savory – Page 3 – Cooking the Books

July 10, 2020

Two courses plus dip equals one skillet meal

This week’s recipe was something I was going to make as soon as I saw it in my most recent Food & Wine edition. It was just a bonus that it happened to be the perfect meal to get the most use out of my little Le Creuset.

The picture alone was enough to pique my interest in this summer heat: a simple grilled chicken breast atop a dip with a light salad. Then, I actually read the recipe and saw that the dip was not hummus as I presumed but a pepper feta dip. That sold it for me. I was all in.

I wrote down the recipe ingredients, and my sweetie masked up and did our weekly shopping.

Ingredients for grilled chicken with pepper feta dip and salad.

When it came time to make it, I looked closer at the directions and saw to my delight that every part that required cooking would work in my small skillet.

Like a lot of the recipes I’ve made this year — and I’ve learned since I started focusing on using a specific piece of kitchen equipment — there’s more than one way to make this dinner.

If you’re an outdoor griller, feel free to grill the chicken there (the recipe actually called for a grill pan, which is a lot like my small skillet but with ridges). If you would prefer to toast the pita in a toaster, fine. You could even broil the peppers to break them down instead of sauteing them in a small skillet, like the recipe called for.

However, for me, it was perfect to use just the one piece of cooking equipment. (Don’t get me wrong, this recipe dirties a fair number of dishes, just I only used the skillet for cooking.) I didn’t really even bother to do cleaning between uses.

Everything turned out perfectly, though my chicken needed to cook for longer as I admittedly used two chicken breasts instead of just the one the recipe called for since it was supposed to be a dinner for one. I likewise doubled up on everything else.

While I really enjoyed both courses and how they worked well together — the pepper dip complements the same raw peppers in the fattoush and the chicken is so simple to let the dip shine — the real standout was the three-ingredient dip.

If you’re feeling lazy, buy a salad, buy some rotisserie chicken, but place it upon this awesome dip. Or just make the dip. It’s amazing.

Here’s what I did, doubling the recipe (that still left leftover dip!):

Ingredients

6 T. olive oil, divided
4 medium banana peppers or other mild peppers (we used anaheim, which were a twitch spicier), seeded and sliced, divided
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
3 T. lemon juice, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 pita
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
~12 grape tomatoes
1 small cucumber, halved and sliced
2 T. red onion, diced
~12 pitted kalamata olives, halved
Torn mint or parsley, to taste

Directions

Heat 2 T. oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add about half the sliced peppers and cook, stirring occasionally until softened and lightly browned. Transfer to a blender or a food processor and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, use another 2 T. to coat the chicken in oil and re-coat the small skillet. Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Grill chicken breasts about 8 minutes per side until the thickest part reaches 155 degrees (it will continue to cook while it cools). Remove from heat and set aside to let rest for 10 minutes.

Then, grill the pita, turning often, until crisp and lightly charred, 4 to 6 minutes. Let cool slightly while bringing the salad together.

Combine the remaining raw peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives, mint or parsley. Add the remaining 2 T. olive oil, 1 T. lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Tear up the pita into about 1 inch pieces, and stir into the salad.

Finally, with the sauteed peppers cooled, add the feta and the remaining 2 T. lemon juice. Process until thick and creamy, about 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

To serve, place about ¼ c. of the dip on each of two plates; slice the chicken, and place atop the dip; and divide the salad on the plates (or in a separate bowl); and enjoy!

July 3, 2020

When the moon hits your eye …

No big pizza pie this week, but don’t worry, there’s still amore with these little pizza pies I made in my small skillet.

One of my favorite summer meals is homemade pizza. It doesn’t take a lot of prep or cooking time, so I neither spend a lot of time in front of a hot stove nor heat up the house baking for hours. Plus, who doesn’t love pizza anytime?

Homemade pizza also means I can put anything on it without having to pay specialty prices.

This last time I made my homemade crust adapted from Betty Crocker, I made an extra serving to see how well my homemade pizza would taste and work in a 9- to 10-inch skillet.

As I’d hoped and expected, about half of one crust flattens into a 9- to 10-inch skillet. Thus, as hoped and expected, you need about half your typical pizza topping ingredients for a smaller skillet.

