Cuban | mamieggroll

It’s been way too long since my last blog (September!!) .. I think one of my New Year’s Resolution will be to find more time to blog. I think bi-weekly posts are acceptable, NOT bi-monthly! Pork is not part of my staple diet.. but I do have some favorite pork recipes including slow cooked ribs, anything with bacon and of course fried egg rolls!

Pork tenderloin was on sale at Market Basket the past week so I picked up a couple of small pork tenderloins at $3.00 each. I’ve never really roasted a pork tenderloin before so The next I wanted to give it a try. I looked up a few recipes online and didn’t really find one to my liking. I marinated the tenderloins overnight with some basic seasoning (salt, black pepper, garlic) and some olive oil.

The next day I roasted the pork in my counter top Nuwave oven… yes.. I said Nuwave oven…Don’t get me wrong, I have an amazing Electrolux stove, but sometimes its just easier to use the Nuwave oven. No preheating, easier cleaning, and the meat is always in view so burning or overcooking is preventable

For Sunday night’s dinner, we had one of the tenderloins. I made a balsamic, mushroom and habanero reduction sauce to top off the pork. The meat was served with with boxed Market Basket brand instant garlic mashed potato (yes… not everything can be made from scratch all the time) and caramelized onions and garlic. The meal was delicious and I would definitely make it again!

We had a leftover cooked tenderloin that we did not finish. For leftovers, I created Mami’s own version of the classic “Cuban” sandwich. The meat retained its juice and was still tender. The Cuban Classico is one of the Mo’s favorite go to prepared food at Market Basket. Although, sometimes they skimp on the meat, its still delicious.

I thinly sliced the pork tenderloin and stacked it within a sub roll. I layered swiss cheese, onions, pickles, hots, pepperonici and spicy mustard on top of the sliced pork. Next, I lightly buttered the outside of the sub roll and toasted it in a skillet on the stove. A panini press or a foreman grill would have worked better but ours broke and we got a new one since. The sandwich was served with sweet potato tater tots! The imitated “Cambodian” version of the Cuban Classic was the “Mo” approved!

For less ethnic flair, try just lettuce, tomato and mayo for a more subtle sandwich.

It’s no secret that Market Basket in Chelmsford has been undergoing a major face lift since the big competition, Stop & Shop opened across the street where the old cinema used to be over a decade ago. Stop & Shop, the largest New England food retailer finally won the battle after many years of numerous blockages and had its grand opening just in time before a major holiday season, Thanksgiving of 2011.

Today, Market Basket opened up its Market’s Kitchen in the Chelsmford store. Many of you may already be familiar with it since its already featured in the Tewksbury. Market’s Kitchen is comparable to the hot foods sections of many other competitors such as Stop and Shop and Wholefoods Market (on the luxury end).

Customers can browse and pick and choose different things to make up their meal. The choices are endless at the new Market’s Kitchen in Chelmsford. There is a made to order deli station, pizza station, sushi station in additional to the fresh hot fried foods like egg rolls, chicken wings and onion rings. The beauty is that the set up is very convenient and affordable. Unlike placing an order at a sub shop, we don’t have to order a “Small Onion Rings” or “Large Chicken Wings”, we can just pick and choose how many we want which costs less money in addition to reducing food wastage.

Market Basket Hot Foods Section

The Mo and I are huge fans since we never really know what we want to eat until we see something that catches our eye. Sometimes I am in the mood for sushi and he’s in the mood for something else. Usually he ends up getting the made to order grilled Cuban sandwich with extra hots whereas I like to try different things.

The new bakery stood out with their colorful displays of cakes, Italian cookies, pastries, and cupcakes. The featured cakes were not your typical “grocery store cakes” but more artsy and whimsical. They looked more modern and definitely caught my eye along with other customers who were already placing cake orders. The pastries itself were a big ticket item. I usually don’t see the bakery department busy compared to the deli department on a Sunday but today there were people asking for rum log rolls and cannoli’s. I coudn’t resist and picked up a few things myself. A mini cheesecake, espresso cake and a fruit tart only set me back $6.97.

My order

Although there is no salad bar, there’s a decent variety of premade salads in the refrigerator section where you can also pick up premade side dishes that can be reheated at home. Across the refrigerator is the hot rotisserie chicken with small and large chicken and premade subs.