pork tenderloin with port-fig sauce

i don't love this photo, its a bit phallic.  what?  it is.  but, i will say this is such a great fall meal.  i like pork tenderloins, they are so bland in taste, so if you add a rub, marinade, or sauce to it - it totally takes on that flavor.  since the figs are in season, i decided to make a simple sauce of figs and port wine.  the pork itself only has chopped fresh rosemary, salt and pepper on it.  to make the sauce coarsely cop 8 figs and add to a sauce pan.  add 2 1/2 cups of port wine, 1 1/4 cups of  low sodium chicken broth, 2 fresh rosemary springs, one cinnamon stick,  and 1tb of honey.  boil over medium high heat for about 30 minutes.  you want the mixture to thicken and reduce by half.  remove the cinnamon stick and rosemary sprigs.  transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.  add 1 tb of butter and season with salt, and pepper, if necessary.  preheat the oven to 425.  rub the pork tenderloin with the chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper.  in a large pan, heat a bit of olive oil and when hot add the tenderloin and rotate every 2 minutes.  you want to get a nice brown coating on the pork.  transfer the pan with the pork in it to the oven and continue to cook until the center of the pork reaches 155 degrees.  let the tenderloin rest for 10 minutes before slicing.  the pork will be slightly pink and juicy.  pour as much sauce all over and enjoy!

from scratch

if you love pizza - homemade pizza, you must have a pizza stone to really make a good one.  i just recently purchased one and my goodness what a difference.  i use to put the pizza on the backside of a baking sheet, and that just doesn't do the trick.  you have to have a pizza stone.  plain and simple. the pizza stone i purchased is from emile henry of france.  it's awesome.  it has handles on two sides for easy transportation from the oven to the counter.  and it looks good enough to serve off.  the pizza stone also came with instructions for homemade pizza dough.  i will never purchase pizza dough from the store again.  the dough i made was out of this world.  i'm gonna go ahead and say it - but, it could be the best pizza i have ever had .  seriously.  making dough is so easy.  3 cups of all purpose flour, 1 envelope of fast rising yeast, 1 1/4 cup of hot water, 4 tablespoons of corn meal, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt.  mix it up, knead for about 5 minutes, cover with a towel for 20 minutes, and viola!   rolling this dough out was so much easier than times past when i have bought dough at the market.  it was soft and subtle.  i was fighting with it.  i topped this pizza with marinara, mozzarella, crumbled sausage, fresh pineapple, mushrooms, fresh spinach, parmesan, and feta cheese.  there is a bit of prep work involved.  you actually need to put the pizza stone in the oven at 500 degrees for 1 hour before you plan to bake your pies.  but, turn on some music, grab a glass of wine and get all your toppings ready to go.  you will never go out for pizza again after you make your own.

pork tenderloin with cranberry sauce

this was such a delicious meal.  i made a pork tenderloin with a cranberry sauce.  the cranberry sauce had fresh rosemary and red wine in it.  i served mashed sweet potatoes and roasted sugar snaps along with it.  don't you know that was a pretty plate.  for the cranberry sauce,  add 1 bag of fresh cranberries, 1 cup of cranberry juice, 1 cup of maple syrup, and 3 tablespoons of fresh orange juice to a sauce pan.  let it come to a boil and then reduce it for ten minutes.  most of the cranberries with burst, but some with stay whole.  in a separate skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. add 1/2 of a diced onion and cook for a few minutes, then pour in 1/2 cup red wine and 3/4 cups of low sodium chicken broth. add 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary. stir together, then add the cranberry sauce. heat mixture over medium heat and cook for two or three minutes. add more chicken broth to achieve desired consistency.  keep it warm while you cook the pork.  heat the oven to 425 degrees.  salt and pepper the pork tenderloin all over.  this is of course, after you have trimmed all the excess fat and silver skin.  on high heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter.  once the pan is hot, add the pork.  sear on all four sides.  2 minutes per side should do the trick.  once you have a nice golden color, pop the pan with the pork into the oven.  cook for 12-15 minutes.  i always use a thermometer now to test my meat.  i find it takes the guessing and assuming out of it.  the pork should be at an internal temperature of 155-160.  once it has gotten to this temp, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before you slice it.  top it with the cranberry sauce and enjoy.

