stuffed pork loin, etc.

here's a great recipe where I attempted to be the daredevil half of this relationship for once:

This meal was so good, I'm not even going to talk about it. I'm just going to dive right into how delicious it was.
Ok, I lie a little. it was amazing. i cooked up the mushrooms the night before, to make for an easy prep today. they smelled so good, sauteing in the wine. mmmm. then today, i was concerned because it didn't smell quite as good. well, it smelled good, just not as strong. don't know why, it just didn't. maybe my sniffer was broken, because it sure tasted good.

wanna know the best part about this one?

i made it up.

this whole recipe came from inside my noggin.


stuffing:
large container of sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 or 1/2 cup of red wine (i used cabernet sauvignon, my favorite)
italian seasoning
garlic salt
bread crumbs
cheese blend (i used a parmesan/asiago)
sautee the mushrooms over medium high in just a touch of olive oil. add some italian seasoning, a pinch of garlic salt, and the wine. simmer in the wine until it pretty much boils off, stirring occasionally. put in a bowl, adding about a cup of bread crumbs and a generous sprinkling of cheese, and stir.

pork loin:
how to prepare the pork loin:



this isn't how i did it, but i wish i'd done it by the "roll" method-- the second one she shows you. it'd be so much easier.

mine was more of a double-butterfly on opposite sides (can i patent that method??)-- slice it about 1/2" down the side, straight across until there's about 1/2" meat left to cut. flip it over and do the same thing on the opposite edge.

don't you love my depiction? slice along the red lines, all the way through the loin. and yes, that's a knife next to the pork loin. if you can't tell by my marvelous microsoft paint skills. yo.

 you should now be able to unfold both of those sides and it's a larger rectangle, rather than a long tube.

fill with the stuffing, leaving about 1/2" allowance on the edges.
roll up as tightly as you can, then use kitchen string or twine to tie it up about every inch. at this point, i put mine in the fridge overnight, covered with saran wrap. you don't have to.
put in a 400 degree oven for about an hour.

carrots:
cut into bite-size pieces, like carrot sticks that have been cut in half. saute in very little olive oil with some kosher salt and italian seasoning. cook this way for a few minutes, then add two spoonfuls of white sugar and continue to cook on medium. cover to steam them, but continue stirring every minute or two. be careful not to burn the sugar. honey would be a good substitute for the sugar, if you want.

rice:
buy steam in bag brown rice. put it in the microwave for 4 minutes. serve.