6 Delicious Uses for Bacon Grease

There is a ramekin of bacon grease sitting by my stove. It's steadily getting fuller and fuller, and I have no idea what to do with it.

"Why save it, then?" you might ask. I save bacon grease for two main reasons:

Cream Cheese French Toast with Strawberry Balsamic Syrup

I don't know about where you are, but here in north Mississippi it is a rainy, icy, cold, and downright dreary and nasty President's Day! We've been pretty lazy this weekend since our trip to Florida was scratched due to the weather and we didn't really have any other plans.

This morning it's been a Top Gear-watching, couch-lounging, and fire-enjoying kind of day. I have some vague sewing plans for later, but we'll see how it goes. The couch and the fire feel pretty nice right now!

Love Those Leftovers: Potato & Burger Skillets

I was inspired by an episode of Chopped I watched yesterday. Have you ever seen that show?? "Here's a pack of cherry cough drops, quail eggs, chocolate chip cookies, and a block of limburger....make a main course!" Okay, so it's not quite that bad, but in the episode I watched, the chefs had to create their courses entirely out of leftovers. It was amazing some of the things they came up with that actually looked pretty good out of some crazy things like lasagna and stale donuts!

I confess, I've been dying to use these 6-in skillets since I found them in my grandpa's barn last spring! They were all rusted and dirty, but it's amazing what a little sanding and oiling can do!

Back to School Cooking: Cottage (Shepherd's) Pie & Chicken Pot Pie

It never fails. Every year for the first two weeks of school (at least), I come home completely exhausted. I lie down for a nap, and the next thing I know, it's 6:00 pm, and I'm too tired or its too late to cook anything, so the hubs is either getting on the Dominos website or offering me macaroni and cheese (with bacon bits if I'm lucky). With my fourth year of teaching looming nigh, I now know this transition period from summer vacation is coming, and this year I decided to take some time out of the summertime I have left to make us a few of our favorite meals to put in the freezer and last us through those first fateful weeks. Not that I have anything against Dominos or mac-n-cheese....

King Cake & Potholders

Oh yeah, I have a blog! Has is really almost been a year since my last post? Whoops. I guess getting engaged and married put blogging way out of my mind! Seriously. My last post was March 18, 2013, and I was engaged two days later! Can't say I'm complaining, though. I love being married! 

Also, disclaimer: I'm posting for the first time on the iPad, so sorry if things aren't perfectly edited/formatted. Still working out how to use this app!

Back to the post...Sugar is my enemy. Some people love pasta, some love chocolate, I love sugar in general. So much so that I think that's what I'm giving up for Lent this year since the only way I could get through 40 days without it is with God's help! I get excited about the different seasons and holidays based on the desserts. It's all oh-so-gooooooood....

One of my favorite sweet treats comes around about this time of year: king cake! It's Mardi Gras season down on the coast, and one of the things I miss the most about Mardi Gras is the king cake. It's EVERYWHERE! IF you've never experienced the joys of king cake, the best way to describe it is like a cinnamon roll or cream cheese Danish that is acceptable to eat at any time of day as part of any meal! After I moved away from the coast, though, if I wanted king cake, I had to learn how to make it myself.  

There were many trials and several errors, but I finally found a recipe that I really like.

It makes two cakes, but I've never had trouble giving away the second (mainly to make sure that Trae and I don't eat both)! It's also fairly easily cut in half if you really only want one, and it gives you the option to do the traditional cinnamon and sugar filling or cream cheese. (Tip with the cream cheese: Try adding a few tablespoons of your favorite jam or jelly for a fruity twist!) The recipe can also double as a fantastic cinnamon roll dough. Just slice it into 1-inch sections after you roll up the dough and set it in a greased 13x9 pan for the second rise. Cook at 375 for about 10 minutes and cover with your favorite frosting. (Cream cheese is my favorite!)

Purple sprinkles are a lot harder to come by than you would think, so I improvise with the red/blue. Maybe they'll run together and make purple? That's my hope...

I did try another recipe tonight. After our failed camping attempt this past Friday (long story, but it was a combination of damp firewood and much colder-than-expected temperatures...we'll try again later...), I still had a hankering for s'mores. I'd been wanting to try the skillet s'mores I'd seen all over Pinterest, but I don't have a 6-inch skillet. Enter the gingerbread man. My mom gave me a personal gingerbread cookie kit for Christmas that included a tiny gingerbread man-shaped skillet. And so the gingerbread man s'more was made! Oh the sugar.....oh the tasty!

