Adventures In Food and Wine

Join me in my kitchen while I embark on a journey of cooking and enjoying food and wine.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Yes, I am still here!

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted here! Sorry about that. Things have just been so crazy busy. It seems like I do not have enough hours in the day to get all the things I want accomplished.

Has anyone been watching The Next Food Network Star on the Food Network? I did not catch this last year so I have been really interested in this show. The competitors all have some redeeming qualities and some have been really annoying as well. There is a marathon on Sunday to get you up to speed if you have missed any and they will be narrowed down to the last 2 competitors this Sunday also. Check it out.

Another food related show I have finally caught is Tony Bourdain's No Reservations on the Travel Channel. I always enjoyed A Cook's Tour when it was on the Food Network and I think I like this one even better. Tony does not seem so restrained. If you have ever read his book Kitchen Confidential than you know he has had a very colorful past and he is not ashamed to talk about it in No Reservations. It is a fun show to watch and he gets to eat some very exotic dishes.

I fired up the grill again tonight to make a Grilled Stuffed Whole Pork Loin. Pork on the grill...there is nothing better. Pork has to be my favorite grilled meat. I have been saving this whole pork loin to stuff so I picked up our copy of How to Grill by Steve Raichlen to see what he had to say on the subject.

Riachlen stuffs his with olive tampenade. I did not have any on hand nor enough olives to make some. It was either improvise or go to the store. It was my day off and I really did not want to go anywhere so improvise I did. I had a jar of commercial pesto in the fridge that had been neglected so I subbed it for the tampenade. I was concerned that the pesto would overpower the pork. Not so! I found the dish subtle and good to the last bite! I think this may go on the menu for the up coming houseboat trip!