Coffee-Chili Pork Tenderloin Recipe

Last night's dinner was a new one and quite delicious. While the dogs (Beaner and New Yeller) had scrumptious bowls of dry kibble, Ganny and I enjoyed a savory and spicy pork tenderloin with mashed sweet potato and asparagus. She seemed to think it was a bit too spicy. Last night I disagreed but upon further reflection I think less heat would have made the coffee and other spices more notable. Regardless it was very tasty.

As is our habit lately, Ganny paired her meal with a really bad wine. It had an intense alcohol odor and a flavor reminiscent of Easter egg dye. These are not the official tasting notes from the winery by the way. We think we bought this wine for about six bucks hoping that it might be drinkable. It is important to remember that sometimes you really can judge a wine by its price. Recommendation: hide this wine in the yard with the rest of the Easter eggs then don't look for it.

Coffee-Chili Pork Tenderloin

Serves 4
1 T canola oil
1 1/2 t finely ground espresso powder
1 1/2 t ground chile powder, such as ancho or cascabel
1/2 t dark brown sugar
1/4 t dry mustard
1/4 t ground coriander
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t kosher salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1 pork tenderloin, about 1 1/4 lbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat a cast iron skillet with the canola oil, and bring to medium-high heat.
Rub pork with dry spice mixture Let sit for a few minutes.

Place tenderloin in pan. Sear for about 3-4 minutes, and turn over. Sear again for 3-4 minutes. Continue to sear all over, and once you have made your final “flip” of the tenderloin, place skillet in oven on middle rack. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the center reads 150 degrees. (remember, the meat will still continue to cook for a few minutes after being removed from the oven) Tent with foil and allow to rest for 8-10 minutes, and then slice.

Restaurant Review - El Vaquero

We have a love/hate relationship with Vaquero's. The food is absolutely atrocious but the margaritas are sooo good. And then there's the crack cheese. First, it's called crack cheese because it's so good and every bit as addictive as crack. Second, this observation is consistent with the first because we're quite certain it contains no actual food (more on that below).

The service is almost on par with the food quality at Vaquero's. I've frequently pondered just how long one should wait at a bar without service before it becomes acceptable to just make your own margaritas. I mean really. All the bartender (a mythical creature at Vaquero's) does is open the spout of the machine and pour it into the glass. What I don't understand is how the food, service, music, decor, and ambiance can be so mind-numbingly awful while the margaritas are sooo good. Usually if a restaurant does most things badly you can count on everything being bad. But their margaritas are the best I've had on 4 continents. I know, I know. All the other continents are (sadly) margarita wastelands. But these are truly worth the flight from Australia or Mexico City or wherever.

The food however is well below the standards of what I'd feed to my dog. Seriously, I feed New Yeller only the finest "human grade" dog food. I don't think "human grade" has ever graced one of the cases of horse meat that Vaquero's brings in through the back door. We've occasionally ordered fajitas with the philosophy that it's really hard to screw those up. Somehow they manage. Through trial and error we have learned that the only acceptable "food" order is crack cheese.

Crack cheese is crazy delicious. We're talking Mr. Pibb + Red Vines delicious. We order it every time we visit Vaquero's but, for the aforementioned reasons, we'd really rather not go there. I feel that I have perfected the art of the margarita at home and we certainly have better decor, ambiance and food. However, that freakin' crack cheese would summon us. So we had to learn how to make it.

We tried every white Mexican cheese we could find to no avail. Then, on a whim, I asked my [Redacted name of major commercial food distributor] rep if he knows what they buy. Turns out, we have the same supplier. So I learned the super secret ingredient is Land O Lakes Extra Melt Process American Cheese Loaf.

Yeah. It's as sexy as it sounds. Regardless, it's unbelievably good. So Here's the recipe for crack cheese:

50% Land O Lakes Extra Melt Process blah blah blah
25% sour cream
25% half and half

In order to make it spicy, purée jalapenos ( 2 per lb of cheese) and heat them with the half n half for a few minutes on low, then add the rest over a double boiler.

So there you have it; no need to ever visit Vaquero's again. Although we still go quite a bit. If you've ever been shopping on a Saturday afternoon you understand the need to stop for a margarita.

So as much as we hate it, we'll still stop by Vaquero's for drinks and crack cheese.

Chicken Under a Brick Recipe

Ganny is smitten with Mark Bittnam's blog at the New York Times. Evidently he's retiring the blog and has posted his 25 favorite recipes. So we're planning to cook all of them (at least the ones that sound interesting). Last night was Chicken Under a Brick. It turns out the chicken was under two bricks as well as a cast iron skillet, but who's counting.

