Herb-Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Cream Sauce

I served this with Wednesday's Brussels sprouts.  (In addition to the Brussels Sprouts I also paired it with mashed potatoes.)  It is a mash up of a couple of different recipes from the same cookbook, the marinade adapted from a chicken recipe and the sauce loosely based off of a different pork tenderloin recipe.  Searing the tenderloin on the stove first helps lock in all the juices from marinating and also gives a base for the sauce that's made in the same pan.  This is a relatively easy but company worthy recipe that could also be doubled if you're having a crowd for the holidays.  

Herb-Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, Fourth Printing
(Serves 4 to 6 depending on size of tenderloin)

For the Tenderloin and Marinade:
1 1/2 to 2 pound pork tenderloin
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh minced onion
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, minced

Place tenderloin in a gallon-sized zip top bag.  In a small bowl combine wine, 2 tablespoons olive oil, vinegar, minced onion, basil, marjoram, kosher salt, and minced garlic.  Whisk together then pour over pork and seal zip top bag, squeezing out as much air as possible.  Marinate in the refrigerator at least one hour or as long as overnight, mine was marinated for about 8 hours.
After the pork is has finished marinating, remove tenderloin from bag and discard remaining marinade.  Preheat oven to 400°F.  While oven is preheating, heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil over high heat in a large skillet.  Sear tenderloin in skillet for 2 minutes on each side until browned.  Saving the skillet to make the sauce, transfer pork to a baking dish and bake in preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes per pound until tenderloin has reached an internal temperature of at least 145°F.  (While pork is cooking prepare mushroom cream sauce recipe below.)  After pork is removed from oven let rest 5-10 minutes before slicing, then slice and serve with mushroom cream sauce.

For the Mushroom Cream Sauce:
1 1/2 cups sliced button mushrooms
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried parsely
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper 
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

After pork has been removed from the skillet melt the butter over medium heat, then add sliced mushrooms and saute for several minutes until mushrooms have begun to soften.  Increase heat to medium high and add white wine to skillet, scraping any browned bits from the pan.  Simmer about 5  minutes until majority of the wine has evaporated.  Reduce heat to low and stir in cream, salt, parsley, marjoram, pepper, and thyme.  Heat cream, stirring frequently, until it just begins to bubble.  Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat.  If tenderloin isn't finished cooking sauce can be kept warm over low heat but make sure to stir frequently.  Serve over sliced pork tenderloin.

Balsamic & Parmesan Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I have a roasted cauliflower recipe bookmarked even though neither my husband nor myself really like cauliflower.  I suppose I figured I'd try it at some point but I haven't.  Then I was at the grocery store the other day and bought this:

It's a Brussels sprout tree, which I realize is a pretty strange impulse buy, but once it was sitting in my fridge I had to actually use it.  Especially since it was taking up my entire veggie drawer.  Apparently you can cook the whole tree (really? I still don't quite trust the internet on that one), but I figured if I set that on the dinner table my husband would think I'd fallen completely off my rocker.  And probably order a pizza.  So I opted to just cut the sprouts off pre-cooking.

I've roasted Brussels sprouts before so I figured the cauliflower recipe would adapt well for the sprouts.  If you don't have marjoram an equal measure of oregano should work fine.  Since the tree had some rather large Brussels sprouts I opted to cut them in half, but if your sprouts are small you may want to just leave them whole, or reduce the roasting times.  This recipe was pretty much impossible to get a good picture of, the dark color from the roasting coupled with the balsamic vinegar makes every photo look like a bowl fill of burnt sprouts, but they taste a lot better than my poor photography skills make them look.  In fact they were good enough to make me almost willing to try the same recipe for the cauliflower.  Maybe.

Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Adapted from Eating Well
(Serves 4)

1 lb Brussels sprouts (about 4 cups)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Remove any yellowed outer leaves from Brussels sprouts, then cut sprouts in half.  Combine sprouts in a large bowl with olive oil, marjoram, salt, and pepper and toss to coat.  Spread onto prepared baking sheet and roast for 20  to 25 minutes until beginning to brown.  Remove from oven, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle on Parmesan cheese, then return to oven and roast 10 minutes longer.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

I've had this recipe bookmarked for a while but kept passing it over because it seemed like a lot of work to grate all those carrots when all I wanted was pancakes.  I realize I made a 3 bowl dirtying, mixer requiring waffle recipe on a weekday, but apparently on a weekend grating carrots is too much work.  I don't quite understand the logic myself.  However, since my recipes to try bookmarks folder is too long to even begin to sort through I decided it was time to actually try some of them and these sounded good on a lazy Sunday morning. 

I only made a few small changes to this recipe, the biggest of which was to add raisins, but if you're not a fan of raisins they can be left out.  I also changed the nuts to pecans since I prefer them over walnuts in carrot cake.  The result was a pancake that tasted a lot like carrot cake.  Which I suppose was the point but still, these were really good. 