He was perfect for the two of us. I'm honestly not sure how two people could take down a full 6-inch skillet of it! (Yes, the picture is way out of focus...too much shaking from the sugar rush? yeah, we'll blame it on that.)

Oh, I want to share my latest sewing projects! I have to thank Amber and her blog CrazyLittleProjects for getting me back into sewing. I'd slowed down a bit, but she's been posting monthly sewing challenges to get you inspired and back to the machine! For January's contest I made a maxi skirt, and for this month I am in love with these fabulous heart-shaped potholders. I spent my snow day last week making a few as Valentine happies. They were so fun and easy to make! 

                     

Hop on over to her blog and take a look at the neat projects she has, whether you're into sewing or not! She has a lot of food and crafty posts,too!

That's all for now...laissez bon temps rouler!!

Black Bean and Corn Tacos

Sorry for the hiatus. Since school let out in May, I've been home a grand total of maybe a week. It's been fantastic traveling everywhere (Hawaii, NYC, DC, Florida, the great metropolis of Mantachie), but it hasn't allowed for much cooking. If you know me, though, stick me on a plane/train/car and take me somewhere, and I'm happy. I have a gypsy soul.

Two disclaimers here:

1.) This is the first time I've tried to post a blog from my phone. If the quality isn't up to snuff, I apologize.

2.) I didn't really measure much for this recipe, so you're going to get my best estimate.

Okay, to the tacos!

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of black beans, drained
1 1/2 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
1 small to medium tomato, diced

(The spices are a very rough estimate. I just add until it tastes right.)

1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

I also had a bottle of southwestern seasoning mix that I added about a tsp of, but if you don't have any, don't worry about it.

To make you taco filling:

Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat and add the onions. Sauté until soft, then add the garlic and sauté for a minute more. You'll smell it when the garlic is ready.

Next, add your black beans, corn (doesn't matter whether it's still frozen or not), tomato, and the spices along with some salt and pepper. Stir it together until well mixed and cook until black beans become mushy and the corn is soft (about 5 minutes-ish).

Set this on a back burner on low while you make fresh tortillas (should you choose... It's a very tasty path to follow...come to the dark side...). It's really not as difficult as it sounds, and they taste sooo much better than the ones you buy at the store.

For the tortillas, you will need cornmeal flour (such as Maseca...you can find it in the Hispanic section of most grocery stores). Follow the directions on the bag to make the number of tortillas you desire. I made 8, and it was a good amount for this recipe. The main thing to remember is that your dough will be on the dry side when you mix in the water. It should be barely holding together. If your dough is too wet, it will make pressing the tortillas very difficult. Forewarned is forearmed.

To smoosh your tortillas if you don't have a tortilla press, (If you do, congratulations. I doubt I need to tell you how to use it.) take two pieces of wax paper, place a ball of the Maseca between them, and squish it with a heavy pot. It probably will still be a little thick unless you have impressive arm strength, but this will give you a nice round shape. Go at it with a rolling pin until it is around 1/8 of an inch thick, trying to maintain the round shape as well as you can.

From this point, dear reader, I feel like you are competent enough to read the directions on the bag for cooking, so I won't repeat them here. When the tortillas are done cooking, though, it's important to keep them warm and moist inside of a towel so that they don't dry out.

And there you have it! Serve with your favorite taco toppings. As they stand toppings-less, they clock in at about 150 calories per taco, so enjoy a healthy, filling meal! Bon appetite! Whoops, that's French. Umm, bueno comiendo! (I think)

PS, if you have extra tortillas, try honey on them for dessert. One of my favorite tortilla treats!

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

I'm sure you've been there. It's getting later in the evening, you remember that you're supposed to bring something for people to munch on to the office/church/get-together tomorrow. Behold, the easiest cookie in the world. I've been making these things on my own since I was 10, so we're old last-minute cookie friends. (They were my first 4-H baking demonstration!)

Just a little warning: Since there are only 3 ingredients, these cookies are like peanut butter cookie concentrate. They're small, but they pack a punch! (P.S. Sorry for the crappy pictures. The lighting wasn't working for me.)

Like I said before, only 3 ingredients:

• 1 cup of peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg

Mix the ingredients together into a brown peanut-y, sugary goo. When thoroughly mixed, roll the dough into small balls, no bigger than an inch in diameter. Take a fork dipped in sugar and make a crisscross pattern across each ball to flatten it. Re-sugar the fork for each cross to add a little flavor and make sure the fork doesn't stick.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Let the cookies sit for a minute to solidify, then transfer them to a cooling rack.  

