I love Pork Tenderloin. Over here it is called Pork Fillet and it is the most tender cut of pork.  It is probably the porcine equivalent of a filet mignon . . .  except it is a lot cheaper of course! 

 

I remember reading in Edna Staebler's cookbook entitled" Food that Schmecks" years ago, how her mother would send her tender slices of rolled, stuffed and roasted pork tenderloin in care packages when she was at University, and how very much they were enjoyed by herself and her room-mates.  

 

She made it sound at once exotic and very delicious! It was not something that we ever had in my home when I was growing up.  I was an adult before I ever had the opportunity to try it, and I fell in love with it at first bite. It is truly my favourite cut of pork.

 

Pork tenderloin might share a few similarities to Pork Loin, but don't be confusing the two cuts of meat. They are not the same thing at all. 

 

Pork tenderloin is thin and small, while a pork loin is wide enough that you can cut steak-like pieces from it. They are not interchangeable in any way. Pork tenderloin is best quickly cooked over fairly high heat, while pork loin lends itself well to slow-roasting or grilling methods. 

 

Pork Loin comes from the meatier back of the animal, whilst Pork Tenderloin is the small muscle that runs just along the spine. 

 

 Overcook either one and you will be ruining a tasty piece of meat.  I do confess that of the two the fillet/or tenderloin is my favourite.  Cooked properly it is always tender and succulent.

 

There is an area of sinew or silverskin that runs along the top of it, which should be removed prior  to cooking it.  Its a relatively easy process when you use a very sharp knife.   

 

You can watch a very good video on how to do just that here.

 

Its really not that hard and if you don't remove it, your meat will buckle.  This way of preparing it that I am sharing with you today makes for a perfect entree for a celebratory dinner or dinner party.  

 

Its very easy to do, with excellent, very tasty results.

  

The trimmed piece of meat is quite simply brushed with Dijon mustard and then with an herb/garlic mixture, prior to roasting it in the oven.

 

 From start to finish it will take about half an hour upon which time you will be rewarded with tender, juicy and flavourful perfectly cooked Pork!

 

  

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Line a baking tray with foil.  Place the trimmed pork onto the baking tray and, using a pastry brush, brush it all over with the Dijon mustard.  Whisk together the olive oil, garlic, herbs, salt and black pepper. Brush the pork over the top and sides with this mixture. 

 

It is beautiful served cut into thick slices along side your favourite sides and vegetables.  You've probably heard the saying "Eat a Rainbow!"  And that is just what we did with roasted sweet potato, and steamed carrots, Brussels sprouts and beetroot.  I added a small baked potato to Todd's.  Todd declared this fabulously delicious. High compliment from him indeed.  This would make a great entree for Valentines dinner. (And for several reasons)  Its quick. Its easy. Its delicious!  Bon Appetit! 

 

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again! 

 

One thing I have always been rather fond of when we eat out at a fast food place are the chicken fingers/strips.  

At McDonalds you can get the with your choice of dips.  I always choose the sweet chili and the sour cream and then I double dip.  They are so delicious, but not very healthy I'll admit.

 

Neither are the chips that come along with them.  The recipe I am showing you today is a much healthier option! 

And, I believe, every bit as tasty, if not tastier! You won't even miss the dips!

 

Everything is baked instead of fried, and so you are virtually free to enjoy them without a lot of guilt!  

The chicken is marinated in buttermilk for several hours which helps to keep the meat moist and tender!!

 

After marinating they are rolled in nicely spiced cornflake crumbs to coat and then sprayed with a bit of cooking spray prior to baking which really crisps up the coating nicely!

 

The sweet potato fries are shaken in a bag with a bit of oil and spice . . .  and yes, baked along side of the chicken strips.  

I won't lie to you and say they are as crispy good as the deep fried ones, because in all honesty they are not, but they are still plenty tasty anyways, with lots of nicely spiced flavour from the use of onion and garlic powders and paprika. 

Once they are marinated coated, etc. the whole duo cooks relatively quickly in about 15 minutes.  Win/win I'd say!!!

 

 

Place the chicken tenders and buttermilk into a shallow bowl large enough to hold them.  Turn to coat in the buttermilk then cover and chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 8 hours, giving them a turn every now and then.

