With there only being two of us, more often than not these days I only cook for two.
I had a piece of Pork Tenderloin in the freezer that I wanted to take out to make room for something else and so I roasted it up for us the other night.
We only ever very rarely eat red meat, so this was a nice treat.
I love sheet pan dinners. They are quick and easy to throw together.
Everything just gets seasoned and thrown onto a baking sheet.
In this case I used quartered new potatoes (they were medium sized) and half a bag of frozen yellow beans, the four serving sized bag.
I tossed both the potatoes with some seasonings and a bit of olive oil.
That helps the potatoes to crisp up when they are roasting and the beans do benefit from it as well.
You can season your meat with just about anything. Back when my children were growing up I used to make a fabulous pork tenderloin casserole that involved fried bacon and onions, cubed squares of pork, breaded with cracker crumbs and browned in the bacon fat,
This was all thrown together and baked in a slow oven in some fruit juice. I used apple or orange, just whatever I had. It was so tender and delicious. My family loved it.
Today I used Oriental flavours. I created a rub using Chinese five spice powder, brown sugar and some other bits.
I love Oriental flavors, don't you??
I cut the piece of pork in half and rubbed it all over with the rub and placed it on top of the beans on the baking sheet, leaving some space in between each piece of meat for the air to circulate.
I brushed them generously with hoisin sauce and then popped the baking tray into the oven.
The oven is at a high temperature, so it cooks really fast. It almost sears in the heat and retains a lot of the moisture. I basted it every so often with more hoisin sauce.
The moisture evaporating from the frozen beans helps to keep it tender and moist also, which kind of works both ways because the pork also helps to flavour the beans!
The potatoes get nice and crisp because they are open to the air at both ends of the pan. Golden, crisp . . . yummy!
You will have just enough time to throw together a nice salad to serve along side of this fabulously tasty meal while it cooks.
The internal temperature of the pork will be between 63*C - 70*C (145*F - 160*F). I prefer it on the lower end of the scale. Just stick a thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. If it needs a bit longer, then just bang it back in for a few more minutes.
I suppose if you wanted to feed more people, you could just double everything and cook it on two baking sheets. I guarantee your partner and your family are going to love this deliciously simple meal!
Yield: Serves 2 Generously
Sheet Pan Hoisin Pork Tenderloin for Two
Deliciously tender, perfectly cooked pork tenderloin, beautifully flavoured with oriental flavours and baked on a bed of string beans and roasted new potatoes. No fuss no muss, and if you line your baking sheet with foil, no washing up either!
ingredients:
For the pork:
- 1 (1 pound) pork tenderloin fillet, trimmed of any fat and sinew
- 1 TBS soft light brown sugar
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
- 60g hoisin sauce (1/4 cup)
For the beans:
- 1/2 four serving size bag of frozen whole string beans (I used yellow beans)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
For the potatoes:
- 3/4 pound of new potatoes, halved, quarter if larger
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
instructions:
How to cook Sheet Pan Hoisin Pork Tenderloin for Two
- Preheat the oven to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark7. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and spritz lightly with low fat cooking spray.
- Wash and quarter your potatoes. Pat dry and toss together in a bowl with the oil and all of the seasonings, turning to coat well. Divide between both sides of the baking sheet, placing half on each side.
- Toss your frozen beans together with the oil and seasonings in the same bowl and place into the centre of the baking sheet.
- Mix together the brown sugar, five spice powder, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Take the trimmed tenderloin and cut it in half through the centre crosswise. Rub the pieces all over with the dry sugar mixture and place them on top of the beans.
- Roast in the oven, brushing generously with the hoisin sauce every 10 minutes, for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the pork tests done and the potatoes are crisp and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven. Let the meat rest for several minutes before cutting into slices to serve. Serve the sliced meat with a portion each of beans and potatoes. A salad on the side goes very nicely!
I've been trying to eat healthier and doing a lower carb style of eating lately. This was actually cooked prior to beginning that. I've been trying to think of what I could do instead of the brown sugar and the hoisin sauce . . .
You could use some Sukrin Gold brown sugar replacement, and I am not sure how much sugar there is in Hoisin sauce I found a recipe for a low carb Hoisin Sauce here. I haven't tried it, so I can't say if it is any good or not.
I like Hoisin Sauce, so I am sure I will give it a go at some point. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this fabulous supper for two!
I think we are just about to the end of our strawberries now. Wimbledon is on. Strawberries and Wimbledon, the two go together like Peas & Carrots.
