Bacon wrapped maple pork tender loin

You might have noticed by now, that I really like to mix sweet flavors into my dishes and this is one more recipe that applies to this fact. A tender and juicy pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon and glazed with maple syrup. Hmm... served with roasted sweet potatoes (recipe will follow tomorrow) and a fresh rocket leaf and endive salad. Be sure to plan in the time for brining - at least 8 hours.


click here for a printable version


Serves 4


For brining pork

• 4 cups   water
• 2,5 tbsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tbsp    maple syrup 
• 1/2 tso   crushed black peppercorns
• 1 sprig   fresh sage
• 1            garlic clove, smashed
• 1            bay leaf
• 1            pork tenderloin, (app. 600g), trimmed

For roasting pork

• 3           garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp  finely chopped fresh sage
• 3 tbsp  maple syrup 
• 200 g  bacon slices 
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 
  

Brine pork:

Combine all brining ingredients except pork tenderloin in a saucepan and heat over high heat, stirring, until salt is dissolved. Pour brine into a deep casserole dish; cool to room temperature, uncovered, about 2 hours.

Add pork to brine, making sure it is completely covered by brine, and marinate, covered and chilled, 8 to 24 hours.

Roast pork:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 175°C/350°F.

Pat pork dry (discard brine), then transfer to a roasting pan. Stir together garlic, sage, and 1 tablespoon syrup in a small bowl and rub all over pork. Lay bacon slices crosswise over loin, overlapping slightly, and tuck ends of bacon underneath loin.

Roast pork until thermometer registers 140°F/60°C, about 30 minutes. Stir together 1 tablespoon syrup and vinegar until combined. Brush vinegar mixture over bacon slices and continue to roast pork until thermometer registers 150°F/66°C, about 5 minutes more. If the bacon has not browned yet, turn on the oven grill on high until the bacon is crispy.  Remove from oven and let stand in pan 10-15 minutes. Transfer the tender loin to a cutting board and cut into 3 cm thick slices.

Stir the remaining tablespoon of syrup into the cooking juices. Serve the meat on preheated plates and drizzle with the sauce.

Chicken Pot Pie

click HERE for a printable version

If some of you went through the work of preparing the chicken stock I would like to pass on a recipe for you how to use the chicken you have left over. This dish has been one of my favorit dishes since my childhood and it seems like I have passed on this preference also to my kids.

You can - of course - use chicken breasts (preferably with bone and skin)  just as well and cook them with some soup vegetables for 7 to 10 minutes. Then let them cool in the broth and later skin and bone them and cut into cubes.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

550 g        chicken meat, cooked and cut small

2               sliced celery stalks

2 - 3         sliced medium sized carrots

1               finely cubed onion
2               minced garlic cloves
5               cubed white mushrooms (optional)
2               finely cubed potatoes (optional)
150 g        frozen small green peas

700 ml       chicken stock
150 ml       heavy cream
80 g           butter
40 g           flour

30 ml         white wine (can be substituted by lemon juice, then use less)

                 salt, white pepper

500 g        puff pastry (2 sheets)
1               egg (separate the yolk from the white)

• Preheat your oven to 185 C°.
• Heat a frying pan on medium-high heat and let half of the butter melt. Then add the onions and the garlic and fry - stirring occasionally - until translucent. Now add the mushrooms and let them fry for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the celery, carrots, frozen peas,  potatoes and 100 ml chicken stock. Let this cook until the liquid is more or less evaporated but not more than 8 minutes. Add the cut chicken and let it reheat. Salt and pepper to taste and take it from the stove. 
• Butter a casserole dish and spread one layer of your puff pastry into the dish. Pinch with a fork a couple of times and paint egg white onto the dough. Pre-cook in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Let the rest of the butter melt in a saucepan and add the flour stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Don´t let the roux (that is your butter-flour-mixture) get to dark. Now take from the heat and add the cold chicken stock whisking it into the roux to avoid lumps. Set it back on the heat, add the white wine and let it cook on low temperature for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Now add the cream and season with salt and white pepper. Pour the sauce over your chicken in the frying pan and mix together.
• Pour the mixture onto your pre-baked puff-pastry. Cover with the second layer of dough, pierce with the fork and paint it with the egg-yolk now. 
• Bake for 35 - 40 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Serve with a green salad.
  ©just-cook!
  

An all american dinner - homage to "Kansas" in Buenos Aires where they have THE BEST RIBS!!

print HERE for a printable version



Since the majority of people in this house are kids for the moment I will stick to more or less "childfriendly" food this week. No experiments or toplofty creations :D

One of our summer favorites definitely are baby back barbecued ribs with cole slaw and a loaded oven baked potato. I could die for that. A fingerlicking experience...

