Loin of Tender Pork (With Leeks & Apples!)

While growing up, whenever we had steak for dinner, it was always pork steak.
The idea of pork for dinner now grosses me out. It's just not appetizing. My idea of pork is a dry, chewy, flavorless piece of meat. (No offense, Mom--love you!)

Needless to say, we're not big pork eaters here in this household. (Besides bacon, of course of course!)

I decided to give pork a try again. It was on sale, I had no choice.
I bought one of those tenderloins that is sealed in a marinade.
Did you know they had those?
They do.
It looks like this:

The goal here was to create a super tender, flavorful, and moist piece of meat.
Even though it was already soaking in flavor, I wanted to add some more.

In a bowl, mix together some seasonings to make a spice rub:

(I mixed minced garlic, rosemary, sage, salt & pepper, thyme, parsley, paprika, ancho chili powder, and olive oil)

Slather the tenderloin on all sides with the spice rub.
Slather it good, baby. Flavor, flavor, FLAVOR!

Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Once the skillet gets hot, add about a tablespoon of oil.

Saute the tenderloin, creating a nice, crunchy crust on all sides. You don't want to cook it through here, we're just sauteing until brown to make the crispy crust and to seal in all the flavor.

Once browned on all sides, put in 350˚F oven to finish cooking. Bake for 25-30ish minutes, until it has an internal temperature of 145-150˚ F in the center.


In the meantime.....

We're gonna make our apple & leek salad to go with de loin of de pork-o. This is the best part, in my opinion.
Be gone all thee meat...Bring on thee fruits & thee veggies, YUM!


For this you need 2 leeks, and 3 red apples.

It surprises me that a lot of people don't know what a leek is. I looooveeeeee leeks. LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

Friends, meet Leek.

A leek is like a super huge, yet super, super mild green onion. (Word of the day: super.)

In leekdom, you only want to use the end of leek--the white and light green parts.

Cut the leek in half lengthwise, then cut it in 1-inch chunks. Fill a big bowl with cold water and put the chopped leeks in. Separate the layers and let them sit in the water for 5 minutes.

The dirt from between the layers will fall to the bottom of the bowl--skim the leeks from the top.
Make sure you dry the leeks thoroughly

Next, thinly slice your apples.

In the same skillet you used to sear the tenderloin, add a little more oil and saute the leeks until tender.

Add zeee apples...

...and stir until softened.

Remove from heat, then add 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar--season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Remove the pork tenderloin from the oven and let rest 10 minutes.

This resting step is crucial for juicy, delicious meat. All meat needs to rest once it's done cooking--if you cut it before it rests, all the juices flow out of it, leaving you with a dry piece of meat. Blah!

After 10 minutes, slice the pork into medallions. Serve with the leeks & apples.

This is delicious.
Seriously, delicious.

It's sweet, and salty, and juicy and flavorful.
No, really. It is.
I promise.
Try it.


Recipe:
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Leeks & Apples

Ingredients:
 Pork tenderloin

 oil for sautéing 

Spice Rub:
 3 cloves chopped garlic
 1 tablespoon rosemary
 1 tablespoon sage
 1 tablespoon thyme
 1 tablespoon parsley
 1 teaspoon paprika
 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
 2 teaspoon salt
 1 teaspoon pepper
 1 tablespoon olive oil

2 leeks, halved & sliced into 1-inch pieces
3 red apples (such as Gala), thinly sliced
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt & pepper, to taste

1. Heat oven to 350˚F. 
2. Mix spice rub ingredients in a small bowl. Mixture should be pasty, but easily spreadable. (Add more oil if needed). Rub mixture on pork tenderloin. 
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet. Brown pork tenderloin on all sides, remove to sheet tray.
4. Bake pork tenderloin 25-30 minutes, or until 145-155˚F.
5. Meanwhile, in the same skillet used for pork, add chopped leeks. Stir until tender.
6. Add sliced apples and cook until softened. Add honey and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
7. Remove tenderloin from oven. Let rest 10 minutes, then slice into 1-inch thick medallions. Serve with leeks & apples. 