I have frozen some and made a chilled pie, and then yesterday I baked my husband an old fashioned Strawberry Pie.
This is the kind of Strawberry Pie your grandmother would have made! She didn't have anything fancy back in her day. Just simple ingredients done really well.
I favour my Butter & Lard Pastry Recipe, which you can find here. It makes two beautifully perfectly flaky crusts.
You could add a bit of sugar to the recipe because this is a sweet pie, but its not really necessary as you sprinkle sugar on top of the pie prior to baking.
The berries are simply washed, hulled and sliced. Don't ever wash them after hulling. You should always wash them ahead of that.
The water gets into the berry otherwise. Just a handy little tip. You don't want watery berries. Especially if you are going to pop them into a crust.
You just slice the berries into a bowl and mix them together with cornflour/cornstarch (for thickening) and sugar.
I use all white, but you could use a mix of white and brown if you wanted to.
My one difference from Grandmother's pie is the use of ground cinnamon and cardamom. The cinnamon she would certainly have had, but I seriously doubt she would have had cardamom.
Cardamom almost has a peppery lemon quality, and this goes very well with Strawberries.
There is some fresh lemon juice in with the berries also. This helps them to keep their lovely colour. Grandmother knew best.
You let them sit and macerate for a few minutes. You will be surprised at how much liquid they release. It will be necessary to lift them out of that.
You don't want to be pouring it into your crust, not unless you want a watery, soggy pie . . . the berries get spooned into the pie, and dotted with butter. I use a slotted spoon and they are just wet enough.
Sometimes I get a bit fanciful with the crust and cut out little hearts or circles on top . . . its easy to see when the juices are bubbling and done and it looks so pretty. A brushing of milk and a sprinkle of demerara sugar also dress it up just nice.
Once baked you need to let it sit for about 3 hours to let it set up and thicken nicely. Its easy to cut into wedges then . . .
I like to reheat them for about 30 seconds in the microwave and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Of course in Grandmother's day that would have been home-churned ice cream, and I am thinking it would be oh so delicious.
My taste buds are tingling just at the thought of it.
It makes me think of the Walton's . . . sitting on their front porch on a hot summer's evening, Olivia and Grandma slowly swinging back and forth on the porch swing. "Go get the ice cream churn Zeb!"
Grandma would say. "Its hot enough out here right now to singe the feathers off a chicken! We could use some cooling down, and I do believe we are in the mood for a treat."
"It would go mighty good with that pie Olivia baked this afternoon." announces Zeb as he hops up and heads towards the barn to get the ice cream churn.
All the children squeal in delight, as John senior quickly hikes down to the ice house to grab him some ice for use the churn. "Get out the rock salt John Boy!" he shouts.
Cream is gathered, along with rich farm milk. Grandma always saves the cream after the cow has been milked. Most days they make butter with it. The girls gather together some precious sugar and a dash of vanilla . . . along with a few egg yolks from their laying hens.
All things in place the children all take their turns, rotating the handle on the old wooden churn . . . around and around and around . . . it makes a creaky noise . . .
Each turn becomes a little harder to make than the last . . . the ice cream getting stiffer and stiffer . . . until in the end it takes two of them just to make it move at all.
"I think its ready ma!" John Boy announces . . .
"Grab the plates and spoons Livvie! I do declare its time for pie!" Grandpa is licking his chops . . .
Yield: 8
Grandmother's Strawberry Pie
This is the pie our grandmothers would have baked. Quite simply delicious. Todd enjoyed a nice slice of this warm with some vanilla ice cream
ingredients:
- 865g fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced (6 cups)
- 50g cornflour (1/3 cup, cornstarch)
- 130g granulated sugar (2/3 cup)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 TBS lemon juice
- pinch salt
- butter to dot
- Pastry for a two crust pie
- milk to brush
- Demerara sugar to sprinkle on top
- vanilla ice cream to serve (optional)
instructions:
How to cook Grandmother's Strawberry Pie
- Make your pastry as per your recipe. (I like my Butter & Lard recipe.)
- Mix your berries in a bowl along with the cinnamon, cardamom, lemon juice, sugar, cornflour and salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil. Set aside.
- Roll out your bottom crust to fit into a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie dish, with a good overhang. Spoon the strawberry filling into the crust, leaving as much of the juices back in the bowl. If your mixture is too wet when you put it into the pie, it will make for a soggy pie. I scoop it out with a slotted spoon, and leave the juices behind as much as possible. Discard the juices. Dot the top of the pie with butter.