Voila! Cookies!

Apple Crisp Pancakes

One lonely apple sitting on my kitchen cabinet, just waiting for something. But what? I managed to eat two of his friends slathered in peanut butter, stewed another to go on top of a pork chop, and there he lay, all alone. When I bought the apple and his brethren, I didn't realize that they were tart baking apples, which makes them not very munchable unless you like making pucker faces and losing feeling in your tongue. I really only do my apple baking during the fall/winter because of apple season and there is just something about apples, cinnamon, and cool weather. Apple dumplings in summer are a little awkward. So what to do with a springtime baking apple?


I see the apple this morning, and my thought process went something like this: Hmm....breakfast. Pancakes. Oh, apple! Apple crisp sounds so good....wait, but not for breakfast. Pancake...apple pancake! With nutmeg and cinnamon! Apple crisp pancake! We have a winner!

Apple Crisp Pancakes

1 medium apple, chopped
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar (Didn't try brown sugar, but I bet it would be really tasty!)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (this is my best guess for the nutmeg and cinnamon...I didn't actually measure)
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp cooking oil

Topping:
3/4 cup old fashion oats
1 tbsp brown sugar

First, chop the apples very small. Not quite minced, but they need to be smaller than bite-sized, like so:

Mix together all of the dry ingredients until everything is well-incorporated, then add the wet ingredients. Make sure everything is wet, but the batter should still be a little lumpy.

(I didn't take a picture until about 3 pancakes in because I'm scatterbrained. You should have more batter than this.)

Your method of cooking is entirely up to you. My father, the Supreme God of Pancakes, does his on a griddle. I do not own a griddle (and to be honest, living by myself, I've never needed one), so I cook my pancakes one-by-one in my nonstick 10-inch skillet. I set my temperature to a little less than medium (3-4 if your stove uses numbers), let it warm up, add some nonstick cooking spray after it's warm, and add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of batter (once again, I don't typically measure...just a guess), and let it cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. Before you flip, sprinkle some of the chopped apple into the batter. Once the apple is nicely nestled in the batter, flip and let the other side cook for 2-3 minutes.

While the pancakes do their pancake thing, add a tiny bit of oil to a small, hot skillet and a handful of oats. Toss the oats for a minute or two until they are nice and toasted (you'll smell them), take them off the heat, and add a tablespoon or so of brown sugar.

 Once the pancakes are cooked, transfer them to a plate, butter the tops, and sprinkle with the oatmeal/brown sugar mixture and any leftover apples. Top with your favorite syrup.

No more apples for me until October! (Ha! Who am I kidding? I like apples too much.)

Chorizo and Kale Soup with Cornbread

I confess. After three weeks following the vegetarian way, meat-eating family and friends made it too difficult to carry on with a completely meatless diet. One of the main reasons I have never gone vegetarian before was because of the unnecessary burden it puts on other people, but I wanted to try it, and I did learn some things.

For one, meat is definitely not necessary as the centerpiece of a meal. As a sideshow, sure, if you want to go with meat at all, but this American idea of meat being the largest portion on your plate is completely bogus and actually unhealthy. Meat servings should be no larger than the palm of your hand, and the majority of your plate should consist of veggies and whole grains. I'm still going primarily meatless at home, but to make things easier on everyone, I am eating meat when out and about. I honestly never really missed meat, and I'm quite happy carrying on by myself without it.

Another thing I learned about is all the alternate (and delicious) sources of protein out there. Between beans, nuts, soy products, dairy, veggie, and numerous other sources, the average person with a balanced diet typically gets most of the protein their body needs without eating meat.

In the end, I'm happy with my decision of a semi-vegetarian. It works well for all parties involved, even if I didn't make it the whole 40 days.

Now, to the soup!

I was flipping through a gardening book a few days ago trying to absorb whatever knowledge I can on planting tomatoes (I'm going to attempt a garden this year), when I found a recipe for Chorizo and Kale Soup. Like most of North America, my nose is on the fritz from the abnormal weather and amounts of pollen, so the idea of a spicy, chicken broth-based soup sounded amazing. (For those of you who do not know, chorizo is a spicy Spanish pork sausage that has a very unique, spicy flair, and is quite tasty.) I ended up basing mine on the recipe found here.

And because my potatoes were starting to look like this. Guess you'll see a potato and leek recipe next week!