Polenta with Sausage Ragout

Well, I've done my shopping (thanks to coupons and bargains, I managed to get all this food for about $60) and now I will share with you what we're having for dinner this week (or 2 weeks, if I can stretch it) in the Yerrick household.

In the month of August we spent nearly $450 on eating out. FOUR HUNDRED & FIFTY DOLLARS! There are only TWO of us. That's a LOT of money.

I know what you're thinking...Aren't you in culinary school? Aren't you supposed to cook?

I do! I do cook! I cook all day at school...then I cook all night at work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is cook some more. But I'm going to do it. I will, and Paul has agreed to help me. The Yerrick's are eating in. No more dining out...Okay, not no more, but less. Far less. About $400 dollars less.


I love polenta. Have you had it? Have you heard of it? It's delicious. What is it? It's basically just boiled cornmeal. Gross, right? Nope. It really is scrumptious. It's scrumptious when you add loads of parmesan cheese and butter, and salt (3 of my favorite foods!). It has a wonderful smooth and creamy texture, and it's super rich and satisfying. It's kind of like mashed potatoes, but, dare I say...better. And a lot simpler.

Well, I've been craving it lately...and I had all the ingredients, so I made it last night. And then I ate it. Sooo, I decided to make it again tonight, and tonight I made it with sausage ragout (rag-goo). Don't be afraid, ragout sounds fancy but it's basically just a hearty stew (or sauce, in this case) with vegetables and seasonings. Kind of like Ragu spaghetti sauce....Hmm, I wonder where they came up with their name.

Anyways, I ate polenta again. But this time, I took some pictures to share with you. Without further adieu, I present:


Polenta Cakes with Sausage Ragout


For the polenta you will need:

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal (not the quick kind)
4 cups water
1 teapoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3/4 grated parmesan cheese

(you're going to have it grate it yourself, the stuff in a jar just wont work.)

Firstly, bring the water, along with the salt and pepper, to a boil in a medium saucepan. 

Once the water is boiling, slowly add the cornmeal, whisking constantly. Don't add more cornmeal until the stuff already in the pan is mixed in, this will prevent lumps. You don't want lumps. It's not like lumpy potatoes that are good. In polenta, lumps = gross.

When all the cornmeal is added, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer until thickened. Make sure you keep an eye on it and stir it about every minute or so. It should look about like this:

Once it looks like that, stir in the parmesan cheese and butter until both are melted.

Now, you could eat it just like this. Straight from the pot to the table. It's scrumptious this way, this is the way I ate it last night. But tonight, I did something a little bit different.

Pour the polenta into a 9x9 pan, and put it in the refrigerator. Ideally, you should let it cool a bit before refrigerating, but if you're hungry like I was, you're going to put it in right away.

While the polenta is cooling, you can make the ragout. For the ragout you will need:

1 small onion, chopped.
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
6 mushrooms, halved then sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb italian sausage
2 cups prepared spaghetti sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

In a large skillet, brown the sausage. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and italian seasoning.

Add the onions, wait one minute, then add the red pepper. Wait another minute, then add the zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic. Once the vegetables are tender, add the spaghetti sauce. Reduce heat to low, and set aside so the flavors mingle.

The polenta should be cold and firm now, so pull it and slice it into 9 or 16 slices, depending on your preference.

Heat a small skillet until hot hot hot. Add a drop of olive oil (or butter), then add your polenta squares. Saute them until both sides are golden brown and crispy.

Remove them onto a plate with paper towel (to absorb the oil, of course.)

Serve the polenta squares on a plate with the sausage ragout spooned over them. Garnish them with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

I promise you, you cannot go wrong with this dinner. Paul has had 3 1/2 servings today, he just can't get enough.


Now, we're off to try to make our own ice cream--I'll let you know how that goes!