Christmas Eve 2011

• Parsnip apple soup
• Pork loin in the style of porchetta
• Roasted brussel sprouts with bacon and pepitas
• Roasted kabocha squash with pomegranates, walnut oil, pomegranate molasses and thyme

Pimenton Rubbed Pork Tenderloin and Dirty Potatoes with Romesco Sauce and Roasted Purple Carrots

And now for the main course.  The pimenton was courtesy of a little stocking stuffer Jason received from santa this year!  The rub was incredible and the photos do not do justice to the colors and beauty of the plate. 

Pimenton Rubbed Pork Tenderloin
serves 4

Pimenton
Salt
Pepper
Coriander
1-1/4 pound pork tenderloin

--  Preheat over to 350

-- Sprinkle a bit of each of the four seasonings onto the tenderloin and rub onto the meat

-- Sear pork tenderloin on all sides over high heat in a cast iron skillet

--  Put skillet and tenderloin into oven and cook until meat reaches 135 degrees (approximately 15 minutes).  Make sure to flip tenderloin once during cooking process. 

--  Let rest, slice and serve

Dirty Potatoes
serves 4

12 small yukon gold potatoes, halved the long way
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Coriander
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
Grated 1 year old manchego

-- Preheat oven to 350

-- Rinse the potatoes to get rid of some of the starch

-- In a large bowl, combine the potatoes with enough oil and spices to coat (spices approximately in equal proportions)

--  Place potatoes cut side down on an unlined baking sheet and roast until fork tender.  DO NOT FLIP. 

--  In mini-food processor combine kalamata olives and approx. a tablespoon of olive oil and blend to a paste-like consistency. 

--  Toss the roasted potatoes in the olive paste and serve with shaved manchego on top

Roasted Baby Purple Carrots

Baby purple carrots (or whatever colors you choose)
Salt
Pepper
Herbs de Provence
Olive Oil

--  Toss carrots in spices and oil and roast in 350 degree oven until tender

Romesco Sauce

3 roma tomatoes halved
1 large red bell pepper quartered
5 cloves garlic peeled
1/3 cup olive oil
2 slices of a french baguette
1/4 cup toasted whole almonds
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
pinch of Pimenton (Spanish paprika)
pinch of red pepper flakes

--  Preheat the oven to 425

--  Brush tomatoes, bell pepper and garlic cloves with oil.  Roast on baking pan for 15 minutes

--  Toast bread in same oven until lightly browned

--  Remove bread and vegetables from oven and let vegetables cool

--  Combine all recipe ingredients in the food processor except the olive oil and blend.  Drizzle in olive oil with motor running and process until it has a slightly chunky sauce consistency

Roasted Pork Loin with Pickled Raisins

Another recipe from the Food & Wine entire year of recipes 2006.  The original called for a veal loin but we didn't know how well that would go over with the group so instead we used 2 - 3lb pork loins.

ROASTED PORK LOIN

2 Tbsp rosemary leaves plus 3 sprigs broken into 3-inch pieces
2 Tbsp thyme leaves, plus 8 sprigs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Two 3-pound pork loins
Salt and fresh ground pepper
6 Tbsp butter cut into 6 pieces
24 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

Serve with:  
   Pickled Golden Raisins
   Chestnut Stuffing with Fennel

--In a bowl, combine the rosemary leaves, thymes leaves and 2 Tbsp olive oil

--Put pork loins in a baking dish and rub all over with the herb oil.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

--Remove the pork from the fridge an hour before cooking

--Preheat the oven to 375

--Arrange the rosemary and thyme sprigs on the roast and scatter the garlic around the meat.

--Cook for about an hour until a meat thermometer inserted in the center registers 140-145

--Let rest at least 10 minutes then slice and arrange on a platter, spooning a bit of the juice over the meat.

Mustard and Black Peppercorn Crusted Pork Tenderloin

The cooking of meat falls to my husband.  I'll relate here as best I can what  he did!

MUSTARD AND BLACK PEPPERCORN CRUSTED PORK TENDERLOIN

2 - 1lb pork tenderloins, trimmed
1 - 2 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
Whole grain mustards (preferably Spartan Mustard from the National Mustard Museum!)

Preheat the oven to 375

Trim the fat from the pork tenderloins.

With a mortar and pestle crush the peppercorns.

Rub the tenderloins all over with the mustard and then some of the peppercorns.

On the stove top in a pan, brown the tenderloins on all sides over medium high heat.  This helps get a nice crust on the meat.

Put tenderloins in a baking dish and roast in the oven until desired doneness.  Ours was done medium, so to about 140-145 with the meat thermometer.

Let rest and slice thinly.

Note:  one of these days I will have my husband discus the art of cooking meat perfectly.  I know it takes years of practice but he seems to have mastered the skill.  It seems to involve cooking by sense of touch just as much as anything!

Braised Pork in the "Black Rooster" (Brasato di Maiale Nero)

Even without tv we still will pop onto hulu or some other website to catch a show or two.  One night, I got home to find Jason watching "Molto Mario", Batali's show.  We watched him make this pork dish, a pork roast braised in red wine sauce alongside roasted butternut squash in agrodolce and knew we had to make it one day.

We have revived our Friday cooking sessions this fall and today we decided to try this dish.  It was incredible.  Instead of the butternut squash, we substituted spaghetti squash (which I love) and added a side of braised chard.  We substituted bacon for the pancetta and made a roast about half the size of what he did on the show. 

The dish was incredible!  Along with the rotolo, we now have decided on our Christmas eve dinner!

BRAISED PORK IN THE BLACK ROOSTER (Brasato in Maiale Nero)

One 2 pound pork roast, rolled and tied
2 teaspoons salt
several fresh sage leaves
2 slices of bacon
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup parsley leaves
Olive oil
2 cups dry red wine (we used a tempranillo, chianti would also be perfect)
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
black pepper

First tie up the roast (we use Food Loops which are easy and can be washed and reused)

Slide sage leaves under the loops all the way across the roast

Chop up the bacon, parsley and garlic together until it becomes the consistency of a paste.  Add a splash of olive oil if you need it but we didn't use more than a teaspoon.

In a large dutch oven, cook the bacon paste in a little bit of olive oil until it essentially melts.

Then, brown the roast in the mixture on all sides

 

Add 1 cup of the red wine, bring to a boil and reduce.  Add the remaining 1 cup of wine and the tomatoes and bring to a boil

Cover the pot, lower to a simmer and cook about 2 hours.  When finished cooking, pull out the roast to let rest, turn up the heat on the pot and reduce the braising liquid.

Remove the string and sage leaves from the roast.  Serve cut into slices and doused with the sauce!