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7.  Line a large baking tray with aluminium foil.  Spray lightly with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Cut the sweet potato, lengthwise into chips. Peel or not as desired. (If keeping the peel, scrub really well.) Place them into a bowl and toss together with the olive oil, the 1/4 tsp garlic powder, salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper to coat evenly. Spread out onto the baking tray in an even layer, leaving space for the chicken.

Crush the cornflakes in a food processor or in a bag with a rolling pin.  Place them into a large plastic bag.  Add the remaining garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and black pepper.  Shake to combine. Add the chicken tenders, one at a time, and shake them in the bag to coat with the cornflake mixture generously, Place them on the baking sheet next to the sweet potatoes. Spray th chicken pieces with coking spray.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, golden brown and no longer pink inside, and the fries are browned. (Turn the fries halfway through the cooking.)  Divide between four plates and serve immediately.

 

 

The Toddster loves a good dunker.  What is a dunker you ask?  Its quite simply a biscuit that you want to dunk into your tea or your coffee. (In our case herbal tea. Today it was Taylors of Harrogate Apple Spice.) Its a biscuit that is crisp and buttery . . . and filled with flavour.  Flavour that is perhaps even enhanced by dunking it into a hot liquid!

 

He also loves a good ginger biscuit.  These delicious ginger biscuits tick all of his boxes on both scores!  They are crisp and dunkable and very flavourful!

 

They filled with warm ginger flavour . . .  both from the lavish use of ground ginger in the batter (along with mixed spice) and finely chopped preserved stem ginger.

 

For those of you not familiar with preserved stem ginger, it is round nuggets (about the size of a whole walnut) of young fresh gingerroot, which has been peeled, shaped into balls and then cooked and preserved in a sugar syrup.  You can buy bottles of it.  I am not sure where you will find it in a North American Grocery shop, but over here it is with the baking ingredients. 

This is what it looks like and it is a really delicious ingredient to have in your store cupboard.  It will keep in the refrigerator for ages.  You can also very easily make your own. I have a recipe here to do just that.

 

Whether you make your own or purchase it, you will never regret having a jar of it in the house. It comes in very handy for all sorts.

 

These biscuits are nice and crisp . . .  partially due to the inclusion of golden syrup, which is another truly British ingredient, but you may use golden corn syrup if you are unable to get it. I think it is available in the US however via Amazon and a few other shops.  Another ingredient which you won't regret having in your store cupboard!

 

In any case, these biscuits (a british term for cookies) are truly delicious.   The smell alone when they are baking is amazing, truly amazing.

 

Oh, it also uses mixed spice for which I have a simple recipe that enables you to make your own. (This is also a very British ingredient) or you can use apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice which are very similar.  It is a mix of warm baking spices, what will also come in very handy should you choose to make your own.

 

 

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 6.  Line several large baking trays with baking paper.  Set aside. 

Place the syrup, butter, and brown sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently over low heat to melt the butter and sugar together with the syrup, stirring constantly.  Whisk in the milk and set aside.  Sift the flour into a bowl with the soda, ginger and mixed spice.  Stir in the wet ingredients until thorougly combined.  Stir in the stem ginger. 

Shape into walnut sized balls and place at least 2 inch apart on the baking sheets.  Using a damp fork, press down to 1/2 inch thickness. 

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the heated oven, rotating the pans halfway through.  Scoop off onto wire rack to cool completely.
 

Store in an airtight container. 

 

Every time I bake them I ask myself why I don't bake them more often.  The answer is simple . . .  because they are sooooooo delicious, I find myself unable to leave them alone.  Yes, I am one very naughty puddy tat! Now lets put the kettle on! 

 

Its been a very long time since I shared treats for Mitzie on here.  

I did a post on making your own dog food not too long after she was born, but I haven't done anything since, and I'm not sure why.  

As a very important member of our family, she certainly demand equal time and attention!

 

I've always said I wouldn't feed her anything I wouldn 't eat myself, and thats not really true.  

You will never catch me munching on her low fat dry food, nor the low fat wet that she gets a tiny taste of every day!  But these, I would eat.  In fact Todd tasted them and thought they were really tasty!

 

There isn't really anything unusual in them . . .  flour, egg, sharp cheddar cheese, oil, water. 

