December 14, 2009

Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Veggies


I’d like to share with you a pork recipe that I tried yesterday. This was my first time ever cooking a pork tenderloin. For those who already know then please excuse my ignorance, but did you know pork tenderloin and pork loin are two different types of meats? Tenderloin is actually a smaller muscle than the loin and lies beneath the larger loin. The tenderloin is much tenderer than the loin, hence, tenderloin. So anyways, since it is autumn and all, I wanted to try an “autumny” recipe with pork and apples.
I found a really simple recipe on foodnetwork dot com. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly. The only addition was adding about ¼ cup of red wine to make the sauce in place of apple cider (since I didn’t have any). You could add about ¾ cup chicken broth also, but I didn’t and the sauce was still very tasty. I also didn’t have any celery and don’t care too much for celery so I didn’t add it in. I took out the meat at 150 degrees and let it sit. There was no blush in the middle but the meat was still very tender and moist. I think this would be a good recipe to make for a small dinner party. You definitely will need a good size pan that can also go in the oven.

Adapted from foodnetwork.com
Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Veggies
vegetable oil
olive oil
1 (2-pound) boneless center cut pork loin, trimmed and tied
1 medium onion, thickly sliced
3 carrots cut into about 2 inch chunks
3 cloves garlic, smashed
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 apples peeled, cored and cut into 8 slices
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
¼ red wine
2 tablespoons mustard
salt and pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large ovenproof skillet heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Season the pork loin all over generously with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Sear the meat until golden brown on all sides, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to a plate and set it aside.
Add the onions, carrots, garlic, herb sprigs, and 2 tablespoons of the butter to the skillet. Stir until the vegetables are browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in the sliced apples, then push the mixture to the sides and place the pork loin in the middle of the skillet along with the juices. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the loin until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 140 to 150 degrees F, about 30 to 35 minutes.
Transfer the pork to a cutting board and cover it loosely with foil.
To make the sauce:
Arrange the apples and vegetables on a platter. Discard the herb sprigs. Return the skillet to med-high heat and add the vinegar scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits at bottom of pan. Add the wine and let the alcohol cook off for a few minutes. Take the skillet from the heat and whisk in the mustard, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of cold butter. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.
Remove the strings from the roast and slice into 1/2-inch thick pieces. Drizzle the sauce over the meat.


Read more On "Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Veggies"!

December 10, 2009

Warm Spinach Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Dried Cranberries


Tis the season to be jolly (and frugal)! So I know my the title of my post sounds like I'm preparing to share an elegant and fancy salad recipe, and it kind of is...but it is also a really fast and simple recipe. Today we ate like broke college students. And how exactly do broke college students eat? Well one time, when I was a freshman in college, in the middle of the night, my hunger pangs came a calling. Not wanting to spend our scarce and much needed money, my roomate and I actually shared one last cup-o-noodle in our room! Yes, it was a sad time for us.

So today, Nhat and I did something not as pathetic, but it did bring back memories of being amusingly frugal.

I decided to throw in a salad with our frozen pizza meal to jazz up our otherwise sad college style dinner. I like to buy a big container of the ready pre washed salad mix to have throughout the week. This time I had some baby spinach so I decided a warm spinach salad would go well with pizza. I used ingredients I had already, such as dried cranberries and walnuts which I just toasted up.

The dressing is not specific, it's pretty much a basic vinagrette.

Warm Spinach Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Dried Cranberries

3 cups of baby spinach
1/2-1 tbs of red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp mustard
pinch salt and pepper
1 tsp honey
1= 1 1/2 tbs of olive oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced onions
1/3 cup dried cranberries (roughly chop)
1/3 cup of chop toasted walnuts

Combine vinegar, mustard, honey, salt, pepper, and oil and mix. Add sliced onion and let sit in fridge while you prepare spinach.
In a hot large pan heat a tsp of oil and quickly toss spinach to slightly wilt. Turn off heat add cranberries and nuts and toss with dressing. I had some extra pepper jack cheese so I cut some up and topped my salad. There you go! A perfect salad to add a little something something to an otherwise regular meal.



Read more On "Warm Spinach Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Dried Cranberries"!