Coffee-Crusted Beef Tenderloin

When the girls go down for a nap, I get the urge to eat something awful.  It's never grapes, dried fruit, nuts.  It's bad stuff.  Today...Doritos.  A tall glass of water and some Doritos.  I'm trying to keep my keys from turning orange as I blog today.  :)  I'm also hungry because I went to water aerobics and was starving afterwards and ate an early lunch.  I go to a different class now, so I no longer have excellent stories from the senior citizens class I used to be in.  I do get to run into them, though.  I think my class moves outside once the pool opens up and if things get too heated, I'm going to have to switch to the senior time slot and keep working out inside.  Nobody likes heat stroke while we exercise.

Last week seemed to be new recipe week.  I did the Carl's Jr. chicken sandwich, zucchini fries, and I also took a stab at cracked/smashed potatoes.  Next I moved on to a coffee-crusted beef tenderloin.  They don't really make a cut called beef tenderloin, so I went with a tip roast.  Adam and I love to eat at Stoneyriver and they have a melt-in-your-mouth coffee cured steak.  While this isn't really like it, it's still delicious.  Aubrie even liked it.  As you can see in the picture, I had plenty of zucchini fries left over so I just re-heated them at 350 for about 12 minutes and they were still crunchy and delicious like they were the other night.

Coffee-Crusted Beef Tenderloin

from myrecipes.com

1 tablespoon freshly ground dark roast coffee

1 teaspoon kosher salt or

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided

1 (2-pound) beef tenderloin, trimmed

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 (14-ounce) can less-sodium beef broth

2 cups brewed dark roast coffee

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 cup chopped shallots

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or

1/8 teaspoon table salt

Thyme sprigs (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 500°.  Combine ground coffee, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/4 teaspoons pepper; gently press onto beef. Place tenderloin on a rack coated with cooking spray in a shallow roasting pan. Bake at 500° for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°; bake tenderloin for 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 145° (medium-rare) or desired degree of doneness. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

While beef cooks, place flour in a small bowl; gradually add broth and brewed coffee, stirring with a whisk until well blended.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add broth mixture, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Cook until sauce is reduced to 1 cup (about 20 to 25 minutes). Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve sauce with sliced beef. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.  Enjoy!


The other thing I've been wanting to try is a custard.  For some reason a lemon custard sounded good and I thought it would pair good with blackberries, which have been on sale.  So I found a recipe and gave it a try.  I didn't have custard cups to cook it in, so I used ramekins instead.  It still turned out pretty good.  It was a little nerve-wracking getting the cups into the dish and then pouring hot boiling water into the pan and getting it into the oven, but I got it done.  :)

Lemon Custard Cakes

from Martha Stewart Living

• 1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoon(s) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup(s) fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup(s) milk
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• Unsalted butter, room temperature, for custard cups
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 teaspoon(s) grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon), or up to 3 teaspoons, if desired
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set a kettle of water to boil. Butter six 6-ounce custard cups and place in a dish towel-lined baking dish or roasting pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until light; whisk in flour. Gradually whisk in lemon juice, then milk and zest.
3. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Add to lemon batter and fold in gently with a whisk (batter will be quite liquid).
4. Divide batter among prepared custard cups; place baking dish in oven and fill with boiling water to reach halfway up sides of cups. Bake until puffed and lightly browned (but pudding is still visible in bottom), 20 to 25 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.
   
   Enjoy!

I don't have anything wild planned for this week.  I did want to make sweet potato pancakes with peach butter this weekend, but luckily I checked the recipe the night before and it said to mix the batter and let it set for an hour or more.  I'm glad I didn't read that in the morning while I had everything out and ready to go with hungry children bouncing down the stairs!  I'll try it later this week.  Maybe even for dinner!  Although, we did have biscuits, hash brown casserole, and eggs for dinner last night.  Adam and I made breakfast for dinner while the girls were watching Frosty the Snowman and Petey was hiding from the lightening storm.  It was definitely an unusual night. 

I've also been busy getting Emilie's big girl room ready.  This is one of the advantages of not finding out the sex of the baby.  I get to use the same nursery for all three kids, and then spend money and decorate for each child when they are ready to have a big kid room.  We got her bedding at Pottery Barn and then I painted the owl and letters to match.  I got the two birds at Kirklands and then hung some pictures of Emilie with her dad and big sister up on the wall.  I hope to put up some more in the bigger frame that works like a pinboard.  We still have work to do.  We have to get her some furniture and then get another rail so she doesn't fall out.  Aubrie's bed was pushed against the wall when she made the transition at 18 months.  But Emilie's room has a weird placement of windows and closet doors that we can't push it against the wall, so she'll be double railed.  We've also done some new things to Aubrie's room to make her feel special, too, but I'll share those photos after we finish Emilie's room. 