- Roll out the remaining pastry large enough to cover the pie with an overhang. Brush some milk on the edge of the bottom crust all around. Before placing the top crust on top you can use a small cookie cutter to cut out shapes. I used a heart cutter and it was quite pretty. Place the crust on top press together all around the edges and then trim off any excess. I used the tip of a teaspoon to crimp it a bit and make a pattern. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
- Place onto the baking tray and pop into the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 190*C/375*F and cook for a further 40 to 50 minutes, until golden brown and the filling is bubbling. (If your pie is browning too quickly, lightly cover with a sheet of aluminium foil, removing it for the last five minutes of bake time.
- Remove from the oven and let sit at room temperature for about 3 hours before eating. I like to leave mine overnight. Then I just warm slices up for 30 seconds in the microwave for anyone who wants it warm. Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Later on, after the children are all nestled in their beds . . . John and Olivia swing slowly back and forth on the swing, all alone now beneath the haloed moon . . . the only sound being that of the swing as it moves back and forth . . . and the singing of a few crickets beneath the porch, who are dancing by its silvery light.
"I do declare Livvie," says John, "that was one of the nicest pies you've baked in a while." "Uh huh," is her only reply as she snuggles closer into him.
Goodnight John Boy . . .
Our blackcurrants are coming fast and furious now. In all truth in about a week, they will be all done, and what's left on our bush will be left to the birds to enjoy. They don't mind one iota, and neither do I. Give nature back a bit of what it gifts you with is my motto.
I love to make fruit cordials in the summer with some of our soft fruits. I do freeze a lot, and I even freeze some of the cordials for the winter. If you pop them into an ice cube tray, you can just pop them out once frozen into a baggie and you have single servings of cordial to enjoy all winter long. You can't beat the taste of a homemade fruit cordial made with real fruit!
I have always loved the flavour of blackcurrants. Back home my favourite Halls cough drops were the Blackcurrant ones. Cordials are really easy to make. You just mix fruit, sugar, water . . .
Cook to extract the juice, and thicken it, then strain. This time I added a vanilla bean to infuse it with some delicious vanilla flavour. You can leave it out if you want, but I really like the special touch it adds to the finished cordial, both scent and taste . . .
You end up with a really thick strong fruity syrup, which makes a wonderfully refreshing drink when diluted!
When diluting I use a ration of one part cordial to 3 parts of whatever I am mixing it with. You can use sparkling water, regular water, fizzy lemonade, etc.
It makes a really refreshing and delicious drink poured over ice. I like it mixed with a fizzy drink like 7-up or Sprite . . .
You can spoon the syrup over ice cream if you wish . . .
Add it to vanilla ice cream and milk to make fruity milk shakes . . .
Its pretty wonderful no matter how you choose to enjoy it!
You can use just about any berry in the same quantities to make a cordial, or a mix of berries, always delicious!
Whenever I am making cordial I always think of Anne Shirley and her friend Diana getting drunk on Cordial that had fermented and turned alcoholic. Don't you just love the story of Anne of Green Gables?
Its one of my favourite stories. A simpler time with simple pleasures. Just like this simple homemade cordial . . .
Yield: 450ml or scant 2 cups
Black Currant & Vanilla Cordial
Sweet and fruity. Mix 1 part cordial with 3 parts water, sparkling water, sparkling lemonade, etc. for a deliciously refreshing summer drink. You can actually use any berry to make this, or a mix of berries.
ingredients:
- 300g Black currants or other berries (3 cups)
- 160g sugar (1/2 cup plus 5 TBS)
- 325 ml cold water (1 1/3 cups)
- 1 large vanilla pod, split and caviar scraped out
instructions:
How to cook Black Currant & Vanilla Cordial
- Pick over and clean your currants. Place into a saucepan. Add the vanilla pod and its caviar. Sprinkle the sugar over top. Pour in the water. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat. Mash the fruit as it cooks with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring occasionally over low heat until the fruit has cooked and the sugar is dissolved. It won't take long. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Strain again and then pour into a glass bottle or jar with a lid. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to one month or freeze for longer. (If freezing it is more practical to freeze in smaller amounts so that you can thaw out only what you need. I like to freeze it in ice cube trays and then once frozen, pop them into a zip lock baggie. Presto, individual servings!)
