Saturday, May 30, 2009

Rosemary-Orange Pork Tenderloin

One of my new indulgence websites to frequent is this one. It seems the last few times I've had the beginnings of an idea for dinner, I do a general g0og1e search and her recipes come up. Today, it's this one.

Orange and Rosemary Pork Tenderloin

- 2 pounds pork tenderloin
For the marinade:
- the juice of two oranges
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 rounded teaspoon honey
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
For finishing:
- fleur de sel
- a handful flat-leaf parsley, coarsely snipped

Serves 4.

Cut each tenderloin into 2 equal portions (4 pieces total).

Combine marinade ingredients in a large zip-top bag. Add tenderloin and squeeze air out of the bag before sealing. Place bag into baking dish large enough to accommodate them in a single layer (just in case bag leaks, and will be used for cooking). Refrigerate for at least an hour, and up to 4 hours, flipping the bag regularly so they'll marinate evenly.

Remove the dish from the fridge and preheat the oven to 375°F. Remove tenderloin pieces from bag and place directly in dish. Put about 1 Tbsp of marinade in the bottom of the baking dish, and pour remaining marinade in a small saucepan.

Put the dish (uncovered) in the oven and roast for 25 minutes, until cooked through but not dried out (the meat should be pale pink in the center; if using a meat thermometer, the recommended safe internal temperature is 160°F), flipping the meat a couple of times during the roasting and basting it with its juices. Switch to broil and cook for 5 more minutes, until golden and slightly crusty at the top.

While the meat is roasting, put the saucepan with the remaining marinade over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Keep boiling, uncovered, stirring regularly, until the marinade has reduced to a thick syrup and is about a quarter of its original volume. Keep warm.

When the meat is ready, remove the dish from the oven, and transfer the meat to a cutting board. Add the cooking juices to the marinade and stir to combine. Allow meat to rest for 5 minutes, then cut the pieces into thin slices, return to the dish, and sprinkle with fleur de sel and parsley. Bring the dish to the table and serve immediately.

Today, I'm serving this with Roasted New Potatoes and Green Beans. The potatoes take about 45 minutes, so I'm going to throw them in about 20 minutes prior to the pork going in. Keeping flavors simple and similar, tossing roasting veggies with EVOO, a handful of smashed garlic cloves, some rosemary and some S&P.

And the following sangria recipe - YUM!

The Best Sangria I've ever had

One of the women I sell with brought this recipe to a meeting the other day, and I'm putting it in here just so I don't have to search for it in the future - it's AWESOME! And for the most part, I keep everything on hand (unless I've used the last bottle of White Zin already!)

From July 2001 Bon Appetit
1 750-ml bottle of chilled White Zinfandel
1/2 cup peach schnapps
2 tablespoons Cointreau or other orange liqueur
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
1 lemon, sliced
1 orange, sliced
1 peach, sliced into wedges
1 10-ounce bottle of chilled club soda
Ice cubes


Mix first 8 ingredients in tall pitcher. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Mix in club soda. Fill 6 wineglasses with ice cubes. Pour sangria over ice and serve.


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Greek Dressing

1 T good quality balsamic vinegar
1/2 Tbsp Red wine vinegar
1/2 Tbsp White wine vinegar
1 tsp splenda
1/4 cup canola oil
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Pampered Chef Greek Rub
3 Tbsp water

Combine all ingredients in the Measure Mix & Pour, plunge to combine and use!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Strawberry-Basil cocktail

I had some strawberries that were threatening to spoil, and some basil that needed to be nipped off. I couldn't stand the thought of letting either one go to waste, so I tried this recipe. YUM!!! All I had was Vanilla vodka, and that worked just fine!