Any way enough about my woes - Todays Menu
Week 2 - 01/09/16
Maple-Garlic Marinated Pork Tenderloin,
Sesame Green Beans,
& Roasted Pears with Chocolate-Raspberry Sauce
I'm always looking for a reason and an available time to go to the West Side Market. Not only do they have an abundance of just about any item I want, but the fruit and veggie hub is magical and my paradise.
After scoping for the best deals I was able to find a quart of raspberries, fresh ginger, green beans, & a very good looking pork tenderloin with very little fat to trim off and a nice red color.
Recipe Links:
The marinade was so simple and took me all of 10 mins to prepare with trimming the pork. It smelled incredible and I will say I did a little chefing on the recipe with this and the sauce for my green beans. Just a little extra sesame oil for the marinade and I actually ended up almost doubling the recipe for the green beans, but looking back I probably didn't need to because there was a lot left in the bottom of the pan.
After my boyfriends enthusiasm against grilling the pork, I felt deep inside that this was the only way to stay true to the flavors. He was just concerned that I would need his assistance... pshhh I'm a grown woman, I can handle a charcoal grill. 10 minutes into this feministic attitude I soon realized that perhaps I don't completely understand the concept of charcoal & wind combined. I then remembered that a while ago when the best boyfriend in the world ever so kindly let me sway him to go to the park for a cook out - on a suddenly chilly and dreary day - we used a charcoal thingy to light the grill... after looking up online this is called a chimney. So, I decided I would use the chimney. Step 1 toss all the charcoal in the chimney. Step 2 place a paper towel on the top of it. Step 3 hold the paper towel covering the charcoal and turn chimney upside down on the bottom of the grill. Step 4 bundle up 2 pieces of paper and put in top of the chimney. Step 5 light paper and realize that you're a moron and obviously you don't need to flame on top of the charcoal to get it lit... Start over Step 1 - good, now instead of placing the paper above the chimney just bundle paper and place it under the chimney and light. These papers then cause the charcoal to catch and in apx 20 mins you have red hot and ashy coals ready to grill with.
So after the back and forth of running out to the drive way back upstairs to the kitchen I was ready to grill this pork! But then I remembered Aaron's advice from the last time I prepared a meal "cook the meat last" - I had previously served kind of sort of cold meat to him because I took a little too long on veggie prep. Back upstairs to finalize veggies & then right back down to put the pork on.
Aaron asked me "about how much longer" I answered "oh just about another half hour" smooth as a cucumber, but inside I was terrified that I wasn't going to get everything plated and I hadn't even thought about my presentation.
I used a meat thermometer ,iGrill2, to keep the temperature and it is actually Bluetooth synced, so I can walk away and also keep track of the temp on my phone until it hits 145 degrees for medium cooked pork. I wanted there to be grill marks all the way around the meat so I made sure to rotate every 20 or so degrees and boy was she beautiful! I DID IT!!! I hope the neighbors didn't notice the giddiness in my step as I put the pork on a platter and ran back upstairs... seriously, I think I can count that as leg day.
The rest of my meal was already prepared so just had to plate the vegetables, cut the pork and place the apples for garnish (my version of "pork chops and applesauce"). I called Dinner's done (at 10pm... oops) and we feasted.
Oh and how could I forget the Pears.. oh right, they weren't that memorable. I failed at the raspberry sauce, as you can see it is just all over instead of drizzled decoratively. I also just didn't care for the flavors together and I really like each on their own.
I was especially impressed with the flavor on the pork - had I used a real maple syrup in the recipe, I think it would have been even more delicious.
Michelle - 4 Star Rating, I will probably eat all of the left overs and not get sick of them!
Aaron - 4 Star Rating, taking favor in the green beans. Also, mentioned how the leftovers heated up as though it had just been made.
Comment with questions and suggestions♡
Until next time xoxo,
M
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