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What’s Cookin’ in the Country?

RefreshHer

When Pork Loins went on sale for $1.99 a pound at Kroger recently, I snagged one to put in my freezer for Sunday dinner and company!  There are several great things about serving a Pork Loin on Sunday after church – 

  1. They’re delicious!
  2. You can cook it on Saturday and just warm it up when you get home and it still tastes great!
  3. It makes a savory gravy to serve on the meat and with potatoes
Because this cut of meat doesn’t take long to cook, I prefer to cook it on Saturday so it doesn’t dry out.  The one I cooked was just under five pounds, so it took only an hour and a half at 350 degrees.  I sliced it and put it on the platter, so all I had to to on Sunday was warm it up.

I found a new recipe that we LOVED.  This is a marinade for the meat, which I did on Friday night.  It’s Dijon Mustard with pepper and Tarragon.  I don’t know why this makes it so delicious, I only know that it does!  

Here’s a little peek at the “line up” of my menu last Sunday!

Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Cranberry Sauce
Hot Crash Potatoes
Green Beans
Apple/ Green Salad
Butter Dips
Apple Pie or  Brownies

Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients

Pork:
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sauce:
1 1/2 cups whole-berry cranberry sauce
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation

To prepare pork, combine first 3 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add pork; seal and marinate in refrigerator 8 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Preheat oven to 400°. (I did it at 350)

Remove pork from bag, discarding marinade.

Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Place pan in oven; ( I covered it with foil) cook at 400° (350)  until thermometer registers 155°. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Cut pork into 1/4-inch slices; keep warm.

To prepare sauce, combine cranberry sauce and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Serve sauce with pork.

The Cranberry Sauce was wonderful with the meat! 

The pan juices looked like chocolate and tasted even better when I made a gravy using it!  Yummy!

Let me give yo another tip I learned from my sweet friend, Sue.  Warm your platters and bowls before putting the food into them.  It will keep the food warm longer.  I recently learned that my microwave has a plate warming setting!  I just put the dishes in there for a couple minutes and it’s perfectly warm to receive the hot food!

Does your microwave have a plate warmer?  Mine was on the “Reheat” setting.  I hit “reheat” then 6.  Voila!  

With love from my country kitchen,

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Published by RefreshHer

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