Saturday, November 07, 2009

27 - Start Spreading the News

Joe Girardi choose this number for his jersey as he hoped it would lead to Yankees 27th world series title. Girardi, an academic all American at Northwestern, is a man who believes that what needs to be done can be done.

However, the first part of this years baseball season (before the all-star game) was less than spectacular. After the all-star is another story. Steady Jeter, Posada and Matsui were finally joined by the highly touted but yet lacking A-Rod, who, apparently, thought it was about time to be a team player. Even still, his batting performance was somewhat lackluster finishing at .286 during the regular season and a much better but still expected .365 in three post season series. He does sport a .305 career average. He also is a publicity hound unlike his self-effacing teammates. Derek Jeter ended the season with a .334 average and has a .317 career average. Always a class act. Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano - all others fit into that category also.

A local sports editor, Tom Haudricourt, appears to be the quintessential Yankee basher. Lately his comments focused mostly on the fact that the Yankees, although playing by the rules according to him, bought this championship. He even goes as far as saying that the Yankees bought their first championship by hustling the Bambino away from Boston. How could he besmirch the beloved, but sometimes errant, Babe Ruth? Of course, he mentions nothing about how some college football coaches are recruited by universities in the same manner.


For me, nine years to wait for the next championship is way toooooo long. Oooooh, did I celebrate the victory Wednesday night. First by winning a tennis doubles match at a local club. Goes without saying one has to join the guys for a few pints and then watching the remainder of the 6th game of the world series come to a most favorable conclusion.

No matter the argument, I still enjoy listening to 'Ol Blue Eyes singin' about the big Apple. Hope you do too.







Stuffed Pork Tenderloins

Have been using a couple of recipes from Pierre Franey for pork tenderloins. One uses cream and capers, the other shallots, rosemary with a white wine sauce. Recently discovered stuffed pork tenderloin while watching Jacques Pépin. It is a wonderful addition to my repertoire. Pépin uses a 1½# tenderloin which at times can be difficult to find. If you use a smaller one, use less filling.

Butterflying the tenderloin can be daunting in the beginning but it is not that challenging. Place the tenderloin lengthwise to you. The tube is pointing away and perpendicular to the cutting board edge. 1/3 of the way from the top slice through the tenderloin until about ½" from the side. Flip the tenderloin end for end and rotate 180° so that the previous slice is now on the other side. If you are right handed the cut will be on the left. If left handed it will be on the right. Now make another slice about 1/3 of the way down. When finished you should have a flat piece of tenderloin about 8" wide by its length.

Now you're ready to make the stuffing which is made up of sautéed onions and spinach with seasoning and cheese. In order to secure the stuffed tenderloin, Pépin uses foil to hold it together which is an easy method. I use the traditional butchers twine and simply tie a around around the top and then loop the twine around the loin for about 5-6 times. Turn the loin over and then loop the twine through the ties that hold the loin together, skipping every other one. At the end turn the loin over again and tie off at the first loop.

An alternative stuffing uses Gorgonzola, fresh cherries and chopped scallions. Both are in the recipe. Be creative and try your own combos.

You are now only minutes away from experiencing your excellent work. Get the recipe or click the title to view a video on Jacques Pépin preparing his version of a stuffed pork tenderloin.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Wisconsin 13, (9) Ohio State 31




The Buckeye offense had way too much rest in yesterday's win over the hapless Badgers of Wisconsin. The match ups showed Wisconsin with a strong offensive front line weighing in at somewhere around an average of 250 pounds per lineman. They allowed only 2 sacks in their previous five games. But, Wisconsin QB Tolzien also threw two pick 6's which helped make them also rans once again in the Horseshoe. That along with a TD scored by a kick return gave the Buckeyes all the scoring they needed on this Saturday.
Defense saved the day for a team ranked 9 which could not mount an effective, continuing offense. They were, however, tricked on 4th and long when the Badgers lined up for a field goal on the Buckeye 24. A miscue by the Buckeyes allowed the only TD against them. The Buckeye defense was constantly in the face of Tolzien forcing either hurried throws, holding from his offensive line or putting him on the turf.
On the other side, offensively speaking, Pryor could neither pass nor run. Seems the Badger defense was omnipresent. There was once exception and that was with two left in the first half. Pryor seemed to finally realize why he was on the field and leading the # 9 ranked team in the country. Unfortunately, that was almost a singular episode in his on-field antics.
Having said that, it was the strong Buckeye defense that got the job done. I bring that up again because a major Wisconsin newspaper's sports headline states ' Giving one away'. Guess it is tough to give credit where due. It also seems difficult to assign fault/blame to the real culprits, the Badger offensive line. Which, incidentally, the same newspaper touted so highly in yesterday's edition.
Let 'em fight it out. We all know the final score.