gut bomb

sometimes i just want to be bad.  really bad.  and i can't think of anything more for that, than this meal.  heavy cream, sausage, cheese, pasta, and bread (buttered).  i made this a while back for myself and brian  - and it was delicious.  how could it not be with the above mentioned ingredients?  i did use light cream if that makes a difference to anyone who wants to try it...it shouldn't because it's still loaded with fat and calories!
start by boiling your pasta.  i used orecchiette because i like the shape of it, and little clumps of sausage get stuck in the wells.  next, cook the sausage in a saute pan.  i bought 2 hot italian links with casings.  remove the casings and tear into small bits with your hand.  continue breaking the sausage with a wooden spoon into small bits.  once the sausage has cooked through, put it on a plate lined with paper towels.  i wiped out the saute pan as well to get the remaining fat off.  i probably saved 5 calories with this 10,000 calorie dinner, but hey.  next, pour the cream into the same saute pan you used to cook the pork and heat to a slow, soft boil.  reduce to low.  toss the sausage back in with some spinach, and add the cooked pasta.  mix to incorporate and top with lots of parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.  be prepared to lay on the couch after this one!  you'll feel really, really full...

pulled pork

there really is pork on this sandwich, i promise.   i had a huge pork shoulder in my freezer that i wanted to use this weekend, so i made pulled pork, with a bbq sandwich in mind.  i had defrosted the pork on thursday and on friday morning i put it in a dutch oven with some apple cider vinegar and water, and cooked it at 300 degrees for about 6 hours.  my, my how incredibly moist and tender the pork was.   i made a huge batch of bbq sauce that consisted of ketchup, mustard, apple cider vinegar, worchestershire, brown sugar, white sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.  it was delicious.  on saturday night we ate bbq sandwiches with dill pickles and fried green tomatoes.  i decided right then and there that i was opening up a lunch truck and serving these.  seriously, they were that good.  when i woke up sunday morning, i decided against the lunch truck idea,  but knew i was going to have another bbq sandwich for lunch.  i set off to the market early for green tomatoes.  i couldn't find them at any of the stores i went to, and lucy's market is closed on sunday's.   (that is where i picked up the green tomatoes earlier in the week).  so plan "b" brought me to topping my sandwich with coleslaw.  still very good, but not like the one with the green tomatoes on it.  i have a lot of bbq leftover, so you will be seeing another post shortly with a fried green tomato on it!

a very tasty chop

i am sometimes challenged with what to cook my clients. the way i operate my business is simple. i decide what i am cooking them and they eat it. i love it that way because it allows me to be creative. but it can also be difficult. poultry, fish, beef, pork???   i came across this pork chop recipe on the food network site. it is a pork chop with a fennel and caper sauce. i thought it was fantastic. i like recipes that allow the meat to simmer in a ton of wonderful flavors. to start, purchase double cut, boneless pork chops. heat a big skillet over medium high heat and add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. salt and pepper the chops. once the pan is nice and hot, add the chops and cook for 4 minutes per side. remove them from the pan, onto a plate and cover with foil.  next add the sliced fennel (i used 3 bulbs), 2 shallots, diced, and 1/3 cup of chopped fresh parsley.  cook for about 5 minutes until the fennel softens.  then add 1/2 cup of white wine, and (1) 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes.  mix everything together then add the chops back into the pan.  make sure to nestle them in the sauce.  cook for 12-15 minutes.  once the pork chops have cooked through, add the zest of 1/2 lemon, 3 tablespoons of drained capers.  stir to combine.  once you have plated the chops, add a nice sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley on top, and a sprinkle of salt.  this is such a tasty dish, the fennel has such a nice subtle taste.  i served this meal with brown basmati rice and grilled asparagus.  the original recipe can be found here.