Or, if you’re me, you use both your 9- and 10-inch skillets and have two options for toppings, and you and your sweetie have your Book-It-style personal pan pizzas. No reading required. (Though obviously recommended, as reading is fun!)

Like with most of my homemade pizzas, I don’t really keep track of the amounts of toppings so my guide below will be both based on a full-size pizza so halve accordingly and also will be estimates. However, feel free to use your own toppings to your desired levels, though I have loved my adapted Betty Crocker crust for years and highly recommend adopting it as your own go-to crust recipe.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

For the crust:

*Will make 2 pizzas in 9- to 10-inch skillet

2 ¼ t. active dry yeast (1 package)
½ c. warm water
1 t. honey
¾ c. whole wheat flour
½ to ¾ c. all-purpose flour
1 T. olive oil
½ t. salt

For the toppings:

*Will make 2 of the same pizza, so halve or have a variety of toppings available

Oil or oil spray
¼ c. tomato paste or tomato sauce (I use either, depending on my mood)
3 c. mozzarella, shredded
½ small bell pepper, chopped
4 pepperoncinis, chopped
8 slices salami
1 t. basil
1 t. oregano
½ t. garlic powder

Directions

For the crust:

In a medium bowl, mix together the warm water and honey, and add the yeast. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast has started to activate.

Add the oil and salt, and then the whole wheat flour. Use a large spatula or your hands to begin to mix together the dough, adding all-purpose flour as necessary until the dough comes together into an easy-to-handle mixture. Turn the dough out onto a (all-purpose) floured purpose, and begin to knead, adding more flour as necessary. Knead until the dough is smooth and springy.

Place into a clean, greased medium bowl, turning to coat all sides of the dough in grease. Cover and let rise about 20 minutes until roughly doubled in size.

Punch down, and divide. Place smaller dough balls into Ziploc bags or smaller covered bowls, preferably greased, and refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 48 hours (I actually like it better if it is at least overnight but it works fine after 2 hours.)

For the pizza:

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Lightly oil a 9- to 10- inch skillet, or if you have two, oil them both.

Take 1 dough ball, and slowly press into the skillet. It at first will not stretch well, but as you keep pressing and working to form a flat surface that covers the skillet, it will begin to give more. Once it covers the bottom, with a little lip around the edges, spread about half of the sauce. Top with ½ the peppers and ½ the salami. Cover the toppings with half the cheese. Add half the herbs and spices.

Bake for about 15 minutes until the crust and cheese are lightly browned. Remove from heat, and enjoy your personal pan pizza.

Repeat with the remaining ingredients after the skillet has cooled, or use a second similarly sized skillet, and enjoy a second personal pan pizza!

June 19, 2020June 19, 2020

A simple side for all occasions

OK, so maybe I spent an evening last week going through my Betty Crocker cookbook since I didn’t have the brainpower to read a book nor the mental health state to keep up on Twitter but had the anxious energy to do more than simply watch TV.

That’s just maybe how last week’s and this week’s recipes came to be the top of my queue of food to make. Even better, both last week’s 5 ingredient chicken and this week’s orzo vegetable side dish were simple to make, and (full disclosure) went well together.

The original recipe is for a main dish that uses plain sauteed chicken tenders that are first cooked and then mixed into orzo mixture. Since I planned to use it as a side dish with chicken, I skipped the chicken in the recipe and made a nice vegetarian side dish (or main dish but with fewer servings).

Anyone who owns a Betty Crocker cookbook knows that the recipes are not often the most exciting, but they’re also not the most difficult. They’re perfect, in other words, for a weeknight dinner when you want something homemade but don’t want to be cooking all night.

This one in particular was a nice reminder to me that orzo is a great pasta for a fast, tasty side dish. I think it’s one I’ll play with and enjoy over and over again.

Here’s what I did, adapting the Betty Crocker main dish:

Ingredients

14 oz. (1 can, or homemade) vegetable or chicken broth
1 ⅓ c. uncooked orzo
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium zucchini, chopped (yielding about 1 ½ c.)
1 ½ c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small bell pepper, chopped (yielding about 1 c.)
1 c. water
~1 T. chopped fresh rosemary
½ t. salt

Directions

Heat a 9- to 10-inch skillet on medium heat. Stir in the broth, pasta, and garlic. Heat to boiling, and then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 8 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add in the vegetables, water, rosemary, and salt, and stir together. Heat to boiling, and simmer another 5–7 minutes until the vegetables are tender-crisp and the pasta is cooked through. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!

