FARRO WITH CHICKPEAS AND SPINACH

Posted in Rice and Grains by sallybr

Lovers of farro, rejoice! This is a hearty side dish that might even be enough for a fully vegetarian meal and also perfect for entertaining. We enjoyed it with grilled pork tenderloin and it was a great midweek dinner.

FARRO WITH CHICKPEAS AND SPINACH
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

1.5 cups farro
2 celery sticks, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 shallot, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon table salt
2 tsp za’atar
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup water
4 cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped
lemon juice to taste

Cook the farro in a large volume of salted water until it starts to get soft, about 20 minutes. Drain, and reserve.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add celery and shallots, cook until fragrant. Add a little salt, za’atar, sauté everything together for a couple of minutes, stirring often. Add the reserved cooked farro, chickpeas, vegetable broth and water, season with salt, bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat and cook until farro is tender, about 15 minutes. If there is too much liquid left, allow it to simmer for a few more minutes. Add the spinach, adjust seasoning with more salt if needed, and right before serving, add the lemon juice. Fluff with a fork and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Farro takes a bit of time to cook and also I find that each new bag might behave differently. Also make sure that for this preparation you don’t buy a quick cooking version, although if might work if you simply skip the pre-cooking step. Keep in mind I have not tried it with the quick cooking kind. I normally cook farro as I cook pasta, plenty of water, then test a few grains and stop cooking when ready. In this case, I make sure it is still al dente as it will cook with everything else for 15 more minutes. If you are interested in the pork tenderloin, it is almost a non-recipe. I eye-ball a marinade whisking olive oil, soy sauce (I actually used tamari in this one), lemon juice, honey, a touch of mustard. Cut the pieces, marinade whole day in the fridge. Grill the pieces about 12 minutes total, seasoning with a little salt right before grilling. I do it all the time, sometimes with butterflied tenderloin.

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26Sep2023

PEANUT-GINGER PORK WITH CELERY SLAW

Posted in Pork, Salads, Side dishes, Sous-Vide Cooking by sallybr

This is a sous-vide preparation, but you can change to regular cooking in any way you like to make pork tenderloin. The recipe was adapted from Melissa Clark, via The New York Times (click here for original post). I usually increase the cooking temperature because we dislike pork that is still pink in the center, no matter what the “experts” say. If you prefer it less done, set your sous-vide to 135F to 140F.

SOUS-VIDE PEANUT-GINGER PORK WITH CELERY SLAW
(adapted from The New York Times)

for the pork:
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons Sriracha or chile-garlic paste
1½ teaspoons fish sauce
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed

for the celery slaw:
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 small celery stalks, cut crosswise into thirds, then very thinly sliced lengthwise
1 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb
fresh cilantro leaves
Chopped roasted peanuts, for garnish
sesame seeds for garnish

Fill a pot with water, add the sous-vide machine and set the temperature to 150 degrees.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, lime juice, ginger, sugar, Sriracha, and fish sauce. Place pork in a sous-vide bag, then pour sauce all over meat. Lower bag into heated water, weighing the bag down if necessary, and cook pork for 3 hours.
Heat broiler and place a rack 4 inches from heating element. Remove pork from sous-vide bag and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Pour remaining cooking liquid into a small saucepan. Bring sauce to a simmer over high and let cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Cover to keep warm, and set aside.

Drizzle pork with olive oil and broil until charred in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest, 5 minutes.

Make the celery salad: In a large bowl, whisk together sesame oil, rice vinegar, pepper and salt. Toss with celery, fennel and cilantro. Taste and add more salt, sesame oil and rice vinegar if needed.
To serve, slice pork and drizzle with sauce. Top with celery salad, and peanuts. Garnish with cilantro leaves, and sesame seeds if you like.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The sauce is absolutely delicious, I am quite fond of peanut butter in savory preparations, in this particular case it goes well with the ginger and all other flavors. The way the recipe was published it called for 135F for 2 hours, but there is no way that would work for us. Do what you think is best. Whatever method you go for, make sure to incorporate the sauce reduction in the end and drizzle it over the meat. It takes the dish to a whole higher level. The slaw was good in terms of flavor, but the texture of the celery was a bit harsh, so next time I might just do the “microwave blanch”, in which I cook the veggie with a tiny bit of moisture (often just a damp paper towel will do) for 10 seconds or so. It is enough to just kill the raw texture. Plus, since it will be slightly warm it will incorporate the dressing even better. I don’t mind the raw fennel at all, so I would not “blanch” it.

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17Oct2021

CILANTRO PESTO WITH SPICY-MAPLE PORK TENDERLOIN

Posted in Pork by sallybr

Reversing things around today. Because this pesto? Rocked my little world. Star of the show. Measurements are very flexible, get a little tortilla and taste as you go.

CILANTRO PESTO
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

2 small bunches of cilantro, mostly the part with leaves, little stems still attached
1 Serrano pepper, minced (seeds removed if you want less spicy)
1/3 cup pepitas (or substitute pine nuts)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
juice of 1/2 to 1 lime
olive oil to adjust consistency (around 1//3 cup)

Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and process it for 20 seconds or so to get things started. With the machine running, pour the olive oil until you reach the consistency you like. Reserve. Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and lime juice.

SPICY-MAPLE GRILLED PORK TENDERLOIN
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 pork tenderloin, butterflied
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon of Sriracha (or more, if you like)
1 tsp salt

Make a marinade whisking all ingredients together. Place the butterflied pork in a plastic bag and add the marinade to it. Leave it in the fridge for 4 hours or longer.

