Whenever Adam cooks

it involves a) meat, b) potatoes, c) French cuisine, and d) Jay-Z on repeat. And let me just say the product is always something amazing. No need to remind me how lucky I am to have a husband who cooks. I totally know.

Take my dad, for example. His idea of a good meal involves a salad (including dressing) and a main (spaghetti and meatballs?), usually leftovers, all wrapped together in a giant flour tortilla because, hey it’s all going to the same place, right? Yeah. That’s how my dad rolls. My mom always did the cooking.

So anyway, yesterday Adam made Mingnons de Porc a l’ail, which means something like, pork medallions with garlic. The meal consisted of pork tenderloin rubbed in roasted garlic and wrapped in bacon served with a chunky caramelized shallot sauce and roast potatoes and asparagus on the side. CHA-CHING.


And since I knew he was going to make dinner, I thought to myself what I nice wife I'd be if I made him some Schaum Tortes for dessert. In case you don't know what those are, Schaum Tortes (Austrian shaumtorten) are meringue shells filled with cream (or ice cream in our case) and topped with berries. Yum.


Feel free to drop in for dinner anytime you want.

Mingnons de Porc a l’ail
Adapted from Anothy Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook
Serves 2

• 1 heads of garlic confit, or roasted garlic (recipe follows)
• 1 pork tenderloin (12ounces)
• 3-4 slices of bacon
• 1 tbs olive oil, plus more for garlic confit
• 1 sprig of thyme, or a teaspoon dried
• 2 tbs butter
• Salt and pepper
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup white wine
• ½ cup dark chicken or veal stock

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.

Make the garlic confit:
Break the head of garlic into unpeeled cloves. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and thyme. Wrap in aluminum foil and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Allow garlic to cool slightly before popping the cloves out of their skin.

Use a fork to mash half the garlic cloves, reserving the rest. Rub the tenderloin with the garlic and wrap the bacon around it in rings. Tie with kitchen string.

Keep oven on.

In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the butter. When the butter stops foaming, season the pork, then add it to the pan. Cook the pork over high heat for about 6 to 8 minutes per side, after which the meat should be nicely browned. Place the meat in the roasting pan and cook finish cooking in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until meat reaches 160° F. Remove from oven and allow to rest on a plate.

Discard the fat from the pan and add the other 1 tablespoon of butter. Heat over medium-high heat, and then add the shallots. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the shallots are dark and caramelized. Stir in the wine with a wooden spoon, scraping up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook over high heat until the wine is reduced to a glaze consistency, then stir in stock. Allow stock to simmer and reduce to more than half. Whisk in the remaining garlic confit and an extra splash of white wine.

Slice the pork into 1 ½ inch medallions. Spoon sauce over meat.

Schaum Tortes with Stewed Berries
Adapted from Betty Crocker
Makes 4
Feel free to add strawberries to the fruit sauce.

• 3 egg whites
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ¾ cup sugar
• 3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• ice cream
• Whipped cream (optional)

Heat oven to 275°F. Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper or heavy brown paper. In medium bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer on high speed until foamy.

Beat in 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff peaks form and mixture is glossy. Do not underbeat. On cookie sheet, shape meringue into 9-inch round with back of spoon, building up side.

Bake 1 hour 30 minutes. Turn off oven; leave meringue in oven with door closed 1 hour. Finish cooling at room temperature, about 2 hours.

Combine the berries, water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until berries have given off some of their juices and the sauce is syrupy, about 10 minutes.

Assemble Schaum Tortes by filling meringue shells with a scoop of ice cream. Drizzle stewed berries and sauce over the top. Top with whipped cream, if desired.