I haven’t posted a new recipe since July. This is because I haven’t made anything notably different, nor tried anything new. A lot of my recipes are more “methods” that true recipes, as I vary the seasonings to produce different results.

This recipe is like that — I’ve posted recipes like this before. However, Lorraine really liked this combination so I’m documenting it.

Filled Pork Tenderloin

• 1 pork tenderloin
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/4 cup shredded Mexican style cheese
• spray oil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Remove fat and silverside from the tenderloin. Butterfly it (cut 3/4 of the way through) and open it up. Cover with plastic wrap and gently pound to a uniform 1/4″ thickness with a meat mallet.

Sprinkle with salt (I used paprika salt), Italian seasoning, and garlic. The amounts listed are approximate — I went light on the salt. Sprinkle the shredded cheese in a line down the middle.

Roll the meat up the long way. It helps to pound the meat as thin as possible.

Place in a roasting pan and spray with spray oil to wet the meat. Sprinkle with Parmesan and then with bread crumbs.

Bake for 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes, then slice.

Notes:

I recorded this recipe as Lorraine likes the way it came out. The seasonings and cheeses can be swapped as desired.

I read a recipe on Better Homes & Gardens recently that caught my attention. It was a beef stroganoff recipe where the sour cream sauce was mixed together, then poured over the meat and simmered. This may be a common way of doing it, but it’s not something I was familiar with. When adding sour cream to a sauce, I usually whisk it in at the end.

I have been in a rut recently — I haven’t done anything honestly new. Sure, I make things that taste different, but it’s really the same thing, just differing a few ingredients.

Lorraine defrosted a pork tenderloin and asked me to make scallopini, something with a wine sauce. We haven’t done that recently (lots of grilling) so it would be a nice change. I was going to get out white wine but thought of the stroganoff recipe. Since I had a brand new container of sour cream in the fridge, I brought up one of my few remaining bottles of 2016 Chocolate Orange Port, and set to work!

Lorraine really liked this one! It’s not low fat, but it’s really easy to make, and it’s done in 40 minutes start to finish.

Pork-Port Stroganoff

• 1 pork tenderloin, cleaned of silverside, cut in 1″ slices, pounded 1/4″ thick
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• paprika salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup sweet red or white wine (port or Marsala work great!)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp Pampered Chef Greek seasoning
• 1/2 tsp paprika salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a large, deep skillet or saute pan. When hot, brown the pork in batches on both sides, sprinkling lightly with paprika salt. Add more oil if needed. When browned, remove to a large bowl and cover to keep warm.

While the meat is cooking, whisk the sour cream, wine, stock, cardamom, Greek seasoning, salt, and pepper until smooth.

When all the pork is cooked, add the meat back to the pan and spread out in a single layer if possible. Pour the sour cream sauce over the top.

Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sauce is thick. Watch for burning. If it gets too thick, add a bit of chicken stock and cook 1 additional minute.

Serve over pasta.

Notes:

I was given a large jar of paprika salt for Christmas. When this runs out, I’m going to try mixing 1 Tbsp paprika with 4 Tbsp salt. This is just a guess and I won’t know for sure until I try it.

Unfortunately for the world, the Fazekas Winery 2016 Chocolate Orange Port is not generally available. Substitute a commercial port or Marsala, or a cream sherry. A dry wine will work, but the sweet wine adds character.

If you don’t have the Pampered Chef Greek seasoning on hand, substitute any “Greek” seasoning or Herbes de Provence.

The pepper listed was skipped, as pepper can bother Lorraine’s stomach. I have a grinder on the table containing a pepper blend (black, white, red, & green) so I ground some over my plate.

I whipped this recipe up for dinner tonight — Lorraine liked it enough that she asked me to record it.

Recently I read some recipes for pork tenderloin that involved marinating it in various whiskey’s. Lorraine selected pork tenderloin for dinner, so I decided to go for it. I didn’t have a recipe handy … no biggie … I wouldn’t follow it anyway. So I dug into the cupboard and invented this one.

This is actually a pork scallopine recipe where I marinated the pork before cooking it.

