Hey everyone!

Its Monday again, so its time for this week’s main course and matching cocktail.

It was really hard to pick something today for some reason. I blame the long weekend. I don’t think anyone wants to make any decisions on long lazy weekends.

After consulting a few sources and conferring with my husband, we decided on grilled marinated pork tenderloin, a simple salad and a quick olive tapenade on crispy toasts, with a bright blue cocktail we like to call “Alpine blue”.

Sometime just the thought of certain foods brings back memories.
For example, there is a small amount of honey in the marinade for the pork tenderloin, and that got me thinking…

As a real young kid, my parents raised honey bees, so I grew up not being afraid of them. Until I found out that there was another type of bee called a yellow jacket that looked really similar, only less friendly, and unlike the honey bee who wouldn’tneverbashfulwithbutter.comhttp://www.neverbashfulwithbutter.com harm you unless you harmed it first, the yellow jacket would harm unprovoked, AND unlike the honey bee who could only sting once, and then it would die, the yellow jacket could sting repeatedly AND bite.

Of course that never stopped me from rubbing a sour green apple jolly rancher on my lips like lipbalm, subsequently causing myself to be chased around the yard by a raging horde of yellow jackets hell bent on attacking my lips.

I hated yellow jackets though. They would come out whenever we did anything outside during the summer. Whether we were barbecuing or having a garage sale, they were out in full force.  I felt bad because I didn’t want to kill them, but if I didn’t, they’d get me first, and I didn’t like pain very much either.

I drank one once, it had fallen into a soda can I was drinking from when I wasn’t paying attention, and it managed to sting all around the inside of my mouth. Luckily it didn’t sting my throat or anything. I think I got pretty lucky on that one.

Here where I live now, we don’t have a yellow jacket problem. We can’t, the maintainance people come by and pressure wash everywhere a hive may popup every few days. I like being bee- free, but there’s just something odd about not having any bees at all, yellow jacket or honey bee.

Sure, from time to time last summer we had a visit from a rogue wasp or hornet. That sucked. I don’t like big buzzing insects with the dangley parts that those two bee types have. It makes them appear more menacing.

I guess the lack of bees around here explains the strange lack of flowers anywhere in the apartment complex. I miss that about summertime back home in the country.

I love the colours and flavours of summer. There is nothing like a nice tall glass of lemonade, or a carrot fresh from the garden. Bright, vibrant, and fresh, are the best words I can come up to describe everything about this season.

I can remember backyard barbecues, the smell of fresh cut grass after the last summer rain. trees with the first sign of fruit, lush green leaves on full branches. A field full of my favourite flowers, California poppies.

Gardens full of fresh corn, full crisp heads of lettuce, cabbage and the perky little green parts of the bright orange carrots that my parents would leave in the ground so long that when we finally dug them up they were as big around as my dad’s forearm (no kidding)

Evenings barbecuing whatever meat we had on the grill, steaming corn on the cob in the husk. Picking strawberries and flowers and making daisy chains with my best friend in my playhouse in the backyard, or selling rice crispy squares and lemonade at my “goodie stand” at one of my mom’s many late summer garage sales.

The smell of roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over an open fire, late at night because its still just warm enough to keep the bugs away.
I just love it.

Summer has just started, and I’m excited. I can’t wait to see what this season holds.

But for now, back to the food-

Tapenade anyone?

There are more photos and narrative under the cut, but if you don’t like looking at gratuitious shots of delicious grilled meat, I suggest you don’t click.

Our Alpine blue cocktail is a nice mix of vodka, Curaçao, sprite, peach juice and a bit of mint. It really is good, and quite refreshing when paired with the garlic filled flavour of the pork tenderloin.

Marinated in a mix of honey, herbs, spices and a ton of garlic and lime juice, this pork tenderloin just reeked of summertime flavour.

Mmm.

You don’t need a barbecue to enjoy this meal. Just make sure you’ve got a roasting pan with a removable rack inside.

You’ll need-

one 2-4 pound pork tenderloin
7 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons Mrs Dash salt free seasoning (original)
1 tablespoon honey (I used clover honey, but any will work)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
a few sprigs of flat leaf parsley, chopped finely (no more than a tablespoon)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
The juice of one medium sized lime
the zest of one medium sized lime

Rinse the tenderloin when removed from the package. with a small sharp knife, poke 5 or 6 small holes in various places in the tenderloin, not pressing very hard.