I hope everyone had a good weekend!  OH!  I almost forgot!  Check the bottom of the blog!  I put a pinterest button for those of you who like to pin things.  Now you can pin a recipe or picture from my blog!  YAY!  I am also trying something new with my photos.  I hope you like it.   Love to all!

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EUREKA!

I grew up in Southern Arizona, where I enjoyed many a Santa Fe Chicken Sandwiches from Carl's Jr.  A lot of people think that Carl's Jr. and Hardees are the same thing, but they aren't.  Carl's Jr. first started in Anaheim, California in 1956, and then in 1997 they acquired Hardees, which adopted some of Carl's Jr. menu items and also acquired the same branding (the smiling star).  They have some similar menu items, but they don't carry identical sandwiches.  For me, this was a problem when I moved to Nashville.  I greatly missed my Santa Fe sandwiches.  There is something about the sauce, combined with a green chili pepper, that just made this sandwich irresistible.  I had to get my fix every time I went out west.  (That sounds so country) 

Well, the other day it finally occurred to me to check Pinterest for a copycat recipe for the Santa Fe sandwich but I didn't find anything.  So I then checked the internet and I found a copycat recipe and we tried it last night.  It was AMAZING!  It tasted just like the real thing.  So if you, too, are missing your Carl's Jr. fix, I proudly present the solution!  Or if you are in the mood for an AWESOME chicken sandwich, try this recipe.  Yum, yum!!

But wait, it gets better.  I made the sandwiches with another recipe that I found on pinterest for baked zucchini sticks with sweet onion dip.  Let me tell you something my friends, I wanted to take a straw to that dip, it was so amazing.  You can definitely make it for a sandwich spread or to dip anything else into.  It was so delicious and amazing.  Plus, it is always good when you can get crunchy, breaded zucchini baked in the oven instead of frying it.  I highly recommend both these recipes! 

Carl's Jr Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich

copycat recipe from Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes

4 skinless chicken breasts
1 cup teriyaki marinade
1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp cheyenne pepper

pinch of salt

2 cans of whole chiles

slices of American cheese

lettuce
hamburger buns

Wrap each chicken breast with saran wrap and hit with a mallet until there is an even thickness.  Marinate in teriyaki for about 1 hour.  Grill on the BBQ for 5-8 minutes on both sides.  In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, paprika, curry powder, and cheyenne pepper.  Let cheese melt on the chicken breasts and assemble the best sandwich EVER!  Enjoy!

Baked Zucchini Sticks and Sweet Onion Dip

from King Arthur's Flour blog

Dip

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium sweet onion, about 1/2 pound, peeled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• salt and pepper to taste

Zucchini sticks

• 3 medium zucchini, unpeeled, cut into 3"-long stick
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
• scant 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon Pizza Seasoning or mixed Italian herbs
• olive oil spray
• 1/2 cup egg substitute; or 2 large eggs; or 3 egg whites, lightly beaten

Directions

1) To make the dip: Melt the butter in a medium frying pan over moderate heat, and add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, then caramelize. This should take between 10 and 15 minutes. The lower the heat, the longer it takes, but the less likely you are to burn the onions.

2) Once the onions are a medium brown, remove from the heat and add the vinegar.

3) Place the onions and vinegar into a small food processor. Add the honey and mustard, and process or blend until smooth.

4) Add the mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

5) To make the zucchini sticks: Place the zucchini sticks in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with the tablespoon of salt. Let the zucchini drain for 1 hour or longer; rinse and pat dry.

6) Combine the Panko, Parmesan, and pizza seasoning; set aside.

7) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and spray the parchment with olive oil.

8) Dredge sticks a few at a time in the egg, then roll in the crumb mixture. Place the sticks on the prepared baking sheet.

9) Bake sticks for 12 minutes, turn over, and bake for an additional 8 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.

10) Serve immediately, with sweet onion dip.