Whiskey Marinated Pork Tenderloin

• 1 pork tenderloin, cleaned of fat & silverside

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup Irish whiskey (see note below)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp Szechuan pepper, ground
• 2 dashes Texas Pete or other hot sauce

Cooking:

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• salt
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water

Slice the pork in 2″ segments. Place the slices on a cutting board on the cut side; cover with plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet, pound the meat to 1/4″ to 3/8″ thick. This will need to be done in batches, depending on the size of the cutting board.

Mix the Marinade ingredients in a ziplock back. Add the pork and seal it, pressing out air. Manipulate the bag to ensure the pork is coated. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours.

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet until hot over medium-high heat. Remove the pork from the marinade and shake off excess. Reduce heat to medium.

Brown the pork on both sides in batches, avoiding crowding the meat. Season lightly with salt — it won’t need much. As each batch is done remove to a large bowl and keep warm. Add more oil if necessary.

When pork is all cooked add wine and stir to scrape up browned bits. Boil for 1 minutes to boil out the alcohol, then add chicken stock and bring back to a boil.

Add the cornstarch mixture a bit at a time, stirring well after each addition. The sauce should thicken so that it coats the back of a spoon. Make more cornstarch mixture if it’s not thick enough, or add a bit more chicken stock if it’s too thick.

Add the pork back to the sauce, stirring to coat the meat on both sides. Turn heat down to low and simmer for a few minutes to ensure the pork is cooked through. Serve over pasta.

Notes:

This recipe works with a few substitutions:

Pork: use boneless chicken. This should work with boneless beef as well. Non-whitefish such as salmon, trout, or tuna should work as well. [This gives me an idea next time we buy salmon …]

Whiskey: use any whiskey. Rum or brandy will work as well. Don’t use vodka as it will provide no flavor.

Szechuan pepper: use regular pepper.

Wine: use white wine or a specialty wine such as port, Marsala, or sherry. Sake would make an interesting flavor.

Chicken Stock: use beef or vegetable stock. Veal stock would make it very rich.

Corn Starch: use flour or cornflour.

This recipe is really a method. All ingredients can be successfully substituted.

Thursday Lorraine got out a package of pork tenderloin and asked me to cook it.

Meh. Not that I don’t like pork tenderloin, but I’ve been doing  (more or less) the same ‘ole thing with pork tenderloin for the last year. Slice it, pound it flat, fry it. Ok, sometimes I saute it … but that’s frying with a fancy name.

What to do, what to do?

Look in the fridge and cupboard, what do I have?

Big jar of pesto. Big block of feta cheese. Jar of sun dried tomatoes.  Ok, that works!

Note: My measurements in this recipe are approximate. That means “I guessed when writing it down” in English. Use your own judgment on amounts.

Pesto, Feta, and Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

• 1 package pork tenderloin (2 pieces)
• 1/2 cup pesto, divided
• 3/8 cup feta cheese, cut in 1/4″ dice, divided
• 8 sun dried tomatoes, cut in 1/4″ dice, divided
• 1/4 cup ground Parmesan cheese, divided
• salt & ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise, divided
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Clean the fat and silverside (silver muscle sheathing) from the two pieces of tenderloin. Take one and slice it lengthwise, half way through. Put it on a large cutting board and cover generously with plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, carefully pound it thin and even, about 1/4″ to 3/8″ thick. Thinner is better, but don’t tear the meat or put holes in it. Repeat with the second tenderloin.

Spread each loin with half the pesto. Sprinkle evenly with feta and sun dried tomatoes. Sprinkle with Parmesan and season with salt & pepper. Carefully roll each piece up side-to-side — this is long, not short-n-fat. Grease or oil a baking dish at least 13″ long. Place the loins side-by-side in the pan, seam side down, with at least 2″ in between.

Season again with salt & pepper. Smear the mayonnaise evenly along the top of both pieces, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

Note: I expected the pork to be done in 40 minutes, but it took 55 minutes. The top part was still a bit bloody at 40 minutes.