Carrot Cake Pancakes
Adapted from Cooking Light 
(Makes 12 4-inch pancakes)

1 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger
pinch cloves (approx 1/16 teaspoon)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups grated carrots (approx. 3 large carrots)
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/4 cup raisins
butter or canola oil for greasing pan
chopped pecans and maple syrup for serving

In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.  In a smaller bowl whisk together brown sugar, buttermilk, melted butter, vanilla, and eggs.  Stir wet ingredients into dry until just combined.  Stir in grated carrots, pecans, and raisins.  Batter will be thicker than regular pancake batter. 
Heat electric griddle to 325°F or stove top griddle or skillet over medium heat and lightly grease with butter or oil.  Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup pour batter onto cooking surface.  Since the batter is thick I used the bottom of my measuring cup to level them out, they don't spread much when cooking.  Cook until small bubbles form and edges appear dry, for me this was about 4 minutes on an electric griddle.  Flip pancakes and cook an additional 1-2 minutes on other side.  Serve with additional chopped pecans and maple syrup.

Cranberry Vinaigrette and a Leftovers Salad

There are lots of variations of the day after Thanksgiving sandwich, I bring you the day after Thanksgiving salad.  The only real recipe below is for the cranberry dressing, as it would taste good on whatever salad you can throw together, but I did list what I used for the salad pictured.  Granted it will only make use of two of the leftovers you have overcrowding your fridge, but no one says you can't eat it with sides of stuffing and mashed potatoes. 

When I was dating my now husband and offered to cook him dinner the first time it was like I suddenly forgot how to use a microwave let alone cook a complete meal.  I had no idea what to make.  (Incidentally I have a similar problem whenever we have people over for dinner - total blank on what to cook).  In one of our conversations he had mentioned a cranberry salad dressing that he had eaten at a restaurant recently that was really good.  Once I decided on what to make for the main course, I decided I needed to make a cranberry vinaigrette to go with the salad.  I found a recipe that looked good on Epicurious, but it called for fresh or frozen cranberries and it was the end of August and there were no fresh cranberries to be found.  I searched for frozen at every store in my area and couldn't find those either.  The logical thing to do would have been to make another dressing, but I'm sure my roommate at the time could attest to the fact that I was not logical while planning this dinner.

The comments on the recipe came to my rescue, with someone mentioning that they had used whole berry cranberry sauce and just left out the sugar.  I tried it and it worked, so I made the dressing for my then boyfriend, and three months later I was engaged.  I may be leaving out a few steps there, but he did say it tasted a lot like the one he had at the restaurant.  I have since made the dressing with fresh cranberries and honestly we think it's just as good with cranberry sauce.  If you want to go the fresh/frozen cranberry route though sub the cranberry sauce with 1/4 cup cranberries and 1 tablespoon sugar and give them a quick pulse in the blender or food processor before adding the rest of the ingredients, then proceed from there.  I still make it both ways depending on what I have on hand.    

For the salad pictured in this post, top mixed greens with several slices of leftover turkey, sprinkle with toasted pecans, dried cranberries, and Gorgonzola cheese, then serve with the Cranberry Vinaigrette recipe below.

Cranberry Vinaigrette
Slightly Adapted from Epicurious

1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 cup vegetable oil
salt and pepper 

Add cranberry sauce, vinegar, red onion and Dijon mustard to a food processor or blender.  Pulse several times to combine ingredients.  With machine running, slowly drizzle in vegetable oil until it is all blended.  Pour into a bowl and stir in salt and pepper to taste, I usually use just a pinch of salt and a bit more fresh ground pepper.  Cover and refrigerate for at least several hours to help flavors blend together.  This makes a thick, creamy vinaigrette, so you'll need to stir and let come to room temperature before serving.

Apple Cider Cranberry Sauce

I make cranberry sauce every year at Thanksgiving and every year I change the recipe slightly.  I started with the basic cranberry/water/sugar combo listed on the back of the bag of cranberries and since then have tried replacing the water with juice, changing the sugars, adding spices, etc. all in the search for the recipe that I would want to keep making every year at the holidays.  This year I think I finally got it right, and it is just as simple to make as the original recipe. 

The apple cider provides a bit of extra flavor which is enhanced by the addition of the brown sugar, but you still get the tart cranberry flavor that the more basic recipe has.  Of course if you prefer the flavor of cinnamon or other spices in your cranberry sauce this recipe would lend itself well to those add-ins.  I've listed two different measurements for granulated sugar in the recipe below, I used 1/2 cup which makes a fairly tart sauce, if you like your cranberry sauce a little sweeter use the 2/3 cup measurement.  If you have any leftovers after Thanksgiving save 1/4 cup for the cranberry vinaigrette recipe I'll be posting after Thanksgiving.
  
Apple Cider Cranberry Sauce
Adapted from Ocean Spray

12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup apple cider
1/2 to 2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar

Bring sugars and apple cider to a boil in a saucepan.  Add cranberries, reduce heat to a medium low, and simmer for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally until the cranberries begin to pop.  Remove from heat and cool.  Don't worry if it looks too thin, it will thicken significantly as it cools.  Refrigerate before serving. 