brats, beer and the germans

the germans played australia sunday afternoon and kicked butt!  i love watching germany play, they are a power house.  sad that michael ballack isn't playing due to a recent injury - he reminds me of my man.  tall and handsome, i will miss watching him play (and watching his hot body run around the field!)  okay, so bratwurst is far from healthy - just the opposite, actually.  but i got it stuck in my head that bratwurst was going to be on the sunday night dinner menu, and so be it.  i honestly can't remember the last time i had one, damn it was good.  i went to whole foods and was looking in the meat case and only saw things like vidalia onion brats, and cheddar brats, ones that had already been "manipulated", yuck.  i wanted a good ole' fashion brat.  and there they laid, just waiting for me... german pork brats.  i snatched up two, took them home and simmered them in a hefeweizen beer for about 30 minutes, then grilled them for 10 minutes to get a nice brown crust.  in the meantime i sauteed some onions and peppers and warmed the bun.  i am absolutely loving this little "challenge" i have made with myself to eat my way through different countries, while i watch the worlds greatest game.  i hope you will join me.

blt bites

just imagine, going to a cocktail party and seeing a big tray full of blt's.  even better, blt bites!  i love blt's, they remind me of my childhood.  over memorial day weekend, my nephew marshall, passed me in the kitchen while i was cooking and felt he needed to share with me that he loves blt's. just out of the blue, non provoked, no conversation about it . "me too," i said. and out of the kitchen he went.  then i thought long and hard of when was the last time i had eaten one, and i couldn't remember.  years, i imagine.  that brief interaction led me to these.  i made a big tray of tiny bite sized ones for a party i catered last night.  i recently came across (or chose to notice for the first time) a small loaf of boule bread at my local market.  i used it a few days back to make croutons.  this bread ranks up there as one of my favorites.  it is dense, but still light.  airy, but still chewy.  i love it.  i decided i would use this for my "toast".  it was a great choice.  i bought some high quality bacon, it tends to have more meat than fat.  and used bibb lettuce for its texture and because it lays flat, well, flattish.  i also used campari tomatoes, they are so darn good and they were the perfect size for the "sandwich".  i started by cutting all the tomatoes into 1/4" round slices, then put them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the wetness tomatoes give off.  this also gave me a good measure as to the size i needed to cut the bread.  i wanted the bread squares to be a bit larger than the tomatoes.  i toasted all the bread squares on a baking sheet, in a 400 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes ( i think... i was a wild woman at this point, totally multitasking, but that sounds about right).  to assemble, i took a piece of toast, topped it with a tomato slice, a pea size drop of mayo - get the squeeze bottle kind to do this.  top it with a torn piece of lettuce and two 1/2" pieces of cooked bacon.  that's it.  i actually overheard people at the party talking about how creative and cute they were. and if you like blt's, you know they were good!

not your ordinary pork chop

now this is my kind of pork chop.  stuffed with cheese.  i have never really been a big fan of pork chops until last night.  i'm with everyone else out there who thinks they are just always tough and dry.  but not these.  i was pleasantly surprised how delicious they were.  i made a stuffing of spinach, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, cream cheese and goat cheese.  make an incision in the chop and stuff it. i cooked these for about 5-6 minutes per side.  after they finished cooking i made a sauce of chicken broth, lemon juice, lemon zest and dijon mustard.  reduced the sauce a bit and poured it all over the pork chops.  be careful not to over stuff the chops, which is very tempting to do.  i had a good bit of the stuffing left over so i am going to make this recipe for lunch tomorrow, but with chicken.  i can't wait.  

pulled pork for my mom

i spent the day over at my parents house yesterday, in celebration of mothers day. i have an incredibly loving, funny, beautiful and supportive mom - and just like me, she really likes (loves) food!   so after much discussion, we decided on pulled pork sandwiches.  barbecue is one food that i really like, but i rarely eat.  truth is, i never really crave it or think about eating it, but when i do, it's always delicious. i bought a 13 lb. pork shoulder and rubbed it with a blend of garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.  put it in a dutch oven, covered it with water and put in a 200 degree oven for 12 hours.  i could barely get it out of the pot it was so tender and falling apart!  i also made an eastern carolina bbq sauce - just apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, mustard, brown sugar and cayenne.  everything was delicious!  my sister, her husband and my three adorable nieces were over and we played a wicked game of badminton ( i think there was only a rally of 3 consecutive hits), we took a boat ride, fished, enjoyed homemade strawberry ice cream, and completely over ate.  it was fantastic.