The Kitchen Whisperer

Get your deliciousness on with this one pan meal! Sheet Pan Applewood Bacon Top Pork Tenderloin, Herbed Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts is the perfect meal when you want simple, delicious and it all done on one pan!

Question, who, after a long and busy day, wants to stand over a stove cooking dinner tonight while using multiple pots and pans and then, once you’re done eating, washing all of those dirty dishes?  Anyone? Yeah, I thought not.. no one wants to do that. Well okay, I kind of like washing dishes by hand as it’s therapeutic and that’s the one time I’m in the kitchen and not bothered. Most hate washing dishes.

If you’re in that group that hates it then you are going to love this recipe! You have one dirty pan to wash and that’s questionable if you use heavy duty foil!. In that case, you really have no pans to wash. AND if you wanted you wouldn’t even have to use plates; just eat off of the pan. AND you could skip using forks and just eat it caveman-style. But unless you go all barbaric and rip the pork tenderloin with your hands, you’ll need one sharp knife to cut the pork. So literally one knife (and about 42 napkins) and you’re ready to eat!

When I think about sheet pan cooking I think of my Mom. She was the queen of sheet pan cooking. If it could be made on a sheet pan she was doing it. It was easy, little to no clean-up and she could make full meals. Now, to be honest, Mom would have multiple sheet pans in the oven at once as one was typically all meat and the other pan were veggies. And yes, she still would put stuff on the stovetop to which every meal was like a mini Thanksgiving but she cooked for a small army.

Do you have a favorite sheet pan recipe?

Find out my secret to getting super tender, mildly sweet and buttery cornbread!  You’re going to fall in love with this family recipe! Get your pans ready and let’s start baking!

Cornbread is a staple in my house in the winter. It’s the perfect accompaniment to hearty chili, pulled pork and fried chicken. It makes for an amazing stuffing and fried up pieces of deliciousness in the morning. Just dip each nugget in an egg bath like you would for French toast and when done, drizzle with maple syrup! Mmm mmm mmm!  Delish! Now before I go any further, this apparently is a northern version of cornbread. I’m told that “no self-respecting southerner sweetens their cornbread”. Okay.. more for me!  I’ve made it without the sweetness and it just tastes bland to me.

Sure some southern versions will add cheese and or jalapenos for a savory version. But I have to ask if you a savory version is okay, why isn’t a sweetened version? *blink blink blink* Shrugs. Anyway, when my grandma (and Mom) made cornbread they sweetened it so that’s what I did. I’ve taken their recipes and changed it slightly as even theirs was coarse, not really soft and tender. It was delicious but kind of mealy from the cornmeal. That’s a texture I don’t care for. It kind of reminds me of sand. Blech.

I want cornbread that is soft, tender and has that buttery goodness that just melts in your mouth. And that’s exactly what you get with this recipe. As long as I can remember cornbread in my house was made from scratch. Mom and Grandma never bought the 49cent boxed stuff (though truth be told, is pretty tasty in a pinch when you doctor it up!). This, like many of my family’s recipes, weren’t written down which means it took me many, MANY, test batches (and failures) to finally perfect it.

Are you a sweet or savory cornbread fan?

When a recipe calls for softened butter and you forgot to set it out earlier don’t microwave it. Instead, reach for your rolling pin! Find out more on today’s Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer!

Ah butter, such a glorious thing.l. Julia Child had butter in her veins I swear. The woman revolutionized French cooking for Americans with her book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and believe butter did make everything better, The woman was right and a genius. Her book is one book that every kitchen should have. Some of her recipes called for softened butter which, in her time, meant taking the butter out of the fridge and letting it rest on the counter for a few hours.

However as the years went by and the microwave came into existence we skipped the part of letting it come to room temperature naturally and figured we could just zap it to save time. Stop doing this. Seriously, stop. I won’t even get into the chemical breakdown that is happening to your butter as you do this – you’re actually changing the structural elements of butter. Hey I get it, we’re busy and sometimes we just forget. So from now on, step away from the microwave and reach for some plastic wrap and a wooden rolling pin.

Ah the rolling pin…it created millions of pies as a child and was also used as a weapon when Mama was mad. LOL She’d pick that thing up, wave it around her head like a mad woman and tell us to get out of her kitchen or we were going to get our butts beat. Though she only ever did this when we were sneaking tastes of her raw cookie dough or frosting. lol
Rollings pins are used for more than just making pies

Get out of that same ol’ recipe rut and try one of these delicious and easy recipes this week! This week I highly recommend making the Thick ‘n Creamy Loaded Potato Soup and the Mexican Baked Beef Short Rib Soft Tacos!

Happy proper Sunday TKW Family! I’m just drained – physically, emotionally and whatever else “ally” word there is. So much has happened this past week, heck these past few weeks that I don’t even know where to begin. So as you recall we flew in super late last Sunday and Monday I ended up rushing Mr. Fantabulous to the ER as he became gravely ill. That ER doc was a complete joke and could have killed my husband.  Thank God when I called the Infectious Disease doctor’s office in the morning the nurse told me to immediately rush him to another ER. I drove mock-speed to the that ER and he was admitted immediately. He had lost a good portion of his vision, he would break out into critically high fevers/sweats and then immediately start to shiver. His cognitive functions were extremely slow, his eyes were painful to the touch. His chest would seize upon any movement and he couldn’t take but a few steps without being completely winded. While not all of the cultures are back (this will take weeks to grow) the doctors are leaning towards it being Coccidioidomycosis or Valley Fever. He contracted it while we were in Arizona. It’s a fungal infection in the lungs that can, if not treated immediately, be deadly.  Since we weren’t in the dessert or hiking, most likely they feel it was contracted by the construction that was taking place on site where we stayed.

He stayed in the hospital all week and I was finally allowed to bring him home on Friday night but with several restrictions – no exertion, short distances, breathing treatments, high antibiotics, and a few other items for the next 4 weeks. Thankfully his vision has started to return and his headaches have seemed to subside though he still gets the fevers/chills and winded. Since Monday is a holiday, I’ll have to wait until Tuesday to call all of his doctors to schedule follow-up appointments. So needless to say I didn’t sleep more than maybe 2 hours in 4 days.  However Friday night, once I knew he was in his REM sleep, sleeping like a baby, I finally slept. I’m still not fully with it (i.e, I’m having dreams about Charlie Sheen. WTH?)

Scary…

So yeah, this past week has been hell. But I did get some good news, my shoulder surgeon did release me to go back to work (limited duties and restricted driving). I have to have an EMG test though to see why I have weakness in my right arm/hand – like I can’t even pop bubble wrap with that hand. I’ve heard that that test is not pleasant and kind of hurts a tad but if I must, I must.

God, when in the hell did we get….old?
There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed!

When you’re craving potato chips but all you have is a bag of potatoes these Crispy Skinny Seasoned Potatoes Dippers will surely satisfy!  Crispy, salty, seasoned potato slices with a tender center that are truly addictive!

So what’s your favorite vegetable? Like if you had to choose one and only one, what would it be?  I mean we’re talking stranded on an island and the ONLY vegetable you were allowed to bring with you type of favorite veggie. For me it’s the potato. It’s so versatile that you can make pretty much anything out of it. From the standard side dishes to even desserts. There’s pasta (hello potato gnocchi!) and sweet potato bread.

Growing up I ate 3 vegetables…and ONLY 3: corn, canned peas and potatoes. It’s funny to think about just how ridiculously picky of an eater I was a child yet I was so chubby. But now my love of veggies is limitless for the most part however when all else fails and I can’t think of what I want to eat, I’ll reach for a potato and go from there.
How do you like your potatoes?