for lunch. I'll make a big salad and chop up some hard boiled eggs into it and call it good.

Your supper looks marvelous...

Heidi said...

That looks DIVINE!!! yummy!!!

Ang. said...

We had Marvelous Mosticcioli, garlic bread and broccoli. Its simple, delicious and feeds a lot of people.

bj said...

Good morning...just coming by to say HI...
Your dinner looks delicious. We seldom eat much at dinner time..and this time of year, Mr. Sweet cooks on the grill...

Thirkellgirl said...

Welllll.... last night was Chik Fil A nuggets at 8 pm, but tonight is baked chicken breasts, green beans and roasted potatoes.
I don't parboil mine first, just toss them in at 400F, drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and roast for about 45 minutes. You could save a step (and a dirty pan....).

StitchinByTheLake said...

Since I'm by myself this week I got to keep it simple - I had breakfast for dinner. I had been gifted with some wonderful farm fresh eggs so I lightly fried a couple of them and had toast made with my homemade sourdough bread. Delicious! blessings, marlene

Lori said...

I'll cheat a little since last night we had the grandkids and they requested Mac and cheese and the night before was a bonfire so we had munchies and a weinie roast. Saturday night was the last I really cooked. We had grilled marinated steaks and chicken breasts, homemade potato salad, steamed green beans with butter sauteed mushrooms and french bread with bruschetta. It was yummy! I love summertime when we grill out. We don't have many meals we don't use the grill.

Mary Bergfeld said...

We had Circassian Chicken which is a Turkish casserole of chicken in a walnut sauce. Your por loin looks wonderful!

Jody Blue said...

Burgers on the grill and a salad--my husband always grills the buns, thats the best part!

Lisa said...

I blogged about my dinner last night too! We had Pioneer Woman's bbq meatballs, mashed potatoes, & green beans. The meatballs were really good. As a matter of fact, I couldn't stop eating them!

The pork loin looks terrific, although the mix of apricots & onion & chive cream cheese does seem odd. But you really can never tell what will taste good together. I am going to try the potatoes sometime...sounds easy and delicious!

life in red shoes said...

This would be considered Sunday fare at this house! Last night I nuked a couple of frozen chicken patties for the hubby and put them on "almost" stale buns. To redeem myself I sliced a bowl of fresh strawberries and added a sprinkle of sugar and some fat free half and half. Have you ever tried fat free half and half? good stuff.
I guess I better step up my game, you have yummy shoes to fill.
I assume that you also feed "the other mother?"

bv said...

105* here yesterday. the air conditioner did not condition. grilled susage with pineapple. and my ALL time fav, tomatoes, fresh mozzarellal, fresh red onion, basil out of the garden,'melted peppers', garlic pepper and sea salt. dressing olive oil and balsamic vinegar . there will be a version of this on our table 'til the next freeze.
bv....talking about food always is entertaining for me!

Sadie said...

We had chicken parmigian (sp) and ravioli! Nobody in our family is italian, but you couldn't tell it by the way we eat :)

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

Your dinner looks great, we rarely eat that high on the hog. Putting that all together would take a lot of ingredients that I wouldn't have on hand unless I planned it out beforehand.

Heidi said...

Oh, I just started a new meal blog so this is right up my alley! Last night we had Apple Cider Pork Roast, Mashed Potatoes and gravy from the pork, Roasted Vegetables and Applesauce. You can check out my blog with meal ideas for the week and recipes at http://yourweeklymealplanner.blogspot.com/

chocolatechic said...

Dinner last night was left over Shepard's pie.

Tonight will be home made Chicken Alfredo

Bella Della said...

Hotdogs on the grill, corn on the cob and cukes in vinegar. Mmmmm!

Anonymous said...

We had hamburgers w/ homemade fries

Steph said...

I had leftovers last night, but the last time I cooked, we had mexican cornbread, pintos w/chow chow, fried potatoes, and baked apples.

Michelle said...

Last night we had Mexican and it was delicious. One of our most recent favorites is a nice pan of the Pioneer Woman's Lasagna.

Unknown said...

I am SO lame.. we had chicken & salad AGAIN... poor hubby & kids. I am just not very creative in the kitchen...

I am going to post some pictures of from 17th of May ...so you can get a better look at the dresses...let me know if you think you can copy it... : )
Tressa

BittersweetPunkin said...

We had flat iron steak on the BBQ and veggie kabobs...mushroom, tomato, zucchini and onion.