Cocoa-Crusted Pork Tenderloin

  
    Earlier this month, I hosted a Chocolate themed dinner club with my girlfriends.  The original plan was to make homemade chocolate croissants, but I was pressed for time that weekend and decided to stick with an old fave: pork tenderloin.  I read through dozens of cocoa-crusted recipes and finally found this one on The Daily Meal. I always like an excuse to try a new tenderloin recipe.

      I know I have talked about pork tenderloin before, but it is a nice meat that doesn't take much work and usually has wonderful results.  I was even excited to use a new meat thermometer I got for Christmas.   The recipe used a cocoa rub and a cherry sauce, so I prepped both of those the night before dinner club.  Then the morning of, I was ready to rock! Let's get cooking...

 

Trim up your tenderloins and lay out on baking sheet for a good rubdown

Heavily sprinkle on spice rub and cover whole tenderloin. You should be smelling of cinnamon now.

They look so innocent and unknowing.

Do a quick sear on both sides, careful not to burn the cocoa.  As you can see, I might need a new, larger frying pan.  Then place back on baking sheet and pop in oven.

 

This is the best shot I could get out of the oven, and although its nice and brown on the outside it was the perfect temperature and light pink on the inside. 

Once your sauce base is ready, stir in cherries and serve over pork! 

 

Here's what you'll need:

Cocoa-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Sauce
Pork:
1 tablespoon ground white pepper

1 tablespoon ground coriander

4 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

1 teaspoon ground cloves

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

4 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons olive oil 

Two 2-pound boneless pork tenderloins

 

Cherry Sauce:

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 large shallots, minced

2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced

8 sprigs fresh thyme

¼ cup red wine

¼ cup dried cherries

2 cup veal or beef stock

2 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoon kosher salt

Cooking instructions

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Place tenderloins on a sheet pan and coat well with rub. Let sit for 2 hours.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Once hot, place the pork in the pan and sear all sides until brown, being careful not to burn the cocoa. Remove pork from skillet and place in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.

For the sauce:
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add shallot, garlic and thyme and sauté for about one minute.  Deglaze with red wine. Reduce red wine by half and add stock. Reduce by half again and add sugar and salt to taste.  Strain and set aside.  When ready to serve, heat and add cherries.

         As seen earlier at my Chocolate dinner club, serve up with some greens & veggies and enjoy!

Cheers,
Belle

Chocolate Dinner Club

Chocolate. Who doesn't love chocolate?  

         Every month, 11 friends and I get together for dinner club.  The host will choose a theme for the month and everyone brings a dish to share. It was my turn this month! I wanted to do something cute with Valentine's Day but didn't want to over do it with hearts or red & pink foods. So as I was browsing quotes about love, I stumbled upon this one.  Funny that I have always loved Charles M. Schulz, the Peanuts creator. His comics carry such good memories for me. He always blended sweet lessons with humor so well, very fitting that he would blend love and chocolate and set the perfect scene for my dinner club. 

      The only requirement was to to include a chocolate ingredient because...

     "All you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." 

 

The lineup included:

Drink

Chocolate martinis

   
Appetizer  

Mini Chocolate Machaca Breakfast Burritos

Fruit with Creamy Chocolate Dip

Salad & Veggies

Mixed Greens with Warm Cacao Nib Crusted Goat Cheese

Cocoa Spiced Roasted Vegetables

Main Dishes

Beef Paleo Chili

Cocoa Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Sauce

Pinto-Bean Mole Chili (Epicurious)
  

Dessert

Fudge Mint Brownies 

Chocolate Chip Pancakes & Strawberries

 Here are a few of the girls enjoying lunch!

January was Prohibition theme: a hidden alcohol ingredient and March the dishes must be made with local grown food. I can't wait to see what other themes come up throughout the year.  

Food makes for such great conversation and the company doesn't hurt either!

See the recipe for Cocoa Crusted Pork Tenderloin here.

Cheers,
Belle

Bacon Wrapped Figs

Dear Stomach, you're welcome. 

Have you ever had a fig picked fresh off its tree?   If not, take my word for it... it will change your world. Okay, maybe not your world - but it will change your mind about figs.

 My parents have a Black Mission Fig tree in their backyard and lucky for me, the tree bears a lot of fruit. Last year when I realized how delicious dates were, I gave figs a try also.

 mmmmm mmmmm.  So good! 

I was heading to a birthday party a few weekends ago and wanted to bring a yummy snack to share with the group. The group loves food as much as I do, so I wanted to really bring something fab.

And thus, bacon wrapped figs came to fruition.

 Look for figs with firm and greenish-dark skin, no breaks in the skin and no little fruit flies!

It is important to pick figs that aren't too ripe - you want a little green still 

so the fruit stays firm while handling and cooking.

 A few figs were up higher in the tree, I coaxed my mom to get them for me... Where did she go?

 Give those suckers a little rinse, pat dry gently with towel.

 Ta-Da!

 Trim hard stem just a bit and slice those beauties in half

 Scoop some of the seeds out, to make a teeny boat for the cheese.

 Spoon in about 1/2 Tbsp of goat cheese into the fig, and wrap it up with bacon!

 Broil, bake on a rack or BBQ until bacon is crispy and brown

 The combination of sweet & savory will knock your socks off!