The Recipe:

2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 Idaho or Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
10 oz spicy chorizo sausage, chopped
3/4 lb chopped kale, stems removed
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the garlic and onions for 3-4 minutes. Add the potatoes and fry for 4 minutes. Then add the stock and water (and some salt, if needed) and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the chorizo and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the kale and simmer until tender, about 3 minutes.This is one of those soups that gets better as it sits, so get ready for leftovers!

With such a delicious, spicy, sausage-y soup, I had to make cornbread. Like, real cornbread from stone-ground cornmeal. With leftover Kerrygold Irish butter from St. Patrick's Day and farm-fresh eggs from the grandparents. Oh, momma.

If you've never had Irish butter before, it's definitely worth the splurge every now and then. I was introduced to Irish dairy products while in Ireland (go figure), and they are magical. (No pun intended) They are fresh, full of flavor, and downright amazing. I honestly never would have believed that the quality of butter could make such a huge difference, but it does.

I bought a half-pound of Kerrygold, the standard Irish butter import,  at Kroger for about $5 (told you, splurge) to compliment our St. Patrick's Day's dinner. That's it melted, the stuff that looks like several yolks exploded. Have you ever seen melted butter so golden?

The Recipe:

1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk or butter milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 10-in cast iron skillet or 8 x 8 glass pan. Beat egg and milk together and add dry ingredients. Add melted butter and stir until smooth. Pour into pan and bake 25-30 minutes.

Paired with a glass of pinot grigio, it is quite the fantastic pick-me-up dinner!

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

It's raining, and I confess, when I left work today, I did not feel like cooking. I even picked up a frozen pizza at Walmart. However, while musing over which frozen pizza to buy (an ever-important decision for the diet-conscious), the mangoes behind me caught my eye. Mangoes. So yellow, so sweet, so juicy. One of God's greatest gifts to mankind for only $.90. Earlier in the week, I was flipping through my new vegan cookbook, Veganomicon, for something that I could cook so that I could try quinoa, and what did I find but Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango. Consider it a divine Walmart experience, if those exist, but that mango came home with me. I'm still kicking myself for only buying one.

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

1 mango, peeled and cut into small dice

1 seeded and diced red pepper

(I don’t like bell pepper, so I didn’t use it)

1 cup chopped scallions  

(I only used about ¼ cup…1 seemed to be a lot)

I cup chopped fresh cilantro

(No fresh…I had to use dried)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

            (Another modification….I used olive)

¼ teaspoon salt                                          
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled

                                                                                    1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed

                                                                                    Romain lettuce

Slicing the mango. Oh, you yummy mango. It’s amazing any made it into the salad.

Cooked quinoa looks weird, not going to lie. Tastes good, though.

Combine the mango, red bell pepper (if used), scallions, and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, oil, and salt, and stir to combine. Add the quinoa and stir until everything is well incorporated. Fold in the black beans.  You can let it sit, refrigerate for later, or eat right then over a bed of lettuce.

I made mine into wraps. Not a bad frozen pizza replacement! Also, only 320 calories per serving according to my recipe calories calculator! (Serves 4)

 

A little tip: 

You should only have to buy green onions/scallions once. Take the whole bunch and put it in the vessel of your choosing with some sugar water, and you will have a self-sustaining source of green onions as long as they have water.

Tofu Lettuce Wraps

I have a confession. I ate tofu. I even cooked tofu. And I liked it.

I feel like I've reached some sort of terrifying and life-changing right of passage buy admitting to even associating with tofu. Tofu has always been a highly-stigmatized west-coast dish that was only eaten by hippies, and I've always been slightly terrified of it because it can take on so many forms. Tofu just.... isn't natural. And weird. And gross-looking. I felt like a small piece of me died buying it, though I was pleasantly surprised the Walmart in New Albany carries tofu...much less organic tofu. (It was actually my only option).

To embrace my new vegetarian lifestyle, though, I decided I must conquer and embrace the creepy-looking tofu. Luckily, the Pioneer Woman posted a recipe from her past vegetarian life in honor of Ash Wednesday, and I found my window of opportunity.

Without further adieu, Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps for One:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 of about 12-14 oz. package  Firm Tofu
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels)
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 Leaves of Romaine Lettuce Hearts

(I forgot to add this part to mine:)

• 2 whole Avocados, Sliced
• 1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Throw in the tofu, then break it up into very small pieces.

 Ewww....I know it looks gross. Stay with me.