Hostess Style Donuts

I woke up yesterday morning to almost all of Facebook lamenting the loss of Twinkies.  Apparently Hostess is shutting it's doors, and while it's possible that another brand will purchase the companies assets, there is no guarantee that we'll continue to be able to find some of the iconic Hostess treats in stores.

To be honest Twinkies were never my favorite, as a kid I much preferred their donuts.  While the mini Donettes are tasty, the best was when we could bug my mom enough at the grocery store to get her to buy the variety pack of the large donuts.  They always came with equal numbers of plain, powdered sugar, and chocolate frosted.  I haven't had them in years and a Google search this morning showed that they do (or I guess did) still make them but they're not as easy to find.  My search also found that people are already selling Hostess products on E-bay.  But you don't need to buy any on E-bay because you can make a pretty close substitute at home.  If you don't have a donut pan for these you could use a muffin tin or even a mini muffin tin for donut holes. 

I already have a baked donut recipe I like, but wanted these to be a bit softer and lighter so I tweaked the recipe a bit and used cake flour.  The powdered sugar and plain varieties were easy, but the chocolate was more difficult.  If you've ever eaten one of their chocolate donuts you know that the frosting is thin and fully set.  I experimented with small batches of a couple of recipes, and ate a lot of chocolate dipped graham crackers in the process, but in the end decided to just go with some melted chocolate chips with butter added to create a thinner glaze.  It still isn't spot on, but it's pretty close to what I remember.  Plus I had a stomachache and was out of mixing bowls so I decided to call it good.  Oh and if you do decide to stock up on Twinkies, they sadly don't in fact last forever - http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/01/twinkies-are-only-good-for-25-days/

Baked Donuts
Adapted from King Arthur Flour 
(Makes 6 donuts)

1 cup cake flour, sifted
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Grease a donut pan or muffin tin with cooking spray or oil.
In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk together sifted cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
In a separate smaller bowl whisk together eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Stir egg mixture into dry ingredients until fully incorporated.
Using a tablespoon evenly distribute the batter so the donut cups are no more than two thirds full, for me this was about three level tablespoons per donut.  Make sure not to overfill, I got a little carried away with my measurements and had to trim a few of the donuts with a knife after baking.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes until the donuts spring back when touched.  They'll only brown very lightly on top but will be darker on the underside.  Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes in the pan before inverting onto a cooling rack.  Let cool completely before glazing or sugaring.
For the powdered sugar donuts I just put some powdered sugar (about a 1/2 cup for the two donuts) in a gallon sized ziploc and shook the donuts individually until coated.  For the chocolate use the glaze recipe below.  I also left two plain.

Chocolate Glaze
(This glaze made more than enough for the two donuts I glazed, I probably could have glazed two more.  If you'd like to glaze all six donuts I'd recommend multiplying the measurements by 1.5 or or 2.)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or a glass bowl in the microwave.  When the chocolate is completely melted quickly whisk in the melted butter, you want your butter to still be fairly warm or else it will firm up the melted chocolate and make glazing more difficult. 
To glaze the donuts dip in the chocolate glaze and place on a cooling rack or waxed paper until fully set.  You can stick them in the fridge to speed up the setting process.  I just dipped the tops and sides of my donuts leaving the very bottom unglazed.

Tarragon Mustard Chicken and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I'm surprised I even made it this long without posting a chicken recipe as we eat a lot of it.  This particular recipe is one I made for the grill a couple of times this summer, but since grilling season is over I adapted it for the stovetop/oven.  I like the extra tanginess from the whole grain mustard but if you prefer you could use all Dijon.  Mashed potatoes are a good compliment to this chicken; I went fairly easy on the garlic for these but more cloves could easily be thrown in the water with the potatoes if you're looking for a stronger garlic flavor, I'd try 6 cloves instead of 4.  I rounded out the meal with some steamed broccoli.

Tarragon Mustard Chicken 
Adapted from All You Magazine, July 2011
(Serves 4)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
4 teaspoons lemon juice
4 teaspoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F.  
Whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, and tarragon.  Set aside. 
Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Season both sides of chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place in skillet, cooking 2-3 minutes on each side until browned.  
Transfer chicken to a baking dish and spoon mustard sauce evenly over chicken breasts.  Place in preheated oven and bake approximately 25 minutes until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.  
After removing from oven let sit for several minutes before serving. 

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
(Serves 4)

2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch chunks
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 - 4 tablespoons milk
salt & pepper

Put the potatoes, garlic cloves, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to a 2 quart sauce pan.  Add 1 quart of cold water (you may need more if using a larger pan, you want enough to cover the potatoes).  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.  
Drain potatoes and return to the sauce pan.  Add sour cream, butter, and 2 tablespoons milk; mash until smooth.  If you the potatoes seem too dry add more milk 1 tablespoon at  time until they are the consistency you want - I ended up adding 1 additional tablespoon.  Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.