Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Grape Sauce

Today is "reveal day" for The Secret Recipe Club (Group B).  

 Once a month, we are assigned a food blog. Our mission is to visit that blog, choose a recipe, cook it (or bake it) and then blog about it.  The "secret" part is that we post our recipe on a specific day, and that is when we find out who got our blog.  It's quite fun to find out which one of my recipes was chosen, and to see their version of it.

My assigned blog was "Eat Laugh Love" and I found a plethora of recipes to choose from.  We share a few things in common-- for one, we are both married to "Craig's" and we are fortunate that our husbands are willing to clean up the kitchen, in exchange for our cooking.  That's very fair!  I had to toss a coin between making the Enchiladas Suizas (I've been on a Mexican food kick as of late) or the Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Grape Sauce.

I was fortunate to find seedless red grapes, so which recipe to choose was finally settled.  I've always meant to roast grapes, and this was my chance to scratch that off my recipe bucket list.

Pork tenderloin is a common protein staple in my kitchen.  I love that it's a lean cut of meat, and my favorite way to prepare it is to sear and roast it.   It's such a fast dinner to make, and it's fun for me to invesnt a pan sauce-- sometimes, from what I can scrounge up from my refrigerator.  With this recipe, except for the grapes, I had everything on hand. Big plus!

  I have plenty of fresh thyme in our herb garden, and I always have shallots on hand.

I tossed the grapes with a little olive oil, salt & pepper, and preheated the oven to 425F

Rather than roasting the grapes, separately, I just tossed them in with the seared tenderloin, then roasted everything for about 20 minutes-- or until about 145F.

Remove the pork, and loosely cover with foil. Set the grapes aside and make a pan sauce...

I liked that the grapes released some of their juices, so I tossed in the shallots and cooked until tender-- 2-3 minutes. Then, I added some Ruby Red Port and reduced that for a few minutes. 

Last, I added chicken broth, the fresh thyme and some Dijon mustard and let that reduce for a few minutes, then adjust with a little bit more salt. Rather than adding a slurry of cornstarch and water, I added a pat of unsalted butter and whisked it.  Done!

Start to finish-- 45 minutes.  I served this with polenta and zucchini.  

TASTING NOTES:  Fruit and pork pair beautifully together.  Roasted grapes are a little bit sweet, and give a lovely texture to this dish.   The perfect combo was one bite of pork, with a nice chunk of grapes-- savory, sweet with just a slight hint of tart.  This is fancy enough to serve at a dinner party, but quick and easy enough for a work night meal.  Overall, it's a healthy meal-- and one small pat of unsalted butter is no biggie.  I'll definitely make roasted grapes again.

You'll find a printable recipe card by scrolling to the bottom of this post.  

My next post will be the Chicken Mole recipe and a Mexican-themed dessert that I made for Cinco de Mayo.   I'm running a little behind, but I'll be catchup up soon!

 

Cranberry White Chocolate Almond Cookies for the Secret Recipe Club

It's time again, to reveal a recipe that I've chosen for the Secret Recipe Club. Once a month, members are assigned a blog to peruse, and to choose a recipe, make it and blog it.  It's a really fun way to discover new blogs.

The fun part is that we keep our assigned blog a secret until the reveal day.  When I found out that I was assigned to "Through the Bugs on my Windshield", I cracked a big smile.  Suzanne has been a very loyal follower of my blog, and she's one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. She's a Texas gal, who is quite the photographer. She's a wife, mom, and traveler.  Her blog name is derived from her saying "Life is like a windshield-- there's gonna be a few bug splats along the way".

Suzanne has a wide assortment of recipes, and it was hard for me to hone down my final choice.  Her Bacon and Bleu Cheese Dressing/Dip would have been something my men would love to sink their teeth into.  Then, I spotted the Southwestern Chicken Tortilla Stew. That's right up my alley. Her Southwestern Stuffed Poblanos is what I decided to make....

...

...and then I realized, that as much as I love baking cookies, I haven't made any in a long time.  So another savory recipe will have to wait, while I switch over to baking something sweet.  My husband always appreciates having some cookies to toss in his lunch box, and my son is known to eat a few at a time.  So, when I spied the Cranberry White Chocolate Almond Cookies, and realized that I had all of the ingredients on hand, this was my SRC choice for the month.

Cranberries and white chocolate does sound like a winter Christmas cookie combination. But, I use dried cranberries year-round.  (I stock up on them to make my homemade Cranberry-Almond granola.)  I love white chocolate.  Combine that with any kind of almond flavor, and I'm sold. 

The batter is similar to a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, except that this one uses all brown sugar. 

I debated between using pecans vs. almonds, but decided to use some toasted almonds-- and I ramped up the almond flavor by adding some almond extract and some vanilla extract.

While the oven preheated to 350F, I chilled the dough; then scooped the cookie dough onto parchment paper.