You will need for 6 eaters:

Baby back ribs:

6    racks of baby back ribs

2    bottles of  Barbecue Sauce (of

      course you can  make your

      own but I´m on the easy side

      today), we prefer a Hickory

      smoke-brown sugar sauce. 

      One that I really like is from

      "Sweet Baby Ray´s"

     Salt

• Pre-cook the spareribs in slightly salted water for 30 minutes or set them on a backing rack, cover them with aluminum foil and bake them in the oven - turning them every 20 minutes - for 1,5 hours
• In the mean time prepare your fire on the grill.
• Paint your spareribs - once on the ready fire - every couple of minutes on both sides for at least 3-4 times. Make sure the heat is not to high since they burn easily (as you can see on the picture - a moment of non-attention is enough)

Cole Slaw:

I´m sure there must be like a million cole slaw recepis out there. My recipe is the following:

1               medium sized white cabbage (if you can
                 lay a hand on sweetheart cabbage - the
                 pointed one - even better)
2               carrots
4               spring onions
1               bunch chives
200 g        heavy cream
200 g        mayonaise
2               lemons (the juice)
                 sugar syrup, amount depending on your likes (sugar cooked with the same
                 amount of water, keeps forever and you can use ist also for preparing cocktails)
                 salt, freshly ground white pepper

optional you can add some tiny, crispy bacon bits to the salad (add these just before serving)

• cut the cabbage and the carrots thinly with help of the food processor. The spring onions I cut with a knife in thin slices.
• For the dressing mix all the ingredients to your taste and pour over the cabbage. Toss in the carrots and spring onions. Mix well and leave in the fridge for some hours.
• Before serving check the taste once more and add salt and white pepper if necessary. Cut the chives with a scissor and sprinkle over the salad as well as the bacon if desired.

Baked potatoes:

6           baking potatoes
             butter
             sour cream
             grated cheese
             chives or spring ognions cut in thin slices
             bacon bits
             coarse Salt (Fleur de sel)
             freshly ground black pepper

• Wash the potatoes, pinch them several times with a fork sprinkle them with coarse sea salt and bake them in the oven at 180 C° for about 45 to 60 minutes (depending on the size).
• Make a cross cut on top of the potato, push it open and add all the toppings you´d like.
  ©just-cook!

Dinner was good

                                                                                    in the picture my cousins son

      
         

Super easy american style cheesecake

I was on the phone the other day with my sister in law who just celebrated her xx birthday. We came to talk
about cooking etc. and she mentioned this cheesecake to me that she had prepared to take to her colleauges in the office to share. Since  it appealed to me, I thought I´d give it a try and it was really nice. Thank God everybody - besides my husband - managed to get a piece before the rest of the cake dropped on the floor taking a detour - fruit side down of course - over my cream coloured chair during the "foto session". Well, sh... happens.

Today I topped the cake with a puree made from frozen raspberries and fresh raspberries to decorate. But of course you can use your imagination here. Almost any fruit will do and will give a different taste to this cake everytime you prepare it.  So try it!

Sol, probablemente te va a gustar la receta para un postre rapido....en todo caso tienes una receta a mano para satisfacer "la trailla" en el hipico en el caso de que Andrés se va a caer algun día... :D

click HERE for a printable version


To prepare the dough you will need:

200 g                  shortbread, crumbled (just put them into a freezer bag and roll over with the rolling pin.)
2-3 tablespoons  sugar
1 dash                 cinammon
75 g                    melted butter


For the filling:

800 g                  cream cheese (e.g. Philadelphia)

200 g                  sour cream

200 g                  sugar

2 teaspoons         vanilla extract

4                         eggs

2 tablespoons      flour

50 ml                   milk



For the topping:

100 g                 sour cream,
                         any fruit and/or fruitpurees you prefer

• Butter your springform (26 cm) (can´t believe that´s the correct name in english, well, anyway, I mean your cake pan.) Mix the ingredients for the dough with a fork and pour them into your cake pan pushing with a spoon or your fingers. Let it rest a while in the fridge. Preheat your oven to 170C°.
• For the filling mix the sour cream and the cream cheese (both need to have room temperature) with sugar and the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one by one and at last add the flour and the milk.
• Carefully pour the filling onto the dough and bake it for 60 minutes. Let it cool in the oven with the ovendoor opened. This prevents your cheesecake from tearing.
• After it has cooled completely you can coat it with the sour  cream and the fruit/ fruitpuree you have chosen. Serve the rest of the fruit sauce on the side.
• For the raspberry puree I used two packages of frozen raspberrys, a bit of powdered sugar and a little lemonjuice. Puree this with the hand blender and pass it through a hair sieve.