Pork Tenderloin with Peach Sauce and Sesame Arugula Salad

Can you tell we got a lot of peaches from our neighbors this year?

Ingredients for two or three people:

One pork tenderloin, somewhere between one and two-ish pounds 

For marinade:
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons Montreal Steak Seasoning (if you don't have this, just use some granulated garlic, coarse salt and cracked pepper)
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon olive oil

Put the pork tenderloin in a dish or  plastic bag, rub the ingredients above all over it and set it in the fridge either overnight or at least for a few hours.

When you're ready to cook it, preheat the oven to 425 degrees, shake off the excess marinade from the meat and put it on a foil-lined baking sheet with an extra slosh of olive oil and a sprinkling of dried thyme over the top. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the meat thermometer says 165 degrees. I REALLY recommend using a meat thermometer. Overcooked pork SUCKS!

For the Peach Sauce:

1/2 cup of peach jam, OR a big fresh over-ripe peach, peeled and chopped up, plus a tablespoon or two of sugar. 
1/2 cup good brandy
1 jalapeno, chopped finely, and/or 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon butter

Heat the butter in a small pan and add the chopped jalapeno. Let it cook over medium heat for a few minutes, then add the peach jam and brandy and cook it down, until about half of the brandy looks like it's gone. 

Spoon a small amount over the slices of the pork tenderloin and serve with salad. If you want a starchy side dish, I would do rice.

For the salad:

One bag of arugula leaves
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
a big handful of crunchy Chinese salad noodles (optional, but use slightly less dressing if you don't use these)

2 tablespoons of orange juice
zest of half an orange
2 tablespoons of olive or peanut oil 
2 heaping tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 
1 mashed up garlic clove

Mix all of the dressing ingredients together and let it sit in the fridge while the pork is cooking. When the pork is ready, dress the salad and toss it all up, but take out the garlic clove first.

My Best Beef Ribs and Yukon Gold Potato Salad

Beef rib, potato salad and peach-pepper preserves

Does this really need an intro?

Ingredients:

7-10 beef ribs
1 bottle of cheap white wine
1/3 cup black-strap molasses
1 tablespoon salt 
1 tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning OR a clove of garlic and a tablespoon of cracked peppercorns. 
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 bay leaves
enough water to cover the ribs in the pot

For glazing:
One bottle of Your Favorite Barbeque Sauce
1/4 cup peach jam preserves
1/4 cup pepper jelly

Cut your rack of beef ribs into one or two-rib portions. Place in a big pot with the wine, molasses and spices, then fill with warm water until the ribs are just covered. Put the heat on high, then as soon as it starts bubbling, turn the heat down to low and simmer for at least one hour, but no more than two.

After you put the ribs on to simmer, you can make the potato salad. 

Ingredients:
24 ounces of small yukon gold potatoes, or honey gold baby potatoes (good potatoes are very important)
1/4 cup Best Foods, Hellman's or home made mayonaisse 
1/4 cup of sweet yellow onion, chopped very fine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Malabar black pepper
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon of plain prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
zest of half a lemon
juice of half a lemon

Boil the potatoes for 15-20 minutes, or just until you can stick a butter knife through one of them. Set a timer, it really sucks when you overcook them, you'll end up with mashed potatoes. 

After you drain off the water, cut the potatoes, holding them with a paper towel so you don't burn your hands. If you have the baby potatoes, just cut them in half, if they are bigger, cut them in quarters (duh). 

While they are still warm, toss the potatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, chopped onion, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. Leave them out on the counter to cool to room temperature. 

Once the potatoes are no longer warm add the mayo, mustard, dill, and lemon juice and zest, mix well, taste for salt. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Sometimes I sprinkle it with chopped chives or fresh dill on top so it looks pretty.

Back to the ribs-

When the ribs are done simmering (covered or uncovered, either way is fine), remove them from the liquid and put them either out on the barbeque on medium low for about ten minutes to crisp up, or stick them under your broiler in the oven for ten minutes to crisp up, either way is fine. 

Glaze them with your favorite sauce (I like Rufus Teague) mixed with the peach jam and pepper jelly. (I had my own peach-jalapeno jam, so unless you live in my house you won't have that.) Put the ribs back on the grill for a few miutes to heat the sauce and make it sticky, then they're ready to serve. 