Eleven minutes later, they were baked to golden.

This recipe made 3 1/2 dozen.  For my own sake, so that I don't become a cookie monster, they are boxed up and ready to go to my husband's office.  I'm sure they'll be appreciate by his co-workers.

TASTING NOTES:  Cranberry and white chocolate are a great pairing.  If you like a soft cookie, that has a perfect balance of butter flavor, brown sugar, tart cranberries and just the right amount of white chocolate-- this cookie is for you.  I'd make these again, but I have to admit-- I'm a much bigger fan of cookies that are crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle.  I'm not saying these aren't good cookies, because they are.  I'm just going to tweak the recipe a little bit, next time, with a combo of butter and shortening, to get that "crispy-chewy" combo that I love so much.   

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post. If you can't view it, then click here.  At the very bottom, you'll find even more recipes from the rest of Group B, for the Secret Recipe Club.

S'Mores Rice Krispie Treats

Other than French Fries, Rice Krispy Treats are one of of my guilty pleasures. There's something about biting into crunchy cereal that has a gloriously chewy texture of marshmallow that transports me to my childhood, with great memories. Seriously, I could eat an entire pan of these, if left to my own devices. Fortunately, my son is as crazy about these treats as much as I am. That means they'll be gone before I have a chance to go overboard with eating these. Amen.

It has been years since I've made these. My son was in Middle School, 13 years ago, and I tried my best to play the role of June Cleaver when his friends would hang out at our home. (Little did my son know that a mom's secret weapon is to feed his friends all kinds of treats-- the better to get to know the little monster darlin's, so that I could keep a closer eye on the hormonal-raged tweens.) A couple of weeks ago, my son asked me to make a pan of rice krispie treats. It took all of 5 minutes to do, and my husband thought it was an odd dessert for me to make-- so different from my fancier Apple Brown Butter Tart orRed Velvet Layer Cake.. I mean, melted marshmallows and a cereal? Uh-huh. My husband polished off his fair share of them. I think he understood, at that point. These are very addicting.

I'm fortunate to be a member of the Secret Recipe Club ("Group B"). I say "fortunate", because there is a waiting list to join. Each month, we are assigned a blog, and are to stealthily peruse their recipe index and to choose, make and blog about it. We are given the same reveal date, and it's fun to see who got my own blog, and what they chose. I was super excited to be assigned to Greens And Chocolate.  Taylor is a 20-something young lady who loves to bake. It's fair to say that she's a good cook, because I was drooling over her savory dishes as well. I had a hard time choose just one recipe, but the S'Mores Rice Krispies Treats was my son's resounding selection. My son enthusiastically asked me to make these, so how could I resist?

Let's face it-- S'Mores are so popular in Blogsphere. I've seen S'Mores Cupcakes, Pies, Cookies, Brownies.... who doesn't love melted Hershey's Chocolate, graham crackers with gooey melted marshmallows?

 The prep work is very minimal, other than measuring chocolate chips. I chose to go with milk chocolate, but if you prefer semi-sweet please be my guest. I chopped up one package of graham crackers.

I decided to increase the 4 cups of mini marshmallows to 6 cups, because we love our rice krispie treats to be super gooey. I use the microwave, by adding 3 Tablespoons butter and nuking it for about one minute. Then, I give it a stir.

 I've measured five cups of rice krispy cereal with 1-1/2 cups of coarsely chopped graham crackers.

After nuking the marshmallow-butter mixture for another 30 seconds, it melted and ready to be poured into the bowl of cereal and graham crackers.

I added 1-1/2 cups of the milk chocolate chips and started to fold everything in, mixing it well. Then I poured it into a 9x13 pan, that I had placed a foil "sling" into and sprayed with non-stick spray. I like to butter my well washed hands so that I can easily pat the mixture evenly. I let this set for about 30 minutes.

I measured 1-1/2 cups of milk chocolate chips and microwaved them for about one minute, then stirred vigorously until silky smooth. I will adjust the printable recipe card to be 2 cups of melted chocolate, as I ran out!

 Much better, as I used an off-set spatula to get chocolate into every nook and cranny. Next I added the reserved 1-1/4 cups chopped graham crackers and spread them evenly-- then pressed them into the melted chocolate with a flat spatula. I chilled the dish for 30 minutes.

 The beauty of having a foil "sling" is being able to lift out the entire bar to cut it more easily.

 That's what we're talkin' about!

 My husband was lurking close by, waiting for his taste.

TASTING NOTES: Yesssss! These are sinfully good. I'm so glad that I chose milk chocolate, over semi-sweet, because it has that authentic taste of S'mores. Though I added 2 extra cups of marshmallow, I think I'm going to increase it to at least 7 cups....maybe 8. I'd love just a bit more "goo", which my son concurred-- as he stuffed one eagerly into his mouth.


 A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.

