To Market, To Market

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

That old children’s rhyme popped into my head as I was headed to the grocery store. And while I did not come home with a fat pig, I came home with a pork loin and lots of fruits and vegetables. If you missed my tablescape yesterday, here’s the menu for my family dinner to usher in fall:

Apple-Fennel Salad

Marinated Pork Loin

Fresh Mustard Greens

Wild Rice

Cornbread

Apple Dumplings with Vanilla Ice Cream

I found this recipe in last month’s Southern Living and my husband, the salad connoisseur pronounced it a “keeper”! The slight licorice flavor of the fennel bulb and the parsley give the salad a light and fresh taste, while the walnuts and apples provide the rich hearty flavors of fall. I’ve adapted it slightly.

Apple-Fennel Salad

1/2 cup coarsley chopped walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 shallot or green onion, minced

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Gala apple, cored, quartered and sliced thin

1 medium-size fennel bulb, sliced thin

1 celery rib, sliced thin

1 (5 oz. pkg.) arugula

1 cup loosely packed fresh flat Italian parsley leaves

Whisk together olive oil and next four ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange arugula on salad plate or platter. Top with desired amount of vinaigrette. Top with apple, fennel, celery, and parsley mixture which has been tossed with vinagrette. Top with toasted walnuts.

****personal note: Next time I might replace the arugula with mixed baby greens. It did not add that much extra flavor, in my opinion, and arugula is fairly expensive. I also doubled the vinaigrette recipe because my family tends to like a lot of dressing.

The dessert recipe appeared in my local paper yesterday in a column called Recipe Finder. Readers can write in to request or submit recipes. This was an answer to a request for apple dumplings previously served at a now defunct legendary local restaurant. It was offered as a substitute for the original recipe. What caught my attention is the surprise ingredient—Mountain Dew! Easy and delicious, this recipe was promptly added to the file! Once again, I have taken a few liberties with the recipe.

Apple Dumplings

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and quartered

1 (8 ct.) pkg. crescent rolls

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ground cinnamon

8-12 ounces Mountain Dew soft drink

Unroll crescent roll dough. Divide into four sections. Wrap each section around an apple wedge pocket style and pinch edges to seal. Place in a greased baking dish. Mix melted butter, sugar, and vanilla extract and spoon over dumplings. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Pour Mountain Dew over dumplings. Baked in a preheated 350 degree oven 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if desired.

****personal note: The original recipe recommended using 1 crescent roll per apple quarter. I found this to be a bit miserly and used the equivalent of two rolls. I found seamless crescent roll dough and used that cut into quarters. Also, in my opinion, the vanilla ice cream is not optional---it’s a must :)!

I must tell you—my claim to fame is my corn bread. Grown men have been know to whisper in my ear, “this is better than my mother’s. Please don’t tell her I said so” :) If you’d like the recipe, you can find it here. Also, the marinade we use for pork loin is very good. We love it on shish kebab and thick pork chops for grilling. You can find that recipe in one of my very first posts here.

I am joining Michael Lee West at Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday. Click on her button on my sidebar for transportation. I am also linking to our sweet Laurie at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie for My Favorite Things on Saturday. This menu is truly one of our favorite things. You can join Laurie on Saturday here.

Thanks for stopping by! The good news: I’m over my guilt about not feeding my family. The bad news: I’m still cleaning the kitchen :) Happy Fall!~~Susan