June 12, 2020

Quick & easy chicken, Fun style

I mentioned last week that my sweetie found boneless, skinless chicken, and he was good enough to buy 2 lbs, which meant I could make Amy Thielen’s wonderfully fancy yet simple rosemary chicken with half the meat.

But it also meant that I could use the rest to make a Betty Crocker recipe that coats chicken breasts in sour cream and onion potato chips. From the time I came across the recipe, I knew I had to make it as soon as my sweetie could bring home the special cut of meat.

Of course, fried/sauteed chicken could be made with thighs or bone-in breasts, but this seemed to me the type of thing that would work best with what it called for. So, I was willing to wait until we could get what we need, and willing to eat less meat and get different cuts going forward so I could enjoy this the way I wanted.

There’s not a lot of work to it, but that doesn’t make it any less tasty. Besides, what’s not to love from chicken and potato chips mashed together.

It was a true delight, and I hope to make it again someday when meat is easier to come by and I feel less guilty buying some, since I’m usually content with a nice vegetarian meal.

Potato chips and chicken make pure perfection.

Here’s what I did:

~4 c. sour cream and onion potato chips, crushed (yielding ~1 c.)
1 T. parsley flakes
1 large egg
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
~2 T. vegetable oil
4 (about 1 ¼ lb.) boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions

Place the crushed potato chips on a large shallow plate, and mix with the parsley. In a separate small bowl, beat together the egg and Worcestershire sauce.

In a 9- to 10-inch skillet, heat the oil over medium heat (cooking only half at a time or using 2 skillets if it doesn’t all fit into one skillet). Dip a chicken breast into the egg mixture and then coat with the potato chip mixture, pressing in as appropriate. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.

Cook the coated chicken breasts in the heated oil for about 10 to 12 minutes, turning once about halfway through, until the coating is a deep golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!

June 6, 2020

Quick & easy chicken, Fancy style

My sweetie managed to find some boneless, skinless chicken breasts so for the next two weeks, we feast!

I know for foodies that boneless, skinless chicken breast is not the mark of a true chef; however, I like its texture and blank-canvas nature. It has its place, and I’ve missed that it’s harder to come by, while I would gladly give it up entirely if we’d have done more to make meat-packing plant workers safer or, simply, kept them home for longer.

Still, old habits die hard, and when my sweetie found these at the co-op, I was excited to have a couple of different simple, but delicious, meals to serve showcasing this cut.

My first foray was an oldie but a goodie. Ever since I found out about Amy Thielen, I’ve been a fan. I love her Midwest-style, and while she’s been a big-time chef, she’s managed to take her recipes from haute cuisine to stuff I can do in my kitchen.

This rosemary chicken is one of those that seems like it’d be served in a farm-to-table restaurant, but I can also make it at home without stress and with few ingredients. It also lets its few ingredients shine.

While it’s perfect as a main dish with a side to accompany it, I’ll be honest, my sweetie and I usually enjoy it as a sort of appetizer. It’s great to go from warmed plate to living room table, and we’ll snack as we either wait for something else or have already had a salad. Sometimes simple can be so sweet.

I’ll note that Thielen’s recipe calls for discarding the rosemary sprigs after they’ve been infused, which I did this time and felt that it could have had more rosemary flavor. My sweetie and I have both made this before where we’ve left the sprigs in (or used more than 2); your mileage may vary on how strong of a rosemary flavor you like, but consider using more or keeping it infused for longer/while cooking if you want a heaping dose of the herbal, floral flavor.

Here’s what I did, following her recipe (but downsizing the skillet slightly):

Ingredients

16 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 T. (½ stick) butter
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 t. fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions

Cut each chicken breast into three long, fairly equal pieces. Set aside.

Heat a 9- to 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the butter, When it foams and then turns nut-brown, remove it from heat and add the rosemary sprigs, tilting the pan so that the butter foams over the rosemary. Set aside to infuse for 5 minutes. Remove and discard the rosemary sprigs (or keep them for a stronger, more rosemary flavor).

