A Nice Little Sunday

We had a very busy day planned...finish cleaning, take S to the park, Chris wanted to watch the Bears game at Noon, I had to run to the grocery store to get a few groceries for dinner and Chris's parents were coming over for dinner.  The things I did not get done as planned were emptying all of my planters and putting them all away in the garage and replanting one with mums. Cleaning the garage.  So it looks like next weekend we already know what our plans are.. oh fun, I can hardly wait!

This morning I made us a quick breakfast before we went to the park.  I received the Spiced Pecan Pumpkin Waffle-Pancake Mix from Williams-Sonoma for a birthday gift; let me tell you it was the tastiest present a girl could ever receive.  I made the pancakes and they were absolutely delicious. I also made some of my other new obsession Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Coffee.  Once fall hits I am normally at Starbucks regularly to get my fix of Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I've always known from a calorie/fat standpoint they weren't good but never actually looked for fear of what I would find. Well I looked and I am truly sad that I did.  Let's just say it's a good thing I almost always hold the whip.  The Trader Joe's coffee doesn't get you 100% to satisfying the latte craving but it will definitely do.  I find that a dash of pumpkin pie spice is a nice little addition to my coffee.

Our visit to the park

Dinner Menu
Asian Pear and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese (from Food and Wine magazine)
Pork Tenderloin
Mashed Potatoes
Brussel Sprouts & Butternut Squash with a Bacon Vinaigrette
Homemade Apple Pie

Since I was only making the salad for four people I just cut the recipe down.  I also wasn't able to find pumpkin seeds so I had to leave that ingredient out.  It was still a really tasty salad.






For the pork I followed the marinade I made previously for beef tenderloin but tweaked it a bit.  In a zip lock bag I combine with the pork
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup flour
3 cloves crushed garlic
fresh cracked pepper and sea salt
Marinate for 3-4 hours - Grill

I found the vegetable recipe on the Williams-Sonoma website.  I wasn't able to find the steamed chestnuts because most stores apparently only carry them seasonally (and the three stores I went to don't consider this to be in-season).  I also found that I needed to saute the butternut squash and brussel sprouts for a little longer than the recipe states.  It may be that I didn't blanch them quite long enough. But either way it turned out quite well.





This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

Pork Tenderloin with Hula Girl Coffee Rub

Menu:
Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa
Island Teriyaki Udon Noodles and Vegetables






Recipe:

Pork Tenderloin
Lightly cover bottom of oven safe dish with olive oil
Generously cover pork tenderloin with Hula Girl Coffee Rub. I used 1/8 cup of the rub. The tenderloin I used was 1.5-1.75 lbs.  I started cooking the tenderloin on 350 degrees but turned the oven up to 375 towards the end to try to get a bit of a crust on the pork.

Mango Salsa
2/3 cup frozen Mango chunks, defrosted (diced)
1/2 large jalapeno pepper (diced)
2 slices of red pepper (diced) - approximately 1/4 cup

1/4 cup red onion (diced)

6 cilantro leaves chopped
 (I would add a little more cilantro next time around. Unfortunately my cilantro plant looked quite sad so this was all of the cilantro I had)




Island Teriyaki Udon Noodles and Vegetables
1/2 Red and Yellow Pepper (sliced)
4 large button mushrooms (sliced)
Remainder of the red onion used in the salsa (sliced into chunks) - approximately 1 medium red onion
a bit of chopped ginger root (approximately 1 tablespoon)
1 3/4 cup of bok choy (chopped)
5 baby carrots (sliced)

Cook above (reserve the green parts of bok choy until the end) in 2 tablespoons of Toasted Sesame Oil.  After a few minutes of cooking at 1/4 cup of Soy Vay Island Teriyaki.  Continue cooking on low. Add a dash of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. I prefer to keep a bit of crunch to my vegetables.

In a separate pot cook Udon noodles as directed.  I used Koyo Organic Udon Asian Pasta.  The package comes with 3 separately wrapped bundles of noodles. I used 2 of the 3 in my recipe.  Once your noodles are finished drain them and add them back to the pot you cooked them in with 1/4 cup of the Island Teriyaki.  Stir to cover the noodles. At the same time add the green parts of the bok choy to finish up the vegetables.

Combine noodles and vegetables in a serving dish. Sprinkle with Sesame seeds.

Slice pork tenderloin and serve with Mango Salsa.







Next time around I would probably sear the pork tenderloin first before putting it in the oven to get a nice crust on it.  My other option would be to grill it which was my original intent. I realize these are probably not the best directions for making this dish. I tried to write it down as I was cooking but I will try to do better with documenting next time around. 

From a timing perspective this took me about an hour and twenty minutes total to make. That included prepping vegetables and plating the dishes and quick break to entertain the baby.

If anyone tries this dish I would love to hear your comments.