She had already prepped and marinated the chicken earlier in the day and there was very little for the prep cook to do. So I drank beer and watched. I'm practicing for when we're married. By the time we sat to eat I had moved on to gin & tonic (see picture) and Ganny decided to finish off the Root : 1 Sauvignon Blanc from the night before. Thankfully that's gone now.

The chicken was juicy and wonderful with a nice crisp skin.


CHICKEN UNDER A BRICK

Time: 45 minutes, plus optional marinating time

1 whole 3- to 4-pound chicken, trimmed of excess fat, rinsed, dried and split, backbone removed
1 tablespoon fresh minced rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon peeled and coarsely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, optional
1 lemon, cut into quarters.

1. Place the chicken on a cutting board, skin side down, and using your hands, press down hard to make it as flat as possible. Mix together the rosemary leaves, salt, pepper, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and rub this all over the chicken. Tuck some of the mixture under the skin as well. If time permits, cover and marinate in the refrigerator for up to a day (even 20 minutes of marinating boosts the flavor).

2. When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Preheat an ovenproof 12-inch skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Press rosemary sprigs, if using, into the skin side of the chicken. Put remaining olive oil in the pan and wait about 30 seconds for it to heat up.

3. Place the chicken in the skillet, skin side down, along with any remaining pieces of rosemary and garlic; weight it with another skillet or with one or two bricks or rocks, wrapped in aluminum foil. The idea is to flatten the chicken by applying weight evenly over its surface.

4. Cook over medium-high to high heat for 5 minutes, then transfer to the oven. Roast for 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven and remove the weights; turn the chicken over (it will now be skin side up) and roast 10 minutes more, or until done (large chickens may take an additional 5 minutes or so). Serve hot or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.

Yield: 4 servings.

Recipe source : New York Times

And the dogs gave rave reviews to their bowls of dry kibble.

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN RECIPE

This was last night's dinner and it was hands down the best General Tso's Chicken I've ever tasted. It was so good in fact that Ganny and I decided to create a food blog to tell the world about it. We started with the idea of making some sort of Asian stir-fry with a spicy and sweet sauce. I wanted soy, chili, garlic, vinegar, sugar, etc. Soon this became General Tso's. We accompanied this with fried rice and stir-fried vegetables (red bell pepper, red onion, carrot, green onion, and mango).

As usual I played the role of prep cook and chopped all the vegetables. I paired this activity with several bottles of Labatt Blue. Ganny, in her accustomed role as chef de cuisine, paired her meal prep with Naveran Cava Brut Rose.

When we finally sat down to dinner we decided to open a bottle of Root : 1 Sauvignon Blanc. This turned out to be a mistake. Ganny pointed out that it tastes just like when you break into a nursery school and sneak into the changing room and lick a baby's butt. At least that was my interpretation of her tasting notes. I believe what she actually said was "it tastes like the toiletry aisle at Target...it tastes like baby powder." At which point all I could taste was baby butt. Ruined. Clearly the best approach with this wine is to use it to Christen your new skiff at the yacht club then have a martini.

After dinner we went straight for the standard cocktails, gin & tonic for yours truly and vodka & soda for the lady.

Meanwhile, the dogs enthusiastically enjoyed dry kibble.

The recipe:


GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN
Serves 3, with extra sauce for vegetable stir fry

Ingredients for the sauce:
1 tomato paste
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons lite soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons dry sherry
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup pepper jelly
¼ cup chicken stock or water
1
tablespoon chili garlic sauce
3 bird chilis or 1 jalapeno or serrano, thin sliced

Ingredients for the chicken:

1 chicken breast (about 12 oz)
2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 teaspoons peanut oil
peanut oil for frying
2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger

2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons sesame oil

4 dried red chilies
Scallions and toasted sesame seeds sliced thinly, for garnish.

Procedure:
1. Make the sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, and set aside.

2. Make the chicken: Dice the breast and place in a large bowl. Add the soy sauces
and egg yolk; mix well. Stir in the cornstarch and 2 teaspoons peanut oil; let sit for at
least 15 minutes

3. Fry chicken in deep fryer at 375 degrees.

4. Place wok over high heat. Add peanut oil. When hot, add chile peppers and stir-
fry for a few seconds, until they just begin to change color. Add the ginger and garlic;
stir-fry for a few seconds longer, until fragrant. Add the sauce, stirring as it thickens.

Return chicken to wok, and stir vigorously to coat. Remove from heat; stir in the
sesame oil, and top with scallions and seeds