Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Onions

This is an excellent low calorie meal that still feels filling and satisfying. The key is layering flavors without adding fat. Pork tenderloin (not pork loin) is very low in fat.
Salt and pepper the tenderloin and rub with a little sage. Sear it in a cast iron skillet over high heat with just a little olive oil. Remove meat from the pan and pour in 1/4 of a cup of chicken stock and scrape up any browned bits. Remove from heat. Add to pan one coarsely chopped apple and 1/2 of an onion and place tenderloin on top. Place in a 350 degree oven. Start checking after 30 minutes with a meat thermometer. You want it to just hit 160 degrees internal temperature. Meanwhile, peel and slice 2-3 apples and one medium onion and spread them out on a sheet pan. Salt and pepper and add some sage and a couple teaspoons of olive oil and toss to coat. Place in oven with the tenderloin. After 15 minutes or so stir the apples and onions around and put them back in until they are browned.
I served this with sweet potato spears. Cut a sweet potato lenghtwise. Coat a sheet pan with a very thin layer of olive oil and arange sweet potatoes so a cut side is down on the pan and put in oven. After 30 minutes flip the potatoes over and put back in oven for approxamitely another 30 minutes.
When the tenderloin is finished cooking remove it from the pan. Discard the apples and onions from the tenderloin pan. Place pan over medium heat on stove and pour in two cups of low fat or no fat chicken broth and stir to lift any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan. Let this reduce until slightly sticky and thick and season to taste. Slice tenderloin on an angle. Arrange browned apple and onion slices over the top of the meat and pour a small amount of sauce over top.

Organic Banana Cupcake with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

Topped with a dark chocolate dipped banana chip.

Easy Party Food

We recently hosted our daughter's fifth birthday party in our home. We have been very blessed in the fact that our daughter's friend's parents have become truly our friends too. A great group of people who are tons of fun. I wanted to create a party that catered to our childrens taste, particularly our childs favorite foods(they ate pasta, procuittto and chinese dumplings), while also providing a delicious and more "adult" meal for the parents. I knew that in order to do this with a house full of 10 five year olds the dishes for the parents would need to be able to be prepared before the party and relatively simple. Also, it should be easy for the guests to serve themselves.

First, as the main courses I prepared a seared skirt steak and a poached side of salmon.

To prepare the steak I rubbed the meat down with garlic, rosemary and a healthy dose of salt and pepper. I then seared it at high heat in a little olive oil. Be sure to let the meat rest, uncut, until you are ready to serve it. When you are ready to serve, cut the meat across the grain and on an angle into thin slices. As a condiment I made horseradish mayonaisse. Simply add horseradish to mayo with a little squeeze of lemon. Add salt and white pepper to taste. I garnished the plate with a few radishes.

For the poached salmon I salted and used white pepper on a large piece salmon. In a large saute pan I put two parts water to one part white wine and brought to a low simmer, then gently slid the fish in. Make sure the liquid only goes up to about 2/3 the depth of the fish. In other words, part of the top of the fish should not be submerged in liquid. Be very careful to not let the liquid go above a slow simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes then cover and continue cooking for 3-5 more minutes then turn the heat off and leave the lid on for 10 minutes. Take the fish out of the liquid and place on a plate in the refrigerator. As a condiment for this dish I chopped up fresh herbs (tarragon, chives) and combined with mayo. I used thin slices of cucumber and lemon as garnish over the top of the salmon.

As one of the side dishes I prepared a very simple potato salad. I wanted to make a salad that had a bite and no mayo so as to act as a counter part to the rich meat and fish dishes. This is truly such an easy recipe and was a huge hit.
Boil some Yukon Gold potatoes until tender. Add dijon mustard, a small amount of olive oil, and a small jar of capers to the potatoes. Toss gently (best to use your hands for this). Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Create a bed of watercress and pile the potato salad on top of the greens.











I served some very simple steamed asparagus with the meal.

Chocolate Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream and a Fresh Strawberry

Blackberry Spice Cupcake with Caramel Frosting

Brand new flavor! A twist on a classic old family recipe. The cake has both spice (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg ) and blackberry. The frosting is a rich caramel buttercream. Topped off with a fresh blackberry.

Smoked Salmon Salad "Nicoise"

This salad is big enough for a dinner and is just a spin on a classic Salade Nicoise. You could use any kind of smoked salmon, or any other smoked fish, but my favorite is this hot smoked salmon which results in a smoky roasted fish.

Simply put down a bed of lettuce, then layer on things like -

Hard Boiled egg

Tomato

Boiled Potato

Steamed Chilled Green Beans or Haricot Vert

Cucumber

Pieces of Fish

and I used a vegetable peeler to shave ribbons of radish for the top.

The dressing was -

2 tblsp of lemon juice

1 tbsp of dijon mustard

4 tbsp of Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

You can also add some capers.