Don't put the ribs with sauce under the broiler though, if you are using the oven instead of the grill, just turn it down to 400 degrees for the post-sauce cooking.

Grilled Summer Salad

Ingredients:
4-5 summer squash of different kinds, sliced thickly lengthwise
1 large sweet onion, sliced into disks
Olive oil (extra virgin)
1 teaspoon salt
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
2 ounces soft goat cheese

Rub olive oil over the sliced squash and onion slices, using as much as you need. Grill them on your BBQ on high for a couple of minutes per side (make sure you get nice grill marks). Let them cool, then cut them all into manageable salad-sized pieces and place in a salad bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients and toss together, drizzling more olive oil in if it looks too dry. 

This can sit in the fridge, but if it's going to be a while before you eat it, don't add the salt or goat cheese until right before serving.

Breakfast Salad

You might be thinking to yourself, "The only people who eat salad for breakfast are crazy hyper-dieting bodybuilders." 

Not true, Sir or Madam, not true. I am a normal human who likes normal food, and I say salad for breakfast is de-li-cious.

It's so simple, I'm kind of embarrassed to even call it a recipe.

Ingredients for one:

2 eggs
olive oil for frying
salt and pepper to taste for eggs
A plateful of arugula leaves
1 tomato, sliced up any which way
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (my mint is taking over the herb garden, I could send you some if you don't have any)
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon thick sweet Balsamic vinegar
a good pinch of salt
a few garlicky croutons, homemade or store bought 

It's a good idea to leave the arugula and tomato out of the fridge the night before, you don't really want ice cold lettuce with your hot eggs, I mean it's not bad, but it cools your eggs down quite a bit. 

Mix your tomato, mint and arugula with the pinch of salt, two teaspoons of olive oil and teaspoon of vinegar (I just kind of toss with my hand right on the plate.) Balsamic vinegar (white or red) is important, because regular would be too acidic for a nice breakfast. You don't want to knock your socks off with this, save that for the Huevos Rancheros.

By the way, yes, avocado would be great in this, I just didn't have any ripe ones.

You can fry your eggs any way you like of course. I heat a lot of olive oil in the frying pan on medium low and I cook mine for one minute each side for over-medium. I also salt and pepper them to death. (I really think both eggs and tomatoes can  handle a little extra salt.)

Place your eggs on top of the salad and sprinkle with a few croutons. I drink hot black coffee with everything so I can't imagine what else you would have. Maybe Earl Grey tea would be nice?

Salmon Salad Recipe, Because the Sweet Potato Pancakes Sucked

*Sigh* Here's the deal. If you are giving up grains, don't try to make fake versions of things like pancakes, they're baaaaad. So, so bad. For example, I tried to make these sweet potato pancakes: a cup of mashed sweet potato, four eggs, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of honey, and butter for frying. But seriously, don't make them, because they suck. They taste like a cross between warm pumpkin pie and cinnamon scrambled eggs. Bleh.

Anyway, here's a recipe for salmon instead. 

First of all, get the really good wild salmon fillets, pour enough olive oil in a pan to cover the bottom, and over medium heat, toss in one garlic clove, sliced. Immediately place the salmon portions in the pan, skin side down. Sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper, thyme, and tarragon. Cover and cook for a few minutes, JUST until the color of the salmon turns light pink instead of dark pink. Squeeze a half of a lemon over the top, and when you serve it, just peel the skin off of the bottom first (I eat it, but you can give it to the dog) and spoon some of the oil and juices from the pan over the top.

The Salad Part

I like to keep boiled and salted potatoes ready to go in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, ready to turn into fried breakfast potatoes, or slice into salads like this one.

A small bag of good greens, baby kale, arugula, spring mix...whatever
3 small boiled Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced
1 avocado, sliced or cubed
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes sliced in half
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 big pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Juice of one lemon
2 oz. crumbled feta or other good cheese

Toss all of the the ingredients- and for Pete's sake, don't be a baby, use your hands, they work the best. You can always wash them, and both the olive oil and lemon juice are good for your skin anyway. Serve the salmon on top of the salad. It's just delicious.