Cook tofu for several minutes, until much of the liquid cooks off and tofu starts to turn golden, then throw the corn in with the tofu and cook for a few minutes.

Looking better...

Add chili powder and soy sauce, then cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Now it looks like chicken!

Are we looking edible yet? Quite tasty, actually.

So there you have it. I cooked tofu, I ate tofu, and I liked tofu. Am I a real vegetarian now?

 Note: The original recipe serves 6.

Pectin-free Strawberry Jam

Every spring without fail, Project Graduation at Marianna High School has a strawberry sale, and every year, my parents buy a flat and end up with more strawberries than they know what to do with. Luckily, I was home when they came in, because I'm sure my mom and I can easily eat our weight in fresh strawberries. There does come a point, though, when you've eaten your fill of sugared strawberries, strawberry pie, and strawberries and cream, and you need something else to do with this giant pile of strawberries.  

Enter the ancient and revered art of canning. (Sorry, I'm sure with the title you were expecting something a little more exciting. I'm sure there was exciting stuff going on a little further south in PCB, but I guess old-age is starting to set in.) Around 9:30 Saturday, as I was winding down to get ready to head back to Starkville, when my mom proposes we make strawberry jam with the leftover berries. Having never done any of the canning other than watching my mom do it when I was a kid, I was interested, so we went to work. Surprisingly, it's not as complicated as it sounds. The whole process took about an hour and a half, minus sealing time.

First, carefully pick your strawberries. This is a great opportunity to use the ones that are still edible but not looking so hot.

 Chop off the green tops and cut those suckers up! You'll need 4 cups worth for this recipe, so it helps to put them in a bowl with marked measurements on the side. 

 Now you can release your frustrations about how strawberries don't grow all year or how stupid little Timmy was for falling into the well. Who has an open well anymore anyway? I digress. Mash them to a bright red pulp with a potato masher.....

 ...or if you get lazy like me, go all immersion blender on them. Just make sure your have 4 cups and you leave a few tasty chunks in there. We're not going for strawberry puree.

 Using the pot of your choice (I'd say stock pot or dutch oven), combine the strawberry mash with 4 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. No pectin in this one, folks!

 Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring often until it reaches 220F. A foamy substance will appear on top of the mixture, and you have the choice whether or not to skim it off. My mom does just because she doesn't like the way the layer of foam looks in the jar and if you want fair-worthy jam, it's definitely a no-no. But it tastes ok and doesn't hurt anything if you want to leave it on.

 

Okay, the next step is VERY important, so listen carefully. Collect your jars and lids and make sure everyone has a lid, a ring, and is rust and dent-free. Boil everything for a few minutes to sterilize (you can also run it through the sani-cycle in your dishwasher if yours does that). Once they're done, lay them upside-down on a towel to dry off and don't touch the inside or the rim of the jars at all if you can avoid it. If the insides of the jars or lids are germy, the jam can mold, or worse, botulism can take up residence.

 

 Now that we're through the fun stuff, let's start canning! This part is pretty simple too. You take the boiling jam mixture and spoon/ladle it into the jars. If you're cool like my mom and inherited stuff from grandmothers who did a lot of canning, you might have a jar-sized wide-mouth funnel that is pretty useful for this.

 Mmmm.....samples.

 Once the jars are filled, wipe the edges to make sure nothing will get between the rim and the lid to prevent sealing. Also, if you have a little bit left over that won't fit in a jar, you can put it in a heavy glass, cover it with foil or saran wrap, and refrigerate it to be used in the coming days

 Carefully place your still-hot sanitized lids on the warm jars, screw on the ring, and voila! Jars of jam. But not quite canned yet...

 To create the seal, my grandma always turned her jars upside down. I don't really know why, but it works! Give them a few hours to sit, and you will hear a reassuring POP when they've sealed. Anything that doesn't seal after a few hours needs to go into the fridge to be eaten.

 And there you have it! My first for jars of jam, ready to be stored away in a cool, dark cabinet. If for some reason the seal on a jar breaks, don't eat the jam. It's probably contaminated with bacteria, and food poisoning isn't fun.


Now wouldn't you consider that a late night spring break adventure??

Bourbon-Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin

If any of you get Southern Living (which is a mag I highly recommend if you don't),  you can sympathize with my ogling over the recipes and my sticky-noting ones that I want to try. Okay, maybe not the sticky-noting. Anyways, some good-looking things appear on the pages of that magazine. One recipe in the February issue in particular has been simmering (hehe....cooking term...see what I did there?) in the back of my mind since it arrived: Bourbon-Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin.