Yesterday afternoon I found a package of pork tenderloin defrosting on the counter. That morning Lorraine asked me what to get out for dinner, and I said, “I don’t care.” I’d cook whatever she got out, works for us!

We’ve been in a rut the last year, it seems like we keep making the same things over-n-over-n-over. Yeah, I know — we always have food on the table, things could be far worse.

I asked Patrick what he thought, and he didn’t have any ideas either. So I decided to do scallopine. But how to do it?

Pork Scallopine in Tomato Sauce

• 2 pork tenderloins, 2 to 3 lbs
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp Costco no-salt seasoning
• butter & olive oil
• garlic salt
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 10 oz can condensed tomato soup
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Clean the tenderloins of excess fat and silverside. Cut in 2″ to 3″ pieces. Pound thin: Place a couple of pieces on a solid cutting board, cover with plastic wrap to avoid spattering, and pound thin (3/8″) with a good meat mallet. Repeat until all pork is processed.

Mix flour, paprika, and no-salt seasoning. Dredge pork in flour, shaking off excess.

Heat 2 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan until the butter sputters. I reduce the heat after the butter/oil is hot, typically to medium.

In a large saute pan, fry the pork in batches. Season lightly with garlic salt. Brown the pork on both sides, making sure to not overcook. If it’s still a bit pink in the middle it’s fine. The pork has to reach only 145 F to kill parasites, so rare pork is actually ok.

Note: I’m supposed to be on a low-sodium diet, so I use the no-salt seasoning plus small amounts of flavored salt. This produces flavorful food while cutting salt intake by probably 75%.

After each batch is browned remove to a covered dish and keep warm. Add more butter/oil as needed, bringing it up to temperature before adding the next batch of pork.

Add the wine and bring to a boil to deglaze the pan, scraping up browned bits. Boil until reduced by half.

Add the condensed soup and a can of water, stirring until smooth. Boil for 2 minutes and shut off heat. Stir in sour cream and stir until smooth. Add reserved pork, mixing to coat with sauce.

Serve over pasta.

Options:

The flour coating increases the amount of butter/oil required. I do a lot of dishes without a coating to reduce calorie count, any coating increases the amount of oil needed for sauting … but sometimes it’s nice to do it the old fashioned way. While this recipe can be done without the coating, it tastes a lot better with it.

No biggie. I assumed (rightly) that Lorraine wanted me to do something with it. A few hours later when she got home she confirmed that she wanted me to make dinner … and just getting the pork out and not saying anything was an in-joke for us. I doubt that anyone else would understand OR think there was a joke, but after 26 years together, Lorraine and I have our own “things” that no one else is expected to understand. LOL!

I looked at my recipe database (I’m a computer geek, I have a recipe database that currently has 9,000+ recipes, plus probably several thousand more I haven’t loaded) and didn’t find anything I liked.

Got lemons in the fridge and chocolate-orange port downstairs … figured it would be interesting.

Pork Scallopine in Port/Lemon Sauce

• 2 pork tenderloins, 2 to 3 lbs
• corn starch for dredging &thickening
• salt & ground black pepper
• butter & olive oil
• 1/2 tsp ground or rubbed sage
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 cups chicken stock
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup port wine

Clean the tenderloins of excess fat and silverside. Cut in 2″ to 3″ pieces. Pound thin: Place a couple of pieces on a solid cutting board, cover with plastic wrap to avoid spattering, and pound thin (3/8″) with a good meat mallet. Repeat until all pork is processed.

Heat 2 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan until the butter sputters. I reduce the heat after the butter/oil is hot, typically to medium.

Dredge pork in cornstarch. I do enough to fit in the pan and then dredge the next batch while the first one is frying. Brown the pork on both sides, making sure to not overcook. If it’s still a bit pink in the middle it’s fine. The pork has to reach only 145 F to kill parasites, so rare pork is actually ok.

After each batch is browned remove to a covered dish and keep warm. Add more butter/oil as needed, bringing it up to temperature before adding the next batch of pork.

Add chicken stock and lemon juice, and bring to a boil. Add port. Boil for 2 minutes, scraping the browned bits up. Add seasonings. Yes, I did not directly season the pork. If desired, the pork can be seasoned with salt and pepper before dredging.