At any rate, I hope you will give this delicious fruit cordial a go and that you will enjoy it. Such a simple thing, and so very wonderful . . .
I love using our outdoor grill in the summer months as much as we can. We get such lousy weather the rest of the year, when the sun is shining, I want to make the most of it. Next Thursday we have all the Missionaries invited over for a BBQ, so it will be dogs and burgers (I hope the sun shines!). Today we took advantage of the glorious weather and I cooked some fabulous Red Snapper which I had gotten from The Fish Society.
It has been at least 20 years since I have had Red Snapper. Its not a fish that I have seen readily available over here in the UK, which is a shame since it is a really beautiful fish, with sweet succulent flesh. I love it. I was so excited when I discovered it at The Fish Society!
Todd had never had Red Snapper. Did you know there are over a hundred species of Snapper? There are only twenty five that are red. The Fish Society sources their snapper from Indonesia, and comes flash frozen, descaled and ready to cook! I knew we were in for a real treat!
Because of the lovely weather we are having I decided to grill it on the BBQ grill. We don't have a fish basket so I did it in foil packets. Its so easy to cook in foil packets, there is no fuss, no muss and no cleanup!
I added some lovely Mediterranean flavours . . . with a mix of olives, both black and green . . . I used pitted Kalamata and Green Halkidiki olives. Yummy!
I added some sliced unwaxed lemons for a bit of an acidic hit. Lemon and fish go so very well together. I also added some halved cherry plum tomatoes . . . you can't get more Mediterranean than using olives, tomatoes and lemons . . .
I tucked in a few torn basil leaves, and sprinkled them with some Italian garlic seasoning and coarse black pepper. You could also sprinkle with salt, but I didn't think with the seasoning mix that we needed any.
I also added some sliced Shallots for a bit of sharpness . . . peel them first. A drizzle of good quality olive oil and we were ready to seal up the packets and go!
Make sure when you seal them up you leave some air space in the packets so that the fish can steam and absorb all of those aromatic and delicious Mediterranean flavours!
From between 12 and 18 minutes (depending on the thickness of your fish) on the grill and your fish will be perfectly cooked. Sweet, succulent . . . tender and yes, really delicious!
Todd enjoyed his with a baked potato and some green beans! He really loved the flavour of the fish. Some of the best he has ever eaten! I concurred!
This was a real taste treat, and oh so healthy as well! The Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest in the world!
Yield: 4
Foil Pack Mediterranean Red Snapper
White succulent sweet fleshed fish cooked in a foil packet on the grill with plenty of Mediterranean flavours. Deliciously healthy!
ingredients:
- 4 Red Snapper Fillets (each about 3.5 ounces/99g)
- 2 TBS good quality olive oil
- 240g pitted olives (1 cup) (a mix of green and kalamata)
- 2 large unwaxed lemons sliced
- 4 shallots, peeled and sliced
- 150g cherry tomatoes, halved (1 cup)
- torn fresh basil leaves
- 2 tsp Italian garlic seasoning
- salt and black pepper to taste
- fresh basil to garnish (optional)
instructions:
How to cook Foil Pack Mediterranean Red Snapper
- You will need four large squares of heavy duty aluminium foil. Place one fish fillet in the centre of each. Top each fillet with 1/4 of the olives, lemon slices, shallots and cherry tomatoes. Tear a few basil leaves and scatter over each filled. Sprinkle with the Italian seasoning, season to taste and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Bring up the foil to cover completely, folding the top together and each side together, to completely seal, leaving some air space over the top of the fish giving it room to steam.
- Grill over a moderately hot grill for 12 to 15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily with the tines of a fork. (It all depends on the thickness of your fish. Mine took about 18 minutes, but it was quite thick. Alternately you can bake it in the foil packs on a baking sheet in a hot oven. (200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6) for the same length of time. Serve garnished with some fresh basil if desired. You can serve in the packets if you want, or using a spatula scoop out onto heated plates.
- I had a salad with mine, Todd had a baked potato and green beans.
I enjoyed mine with a salad on the side. Oh, I would have loved to have a baked potato too . . . but I am really trying to be good! This is a very healthy, Low Carb and Keto Friendly Recipe. Coming in at only 269 calories and a very low carb count (5.9 total) it is also perfect for anyone doing the 800 fast diet.
Fish from the Fish Society
comes straight to your door, with an overnight delivery, and it is
beautifully packaged. Ready to throw right into your own freezer. I
highly recommend!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons