Ever since the coffee pot died, we … ok, I have been searching for the perfect, easy to use and clean coffee pot. The one Bob found works great for the weekday morning when we get up about the same time, but by the time he gets up on the weekend, the coffee I made when I got got up is either cold or gone. The pot we have, while it does one cup, is messy and takes a bit to clean between cups. So, we found a little Mr. Coffee that can use pre made or your own coffee for a single cup. (I don’t like having to use the k-cups … I fully admit to liking my own coffee better.) So we tried it today. Not bad. The coffee is a little weaker than I would like, but I can l,ay with the grind and amount and keep trying. I can also make a single cup of hot water for tea or hot chocolate. I will keep my eye out for something else, but for now, it works.

This weekend I was in the mood for peanuts. Or at least something with a good peanut flavor in it. I searched a ton of satay recipes but didn’t find one I really liked. So, as usual, I just took those recipes as a guide and made it up as I went along.

Last weekend I used part of a pork loin for dinner. This weekend I took the rest of it, cut it into medallions and marinaded it in a combination of coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, chili paste and garlic.

I fully admit that it doesn’t look appetizing, but it smelled pretty good. After a few hours in the marinade, I cooked the medallions in a hot pan, just to cook them through.

While those were cooking, I made a sauce of vegetable broth, soy sauce, mirin, and garlic and brought it to a boil. After it reduced a little I added peanuts, sugar, chili powder and cilantro to the food processor and mixed it all together.

The result was a super flavorful sauce that if I added some more liquid to would make a great dipping sauce for spring rolls.

I also wanted some rice, I was just in the mood for rice. So I made some and some edamame for texture. To go along with the whole dish, I made a cabbage salad with a dressing of honey, soy sauce, sherry vinegar, chili paste, garlic, peanut oil, sesame oil, canola oil (I mixed them together to prevent any one flavor from over powering …. and I had them all on hand and could not decide which to use) and ginger. Cabbage, carrots, red peppers and cilantro finished the dish.

The final product was mostly really good.

The rice was a touch over cooked, but I’m still glad I had it there. The peanut sauce was the perfect and Bob said the pork was super tender. (I will agree on that one) best part is I have the rest of the salad with the edamame for lunch tomorrow and Bob can have the leftover pork with the peanut sauce.