Set the skillet back on the burner, over medium-low heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and then add them to the skillet. Cook slowly, moving and turning the pieces often, until all the pieces have cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the parsley if using, and place on a warm plate, pouring the pan juices over the chicken, and enjoy!

May 30, 2020May 30, 2020

All the herbs!!!

At this point, I’ve lost track of the last time I went to the grocery store and have no idea what it looks like now.

I do, however, get dispatches from my sweetie when he makes his weekly stop, as he’s good enough to be our designated shopper given my compromised immune system. And what I know now is that while many staples are still available, and we’re in no danger of food shortages, some of the things we’re used to are getting harder to come by.

We appreciate it more when we can find the fresh herbs and vegetables we want, and especially, for me, when I can get the meat I most enjoy.

This week I was ecstatic to see that my grocery list items to make this Persian frittata all made it into the cart, and into the refrigerator at home.

I have even more reason to be grateful to my sweetie because in the before times he’d already test-driven this recipe from Bon Appetit for me, so I knew I was in for a treat.

There’s a fair amount of herb chopping, but I have these wonderful herb-cutting scissors that make the whole thing go smoothly. It’s so simple and easy that I made it with a simple Middle Eastern soup so we’d be able to enjoy the frittata for breakfast after our first meal.

If you’re able to find all the veggies and (mostly the) fresh herbs, this is a real, simple treat.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

5 T. vegetable oil, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium leek, white and pale green parts only, finely chopped
5 large eggs
1 t. baking powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ t. ground turmeric
½ T. ground fenugreek
1 ½ c. finely chopped cilantro (about 1 bunch)
1 ½ c. finely chopped parsley (about 1 bunch)
1 ½ c. finely chopped dill (about 2 small packages)

Directions

Heat 2 T. oil in a 9- to 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and leeks, stirring occasionally until soft but not browned, 10–12 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool. Wipe out the skillet and set aside.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, baking powder, salt and pepper, turmeric, and fenugreek in a large bowl. Mix in the onion mixture, cilantro, dill, and parsley. The egg mixture should look thick and very green (with bits of egg poking through, depending on how finely you chop the herbs; mine could be greener).

Heat the broiler.

On the stove top, heat the remaining 3 T. of oil in the reserved skillet. Pour in the egg mixture, and spread evenly across the pan with a spatula. Cover and cook the frittata until the bottom is just set, about 8–10 minutes. Remove from heat and take off the cover.

Broil for about 1 minute until the top is just set and starting to brown.

Let cool slightly, slide out onto a platter, cut into triangles, and enjoy!

May 16, 2020

Take your time with chickpea stew

I had my ups and downs with this week’s recipe. Spoiler alert: it ends on an upswing.

However, when I first decided to make it, I soon realized that the recipe wasn’t going to work in my small skillet. So, I downsized to halve the recipe.

Then, I realized that the proportions seemed odd and off even in half-size, so I retooled again.

When it came time to make it, I wasn’t all that optimistic or eager.

It managed to get worse as it went on, and I started to wonder if the chickpea stew with spinach and topped with a fried egg would even be a tasty dinner.

Seriously, I thought as I was stirring, how is a mash of chickpeas and crushed tomatoes even going to be tasty?

What a fool I was.

I should have known better than to doubt Bon Appetit and my own savvy. Plus, time. Time allows the flavors to meld, the onion, the garlic, the cumin seeds, and the paprika to imbue their flavors into the tomatoes and chickpeas.

It was incredibly delicious. I don’t even think the eggs were all that necessary.

When I make this again, I will do a couple things differently.

First, the spinach was not nearly enough. I used an entire bag, but I should have used two. Also, I might *might* consider using thawed chopped spinach to save a little time. While it’s nice to be able to saute it with the garlic, there’s plenty of garlic in the dish (I forgot to halve the garlic but I’m not complaining) and I’m not sure the freshness made all that much difference. Then again, maybe I just should have used more.

Secondly, like with the purgatory eggs, this meal would have been wonderfully enhanced by having a nice sourdough or another good bread to serve it with. Since I halved the recipe, it went down to a three-serving meal; however, I think it would have been a nice four-serving meal if there had been bread.

