Pork Tenderloin with Braised Cabbage

The cookbook from whence this recipe comes has been on my bookshelf for nine years. Yes, just under a decade, and I think this might be the first thing I've made from it. Now, I wonder how i lived without it all these years. It makes light look gourmet, and sometimes even people who are watching their stubborn waistline like to feel a little gourmet. Such is the case with this gem, and I'm excited to see if the other recipes live up this one. I have my doubts, but I'll try to show faith. I also doubted whether or not my family would eat it, but eat it they did, and aside from Michael, the carnivore, the hands down favorite was the cabbage. The cabbage? Oh yes, the cabbage.

We served this in what seemed quite a traditional manner with buttered boiled red potatoes.

Pork Tenderloin with Braised Cabbage

from Williams Sonoma Healthy Cooking

• 1 large head green cabbage (30 oz.)
• 2 pork tenderloins, about 3/4 pound each (1.5 pounds total)
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• salt to taste, plus 1 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste, plus 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Remove any bruised outer leaves from the cabbage and discard. Cut the head of the cabbage in to quarters through the stem end and then remove the core from each wedge. Slice the wedges crosswise into thin shreds. You should have about 10 cups (30 oz/940 g) shredded cabbage. Set aside.

Trim the pork tenderloins of any visible fat. In a large nonstick frying pan (that has a lid!) over medium-high heat, warm the oil. When hot but not smoking, add the tenderloins, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook, turning frequently, until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Return the pan to medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, the 1 tsp salt, and the 1/4 tsp pepper and cook, stirring and tossing several times, until the cabbage is slightly wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and sprinkle on the sugar; stir and toss to combine. Reduce the heat to low (I did medium-low) and return the pork to the pan, pressing the tenderloins slightly into the cabbage. Cover and cook until the cabbage is tender and the pork is firm to the touch and pale pink when cut in the thickest portion, about 20 minutes. Alternately, test for doneness with a meat thermometer into the thickest part of a tenderloin; it should read 160˚ F.

Transfer the tenderloins to a cutting board. Mound the cabbage on a platter. Cut the tenderloins on the diagonal into thin slices and arrange over the cabbage. Serve at once.

Gyros with homemade pita and tzatziki

In the interest of spicing up our dinners a bit, I turned international and decided to try a little Greek for Sunday dinner. I found some recipes in my cookbook collection, but I was not entirely convinced that they would be worth the hassle, so I searched until I found what might actually be the most complex of the recipes I perused. Convinced that nothing could be that much trouble without being worth it, I forged ahead.

A few notes:

• I marinated overnight—it was awesome. It may taste salty when sampled alone, but when paired with the vegetables, pita, and tzatziki, you'll be glad for the flavor punch.
• Pitas should be quite thin and terribly even before you cook them. Mine were delicious, but didn't quite have that hollow puff that would have made them incredible. I recommend rings for your rolling pin or perhaps even a pasta roller on a thick (3-5) setting.
• The tzatziki was incredible, so much so that I actually ate it plain as leftovers today.
• I served with fresh tomato and mean to slice up some red onion—I wish I had as it would have been a great foil to the sweet tomatoes and creamy spread.

Pork Gyros

• 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin, shoulder, or fresh ham [I used loin]
• white wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp sea salt [I used coarse and longed for fine.]
• 1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika [I used Hungarian and I think it was marvelous]
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp finely crushed (powdered) oregano

In a small bowl combine salt, paprika, pepper, and oregano.

Slice the meat against the grain as thinly as possible and pound with a meat mallet to less than 1/4-inch thick. In a flat-bottomed container, arrange one layer of slices, sprinkle liberally with seasoning mixture, then with a little vinegar. Spread the vinegar over the meat so that all pieces are moistened. Add layers, spices, and vinegar until all the meat has been marinated. Cover and refrigerate for 1/2 hour to 2 hours [or overnight like I did—so tender, so flavorful.]

Remove meat from the refrigerator and slice into strips about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch wide and 2 to 2 1/2 inches long. Dry fry (without any oil) in a non-stick frying pan until well browned and slightly crisp.

Alternate cooking methods: Do not cut the meat into strips before cooking. Cook thinly pounded pieces on the grill (or in a roasting pan in the oven) until the edges of the meat begin to crisp, then slice and serve.

