Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Marinated Vegetables Sandwhich

This one's pretty good.  I've been making the glazed tenderloin for while and it's a great recipe just on its own (adapted from the venison loin recipe).  We've been eating the pork tenderloin kebobs with sliced cucumber the last couple of times I made it.  I had the marinated vegetables with beef at a Cambodian restaurant and thought it would pair nicely with the pork since the cucumbers worked so well.   Mrs. Bugbear thought the sourdough pitas, a favourite of my family, would made for a great sandwich.  As usual my wife was right and this makes for a great sandwich!

Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins
6-12 bamboo skewers

Glaze

2 teaspoons salt (kosher)
1/3 cup palm sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp sriracha sauce
1 tbsp canola oil

Marinade

1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 water
1/8 cup sugar (more to taste)
1 English cucumber
1/2 carrot
1/2 read pearl onions or shallots

minced fresh cilantro, thai basil or mint (optional)

6-8 freshly made sourdough  pitas

Start the skewers soaking in water at least an hour or two before preparing the pork. 

Prepare the marinade. Peel the cucumber, slice about 3/8" thick, cover and refrigerate.   Peel the carrots and slice on the diagonal about 1/4" thick ,  slice the shallots or pearls onions length wise and place the onions and carrots in the marinade.

Slice the tenderloins into 1 inch medallions and salt.  Allow the medallions to come to room temperature (~30 minutes).  In the meantime prepare the glaze by whisking together all the ingredients.  Pat the pork medallions dry with paper towel.  Reserve about half the glaze.  Toss the medallions with the remaining glaze.  Take two skewers and holding them parallel assemble a pork kebob.  Repeat until all the medallions have been 'kebobbed'.  Clean and oil the BBQ grate. Start the BBQ and place the reserved cucumber in the marinade.  Cook the kebobs over high heat for about 4 minutes per side and brush with reserved glaze each time the kebobs are flipped. A bit of char should develop on each side.

Assemble a sandwich using a pita, the marinated vegetables and a couple of medallions sliced in half and garnish with fresh cilantro/basil/mint if using.

Forty Minute Pizza

A couple of nights ago our fridge, freezer and cupboards were pretty bare and I needed a quick meal.  We live in the country so ordering takeout wasn't in the cards.  When I need a quick meal I'll make a pizza on a flatbread or pita, even the pitas were all gone.  I elected to try to develop a quick pizza from scratch and it worked out fairly well.  I started with an Irish Soda Bread recipe and added Italian ingredients so it's a multi-culturally appropriated pizza...

I made trip to COSTCO today so I can add a few more toppings to the mix when I try the recipe again tonight.  The recipe below is for a basic cheese pizza.

Ingredients

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 to 1-1/4 cups buttermilk

Sauce:
1 can crushed tomatoes
basil pesto
olive oil
grated mozzarella and parmesan

Pre-heat the oven to 450F.  Whisk the dry ingredients together.  Put a dough hook on a stand mixer.  With the mixer on the lowest setting slowly add the buttermilk until the dough forms into a ball.  Grease a cast iron frying pan and roll the dough out flat until it will just cover the bottom of the frying pan.  Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile make the sauce by combining the pesto and crushed tomates.  Add pesto to taste.  Mix in a bit of olive oil.

Take the crust out of the oven and reduce to 400F.  Slather sauce almost to the edge of the crust and then place desired toppings and the desired amount of cheese on top. Place the pizza in the oven for about 5-10 minutes.  Switch to the broiler for another five minutes or until the cheese has browned a bit.  Remove and serve.

Venison Loin Kebabs

My family enjoys game meat, my youngest daughter particularly likes rabbit. As time for hunting is at a premium for me I choose to hunt deer as the success rate in deer hunting locally is much higher than moose or elk.  Venison tends to continue cooking after you remove it from the BBQ so for this recipe I recommend that you start with the venison quite cold or even partially frozen.

Ingredients

2 venison loins
2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tbsp Sriracha Sauce (Rooster brand by preference)
2 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp demara sugar
fresh mint diced
4-6 bamboo skewers
canola oil spray

Soak the bamboo skewers.

Cut the venison loin into chunks about an inch long (I just use the width of my thumb which is close enough).  Salt the chunks an let sit for about an hour.

Mix the sriracha, cornstarch and sugar together and divide evely between two bowls.

Start the BBQ or grill of your choice.  I use a pellet grill at it's highest temperature setting.

Mix the meat and half the sriacha mix together and then assemble the kebabs.  Place the meat chunks on two skewers so that the meat won't rotate when you're flipping it on the BBQ.  Spray both sides of the kebabs with oil.

Place the kebabs on hottest spot on your grill.  Grill until well browned or slightly charred and then flip and brush with the reserved sriracha mixture.

Once the meat hits the desired and safe temperature remove and let rest for 5 minutes.  Garnish with diced mint and serve.

Leek and Potato Soup with Pork Scrunchions

My family and I travelled to the northern peninsula of Newfoundland this summer and had a great adventure.  I made a point of trying as many traditional Newfoundland dishes as possible and since we rented a cabin with a kitchen I tried my hand at quite a few recipes as well.

Pork Scrunchions are diced salt pork fried until the fat has rendered out. Newfies use them as a garnish on dishes like Fish and Brewies.  I had some salt pork in the fridge and I decided to use them on a soup that's pretty traditional in my family.  Locally we have a plant which we call wild leeks but is officially called allium tricoccum.  In the spring we harvest a few bulbs and make leek and potato soup.  You can substitute domestic leeks but the wild leeks make for a better soup.  The recipe below uses domestic leeks.

Ingredients

2-3 tbsp melted butter
3 leeks, white parts diced
2-3 large potatoes cut into 1/2" cubes
4-5 cups of low salt chicken stock
1-2 cups of cream
1/2 package of salt pork cut into 1/4" cubes

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and saute the leeks until softened.  Add the chicken stock and potatoes and bring to a simmer.  Simmer until the potatoes are tender, in the mean time fry the salt pork until golden brown drain and place on a paper towel.  When the potatoes are tender puree the soup or use a potato masher.  I prefer the coarser texture produced by the potato masher.  Stir in the cream and serve.  Garnish each bowl with 6-10 pieces of the salt pork.

French Onion Soup

I've had a head cold for a bit more than a week.  Since onions are supposed to help fortify your immune system against colds I decided to go with a Fort Knox onion recipe.

6 medium sized red onions in 1/8" slices
3 tbsp unsalted butter or ghee
6-8 cups beef stock
Bouquet garni with two bay leaves, sprig of thyme
2 tbsp truffled balsmic vinegar
1/4 cup Madeira
3 everything bagels
6 slices swiss cheese
6 tbsp parmesan
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F. Over medium high heat brown the onions stirring frequently (20 - 30 minutes). Add the beef stock, the bouquet garni and the Madeira.  Simmer for about 20 minutes. While the broth is simmering slice the bagels and remove the top and bottom crusts.  Toast in the oven for 15 minutes turning over a the midpoint. Increase the oven temperature to 400F.  Remove the bouquet garni from the soup.  Add the balsamic, salt and pepper.  Ladle the soup into oven safe bowls, top with a toasted bagel and cheese.  Place in oven until the cheese melts.