Green Slime

As most of our faithful readers (all 4 of them) have surmised,

Mom wasn't exactly an adventurous cook.

In fact, her idea of a meal was often a spoonful of peanut butter on toast.

Not exactly the best nutritional plan for someone with diabetes.

When she moved in with us, she was forced into a more regular routine

and she discovered that we really like to eat.  A lot.

She was continually amazed that I could cook 

and just marveled at my culinary feats, such as they were.

She would have been content to eat my potato soup every night.

She took it upon herself to do the dishes.

Mom did more dishes in the three months that she lived with us 

than she had ever done in the eighteen years of my growing up!

She also began baking.

Mom never baked that I can remember.

Yet she made cookies and apple cake on a regular basis for us.

She also decided that on the days that Mardell volunteered at school, 

she could at least get supper started.   Then she graduated to cooking the whole meal and having it done when we got home. She wasn't very confident with her cooking as she hadn't done it for so long and continually worried that we wouldn't like it.  

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we would drive home 

and wonder what we would find for supper.

One particular Tuesday we walked in and I was instantly transported back to Grandmother Hall's house on Christmas day.  This was the night that Mom had fixed Green Slime.  You can bet that Grandma Hall never fixed Green Slime, but it felt like Christmas.  Maybe it was just the coziness of walking in and finding Mom in the kitchen, happily bustling around, declaring that she didn't think we were ever coming home.  But whatever it was, it felt like Christmas and Mom just beamed when I told her it felt like that.

She pulled supper out of the oven and took the lid off.

All I could see was a piece of meat with green slime covering it.

She was fretting about, saying that she hoped 

we liked it and that she just wasn't sure about it.

She had seen this recipe on Rachel Ray earlier that day and decided to try it.

Yes, my mother, the Queen of Peanut Butter, did this.

I cringed when I saw it and mentally prepared myself to smile through every bite no matter how horrible it really was.  I had visions of the Green Bean Casserole days.  Before we ate, I caught Mardell

and told her that no matter what, we loved it.

I couldn't get enough of the green slime.

I dipped my meat into the slime and savored every bite.

Mardell had cooked up some apples to go with it and I literally gorged myself.

Mom later confessed that she had used too much thyme.  

She thought it would take more dried than fresh instead of the other way around and she only had one tenderloin instead of two .... hence the slime as she used every last bit on the one piece of meat.

I know, I know, I haven't answered the question of what Green Slime really is.

Here's the recipe and I highly recommend trying it.

Rachel Ray calls it Uptown Roast Pork Tenderloins with Escalloped Apples,

but it will always be Green Slime to us.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces, 1 package, pork tenderloins
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon grill seasoning
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped thyme leaves
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 5 Gala, Honey Crisp or Golden Delicious apples, quartered, cored and sliced
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Coat the tenderloins with olive oil.  Combine the grill seasoning, lemon zest and thyme.  Rub the spice mixture into the tenderloin and roast 25 minutes.  Remove and let juices settle.  Then slice on an angle.

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat and saute apples for 12 to 15 minutes until very tender.  Season with a pinch of salt and sprinkle the flour over the skillet, toss to combine.  Squeeze the lemon juice over the skillet and sweeten with sugar.

Arrange the apples over the pork to serve.