But I can say this tasted so good that I will make it again. I might even go to full size skillet for even more deliciousness.

I wish the flavors would show through in this picture. It was so good.

Here’s what I did, adapting the recipe more than a bit:

Ingredients

3 T. olive oil, divided
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, divided
1-2 bags baby spinach
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 small onion, chopped
1 T. cumin seeds
2 t. smoked paprika
1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 to 1 ½ c. vegetable broth
4 eggs
Sourdough bread, toasted, for serving (optional)

Directions

Heat 1 T. oil in a 9- to 10-inch skillet (10-inch probably preferable but I made it work in my 9-inch Le Creuset) over medium heat. When oil begins to shimmer, add the equivalent of one garlic clove of the sliced garlic to the skillet. Cook until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add spinach. Toss, adding salt and pepper as desired, and cook until the spinach is wilted but still bright green, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate, and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the same pot. When oil begins to shimmer, add onion and the remaining sliced garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add in the cumin and paprika, and stir until the cumin is toasted and fragrant, another minute.

Add in the chickpeas and crushed tomatoes, and stir to combine. Cook, stirring often, for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Add about 1 c. of broth, and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Continue to simmer, occasionally using mashing some chickpeas with the back of a spoon, until sauce is thickened, another 8 to 10 minutes, adding more broth as necessary.

Add in the spinach and continue to simmer another 8 to 10 minutes, again adding more broth as necessary.

Meanwhile, in a separate non-stick skillet, pour in oil or butter and heat over medium high. Cook eggs to desired done-ness (the recipe says to do sunny-side up; I prefer over medium). Season eggs with salt and pepper and transfer to a plate.

Spoon chickpea mixture into bowls, top with an egg, and serve with some toasted bread as desired, and enjoy!

April 24, 2020

Breaking biscuits and gravy, Part 1

I had been considering making my usual biscuits and gravy recipe ever since I started the small skillet year, but it seemed like a cop-out as it’s just sausage and a general white gravy with store-bought biscuits.

Thankfully, I found a twist on the traditional recipe that allowed me to make one of my favorites *and* try something new. Bless you, Bon Appetit.

Even if I hadn’t been considering biscuits and gravy all along, this recipe had me from its name that implied to me a south by southwest mash-up.

In place of traditional flour biscuits, a cornmeal-based biscuit that very much resembled cornbread. In place of breakfast sausage, chorizo. In addition to all that, and if it wasn’t filling and unhealthy enough, the addition of cotija and avocado, as well as cilantro and scallions.

Of course, it was a delight.

I’m focusing this week just on the biscuits, as I believe each *could* be made individually, and I felt like throwing too much out at this point could be overwhelming.

Chorizo and/or gravy may not be for everyone, and I feel like it’d be possible to just use store-bought biscuits and use next week’s gravy recipe if one were not inclined to bake biscuits.

So, how did the biscuits turn out?

I was nervous that an 8-inch skillet wouldn’t be enough to separate the biscuit batter, and even using a 9-inch it was a single biscuit instead of distinct ones (however, placing them individually still made it easier to separate once baked). I think it must have been a typo. But a medium-skillet will work; even if you end up with a single biscuit, it’ll be possible to pull them apart.

The taste, though, was amazing. It really was like a cornbread in biscuit form. It’s not that they’re interchangeable, but it was the perfect combination of biscuit consistency with buttermilk cornbread flavors, and it worked really well with the particular gravy recipe. It’d also work as just a biscuit with butter, like I may have done with one leftover biscuit.

I used a little more buttermilk than the recipe called for but otherwise stuck to it, though I might recommend a slightly larger skillet (which may affect cooking time).

The giant singular biscuit still tasted like the perfect cross between biscuits and cornbread. So I don’t care, I love it.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 c. all-purpose flour
¾ c. cornmeal
1 T. sugar
1 ½ t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
¼ t. black pepper, freshly ground if possible (I did not measure but grinded generously)
½ c. (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¾ to 1 c. buttermilk (I used it all but if your consistency is good and sticky after ¾ c., don’t add more)

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour until the pieces are chickpea-sized. Add buttermilk and mix to blend until dough is just combined and sticky.

