Herbes de Province Pork Tenderloin

Okay,Okay,Okay……I’m a bad food blogger. The last two months have been crazy busy with finals and concerts and recital and getting my life in order. Additionally, the boyfriend has officially moved in. Now that we are all settled I’ve been cooking up a storm of awesome impressive things.

Since moving to Cleveland, the boyfriend is most impressed by the Westside Market. Evidently they don’t have anything like that in Pensacola. Anyway, we’ve been going twice a week since it’s still kinda magical to him. Anyway, yesterdays adventure produced, among other things, impressive pork tenderloin. This was not my idea at all. But the boy insisted. So there I was….in my kitchen…..hunk of meat sitting on the cutting board. In a panic I paged through a couple of cookbooks I had handy and browsed the Internet for something that didn’t involve me butter flying it or grilling it. So then I remembered that I had a large jar of Herbs de Province in my pantry that I had bought a few months ago on some odd herb-buying spree. To make a long story short the result is lovely tender pork tenderloin lightly crusted with Herbs de Province.

What you need:

1 One to one and a half pound pork tenderloin (not to be confused with pork loin)

5 tbs herbs de province blend (available from your local spice guy or grocery store)

1 tbs salt

½ tbs pepper

6 tbs olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ diced onion

¼ red wine

2 tbs honey

What you need to do:

Preheat over to 375 degrees (f) and line small roasting pan with foil

First pat the pork loin dry with a paper towel. Then rub the herbs, salt, and pepper all over the meat.

In large skillet, heat three tablespoons of the olive oil and sear the tenderloin for about one minute on each side. Remove from pan and  place tenderloin on plate.

In same skillet add the rest of the olive oil, garlic, and red onion. Then add wine. Over low heat, stir mixture until wine begins to reduce. Remove from heat and stir in honey.

Place tenderloin in roasting pan and spoon glaze over the top. Cover with foil and roast for about 35 minutes or until thermometer reads internal temperature at 140 degrees or so.

Let sit for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Honey Balsamic Chicken

            I don’t eat chicken. In fact, I don’t eat meat at all. That’s probably the reason that the majority of the recipes on here are vegan and vegetarian. However, I am asbolutly in love with chicken based entirely on the fact that it is such a blank canvas. Much like tofu is to vegans, you can pretty much flavor chicken anyway you want.

            Needless to say, I live with a bunch of carnivores and, as much as they like my “rabbit food”, they occasionally want something…..meatier. Here’s a honey balsamic chicken recipe which I’m told is delicious. You don’t have to serve it with the “smashed” potatoes and onions but I’ve always thought potatoes go pretty well with chicken.

 

For the Maraniade:

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

4 tbs olive oil

¼ cup honey

1 tsp sea salt

a couple cranks of black pepper.

Whisk together and pour over three boneless skinless chicken breasts in a pyrex dish. Cover with saran wrap and place in fridge for about 1 hour, flipping over at the half way point.

Then:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (f)

Whisk together 1 ½ cup chicken stock, ¼ cup Balsamic Vinagar, 5 tbs honey, and set aside. After your chicken is done marinating, Place chicken in a roasting pan with a rack. If you don’t have a fancy roasting pan with a rack, like me, you just place a cooling rack over the pyrex dish and lay the chicken on top. Pour the marinade over the top as well as the stock mixture.

When your chicken is, as Emeril would say, “happy”, make a little aluminum foil tent over the top of the pan.

 

Let bake for 25 minutes and then flip and baste. Bake for another 25 minutes. I would recommend checking for doneness since your chicken make take more or less time.

 

Serve immediately with smashed potatoes.

Smashed Potatoes and Onions:

5 tbs olive oil

3 to 4 baking potatoes, boiled

½ medium onion

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp cracked black pepper

In a large skillett, heat oil and add onions. Let brown and add potatoes and seasoning. Smash with fork or potato masher and lightly brown. Serve immediately.