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Potato Leek Soup -- and my Premiere Secret Recipe Club participation

While I was stirring this delicious Potato Leek Soup, my 23 year old son said that he suddenly remembered his Bavarian "Oma" serving him a similar soup when he about 4 years old. (Mutti didn't add leeks, as far as I can recall.)  It's funny how certain aromas or recipes can transport us way back in time. 

It's been a long time since I've participated in a food blog recipe roundup.  For the last year and a half, time is a rare commodity with my job and evening classes.  Still, I find that food blogging (is that a new verb like "face booking"?) is a fun way to discover new food blogs.  I decided to join "The Secret Recipe Club", after seeing a few of my blog community friends had join as well. The idea is that I am assigned to peruse, choose and post a recipe from a blog that is assigned to me. 

 

For my first assignment, I was given "The Haggis and the Herring".  After reading their "About Page" (...and can I just say that I love it when bloggers tell me who they are, where they live and a bit about themselves?) I discovered that these are Toronto, Ontario bloggers who originally created their website for their wedding.  Like most of us food bloggers, their blog has evolved into a place of sharing recipes they've created for their Friday night dinners with friends and family.

I spent a bit of time to get a feel for their theme of recipes.  I noted that there is a lot of Indian flavors like, curries, vegetarian and then-- some English, European and Mediterranean influences. My visual taste buds were changing like a chameleon.  I narrowed down my recipe picks to either "Hamentaschen" cookies, "Chocolate Bonk" or a Welsh dish of "Potato Leek Soup".  This weekend, rainy and cold weather has finally come to stick around my part of California. So, I chose a savory hot soup.  This would give me a perfect opportunity to bake bread to go with it.

I usually keep leeks on hand, because they are perfect for making soups.  Trader Joe's carries leeks that have already been trimmed, and the price is right.

I like to split them in half...

...the cut them into half moons. . Sometimes soil hides inside leeks, so I carefully wash them, then strain them.

 I used my mandolin to easily slice a large onion and three Russet potatoes, nice and thin. In a Dutch oven, you'll need a bit of olive oil and butter. Begin to saute the leeks and onion, just until soft (about 5 minutes).  Next, add 2-3 small cloves of garlic and cook for just the last minute.

I decided to add thyme to the soup recipe.  Fresh is usually my go to, since I grow my own. But, I took a shortcut and used dried thyme  How much? About two teaspoons.  Give it a stir.  Add the potatoes.  I like to make my own chicken stock, but there is no shame in buying boxed chicken broth/stock. I added one quart of chicken broth to the sliced potatoes.

One of my favorite ingredients that I add to creamed soups is white wine. The wine gives a nice touch of acidity, and I think, enhances the flavors of the soup.  I like to use sauvignon blanc, as my cooking wine (or dry vermouth).  I covered the soup, brought it to a simmer until the potatoes were fork tender-- about 20-25 minutes.  At this point you could mash the potatoes. Or, you could puree the soup in a blender. Me?  My immersion blender is one of my favorite kitchen tools.  I like to puree my soups to leave a bit of texture.  I added about 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Then I tasted the soup and added a little  and pepper.  I used a low-sodium broth, but I didn't want to add salt just yet.  Why? Because I'll be adding Parmesan cheese, which can be salty in itself. What's next? Ah, heavy cream.  What can one say?  It's got some extra calories and fat grams.  But, it leaves such a silky and creamy flavor to soups.  I added about 1/2 cup-- not too bad, considering this 8-10 cups of soup. Last, but not least, I add a little salt until the flavors all seemed balanced.

I baked a loaf of Whole Wheat Bread, and decided to add a Parmesan Crisp (that I buy at Trader Joe's. These are wickedly good.) 

Photographing a white soup isn't very easy to do, especially when you have white dinnerware.

VERDICT:  My husband, my son and I love soups.  To me, they are the ultimate in comfort food.  The potatoes give the soup a lovely thick viscosity, and the leeks and onion add so much flavor.  The thyme, I think, is a good addition. The wine....oh, the wine.  You don't taste alcohol. White wine really kicks up the flavor buds, and the Parmesan cheese.  My husband usually reads my blog (hi, honey), but I will rat out that he ate three bowls of this soup.  I ate two. The bread...well, I'm not sayin' how many slices of hot, fresh bread and butter were devoured.  The bread? Oh, that recipe is coming up next. (NOTE: I realized that I had made and blogged another version of Potato Leek Soup, in April 2009.  That version uses bacon.  It's good, but I liked this version better, I would say.)

 The next day, I reheated the last bowl of soup.  I made chive oil, and I think that added some pretty color and subtle flavor.

Thanks, Dan & Meredith, for inspiring me to make your Welsh soup.  My tweaks were minor, but I do believe I captured the recipe as you shared it.  I will definitely make this again.  A printable recipe is at the end of this post.