Adventures in Cooking

I know that I keep saying this over and over but, I have never been a big fan of pork. I tend to follow that statement with something like, "this recipe has converted me into a pork eater." Well, that is again the case with the recipe we prepared off of the Cook's County website. We took a pork tenderloin and cut it into 4 pieces, flattened to 1/2 thickness(first time we were able to use our tenderizer!) , and then battered them in a combo of bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and pepper. These little tenderloins are then fried in vegetable oil that has pepper in it.

pork tenderloins frying up in the cast iron

I will make this recipe again. The pork was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I am salivating just thinking about it right now. I threw a can of corn into a sauce pan to heat up as a side and, that was dinner.

Fantastic-ness!

Labels: corn, Parmesan, Pork, Tenderloin

Nick and I took a little break from some cooking over the weekend. Friday night was his work's holiday dinner/party. Saturday we went out to dinner with friends at Saigon Bistro. Sunday was Nathan's grandma's 80th birthday. There was a surprise birthday lunch for her and, a gathering afterwards.

Basically, the only cooking we did over the weekend was breakfast. I made the usual breakfast on Saturday; bacon, eggs, and hash browns. On Sunday Nathan came over so, we made the usual but added a Dutch baby to the mix. I forgot to take any photos of the Dutch baby but, it turned out even better this time. Previously, we made it with whole milk but, this time we bought some skim milk to cook with(per the recipe).

Sunday evening some house guests, Daniel and Kristen, arrived on their way from Boston to KC. Nick and I decided to prepare a big dinner for Monday night. The menu for the evening was garlic pork roast, Yukon gold potatoes, with green beans. I am not a huge pork fan but, I am starting to like pork roasts and tenderloins(I have always loved bacon).

The recipe, from Cook's Country, called for butterflying the roast, something I had never done before. The roast was then brined in oil, salt and 10 cloves of crushed garlic for an hour before rolling it with a garlic, thyme, and red pepper paste. The end result was pretty fantastic(photos below). Everyone at the table loved it.

The recipe for the mashed potatoes was different than any we have tried before. It called for boiling the potatoes whole with the skin still on them. Once drained, you peel the skin with a knife before mashing. The mashed potatoes get a good review in my book, they turned out great.

The green beans were nothing special. We just made them because Nick said that we should have something green on the plate. Just threw some onion, salt and pepper in with some canned green beans.

After everything was all cleaned up, Nick baked some more blueberry scones. We had already prepped everything so, all he had to do was mix the wet and dry ingredients etc. They are delicious!