"But a pork tenderloin recipe??" you say. "That makes a pretty hefty meal!" Indeed. This specific recipe makes two tenderloins. Situations such as these validate learning how to divide fractions in elementary school, a skill that does actually apply to life circumstances. Whoda thunk? I hated those things (fractions, not tenderloins).  In my fractional frolickings, I discovered that halving 1/4 of a cup equals 1/8 which equals 2 tbsp. A much more manageable amount than 1/8 of a cup. Conversion tables are your friend, especially when you're halving or quartering recipes.

If you're lucky enough to have a single tenderloin on hand, you're golden for this recipe; however, they generally come in two-packs. Split them up, even though by now I'm sure they've become best of friends living in that packaging together, skin them, and toss one in the freezer for later use. I already had a small one in the freezer, so it became my victim for the evening. If you're going to use a frozen one, I'd recommend taking it out two days in advance, or at least the night before--one day to thaw, one day to marinate.  

I prepped the marinade before I went to work this morning. Start with a ziploc bag (gallon or quart, depending on the size of your tenderloin), and add 2 Tbsp of brown sugar, 2 Tbsp minced green onion (I just chopped up two stalks), 2 Tbsp of bourbon (Jack and I are buddies, but feel free to take your pick), 2 Tbsp of soy sauce, and 2 Tbsp of dijon mustard (I don't have dijon mustard, so I used spicy brown) to the bag. Seal the bag and toss it around a bit to mix everything together, then pop your little tenderloin in its new baggie home for the next 8-18 hours to marinate in the fridge. If you get the chance to periodically flip him, the marinade will absorb a little more evenly, but it's not a necessity.

So, like I said, start the marinating before work, and when you get home, all you have to do is cook it. (And read ahead before you toss the marinade!!) The recipe says to grill, but being in a small apartment, I don't have one of those (I'm working on getting a grill pan). Instead, I heated up some olive oil in an oven-safe pan big enough to hold friend-tenderloin and gave it a good searing before popping it in a 300-degree oven for about 40-45 min, flipping every 10-15 min until it's cooked to your specifications and/or has an internal temp of 155 degrees. Personally, I like a pretty thoroughly-cooked chunk of pork, but adjust your cooking time accordingly. The only thing I'll eat still pink is a steak. 

Now, take your marinade that you saved by diligently reading ahead, pour it in a saucepan with either 1/4 tsp of cornstarch or 1/2 tsp of flour (since I was out of cornstarch....remember what I said originally about substitutions?), and bring that to a boil for about a minute until it thickens. Voila! Delicious tenderloin sauce.

Once your tenderloin is done, let it rest for about 10 min, then smother it in sauce and start slicing. Or vice versa. Then start eating!!! (Not that I needed to tell you that)

Though I had a small tenderloin, it was still a pretty hefty piece of meat, so I invited my sister-in-law, AC, and my puppy-niece Maggie to join me. Her and I had two good-sized slices each, and there was enough left for one more meal. If you're short on dinner guests, slice it, but wait on the sauce. Tenderloin makes great leftovers (sandwiches, stir-fry..use your imagination) and also freezes well, but for some leftovers recipes, brown sugar and bourbon sauce might not be too tasty.

 Dinner is served! With a tossed salad topped with homemade white wine vinaigrette.

 If you could only smell....

 Maggie could. She even got a little taste, and the tenderloin passed the rigorous Yellow Lab standards for cooked meat.

The full, original recipe for those interested:

Bourbon-Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin
Makes: 6-8 servings | Hands-on Time: 30min | Total Time: 8hr 30min

2 (1-lb) pork tenderloins
1/4 c firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c minced green onions
1/4 c bourbon
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c dijon mustard
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp cornstarch

1.) Remove silver skin from tenderloins, leaving a thin layer of fat. Combine brown sugar and next 5 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag; add pork. Seal bag, and chill for 8-18 hours, turning bag occasionally. Remove pork from marinade, reserving marinade.

2.) Preheat grill to 350/400-degrees (medium-high heat). Grill pork, covered with grill lid, 8 min on each side or until a meat thermometer into thickest portion registers 155-degrees. Remove from grill and let stand 10 min.

3.) Meanwhile, combine reserved marinade and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, 1 min. Cut pork diagonally into thin slices, and arrange on a serving platter; drizzle with warm sauce.

(Take from Feb 2011 Southern Living, pg 106)