Cabbage Fusion

A few of weeks ago I was in Charlottesville, VA for the State swimming finals in which my youngest son was a participant. The event went for two days which meant we needed to spend the weekend and discover the town. We met someone in the old market area of the historic district and he took us to this Himalayan, Indian fusion restaurant. There is where I first had this amazing cabbage dish. It was made with green cabbage, mushrooms and some other assorted items. It was delicious. I was determined to recreate this in my own kitchen. My first attempt was spectacular; at least according to my wife. So I told everyone how great this was and they all wanted the recipe. Well, time passed and I kind of forgot exactly what went into this dish. So tonight I tried to recreate it. I'm not 100% sure it is the same but it was good. So here is what I did tonight:

heat a large skillet
when hot add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the following
1/2 head of green cabbage sliced about 1/4 inch slices or smaller.
enough red cabbage sliced the same just to add some color
2 small yellow onions, halved and sliced
1/4 to 1/2 cup of thinly sliced green and red bell pepper
2 green onions thinly sliced
1 pint, more or less, of mushrooms quartered
salt, pepper and cayenne to taste (take it a little easy on the salt)
Soy sauce to taste (this adds a salty earthy smokiness)
at least 1 teaspoon of garam masala (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (to taste)
now here is the real kicker, I have this old bottle of austi spumanti in my fridge, it has aged to the point where it is almost a brandy, I add about 1/2 cup of this to help steam everything. You can use a nice white wine or a cheap brandy to do the same.

Turn this frequently, cooking till mostly softened but still partially crunchy. Enjoy! Low fat, high fiber and full of vitamins! Not to mention YUMMY!

Best Pork Tenderloin Ever!

Ok, here it is. Get your standard vacu-pak of pork tenderloin; two strips of meat. Get a nice BIG cast iron skillet heated then lightly coated with olive oil. Drop your tenderloins in nice and easy. Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste; for me that is like one teaspoon per strip. While the meat is getting browned on one side cut up a couple of apples. I used Gala apples which are a little sweeter than red delicious and not as tart as Granny Smiths. Core them and cut them into about quarter inch slices. Then halve and slice up one medium to large onion and about six cloves of garlic. Take one yellow and one green squash and slice these into quarter inch slices too. DON'T FORGET THE MEAT! Be sure to turn the meat so it browns evenly on all sides. Once the meat is browned on all sides remove it from the pan and add your onions and garlic; these should cover the bottom of the pan. On a nice big cutting board slice your tenderloins about two thirds to three quarters of the way through every half inch or so. Return the meat to the pan and push the apple wedges into the meat slits.(Sounds almost erotic doesn't it.) Once you have filled all of the slits evenly distribute around the pan any remaining apple wedges. Sprinkle about one teaspoon of rosemary over top of everything. Then top all of this off with the squash slices, salt and pepper to taste and put it into a three hundred and seventy five degree oven. Let it bake until the squash has softened; the meat will be cooked through at the same time, believe me (but don't sue me if it doesn't). Remove from oven, place tenderloins and all contents of pan on a platter, except for the liquid. Return pan to the stove and on medium high heat reduce the liquid in the pan, adding about one quarter cup of apple juice. Once the liquid is reduced by at least half, pour over tenderloins and serve with saffron rice. ENJOY!

Business Intelligence, Inc. Gets a New Site

Check out the new redesigned site at www.bii-va.com. This is the fruit of a combined effort on the part of a few key employees of Business Intelligence and lil'old me. After a few minor design changes to the original conceptual design I feel the finished product is a very professional public face for BII.

So please take a couple of minutes to judge for yourself and visit www.bii-va.com.

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