I have enjoyed cooking since I was a young girl. I remember being in the kitchen with my mom when she would be cooking. I enjoyed watching the way she put her meals together. My mom was very quick in the kitchen. She would have dinner on the stove cooking before most people could get the ingredients out of fridge. My mom was a great cook. She was a very basic cook never anything complicated or “fancy”. I remember my mom getting up and cooking a big meal for breakfast. Many mornings our breakfast would consist of fried chicken, fried potatoes, tomato gravy and biscuits. Other mornings maybe it would only be chocolate gravy and biscuits or bacon, eggs and biscuits. As I grew older I do remember we would have cereal some mornings. Yes my mom was a great cook and teacher. I however enjoy the “fancy, complicated and experimental recipes. I enjoy going into the kitchen, getting out a cookbook, finding a new recipe, and trying it. One of my favorite ways of cooking is to just get ingredients and see what I can create. Thus coming up with a new recipe. This is what happened this week. For a couple of weeks I had been planing on making chicken stew and potato soup for a gathering of friends. Well, on Wednesday I went to lunch with some friends and we all had Pork tenderloin stew. It was great stew. I could not stop thinking about how to make my version of this stew. On Thursday I decided to try it. I bought the pork tenderloin and came up with “Veronica’s spicy Pork tenderloin stew”. Served it to our friends. They all loved it. Thought I would share my recipe with you. Serve with cornbread and ice tea. A great meal for these cold winter days.

Veronica’s Spicy Pork Tenderloin Stew
yields: 1 gallon

2 lbs pork tenderloin
6 med potatoes peeled and diced
2 med onions
1 lb carrots
2 cups cut off cob corn ( can use 2 cans of corn)
2 cans small lima beans
1 small can hot Rotel tomatoes
1 small can regular Rotel tomatoes
2 cups of Marsala cooking wine
1 pkg mild chili seasoning
1 tbs Weber Cajun seasoning
1 tbs Mrs Dash extra spicy seasoning
5 cups chicken broth
Water
Black pepper
Salt

Wash and place tenderloin into roasting pan. Pour wine over tenderloin cover in aluminum foil. Bake on 300 for 3 hours or until tender. Remove from oven allow to cool slightly. Cut tenderloin into chunks. Peel and chop potatoes, carrots and onions. Cut corn off cob. Add all vegetables and broth in a large stew pot. Add all spices. Add water as needed to make stew the texture you like. Cook on Med heat for 2 hours continue cooking for 1-2 hrs on low. Add additional spices to your taste.

Hope you enjoy your kitchen, cooking, your family and my new recipe. Most of all enjoy each day as if it was your last.