Yield: about 3 dozen zucchini sticks, and 1 1/2 cups dip

I have a friend that asked if I take pictures of my weekly progress, and I've never been one to do it.  But since she wanted to see the bump, I took a 23 week picture just for you!  I had some trouble last night with rib pain.  Every once in a while I will feel a lot of pressure in my ribs, but laying down usually relieves the discomfort.  However, yesterday it wasn't pressure, it was pain.  I called the doctor's office and they think I pulled a muscle and just advised Tylenol and a heating pad.  But nothing I did made it better and I had continuous pain for 8 hours yesterday!  It was horrible.  And I've been kicked by cows, sprained ankles, pulled muscles, had the wind knocked out of me, and been landed on by a horse.  Not all at once.  But I'm just saying, I don't think that was a pulled muscle.  Luckily it just went away.  Who knows what is happening down there.  A lot of people are telling me that I must be carrying a boy because they like to lay low and put pressure on your ribs.  But like my doctor says, if it feels like your uterus is hanging down by your knees, it's because it is...that's the price you pay for having more than one baby!  Whoever it is in there is getting a pretty bad reputation so far. 

Hopefully I'll make it 16 more weeks.  :)  Love to all!

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Shrimp and Spinach Salad

The girls are napping and I've been browsing Pinterest and getting ideas for dinner this week.  I get excited about food and have been enjoying myself at the dinner table lately.  Let's just say that there is a coffee-crusted beef tenderloin and sweet potato pancakes with peach butter on the menu for this week.  I've just got to get to the store! 

We got home yesterday afternoon after a weekend with Adam's family in Indiana.  We celebrated his mother's birthday.  It ended with a zero, so it was a big deal and we all had a good time hanging out. Grandpa and Grandma Huhnke came, too.  The girls got to swim at the hotel, show off their singing and dancing skills, and got spoiled by all.  We met at a halfway point in Columbus, Indiana.  It was only a four hour drive, but on the way back, the girls about had it.  Moral was low.  Adam was tired from driving, there was a stinky diaper and some whining coming from the backseat.  We pulled over and fixed the problems and switched drivers, but moral didn't seem to rise much.  Thankfully, Adam's seat gripping rendition of "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins got the whole car singing loudly.  We then popped in Disney's Greatest Hits (volume 1, of course) and let it rip.  The second crowd favorite was "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid.  Aubrie had the sha-la-la-las down and Emilie and I had the yeah-yeahs going.  Adam has every lyric memorized to every Disney song ever made.  And according to him, he sounds "just like them."

singing happy birthday

chatting up Gaga

playing bible dominoes with Granny

bedtime story with Tia

Special thanks to Aimee Drabyn for watching Petey while we were gone.  That's always a difficult task.  I actually had a flashback as I was giving Aimee directions on how to care for Petey.  One year Steve came to town to run in the Country Music Marathon and we had a volleyball tournament in Atlanta that weekend.  So Steve stayed at our house and watched Petey while he was in town for the marathon.  The morning of the marathon, he had to get up pretty early and he let Petey out, but Petey refused to come back in.  Steve spent a good ten minutes chasing his furry behind around our backyard trying to get Petey back in the house.  Then, after Steve ran a FULL MARATHON and got his tired legs back to our house, he walked in to find that Petey had chewed about a dozen dvd cases and destroyed about six dvds while he was gone.  Steve calmly picked up the mess, went upstairs and showered, then came back downstairs and got down on all fours and looked Petey in the eye.  They then had a wrestling match and both let us some aggression.  I had this flashback because this weekend was the marathon here in Nashville and we had a Drabyn watching Petey.  Lucky for Aimee, Petey is more mature and the dvds are locked up in a cabinet. 

Good friends.  Good memories. 

I made this shrimp and spinach salad several weeks ago and never shared it.  So I thought I would share it now.  It's definitely one of my favorites.  You can change up the dressing if you'd like.  If you do a bacon vinegarette, it would be just like Applebee's shrimp and spinach salad. 

Shrimp and Spinach Salad

from Bobby Flay

12 ounces large (21-24) shrimp, peeled, tail-on, and deveined

1/8 cup soy sauce

1 limes, juiced

1 teaspoons honey

1-inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated (I just sprinkle in ginger powder)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/8 cup canola oil, plus more for brushing

Prepare shrimp and set aside.  Make marinade and add shrimp to the marinade.  Toss and cover in a bowl and leave in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. 

Place shrimp on skewers and salt and pepper them.  Brush with canola oil to prevent from sticking to the grill.  Grill for 2-3 minutes on each side.

For salad:

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

8 ounces baby spinach

1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts

Toss spinach with some of the vinegarette and mound on a plate.  Place shrimp around and spoon on more dressing and sprinkle with peanuts.  Enjoy!!

Oh!  And good news!  Adam found the key to the tahoe!  It was....

drumroll please...

in his pants pocket. 