Drop dough by heaping ¼ cupfuls into a medium cast-iron skillet, spacing if at all possible. Bake, rotating once halfway through, until biscuits are puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly and enjoy with butter or next week’s gravy recipe!

April 10, 2020

This is hell, time for purgatory eggs

Another week of self-isolation, another simple recipe for the end times.

My sweetie found this simple egg dish from the Add a Pinch blog that managed to use ingredients we mostly had lying around the house. We did end up needing to get more eggs by the time I worked up the energy to make it, but so much of the dish called “eggs in purgatory” includes household staples that make this a simple and tasty breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.

As is typical when I try to poach eggs, I overcooked them. I pretend that one day I’m going to solve this but I have eaten eggs where the whites aren’t quite done and I would rather eat hard yolks for an eternity than have to eat underdone eggs ever again. So, I will live with my choices.

However, for you dear reader, know that 9 minutes is likely waayyyy too long; three minutes definitely was still too short, so somewhere in between is probably good.

Other than that (not very) helpful advice, the only other key is to use a good tomato sauce as it makes up most of the flavor. I ended up using a straight up pre-made pasta sauce, particularly arrabbiata, so if you have that on hand, it’s even better. Oh, and a good bread to serve this with makes this dish go from good to great.

Here’s what I did, slightly adapting the recipe:

Ingredients

~1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 ¼ c. tomato sauce or pasta sauce (the more flavorful the better, but whatever you have on hand will work)
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
¼ t. red pepper flakes (I didn’t measure but did not use a lot as arrabbiata is already semi-spicy)
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼ c. fresh parsley, chopped, divided
4 eggs
¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese
Toasted bread, for serving (optional)

Directions

Drizzle olive oil into a 9- or 10-inch skillet set over medium heat. Once the skillet warms, add the onions and cook about 3 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Then, stir in the tomato/pasta sauce, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Add about half of the parsley and cook for about 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken and flavors to meld.

Break eggs into each quarter of the skillet on top of the sauce (the recipe, of course, says to place it into a small bowl first, but I’ve never dirtied another dish *embarrassed face*). Top with the grated cheese and any additional salt and pepper, as desired.

Cover the skillet and cook until the whites are set and the yolks are done to desired level (see note above for how long-ish to do that). Remove from heat, sprinkle on the remaining parsley, and any additional cheese, and enjoy with a fancy bread!

April 3, 2020

More meat and mustard

Again, it’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine!), so I splurged again on a meat cut I rarely get: pork tenderloin.

Mostly I got it because I liked last week’s recipe so much that I felt like there had to be a good recipe that used Dijon and mixed it with pork tenderloin. I was right and happy to discover that Food & Wine had one, as did many others to varying degrees of difficulty.

I finally settled on the one that also included paprika and also Dijon, and not much else.

Dijon and paprika pork tenderloin ingredients.

I thought about trying to figure out a way to also make vegetables in the same skillet like last week, but I really just wanted to spend more time being anxious and horrified about the world today. So, I opted for easy. No problem to fit 1 lb of pork tenderloin (halved) into my skillet, and then just use a sheet pan to roast some veggies to serve on the side.

The recipe technically called for 2 lb of pork tenderloin but that’s still a little too rich for my blood, even in the end times; plus, you make some good veggies on the side, and 1 lb still serves 4. I still used the full amount of the rest of the ingredients; I like a strongly spiced meal, what can I say?

Again, it’s super simple in these times when your mind might be elsewhere, and this way, you can serve it with whatever you like. My choice this time (after supporting my local co-op) was romanesco and fingerling potatoes with garlic and lemon. But you do you.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

~1 lb. pork tenderloin
2 T. Dijon mustard
2 t. smoked paprika (I mixed 1 t. each of smoked and hot, but adjust for your tastes)
1 t. salt
2 T. olive oil

Directions

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together the Dijon, paprika, and salt. Rub the mixture on the pork. Halve or cut the tenderloin as necessary so it all fits in your skillet, preferably as little as possible.

In a 9- or 10-inch skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the tenderloin (halves), and cook until browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes.

Use tongs to flip the pork, and then transfer the skillet to the oven.

Roast for about 15 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 135 degrees. Transfer to a cutting surface, and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Slice the pork, and serve with preferred veggies or side dish, and enjoy!