Take three of the garlic cloves, peel them completely and slice them in half. Insert a half garlic clove in each of the holes you’ve cut in the tenderloin. Place tenderloin in a resealable container (tupperware) that is large enough to hold the tenderloin loosely.

chop the rest of the garlic cloves as fine as possible, add them and the rest of the ingredients to the resealable container and seal it.

Shake the container for a few minutes and let it sit in the refrigerator for about half an hour. If you’re in a hurry, feel free to skip this step, just make sure you shake the container pretty hard, and for about five minutes.

After you’ve removed your container from the fridge, allow the meat to come up to just below room temperature. Don’t open the container, and really, it only takes about 10 minutes.

During that 10 minutes, get your grill prepared. Start the grill on high. You want the grill to sizzle when the meat hits it, sealing the juices into the meat. Close the lid and let the grill get hot.

Once the grill is hot and the meat is just below room temperature, use a pair of tongs to roll the meat in the marinade once more, and set it on the grill. Allow the meat to sizzle for a few minutes. There may be a few flare ups, but there shouldn’t be too many. After about a minute, or when you can see the flesh of the meat brown, flip the meat over and sear the other side. after about a minute, turn the temperature down to medium low, and let the meat slow cook until it comes to temperature. Once the meat has reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees fahrenheit at the largest point, its done. This should take between 20 and 40 minutes, but the thermometer must read at least 160F or it is NOT cooked.

remove the meat from the grill and relocate it to a cutting board or the platter you wish to serve it on. Let it sit for a few minutes before slicing. Sprinkle with a dash of lime juice and salt before serving and voila! delicious pork tenderloin.

Along side our pork tenderloin we served a simple garden salad.
Not that you need a recipe, but a simple easy summer salad can be made with a few handfuls of hand shredded romaine lettuce, about a half cup of chopped baby carrots, a diced heirloom tomato and a few ounces of cubed dill havarti, served with a citrus balsamic vinagrette.

Another side dish we made, simple quick and easy- black olive tapenade-

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 cup black olives (or kalamata olives), quartered
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive brine (or water with a pinch of salt)

Whisk all of the ingredients except the olives together in a bowl until lightly frothy. Add the olives and stir. either heat set in sauce pan, or allow to sit, covered on the counter for about an hour for the flavours to really combine.

Serve with toasted baguette or bruschetta, serves about two hungry people, or 4 people as part of a multi course dinner.

Finally, we come to the drink.

Don’t worry guys! This one pictured here is alcoholic, but I can give you the cheats to make a similar tasting, nearly look alike version that is kid friendly!

For the alcoholics in the room-

4 measures vodka
1/2 measure gin
2 measures blue curacao
8 measures lemon lime soda
2 measures fresh peach juice

Add the vodka, curacao, gin and peach juice to a shaker with ice and give a good shake. Open and add the lemon lime soda, stir lightly, replace the strainer cap and pour into a chilled glass. Garnish with a peach slice, lime slice and a mint leaf.

The gin adds a bit of a wintergreen feel to the otherwise sunny beverage, making it a great palette cleanser after a rich meal full of flavour!

If you’d like to make the non alcoholic version-

1 package berry blue lemonade powdered drink mix (koolaid)
1/2 cup sugar
One 2 liter bottle of seltzer water or sparkling water
1 cup fresh peach juice

Instead of preparing the drink mix according to the instructions, empty contents into a gallon sized container. Only add 1/2 cup sugar, and the 1 cup peach juice. Stir until the sugar has dissolved completely. SLOWLY add the seltzer water, stirring every few seconds. Do not let the mixture fizz over the edge of the container. Continue pouring until you’ve emptied the entire bottle into the container. Stir lightly until combined. Pour into tumblers or clear glasses filled with crushed ice. garnish just as you would the alcoholic version, with a peach slice, lime slice and mint leaf on the rim.

If you are unable to find berry blue lemonade drink mix-

prepare 1 container frozen lemonade with seltzer water instead of tap water
add 1 cup peach juice and a drop or two of blue food colouring. stir and enjoy.

Hope you enjoy the recipes!

-A..

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 1:58 am and is filed under May 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.