Tzatziki

adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

I couldn't find Greek yogurt in this town, but I knew I could reproduce it by straining plain yogurt. Just find plain yogurt with no added gelatin (this might be harder than you think) and hang it in quadruple thickness cheesecloth and let the water drain off for an hour or two. Some nonfat plain yogurt has pectin in it—I'm not sure the effect this has, but I'd shy away if I were you as it may prevent separation of the water. I let mine drain too long (my 4 cups yogurt ended up less than 2 cups) but the consistency was amazing in the end.

• 3 cups Greek Yogurt [or regular plain yogurt strained to desired consistency]
• juice of 1 lemon (about 3T) [opt for fresh, please]
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced [no need to seed if using English]
• ~1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 T finely chopped fresh dill [I used almost twice that accidentally and don't regret it!]
• salt and pepper to taste

If you don't have Greek yogurt, strain plain yogurt as described above. Peel cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise and take a small spoon and scrape out seeds. Discard seeds. (If you use the small seedless or European cucumbers with few seeds, you can skip this step.) Dice cucumbers, then put in a colander, sprinkle on 1 T salt, and let stand for 30 minutes to draw out water. Drain well and wipe dry with paper towel. [I squeeze my cucumbers in my fist, just a handful at a time to get the water out. It worked great!]

In food processor with steel blade, add cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, dill, and a few grinds of black pepper. Process until well blended, then stir this mixture into the yogurt. Taste before adding any extra salt, then salt if needed. Place in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving so flavors can blend. [This resting time is very important—I left mine overnight.]

Pitas

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar or honey
• 2 tsp yeast
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, room temperature or warmer
• 2 tsp olive oil

If you are using active dry yeast, follow the instructions on the packet to active it (see the note on yeast above). Otherwise, mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water [I didn't.]

Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or until your hands get tired). Form dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning once to cover with oil. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough, then separate into 8 pieces [mine were huge, you might want to do more] and form each one into a ball, then cover with a towel and let rest 20 minutes to relax. Place baking stone or inverted cookie sheet on center rack and preheat the oven to 400˚ [I used 2 stones side by side to double my cooking surface.] After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.

Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn't necessary. [I did 4 minutes total because they were a little thick and I wanted to avoid any chance of doughiness.] They should be soft and warm, and should be eaten immediately.

Chili Pork Chops with Corn Salad

I'm having food adventures of multiple kinds. I received a fun new, simple, no-frills kind of cookbook from family, and I'm trying to clean out the freezer and pantry in preparation for our upcoming relocation. These two situations are not necessarily compatible, but I'm doing the best with what I've got, and tonight the stars aligned in just such a way as to yield a great, fresh summer victory.

One of the things I liked best about this was the unashamed, but still only slight sweetness of the corn salad. It was an excellent foil to the chili of the chops, although I don't think I used quite enough chili powder (next time I'll measure instead of eye-balling it!)

Chili Pork Chops with Corn Salad

Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Cookbook

• 1 medium tomato, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 can (15-16 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can (15-16 oz.) black beans, drained
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
• 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice [I used the juice of 1 lime]
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 small pork loin chops, each about 1/2" thick (about 5 oz each)
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Prepare corn salad: combine tomato, corn, beans, cilantro or parsley, lime juice, and sugar. Mix well and set aside.

On waxed paper, mix flour, chili powder, and salt. Pat pork chops dry with paper towels. Coat chops on both sides with flour mixture. In nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; add pork chops and cook about 8 minutes, until golden brown on both sides and pork just loses its pinkness throughout. Serve pork with corn salad.

NOTES:

• After watching a food show a few months back, I discovered I could created my own chops for cheaper than the butcher by buying a good pork loin from my warehouse store (like Sam's or Costco) and slicing it myself. By doing this I not only get large, boneless chops, but I also get to choose the thickness that suits my recipe best. Of course this particular batch was left from a bulk batch I carefully froze a couple months ago, so the 3/8" or so thick chops were great, but 1/2" would probably have been a little nicer. You may need to adjust the weight of the meat you're using, as the recipe's measurement includes bone weight. I did about a pound, and it was perfect.
• You just might want to double that corn salad recipe—it was that good. I was tempted to add garlic and scallion, but held off, allowing myself to make the recipe as written the first time around. I don't regret it, but I bet I wouldn't have regretted it the other way, either.
• I didn't want to spring for a huge bundle of cilantro, so I used a nifty little thing Justin and Jodi gave me last week—cilantro cubes. They are the funniest little things, but are in essence, cilantro bullion cubes. They lacked the fresh greenness of cilantro, but imparted all the flavor. They were a great substitute.