 

The original recipe called for garlic, but I have always understood that garlic and onion were poisonous to dogs, and so I did not include it.

 

They end up being rather like a thick, crisp, crunchy cracker!  I used my bone cutter to cut them out, and they turned out quite cute I thought.  

But you can use whatever shape you like. Little bears would also be cute!

 

I cut the recipe in half as I wasn't sure if she would like them, but next time I will cook the full recipe, because she is rather fond of them, and they will keep quite a while.  

I am pretty sure you could also freeze them for longer storage.

 

I got about 23 from half the recipe and my cutter is about 3 inches in length.

 

They certainly smelled really good while they were baking!

 

Mitzie loves cheese and whenever I am using it in the Kitchen, she hangs about waiting and hoping I will drop some, and yes, I confess  . . . I do always give her a tiny tidbit for a treat!

 

Today her patience was well rewarded!  She was very happy with this and could not wait to tuck in.  It was hard to take a photo of her eating it, as she was a big happy, tail wagging blur, crunching away on her treat!

 

 

Place the flour, cheese and vegetable oil into a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse 5 or 6 times. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

Pulse again until the mixture resembled coarse meal. Beat together the water and eggs.  Turn the motor on and drizzle this mixture into the food processor through the feeder tube  only adding the wet ingredients until the dough becomes a ball.  

Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead a few times.  Divide into two manageable balls.

 

Now that's one very happy camper!  When she's happy, I'm happy!  Have a great weekend! 

 

 

This is something I actually made last week and am just now getting around to showing you!  Meat Loaf Subs!  I will guarantee this is a sandwich your family will love! 

If you are a fan of meatloaf then you are sure to love these quick, easy and incredibly delicious open face sandwiches!

 

A simple meatloaf mixture is spread onto toasted submarine bun halves. They are then glazed with a traditional meatloaf glaze before being baked in the oven until golden brown and nicely glazed.

 

With a final smattering of cheese scattered over top to melt, these always go down a real treat!

 

The meatloaf mixture is really simple.  I use cornflake crumbs.  But you can use bread crumbs or oats, etc.

 

I blitz the milk, onion, egg and seasonings in my mini food processor until smooth, and then mix it into extra lean ground beef.

 

I don't like a lot of chunks in my meatloaf.  I never have.  I think it is a texture thing.  At any rate, it works well for this because you don't really want chunks in this.  

 

You could add a stick of celery or a piece of green pepper as well if you wanted to.  I usually do to my regular meat loaf.

 

If you really wanted to be decadent you could also add some sliced partially cooked streaky bacon to the top after you brush them with the glaze.  

 

I think one slice for each, cut in half crosswise, would work beautifully.

 

I like to serve them with oven chips and some coleslaw on the side.  You would almost think you were chowing down at your favourite dinner with food like this!  

 

All that's missing is the milkshake!  Easy enough to rectify!

 

  

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7.  Cut your buns and place them cut side up onto a baking sheet.  Toast in the oven for about 5 minutes until golden brown. 

Blitz the cornflakes until they are crumbs in a small blender.  Pour into a bowl.  Put the onion, milk, 4 TBS of the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, seasoning salt, pepper, garlic powder and egg into the food processor and blitz until smooth.  Pour into the bowl with the cornflake crumbs and mix together.  Crumble in the beef and mix well together.  Divide the mixture between the buns, spreading it out with a fork to cover all of the surface, right to the edges to an even thickness.  

Mix together the remaining ketchup, brown sugar and dry mustard.  Brush some of this on top of the meat mixture on each roll.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until cooked through.  divide the cheese between the buns and return to the oven to melt.  Serve hot.

 

When I lived in Canada we probably went to eat at the local diner once every couple of weeks.  My ex would get the club sandwich and I would get the hot turkey sandwich.  Always a real treat, and always served with fries and coleslaw.  Good food at an affordable price. 

 

 There used to be a diner in the Grosvenor Arcade in Chester but they charged abuot £10 for a hotdog! (without the drink)  That is the equivalent of $14 American. For a hotdog.  I can get one of those at Costco for less than £2 and it comes with a drink.  In any case, why eat out when you can get tasty diner food at home!  Bon weekend! 

 

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!