Mother's Day

Mother's Day is just around the corner and is traditionally one of the biggest restaurant days of the year. Well, why go out and pay for dinner along with a gift when you can give the gift of a home cooked meal? Here's a little menu that will give some great seasonal foods a showcase in an easy to cook Mother's Day menu:

Mixed Greens with Toasted Walnuts, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Brie and a White Wine Vinaigrette
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with a Lime Vinaigrette
Grilled Asparagus
Roasted Potatoes
Rhubarb Cobbler

Mixed Greens with Toasted Walnuts, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Brie
Serves 4 as starter salad
8 oz Mixed Greens
2 oz Toasted Walnuts
4 oz Sundried Tomatoes
4 oz Brie
1 T White Wine Vinegar
1 T Dry White Wine
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In a bowl, toss together greens, walnuts and tomatoes. In a separate bowl whisk together vinegar, wine, salt and pepper. Slowly add olive oil until emulsified. Drizzle over greens and toss. Divide between four bowls and top with sliced Brie.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Lime Vinaigrette
Serves 4
1 1/2 # Pork Loin
1 T Coriander seed, ground
1 T Cumin seed, ground
1 T Yellow mustard seed, ground
3 T Kosher salt
1 T Black pepper, ground
2 T Brown sugar
Combine all spices and rub over tenderloin. Let sit in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to a day. To cook: Over hot grill, place just off the coals and cook for 7 minutes. Turn and cook for 7 more minutes. Check temperature, pull from grill when it has reached 140. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

Lime Vinaigrette
1 t Dijon Mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 t cumin seed, ground
2 T lime juice
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
Whisk together all ingredients, except olive oil. Slowly drizzle in olive oil until emulsified.

Grilled Asparagus
Serves 4
1 bunch of asparagus, pencil size (about 1#)
olive oil
salt
pepper

Clean asparagus and place on sheet pan. Drizzle with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Toss so that all of the asparagus is coated in oil. Over hot grill, place asparagus in single layer. Cook about 3 minutes per side until asparagus is softened, but has a slight firmness to it. It should take about 8 minutes total.

Roasted Potatoes
4 medium large Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
3 T garlic powder
2 T kosher salt
3 T black pepper
1/8 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Toss all ingredients in a bowl and spread on a sheet pan. Roast in oven at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes, stirring once at 20 minutes.

Rhubarb Cobbler
1 # Rhubarb, chopped
1/2 C brown sugar
2 T sweet white wine
1 T lemon juice
1 t cinnamon
1 C flour
1 C sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 C milk
1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In sauce pan, combine rhubarb, brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Cook until rhubarb has slightly softened and sugar is all dissolve. In separate bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk and stir until it is a thick batter, if need add a dash more milk. Melt butter in 8x8 baking dish in oven. When butter is melted, pour in batter and do not stir. Then top gently spoon over rhubarb mixture and sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon. Bake for 30 - 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into dough comes out clean. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Whipped Cream
8 oz Heavy whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
1 t vanilla extract
Put metal bowl in freezer for 5 minutes. Remove and put in cream. Beat with hand mixer until it is slightly firm. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form. Keep in refrigerator for up to 2 days.