Remove from the marinade, season lightly with salt and grill on both sides, until done to your liking.

Serve the pork with the cilantro pesto. Swoon.

ENJOY!

to print the recipes, click here

Comments: Cilantro haters better stay as far away as possible from this post. But I don’t expect them to be still here to read the comments. We are both cilantro-addicts so this pesto pressed all the right buttons. Fresh, bright, nutty in a slightly different way since it has pepitas, great ingredient to play with.

The pork tenderloin was also delicious, sweet and spicy. The combination of pork with cilantro pesto was perfect. We enjoyed it with carrots and zucchini simply sautéed in high-heat on the stove with lemon juice and a touch of soy sauce. Simple meal, satisfying and light. I hope you give this combination a try.

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29May2021

BULGUR PORK TOMATILLO PLATTER

Posted in Pork, Rice and Grains by sallybr

Some call it bowls, but I will go with platter. It is one of my favorite ways to enjoy a meal, all components served together. Not too long ago “sheet dinners” were a thing. It seemed like every popular food blogger was showcasing them. I never joined that party, because I find it hard to perfectly time the cooking of different items on the same sheet pan. You have to do a lot of rearranging and/or adding ingredients in stages. It never appealed to me. But in this preparation, items are cooked each to their optimal stage, and then simply placed together for the finale.

BULGUR PORK TOMATILLO PLATTER
(from the Bewitching Kitchen, inspired by many sources)

for pork:
1 pork tenderloin, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
salt and pepper to taste

for veggies:
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 oz asparagus stalks, cut in pieces
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, sliced thinly
splash of water
salt and pepper to taste

to serve:
1 cup bulgur wheat
tomatillo salsa (store-bought)
blood orange segments (or regular orange)

Marinate the pork. Mix olive oil, soy sauce, honey, salt and pepper, emulsify with a whisk. Cover the pork with it and leave for several hours in the fridge. I like to butterfly the pork tenderloin, but you can leave it whole. Grill the pork to your liking, when butterflied I like to grill it for a total of 16-18 minutes. We do not like pork pink in the center, so do as you prefer.

Cook the bulgur in 2 cups slightly salted water, boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until water is absorbed and grain is cooked. Reserve.

Heat the final tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick skillet. Add asparagus, bell pepper, water, salt and pepper. Cover, and cook for 2 minutes, then remove the lid, increase the heat and cook until the bell pepper starts to get some golden color.

Assemble the dish. Place the cooked bulgur on a platter, top with the cooked veggies. Cut slices of the grilled pork and arrange on top. Add orange segments, and drizzle a nice amount of tomatillo salsa all over the dish. You can process the salsa in a small food processor to make it smooth, or use it straight from the bottle.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This was one delicious meal! I know you can make your own tomatillo sauce from scratch, but we often use bottled and don’t mind it at all. It makes life easier and there is no compromise of flavor. You can use freekeh, quinoa, couscous, in place of the bulgur. Bulgur cooks so fast, it is a great option. The blood orange gives that burst of freshness, and goes perfectly well with the tomatillo salsa. This will be incorporated in our regular rotation, no doubt. I hope you’ll give it a try!

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7Jan2021

PORK TENDERLOIN WITH APRICOT-MISO GLAZE

Posted in Pork by sallybr

My default method of preparation for pork tenderloin is butterflied and grilled. I suppose default means a single entity, so I will break that rule and include a second option: sous-vide. But sometimes you get into a situation that prevents both from happening. It was very nasty outside so grilling would be masochism. And there was not enough time to sous-vide unless we wanted to have dinner at 9pm. Brazilians do that often, but I totally lost that habit and have no interest in re-visiting it. I had to come up with a plan C, and this was the tasty outcome.

PORK TENDERLOIN WITH APRICOT-MISO GLAZE
(adapted from Bon Appetit)

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
5 tablespoons apricot preserves
1/4 cup red miso
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
2 pork tenderloins
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth

Heat oven to 425°F. Coat large rimmed baking sheet with oil spray. Combine preserves, miso, vinegar, orange peel, and garlic in small pot over medium heat. Cook until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. If you want to make a smooth sauce, use a handheld mixer or small food processor for a few seconds. Reserve.

Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Place on prepared baking sheet, tucking thin end under to ensure even cooking. Brush with 2 tablespoons apricot glaze; roast 12 to 15 minutes. Turn pork over with tongs and brush with 3 more tablespoons glaze. Continue to roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150°F, 10 minutes longer. If you like your pork cooked a bit more (we do), keep cooking and check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer.

Transfer pork to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add chicken broth to remaining apricot glaze. Bring to simmer and cook until reduced to 2/3 cup sauce, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Slice pork crosswise into 1/2- to 3/4- inch-thick slices and arrange on platter. Spoon sauce over and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: There is really nothing special about the handling of the tenderloin, apart from the delicious glaze. Different brands of apricot preserves have different levels of “chunkiness”, I used one with pretty large pieces of apricot and they did not quite melt into the sauce even with heating. So I opted to smooth things out with my blender. You might get by without that step. I only roasted one tenderloin, and had a bit of sauce leftover. It showed up again a couple of evenings later to coat chicken-cashew meatballs. Perfect marriage. Actually I believe this glaze will go well with pretty much any type of protein, including seafood.