Bacon Wrapped Figs

14-16 black mission figs

1 lb bacon

4 oz goat cheese 

1. Rinse fresh figs of sticky "sap" and yuckiness

2. Trim the hard part off the stem of the fig

3. Slice figs in half lengthwise

4. Scoop out a bit of the seeds to make a hollow space for cheese

5. Fill hole with as much or as little goat cheese as you want

6. Slice bacon strips in half, lengthwise

7. Wrap bacon around fig 

8. Bake on a rack at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or grill on BBQ to allow fat to drip and bacon to get crunchy! 

9. Take a big bite of amazingness

10. Repeat

Soup de Jour

I love soup. Soup loves me. Pretty sure I have mentioned that before... So, a Christmas gift of Soup of the Day was a match made in heaven! This book is so fabulous, it is organized not only by suggested dates & months... it uses all fruits and veggies that are in season.  After reading a book this summer about organic and sustainable farming, I have been more aware about where my food is coming from.  Quite an interesting thing when you look and see your meat is being shipped from across the world and your fruits have been sitting in a truck for a few days making their way here from South America.  I guess what I am trying to say is, this book is great.

This week I had a chance to try two recipes.  The first was Avgolemono, a greek soup with delicious lemon flavor! I followed this recipe exactly since I have never made (or heard of this soup!)

Avgolemono:
6 c chicken broth
1/2 c long-grain white rice (I used brown)
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1 tsp finely chopped lemon zest (I grated)
Salt & ground white pepper
2 T finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

 

       In a large, heavy pot, bring the broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the rice and cook, uncovered, until tender.

       In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon zest. Whisking constantly, slowly pour 1 cup of the hot broth into the egg mixture (slowly, you don't want to curdle the egg). Reduce the heat of the broth to medium-low and slowly stir the egg mixture into the pot. Cook, stirring, until the soup is slightly thickened, 3-4 minutes. Do NOT let it boil.

      Season with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley. Serve hot!

       

              A creamy soup with no cream!                                                   4 egg yolks...  

I love my microplane! 

 Piping hot off the stove! yummo! 

Things to note: My soup looks nothing like the recipe's photo, but my broth was actually very thick and delicious. Add more rice if you like it thicker and the leftovers definitely aren't as good as the fresh soup.  When I reheated it the next day (on super low so the eggs wouldn't curdle), it produced an overwhelming egg taste that I just wasn't that excited about. Granted, I still ate the leftovers. 

I also had my eye on a recipe for Roast Pork & Udon Noodle soup. Winter is a great time for a pork tenderloin!  I took parts of Soup of the Day's recipe and added in a few extra ingredients as I went along. Instead of having separate frying pans and pots, I combined it all into one. My changes to the recipe are noted in italics.

Roast Pork & Udon Noodle Soup

Pork Tenderloin

Freshly ground salt & pepper

1 Tbsp canola oil

3 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 baby bok choy, quartered lenghtwise

5 c chicken broth

5 Tbsp soy sauce

6 oz udon noodles

my enhancements

1/2 thinly sliced white onion

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 c chopped carrots

3 inch piece of ginger, peeled

Sesame oil

Fresh bean sprouts & cabbage for topping

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the pork on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil and season with salt & pepper.  Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 140 degrees,  20-25 minutes. Let the pork rest for at least 10 minutes. Then chop into bite-sized pieces (I thinly sliced the tenderloin for larger, thinner pieces). 

While the pork is resting, warm the sesame oil in large, heavy pot.   Add the carrots, onions and garlic and saute until they begin to carmelize, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute, 2 minutes. Then combine and add in the broth and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Place the unpeeled ginger straight into the pot, letting the broth soak up its amazing flavors!  Reduce heat and simmer until you just can't take it anymore and you want to eat!! Not necessary to simmer for a long time, but the longer you do, the richer the flavors.  Bring back to a quick boil and add the udon. Cook until noodles are tender.  Add in the pork and shredded cabbage and reduce heat to simmer just for a few minutes.  Serve with bean sprouts and cabbage on top!

 

 Soaking some shiitakes

 Using up some veggies and making the broth even more amazing

   Peeled this little guy, threw it into the simmering broth and let it flavor everything up! When done & ready to serve, take the whole ginger back out and toss into trash..

 Sesame oil gives it just a little extra oomph!

   Adding the soy into the broth

 Tossed in some chopped cabbage right at the end  

Slurpy, soupy deliciousness....coming right up!

Crispy Pork Medallions

A few years ago, I would never have eaten something with the word "tenderloin" in it. Something you should know, I grew up (let's say until about 24 years old) as a very picky eater! But now pork tenderloin is one of my favorite little treats that I only cook occasionally. This summer I even threw one on the grill...Amazing!

Okay, focusing back on the new recipe. I have alot of "regular" meals I make myself and my Cooking Light magazines are just stacking up, with so many tasty ideas collecting dust. Over Thanksgiving break, I went through my magazines and pulled out recipes I want to try.  Crispy Pork Tenderloins were a meal for a chilly night! Sometimes pork can be so chewy and tough, not this recipe!

 

Fresh Parsley from the garden...                                 Dredged in dijon and bread crumbs..... 

  

Quick saute on the stovetop before putting into the oven 

I made a little romaine, fresh beet and blue cheese salad to go with!  

I can't wait for leftovers tomorrow