Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Sauce

So good.  Seriously.

Start by making the sauce. It is easy and then you can just keep it warm while making the pork.  Also - preheat the oven to 375 for the pork.

You'll need cranberries (fresh or frozen), rosemary, sugar, balsamic vinegar, and orange juice.

Put about 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar and put them in a pot.  Cook over low heat until the balsamic is reduced to about two tablespoons of thick deliciousness.

Then, set the balsamic reduction aside.

Place the cranberries in a pot.  Again, not a lot of precise measurements here - just a pot of cranberries.

Then, add a splash of orange juice.  Add sugar - about 1/4 cup of sugar for each cup of cranberries.  You can always start with too little sugar and then add more later.  Cook this mixture until the cranberries have all popped and its turning into more of a sauce form.  Then add a few rosemary sprigs and heat for a few more minutes. Remove rosemary sprigs and taste.  Add more sugar if needed.  Then pour in the balsamic reduction.

Now, on to the pork!  Take a pork tenderloin, wash and DRY it.  Drying is important!
Then cover it with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Next, heat two tablespoons of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter in a cast iron skillet over high heat.

Then add the pork tenderloin.  Let it cook for at least 3 minutes on each side.  You'll want to sear in the flavor and have it reach a nice golden brown color. Also, be prepared to set off the smoke detectors.

Then place in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes.  You want it to be about 145 degrees on the meat thermometer.  Let it rest for 10 minutes or so before slicing.

See, beautiful.

Then slice it up and top with the cranberry sauce. Serve with mac n cheese and a green veggie.

Mac N Cheese

I could eat an entire pot of macaroni and cheese by myself.  I won't, but I could.

Start, by shredding cheese.  You'll want equal parts monterey jack and medium cheddar.  The cheddar is more flavorful but the monterey jack helps with the creaminess.

Next, begin the cheese sauce.
You'll want to start by melting about 3 tablespoons of butter in a pan.  Add in 3 tablespoons of flour. Stir that mixture around on low heat.   Let all of the flour become fully incorporated with the butter and cook all of the floury taste out.  Then add just under two cups of milk.  I usually use whole milk.  You can use whatever you have on hand, but whole milk is more flavorful.  I actually didn't have whole milk tonight so I used a mixture of 2% and heavy cream.

Then you heat this mixture over medium heat.  Stir it frequently.  As it starts to thicken you will need to stir more frequently.  Be careful, near the end it begins to thicken very rapidly.  You'll want to keep whisking away otherwise it may burn to the bottom of the pan!  Once it is thickened, add in the cheese.

At any point in this process, begin adding seasonings. Again, I don't do a lot of measuring.  I used a small bit of ground mustard, some paprika, some garlic powder, fresh ground pepper...

Salt! Don't forget the salt!

Then add the sauce to some macaroni noodles.  We do the gluten free thing around our house, so we have a hard time finding actual shell or macaroni noodles. So, this is really penne pasta and cheese.

Delicious just the same.

Tuscan Bean Stew

This is a recipe for a quick Tuscan Bean Stew.  And by quick, I simply mean that I used canned ingredients like canned petite diced tomatoes and canned beans.  I just don't have time on a weeknight to soak and cook real beans.

So, here are the ingredients: Olive oil, pancetta, kale, chicken broth, white kidney beans, petite diced tomatoes, onion, celery, garlic, rosemary, and bay leaves.

Start by chopping up all the veggies.  Finely dice the onion, celery, and carrots. Mince the garlic.

Now, ready to begin!
Cook the pancetta and about a tablespoon of olive oil in the dutch oven over medium heat.  Pancetta is an Italian cured pork.  It is similar to bacon.  I could only find panchetta that was already chopped.  If you buy it in slices or a chunk of it, be sure to dice it into pretty small pieces.  Cook the pancetta until the fat starts to render and it starts to brown.  Then add the onions in and cook until they start to soften and brown.

While these items are cooking, begin preparing the kale. Wash it and chop it into bite size pieces.

Once the onions are brown, add in the carrots and celery.  Cook for several more minutes until the veggies start to soften and brown as well.  Then add in the minced garlic.  Cook the garlic for just under a minute or until it becomes very fragrant.  Then cover with chicken broth.  Add in 4-5 small bay leaves or 2-3 large ones.

Next, add in the diced kale.

There you have it, kale soup! Just kidding.

While this mixture is simmering, rinse the beans.  Always rinse beans from a can.  It removes the can flavor.  I used two whole cans of beans for the soup plus one for a bean paste.  Make a bean paste by dumping a can of beans into a bowl and mushing them with a potato masher.  Add the beans and the bean paste to the pot!  The bean paste thickens the stew to give it a nice hearty texture, while preserving the bean-y flavor.

Let that mixture simmer for at least 20-30 minutes.  Add in a can of petite diced tomatoes.  Then add rosemary.  Let simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Finally, remove the rosemary and bay leaves from the pot and discard.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and enjoy.

Creamy Corn Chowder with a Kick!

