Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Bourbon Sauce

This is the tastiest recipe that I have ever used on pork!! I will admit, this wasn't all me. I went to New York in October to the Food and Wine Festival. I saw Bobby Flay in a cooking segment. He made something very similar but used a more expensive cut of meat and a whole lot more ingredients that you don't really need, especially if you on a budget. I took his idea and tweaked it to make it my own. This is truly a comfort food dish! I have also used this with pork chops. Putting the meat in a brine does add flavor and makes the meat more tender but, it is not a necessary step. If you don't have time, don't worry about it!


Ingredients for the brine
****6 apple juice
½ cup salt
½ cup brown sugar
1 onion, peeled and quartered
10 black peppercorns
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 bay leaves
1 Tablespoon dried Thyme
**** This Christmas I had apple cider left over from my holiday mimosas so I used that instead of regular apple juice. It added a lot richer flavor.
Bring all ingredients to a simmer until sugar has dissolved. Cool completely. Submerge tenderloin in a large bowl or pot. Place a plate on tenderloin to make sure it says under the brine. Plastic wrap the bowl and let stand in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.


Ingredients for glaze
¼ cup Dijon
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
¼ cup molasses
salt and freshly ground black pepper


whisk together ingredients in a small bowl


Ingredients for pork
1 Pork tenderloin
Salt and ground black pepper
1 small onion finely chopped
2 cups good Bourbon
5 cups chicken stock
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Season the pork liberally on both sides with salt and pepper; you want to make a good crust cook on both sides until golden brown, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer the pork to a baking sheet, brush with some of the glaze and finish cooking in the oven until cooked to an internal temperature of 150 degrees on a meat thermometer, about 25-30 minutes, brushing with the glaze every 10 minutes. I glaze a second time with about 5 minutes to go. Remove from the oven, let rest loosely tented with foil for 10 minutes.
3. Add the onion to the pan that the pork was browned in and cook until soft. Add the bourbon, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and cook until almost completely reduced. Add the chicken broth and brown sugar and bring to a boil and cook until reduced to a sauce consistency. Stir in the butter, season with salt and pepper.

Remoulade Sauce

Traditional Remoulade Sauce is made with a few ingredients that are sometimes hard to come by. This is a fast and simple recipe. If you want a little more brine flavor, add in a few chopped green olives.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

4 tablespoons  grainy mustard

1/4 yellow onion, grated

2 celery ribs, very finely minced

**1 rounded tablespoon prepared horseradish

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco

1 teaspoon paprika

A handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

*** The more horseradish, the spicier it gets!!!

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Chill and Serve.

Simple Tartar Sauce

This is a pretty traditional tartar sauce. It is great with pretty much any type of fish. The type of relish comes down to your personal preference. I use my mother's dill pickles. They are the best pickle's that I have ever tasted and I'm not just saying that because she's my mother!! They are dill with a hint of spice. It adds an extra element to this sauce. Choose which you like.

Ingredients
1 cup of mayonnaise
2 tbsp of lemon juice

1 tbsp of sweet pickle or dill relish

1 tbsp of minced onion

salt and pepper to season

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Chill and serve.

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

I had some puff pastry left over from another recipe and was trying to figure out what to do with it. Instead of the traditional biscuit topping for chicken pot pie, I used the pastry. The puff pastry is flaky and crunchy and adds a great texture to this creamy pot pie.


Ingredients
1 package puff pastry
1 can 98% fat free mushroom soup
1 can 98% fat free chicken soup
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water
2 cans diced chicken breast
1 can mixed vegetables
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 egg


Pre-heat oven to 425. Set puff pastry out to thaw. In a medium saucepan, combine both soups and stock on low heat. Make a slurry with the cornstarch. To do this, combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl until it looks like a "slurry." Slowly pour into soup mixture. Cook for about 3-5 minutes until just heated through. In a medium bowl combine chicken, vegetables, corn and pepper. Stir in soup mixture. You can either pour mixture into individual ramekins or a 11 X 7 Baking Dish. If using the baking dish, only use one sheet of puff pastry. If using ramekins, cut sheets into 4 even squares. Pour mixture into dish. Lay puff pastry on the mixture making sure it lays over the edges of the dish. Make an egg wash by scrambling egg with a splash of water. Brush pastry with egg wash. Cut slits in the pastry to vent. Bake for about 15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

Garlic and Herb Tuna Croquettes

I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the new flavored tunas that they have started to sell! I have used many of the flavors in different dishes. My mom used to always make salmon croquettes when I was growing up so I decided to use these flavored tunas to do a twist on the traditional croquette.  This is a cheap and healthy (if baked) dish to make.


Ingredients
2 Packages of Garlic and Herb Tuna
1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper.
1 green onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. grated onion
1 egg lightly beaten with a Tablespoon of milk (2%)


Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Form into 4 equal sized patties. Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes.


**** If your going to fry them. Add 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 cup flour. You can make them larger patties like above or roll into golf sized balls and fry. Heat oil. When a sprinkle of flour in the oil bubbles. Oil is ready to fry. Fry until golden brown.

Traditionally, croquettes are served with white sauce. My mom always served them with tartar sauce. I like using either a tartar or remoulade sauce. Look for those under sauces.