Monday Poll

According to last week's poll, 67% voted the original Feasting on Asphalt series as your favorite.  The River Run and Feasting on Waves were a close second.  I have to agree.  The original FOA was pure adventure.  Alton and his crew really did roam out across the country without much of a plan and found a lot more than they expected; more than could fit into the series.  Too bad they hadn't made it an eight part series.  River Run, while still in the same element, seemed a little more planned and a tad less adventurous.  Though Alton did pick up a nice tattoo instead of a broken arm that time.  Feasting on Waves was disappointing to me.  It lacked the real adventure that made the first two and was more of a destination show like so many other out there.  Don't get me wrong, it was interesting, but not in the same element as the other two shows.

On to this week's poll!  Some of us are constantly trying new recipes and some of us fall into patterns with their cooking.  I've noticed lately that, while I've been trying more new recipes, my regular meals have fallen into a dull pattern.  Mostly this has been the fault of that ol' black kettle grill sitting on my deck.  My weekly grocery decisions have become 'steak or pork chops today?'  This realization got me thinking about what meat I cook the most.  It seems to vary with the weather, but right now there has been a lot of beef and pork grilling and not much in the way of fish or chicken.  Don't worry, I still eat lots of fruit and veggies; especially since they are all in season right now.  What would Alton vote?  Hmmm...pork comes to mind right away, but with his new diet and lots of talk about sustainable fishing....

So, what meat do you cook the most?  Yes, there's even an option for vegetarians on there.

Alton Brown's Pork Wellington

Alton Brown's pork Wellington is now on my list of regular meals.  It was easy to make, did not require any rare ingredients or off the wall methods, and was fairly cheap.  I figure I spent around $8 for the ingredients to create an arguably fancy dish.  I'll have to wow some guests with this one!

 

(excuse the bad dough rolling)

The prep work was easy and quick.  Just thaw some puff pastry, trim and slice the tenderloin lengthwise, lay out the prosciutto and you're ready to roll.  Well, almost, the rolling comes later.  For many of AB's recipes I often use a lot of substitutions, but this time there were only minor adjustments.  I used fresh thyme and basil from my herb garden and some of my favorite mustard from Cherry Republic.  Now, time to roll!  The prosciutto slices I had were from the end, so it took quite a few to cover the loin.  Then into the puff pastry with a little egg wash and into the oven.  Cooking time was spot on.  I went with 30 minutes since I don't like pork underdone.  The crust was perfectly golden, except that it was blown out the bottom a bit.  There was a good bit of grease inside, so I propped it up on a cookie rack to drain and cool.

How did it taste?  Awesome!  The mustard really gives it a nice finish.  Thanks Alton!