This is a creamy corn chowder with a bit of spice.  I love corn chowder.  The Pioneer Woman inspired me to add some spice to my existing corn chowder recipe which added a little more excitement and pizazz to this classic.

The makings of corn chowder:

You'll need:  Corn, red pepper, onion, garlic, bacon, chives, bay leaves, chilpotle peppers in adobo sauce, green chiles, heavy cream, chicken stock, masa flour, salt, and pepper.

Start by gathering and washing all the fresh ingredients:

I used six ears of corn, one red pepper, one medium sized yellow onion, and about 3/4 of a chilpotle pepper.  Of course if you like things spicy, you can always add more pepper.  Be careful though, those are spicy little things!

Next, dice up all the ingredients. Cut the corn off the cob. 

Cut about 6 slices of bacon into small pieces and begin to brown in a dutch oven. (Meanwhile, I also cook the rest of the package of bacon in a skillet on the side.  I like to add extra bacon to the soup as a topping later.)   As the fat starts to render and the bacon begins to brown a little, add in the onion.  Keep cooking until the onion is softened and the bacon is becoming crispy.   Add in the red peppers.  Let those cook for a few minutes until they too start to soften. Then add in two cloves of minced garlic, the diced chilpotle pepper, and a 4.5oz can of green chiles (chopped).  Lastly, add in the fresh corn.  Stir all of that around and let the flavors meld together for about 1-2 minutes.

Then add 32 ounces of chicken broth.  Really, add enough chicken broth to cover the mixture and then some.  I happened to use a 32 ounce box of chicken broth because that is what I had available.
Toss in the bay leaves. I used 4 but they were kind of small.

Let that all simmer on medium heat for about 45 minutes.

Mix about 1/2 cup of masa flour with water until it is a thick liquid-y consistency.  Add that to the soup and keep stirring.  Then stir in some heavy cream - about a cup or so.

Remove the bay leaves.  Add in chopped chives.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with additional bacon.  Cheese is good too.  I didn't have any cheese, but cheese makes a good topping as well!

Filet Mignon

So the flash kind of washed out the pictures of my steak, which is really disappointing considering how delicious the steak was.  I was really hoping the pictures would do it justice.

So, filet Mignon is pretty easy to cook actually.  Start by crushing some black peppercorns.  Use about 4-5 tablespoons of peppercorns.  Spread them on a cutting board.  Roll the edge of the skillet over the peppercorns, crushing them.  Then cook over a low simmer for about 6-7 minutes until you start to notice the peppery fragrance.

Let this mixture sit to cool.  Once cooled, add a tablespoon of salt.  It seems like a lot, but the result is delicious.  Then cover the steaks with the mixture and wrap in saran wrap.  Let the steaks sit at room temperature for an hour.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

While waiting for the steak, begin to prepare the balsamic red wine reduction.  You will need red wine, balsamic vinegar, sugar, rosemary, and peppercorns.

Combine 1/4 cup red wine, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 5-6 peppercorns, and about a teaspoon of sugar in a heavy saucepan.  Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes.  The mixture will start out thin and watery, but will thicken gradually as it cooks.  Eventually the amount of liquid remaining will be greatly reduced and it will be thick and smooth.  When it is almost done, add the rosemary in and stir for 2-3 more minutes.  Then strain to remove the rosemary and peppercorns.

As you can see, what started as 1/2 cup of liquid reduced to about 2 tablespoons or less.

This is very rich stuff though, so this recipe is enough for at least three steaks.

Also, make some caramelized onions for a topping.  Cook onions in a bit of olive oil over low heat until golden brown and softened.

Once the hour is up, heat a small amount (about 2 teaspoons) of olive oil in the cast iron skillet over high heat until the oil begins to smoke.  Then place the steaks on the skillet.  Do not move them once you've placed them in the pan!  Let them cook for about 4-5 minutes.  Then flip and cook on the other side for 4 minutes.   Next, remove the steaks from the skillet and put onto a cookie sheet in the oven for about 7 minutes.  It may be more or less time depending upon how well done you like the steak.

While the steak is cooking in the oven, throw some mushrooms and the caramelized onions into the pan.  Cook with a small bit of butter.

After removing the steak from the oven, check the temperature.  For a medium steak, the temperature should be 135 degrees.  Next, tent the steak with aluminum foil and let it rest for at least five minutes.  Letting the steak rest before cutting it is an important step!  Don't skip this.

Then serve with the balsamic reduction and mushroom/onion topping.

Enjoy with a side of Rosemary Crashed Potatoes and Pan Roasted Asparagus.

Rosemary Crashed Potatoes

These are Rosemary Crashed Potatoes and they are yummy.  I borrowed this recipe from the Pioneer Woman. 

First, you'll need to boil some small potatoes.  Cook them until they are soft.  Then place on a greased cookie sheet.  Then you "crash" them with the potato masher.

Next, brush with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Then generously sprinkle with fresh rosemary. 

Bake in a 450 degree oven until the edges start to brown and they get a little crispy.  Once they are out of the oven and are still hot, grate some fresh Parmesan on top.

Ta da!

They go nicely with filet mignon and pan roasted asparagus.