Mix 1/2 cup cold water with 2 Tbsp cornstarch, and add slowly to the pan while stirring. Thickening is an art, not a science, so it may take more or less to make the stock thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Reduce heat to low and add the pork back into the pan, stirring to coat. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes to ensure the pork is hot.

Serve over pasta.

Final Note: Lorraine told me it was one of the best pork dishes I’ve done!

Options:

The cornstarch coating increases the amount of butter/oil required. I do a lot of dishes without a coating to reduce calorie count, any coating increases the amount of oil needed for sauting … but sometimes it’s nice to do it the old fashioned way. While this recipe can be done without the coating, it tastes a lot better with it.

Pork Souvlaki

2 large lemons, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, crushed
4 lbs pork tenderloin, cut into 1″ cubes
2 green bell peppers, cut into 1″ pieces
2 yellow onions, cubed

In a large plastic or glass bowl, mix together lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce, oregano, and garlic. Add pork, onions, and green pepper; stir to coat. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat grill for medium high heat. Slide pork, pepper, and onion onto skewers.

When a fine gray ash covers the coals, begin grilling the kabobs. Cook about 10 to 15 minutes total; turn the skewers frequently. Makes 6 servings.

Note: I put the meat, onion, and peppers on separate skewers. The pepper cook quicker, and the pork should be taken off the grill when it’s barely cooked through. Tenderloin is tender when it’s not overcooked, and leather when it is.

Pork Medallions with Balsamic Vinegar & Capers

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
2 lbs pork tenderloin, cut into 1-1/2″ pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup dry white wine (chardonnay)
2 teaspoons lemon juice (from juice machine, not bottled)
1/2 of a 3.5 oz bottle capers

Place the flour, garlic salt, garlic powder, and Herbes into a plastic bag. Shake to mix, the add the pork tenderloin pieces, and shake again to coat. Shake off the excess flour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the pork medallions in the hot oil until golden-brown on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes per side.

Pour in the balsamic vinegar and wine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to very low, cover, and simmer 5 minutes.

Remove the pork to a serving platter, then stir the lemon juice and capers into the simmering sauce. It seemed too thin so I added 1 Tbsp of the lefover flour from the coating. I simmered until it thickened. There wasn’t enough sauce so I added another 1/4 cup wine and brought it to a boil. Turns off the heat and added the pork back in.

What I’d do different:

Next time I will add 1 cup of wine and plan on thickening it. Lorraine and I like sauce on our pasta and this attempt made too little.

Note:

Last year I purchased a BJ’s sized jar of capers. Threw half it out — we don’t use capers all that often. I like them, but just once in a while.

Recently I purchased a 3.5 oz jar at Aldis. Half a jar seems to work for most recipes, and I planned tonight’s recipe to use up the last jar.

Jamaican Jerked Pork Tenderloins

• 2 pork tenderloins (1-1/2 lbs)
• 1/2 cup onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, slivered
• 1/2 small hot pepper
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp orange rind, grated
• 1 tsp lemon rind, grated
• 2 Tbsp orange juice
• 1″ piece fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp curry powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Choose pork tenderloins that are at least 3/4 lb each. Jamaican in origin, this dish can be prepared with chicken breasts or legs, too. If you like your food spicy hot, simply increase the amount of hot pepper. If fresh hot peppers are unavailable, use 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce, or reduce amount to suit your family. You can also use 1/2 tsp dried ground ginger when fresh is not at hand.

Trim pork tenderloins; place in shallow glass dish. Set aside. In food processor, pure onions, garlic, hot pepper, soy sauce, oil, orange and lemon rinds, orange juice, ginger, thyme, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, curry powder, salt and pepper.

Pour onion mixture over pork tenderloins, turning to coat all sides. cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours, turning pork occasionally.

Reserving marinade, transfer pork to foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Broil, basting once with marinade, for about 20 minutes or until meat is browned but still has hint of pink inside. Tent with foil; let stand for 10 minutes before serving.