Recipe Variation: Lemon Pork Tenderloin with Garlic Sauce

This was fun, because I combined two recipes I haven’t made in years into something a little new.

First step: marinate the tenderloin. I had a small one so I only used the zest of 3 lemons. Sear it on all sides and cook in the oven as the recipe recommends.

While that’s going on (or before, as I did), make your garlic sauce. I swapped vermouth for sherry without incident.

Serve sauce over sliced tenderloin, over couscous.

 

Cassoulet

Ok, this was pretty exciting. Yes, I spent three days on it. Yes, boneless lamb and duck are super expensive. And yet, worth it. A showpiece recipe from Cooking Light.

The next time I make it, I’d go with a milder sausage, like chicken and garlic. I bet you could also swap in chicken for SOME of the duck meat, but not all, as it really adds to the flavor. I didn’t rinse the duck, which made mine saltier, but I like salt.

Scallops and Bacon Paella

Paella is super fun to make, particularly if you have a paella pan, which helps get it crusty on the bottom, and just adds to festiveness. I made this for my parents when home for Christmas, and they raved about it.

Clean Out The Fridge Cooking: Pork Tenderloin and Broccoli Rabe Sandwiches

I made these sandwiches for camping and loved the flavor profile. I’ve seen similar combos at a sandwich shop around here, Taylor Gourmet, though they use provolone – but I couldn’t find all-natural provolone at the store, hehe. Tip – use a thin baguette. The sample one I made was better, but these ones used a hearty sourdough that overwhelmed the sandwich a bit.

Beer Brined Pork Tenderloin

I initially was annoyed with this recipe (really salty!) but I reread it and I think I used too thin pork tenderloins (mine were around 1 pound rather than 2-3 pounds). So I say either watch the weight of your meat or brine these for less time. That said, the leftover salty meat works really well in some leftover applications I’ll post later.

Pictured with roasted smashed potatoes (recipe to follow) and stewed eggplant and tomatoes.

Clean Out The Fridge Cooking: Pork and Summer Squash Tacos with Salsa Verde

Another good use of leftovers here – in this case leftover salsa verde and leftover roast pork. I served this with a simple, thrown-together salad of kidney beans, corn, cilantro and sherry vinegar.

My phone’s acting up – I’ll add a photo later.

Marinated Pork Roast with Bourbon-Lemon Glaze

A time consuming but tasty pork recipe from Pig: King of the Southern Table.

Tequila Pork Chops with Guacamole

This marinade is more forgiving than I’d have thought. The recipe (which is actually for pork tenderloin, and was a variation in this month’s Cooking Light) recommends two hours. Due to circumstances, ours marinated, well, let’s just say close to 48 hours. It still turned out tasty.

Pink Eyed Peas

These were awesome! I bought these at the market on a whim (caution: they take awhile to shell). I didn’t use a recipe, but went with what seemed to be a standard Southern approach – simmer, add some aromatics, add some pork product. SO GOOD! I served this with a pan seared pork chop on top (see that photo after the jump).

Vegetarian version: omit brat (and pork chop, duh) and make broth vegetable. The smoked paprika still gives, well, smokiness.

Stuffed Cabbage

I’ve actually never made stuffed cabbage before, and I’ve probably only eaten it once or twice. Maybe since we’re such a stuffed peppers-loving household. But between a head of cabbage from the CSA and half a head of another cabbage from the publisher’s garden, something cabbage-y had to be done. And I had a ton of leftover brown rice in the fridge. So there we go!

I used a mix of Wilbur sausage and ground meat substitute, which actually helped bring down the calorie count. This was ridiculously easy to make, and a good make-ahead dish – we’re baking it now to have for lunch/dinner later in the week.