Some things that came to the picnic as tastes, but never happened:

Ah, well, there always is too much, and sometimes people
get sidetracked.

McVittie's digestive biscuits with chocolate and caramel... after our discussion of the availability of the dark chocolate covered digestives
I went looking, and did find these, instead... so grabbed them for the picnic... I broke into them later, after I got back home... It's an interesting combination, rather pleasant...

Probably pretty much as one would guess. We know what McVitie's,
caramel, and chocolate taste like separately, so ... .

Canned spotted dick pudding... also found at Wegmans with the above, on clearance as it was being discontinued... the best by date is in either
2020 or 2021, so that wasn't the problem... I thought it might be
appropriate to serve along with the steak and kidney pie... :) Ruth and

That would be heavy on heavy, perhaps better for midwinter.

I talked about using the instructions on the can to reheat by using the microwave, but somehow it just never happened... :)

There's but one relevant instruction: remove from can.

Vroortmans pumpkin spice wafers and chocolate covered vanilla wafer cookies... these were sort of a follow-on from last year's wafer cookie comparison, where Vroortmans came off rather disappointingly stale...
these, being packaged rather than bulk, offered a chance for
redemption... I have since tried the first... they are indeed more
crisp, and not stale... the packaging helped immensely... the pumpkin
flavor and the spice are both rather faint, although it is supposed to
have been made from actual pumpkin... perhaps one should just call it delicate... it isn't bad, just not very obvious... :)

I'm glad we didn't see these. I find the whole pumpkin
spice thing silly. A pumpkin pie is okay enough (or
squash pie, or sweet potato pie), but lattes, cookies,
muffins, why?

I brought along a canister of Almond Roca, which never really got passed around, though Ruth and Mark had tastes (and grabbed a few to take
along) as Mark was packing up to leave...

I used to bring Rocas of various flavors, back when I had an
in at the factory. It was fun for a while.

Mark brought a few bags of dried fruit that never did get opened... he
may have left one of those with Ruth...

Was it fruit that he'd done at home?

Mark also brought a jar of mint jelly with bits of mint leaves suspended
in the jelly... perhaps that was more for show and tell rather than
taste, though... :)

Why would that be? So I presume that he'd put that up himself.

And as far as I'm aware, the sous-vide that Steve had talked about demonstrating at the picnic never happened...

No big deal on that, though if we'd been looking for
time-occupiers that would have been fun.

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: Asian American Style Sesame Roasted Pork Medallions
Categories: Pork
Yield: 1 Servings

-------------------------------PORK MARINADE-------------------------------
1/2 c Sesame Oil
3 Cloves Fresh Garlic, minced
1 tb Sesame Seeds
1 tb Rice Vinegar
1/4 c Soy Sauce
Salt to taste
Coarsely ground pepper
-to taste

-------------------------WASABI SWEET & SOUR
COULIS-------------------------
1/2 c Pineapple Juice
1 c White vinegar
1 c Sugar (granulated)
3/4 c Water
1 c Tomato Ketchup
1 1/2 tb Wasabi Paste (or substitute
-with 1 Tb Freshly Grated
-Horseradish)
2 tb Cornstarch
1/4 c Cold Water

-----------------------------RICE BARLEY PILAF-----------------------------
1 tb Sesame Oil
1 tb Virgin Olive Oil
6 Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 Green Onion, thinly sliced
1 tb Fresh Ginger, minced
1 1/2 c Cooked Steamed Rice
1 1/2 c Cooked Barley
Salt and Pepper to taste

----------------------------------GARNISH----------------------------------
4 Fried Wong Tong Fans, Fry at
-350 degrees and keep warm
4 Scallion Frill, Submerge in
-ice water
16 Sliced carrots, 1/4 inch
-slices blanched in salted
-water
16 Green bell peppers, 1 inch
-diced blanched in salted
-water
16 Red bell peppers, 1 inch
-diced blanched in salted
-water
16 Yellow bell peppers, 1 inch
-diced blanched in salted
-water

Medallions with Wasabi Sweet and Sour Coulis accompanied by Rice-Barley
Pilaf infused with Ginger & Shiitake Mushrooms

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well 2. Place pork tenderloin in a
non-corrosive pan, pour marinade over pork and marinate over night. 3.
Remove pork tenderloin from marinade and sear on a hot grill. Place
tenderloin on a sheet pan and roast in a 375 degree oven until the heat
in
the pork reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees. 4. Slice into 1
inch medallions just prior to service.

WASABI SWEET & SOUR COULIS: *Note: Dissolve cornstarch in cold water to
form a slurry. Place all ingredients (except cornstarch and cold water)
into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Slowly add cornstarch mixture while
stirring until coulis thickens.

RICE BARLEEY PILAF: [*] There was no unit of measure listed for the Green
Onion ingredient.

1. Heat sesame oil and olive oil in a skillet. Add sliced shiitake
mushrooms, green onions, red pepper, ginger and saute for two minutes.

2. Add rice and barley - Mix well and continue to saute until starches
are
hot.

3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

GARNISH: [John] Is it just me or does 48 bell peppers sound like a heck
of
a lot of garnish to include with 4 Fried Wong Tong Fans and Scallion
Frills?

Source: John Geckles, The Dinner Table

-----
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
* Origin: Fido Since 1991 | QWK by Web | BBS.FIDOSYSOP.ORG (1:123/140)