Yes.  You would think he would have checked there.  Well, he did.  But he kept checking the wrong pants pocket.  He hung his pants up next to a pair the same color.  So on Friday before we left, and after I have logged two hours of my life searching on the kitchen floor and closet floor on my hands and knees as well as walking around the backyard crouched over...he said, "I bet I know where it is!" and walked straight to the other pair of pants and found it.  I LOVE HIM!  I'll now take bets on whether he goes and gets a copy made...

Love to all!

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He holds the key to my...tahoe.

Adam lost the key to the tahoe.  He broke his key around January.  He broke the part that attaches to the key chain.  I suggested that we switch cars right away, and I take it in one day while the girls are at school and get a copy made at a dealership.  "No.  It will be fine.  I won't lose it.  I'll keep it in my pocket." 

He got up this morning to workout (4:45) and I can hear him moving stuff around in the kitchen.  Then he comes back to our bedroom and I hear him shuffling stuff around in the closet.  I knew right away that he's lost his key.  I figured he found it because I hear him leave for the Y.  After he is home and showered, I hear him in the kitchen and it sounds like a ravenous raccoon is out there nosing through our kitchen cupboards and trash can.  The whole house is up now. 

Emilie usually shrugs off Adam's noise in the morning and rolls back over.  But I found out later that she threw her pacifiers out of her crib and wasn't happy about it, so she didn't go back to bed.  Aubrie handles being woke up earlier than usual pretty well.  She breaks out into song.  I can lay in bed all morning and listen to her sing.  What is fun is she is starting to make up silly words for songs.  She also likes to tell you something in a singing voice.  Tonight it was, "I was a lady bug and I went trick or treatinggggggg!" Very random. 

Adam came in the room to kiss me goodbye and asked if he could take my key to the tahoe.  After he left, I began to wonder where it was. This is the second time he's lost it.  First time wasn't bad.  I was able to find it in the front lawn in a matter of seconds.  He was out there looking for 5 minutes already.  He comes home from work, hands full of his computer bag, lunch, oatmeal bowl, and coffee cup.  "Oatmeal bowl?" you ask.  Yes.  Every morning he makes his oatmeal here at home and has time to eat it before he leaves, but insists on eating it in the car on the way to work.  So every day he comes home with a bowl that has dried up oatmeal in it and half the time the spoon is stuck to the side of the bowl and it requires some soaking before we load it into the dishwasher. 

So about the key, I know what you common-sensers are thinking out there.  Just take your key, Kellie, and go make a copy.  Not so fast.  Our keys registered our settings.  When I put my key in the ignition, it says driver 2.  It automatically puts the radio on whatever station I had it on last at whatever volume I had it on.  It will also adjust the seat to my settings (but it doesn't.)  So these aren't just regular keys.  Let's call them smart keys because I don't know what they're called.  Ideally, we would like to find his key.  And when we do, we can go straight to the dealership and make a copy that he can attach to his key ring. 

Let's talk about the Pros. 
He drove home last night with his key, so it has to be somewhere on our property. 

But let's talk Cons. 
It could be anywhere.  He came home late and went straight outside to play with the girls because I was grilling.  He and the girls went straight into their race game.  They start at the top of the yard and Aubrie will pick how the race goes.  It will be something like this.  "I say go, run to the slide, go touch mommy, jump over Petey's toy, do two jumping jacks, touch the swing, shoot a basket, and give mom a boom shocka (high five)."  So Adam will yell go and they all take off to do the race.  It could have fallen out of his pocket during these activities.

Another con.  Emilie is into throwing things away.  A couple of days ago I found her playing lipstick in the trash and later that day I found Aubrie's juice cup in the trash.  I now find myself walking past the kitchen trash and just lifting the lid and scanning what has been thrown away lately.  I have a feeling my sunglasses are next.  She hunts for them in my purse or diaper bag and will play with them until I bust her. 

This key is a mystery.  Just like how Adam is able to rip holes in the elbows of his work shirts, or get ink stains on the cuffs.  Just like him insisting on eating oatmeal in the car.  Just like him saying that he'll just keep the key in his pocket and not lose it!!  But BACK OFF ladies!  He's mine.  I love his quirkiness.  I love the way he thinks.  I love that he's leaning on those spreadsheets so hard while at work that ink is getting on his cuffs.  He may be throwing bows at the printer while at work just so he can get done on time and get home.  I love how he comes home from work and sprints through the front door to save me from my hungry growling children so that I can finish cooking dinner.  I wouldn't trade him for anything.  So if we have to be risky and just go with one key to the tahoe, that's fine. 

But if you see it, let me know.

Love to all!
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