Good Morning, Everyone! Once again, we are a day late with this post, and I'm really sorry about it! I'll admit, we made it a Culinary Monday instead this week, but I promise we will be back to a normal schedule going forward. This week was kind of a "what the heck are we going to make?" week. There was no solid plan, a pork tenderloin in the freezer, and a bunch of stockpiled recipes that we just kind of "eenie, meenie, minie, mo"-d through. Once we found our recipe, though, we built around it, and ended up having a spectacular meal that we did not see coming!
Cocktail - Eau de Vie Cocktail
Eau de vie is a clear pear brandy that was used in the main entree, so we figured we throw it into a cocktail. Mix the brandy with a little vodka (of course... by the way, welcome back Russian followers! I see we're back to our usual hits from your fabulous country!), add some freshly blended pear puree and a little lemon juice. Voila! Super easy, super delicious, and beautifully refreshing!
Appetizer - Baked Brie with Caramelized Pears, Shallots and Thyme
Stop the presses! This was amazing. Oozy-melty brie with rich caramelized pears and shallots topped with slivered almonds? Spread over apples, pears, and chunks of sourdough bread? It took us about 10 minutes before we completely went glutenous and started ripping apart the bread bowl. Divine. Side note for party presentation... if you're serving this at a brunch, it may be cleaner to make more of a crostini out of it instead of having people getting a little dirty trying to scoop out the melted cheese. OR, if serving at a seated meal, maybe get those little individual ciabbata rolls you can find at the grocery store and then make individual portioned ones for people! Loving this idea. And if you think we didn't completely scarf this down... here's the after pic:
Appetizer Wine - 2009 Wehrheim Niersteiner Oelberg Riesling
This crisp and dry German Riesling had delightful freshness and mineral notes to it. There were tastes of white fruits, slate, and grass and it was perfectly refreshing against the rich cheese appetizer.
Entree - Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Pears and Pear-Brandy Cream Sauce
Make. This. Now. This was amazing! What a fabulous use of a pork tenderloin! We even simplified it by simply grilling the tenderloin whole, slicing into medallions, and then just lying over the pears and dousing with sauce. The sauce is nothing short of spectacular. You will be using your fingers to mop up the leftovers. Absolutely incredible.
Side Dish - Roasted Asparagus with Bacon and Goat Cheese
The perfect side dish for any meal! First off, you can make this a little in advance and just let it sit at room temperature, which means its easy. Secondly, the goat cheese kind of melts into the hot asparagus, so when you bite into it, it has a nice creaminess to it, followed by the crisp bacon and then the savory asparagus. Fabulous!
Side Dish - Couscous Cakes
Obviously we changed this up slightly. We subbed fresh parsley for the cilantro, and left out the mango chutney sauce for the pear brandy sauce. Lovely side dish! They absorbed the flavor of the sauce but had a nice flavor of their own. It was the perfect way to add to the meal without taking away from the simplicity of it!
Final Plate
Entree Wine - 2007 Mario Pelassa Nebbiolo d'Alba Sot
Delicious! Dry and smooth with flavors of light berries and hints of vanilla, lemon, and even cocoa. This red was balanced and delicate, and everyone tasted something different on the palate, but it matched the meal perfectly and was fabulous to finish drinking afterwards. (And yes, we got it from Harry's! Thanks, Patrick!)
Dessert - Harvest Pear Crisp with Candied Ginger
Okay, in theory this was fabulous. The pears were cooked wonderfully and the taste was spot on. The candied ginger brought a sweet heat to the topping that was pleasantly surprising. However, the topping was way too dry. You're going to need to add a bit more butter, and definitely want to top with some ice cream or whipped cream. With those adjustments... a lovely dessert!
So there you go! A Monday night meal done with a Culinary Sunday kick. Who knew a little pork tenderloin could make such a fabulous dinner! We'll see you next week (normal day and time) for our attempt to cook Julia Child's most popular meal!
Next Week - A Julia Child Classic
No comments:
Post a Comment