Pork Tenderloin with Rhubarb Chutney

I'm alive! Ha ha, I made it through my first week of LNA classes! The first week was actually becoming certified as a Professional Rescuer with the American Red Cross. It was actually fairly fun and I'm looking forward to the rest of the coursework.

This weekend I cooked up a pork loin and made a chutney from the rhubarb I froze earlier in the season. Hopefully you have some in your freezer too so you can make this tasty (very fall-like) meal! :)

Pork Tenderloin with Rhubarb Chutney

Chutney

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 4 cups 1/2-inch cubes fresh rhubarb (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1/2 cup (generous) chopped red onion
• 1/3 cup dried tart cherries or golden raisins (about 2 ounces)

Pork

• 2 pork tenderloins (about 1 1/2 pounds total), trimmed
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Fresh cilantro sprigs

For chutney:
Combine first 8 ingredients in heavy large Dutch oven. Bring to simmer over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add rhubarb, onion and dried cherries; increase heat to medium-high and cook until rhubarb is tender and mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)

For pork:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Sprinkle pork with cumin. Season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add pork and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer to roasting pan. Brush pork with 6 tablespoons chutney. Roast until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 155°F, brushing occasionally with 6 more tablespoons chutney, about 25 minutes. Slice pork into medallions. Garnish with cilantro and serve with remaining chutney.

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One Local Summer: Week 1

I am so proud of my first meal in the One Local Summer challenge! I made Super-Slow-Roasted Beef with a local vegetable medley, locally baked rolls and a garden fresh (literally) salad.

I started off with a top round steak from Outlaw Farm (available at a few local markets and at their farm). My original intention was to make the asparagus/beef stir fry we learned how to make at the "Nourishing Your Family From the Inside Out" cooking class a few weeks ago, but it contained red pepper and onion which isn't in season yet. I did blanch and freeze some local asparagus, so hopefully I can make this meal next month!

Ok, so here's how I cooked the steak. I applied a garlic-herb dry rub to the thawed steak. I loosely wrapped it in plastic and let it sit out for two hours. I then preheated the oven to 250 degrees and put the steak on a roasting pan for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes I turned the oven down to 170 degrees and cooked it till the internal temperature reached between 120 - 125 degrees F. Because this cut tends to be lean, any more than medium rare can overdo it. As a guide, figure on 1 hour and 10 minutes per pound of meat at 170 degrees F.

Remove the roast from the oven, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 - 10 minutes. Carve into very thin slices to serve. The recipe for the steak and rub comes from The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook. (It seems like the 2nd edition version will be released mid-July).

Garlic-Herb Rub
This rub works well on pork, lamb, veal, venison, goat, or beef.

1 T dried thyme
1 T dried rosemary
2 T dried oregano
1 tsp ground fennel
2 tsp garlic powder
1.5 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp freshly ground pepper

For the vegetables, I simply gathered what was available and sauteed them in a bit of olive oil and added a dash of Italian seasoning. I found asparagus down the street on Gear Rd. in Rochester. I don't know if the farm has a name, but there's a small farm stand at the end of their driveway beneath an umbrella. This is also where I bought the rhubarb for the dessert I'll share with you. I picked up a bunch of turnips at the Dover Farmers' Market as well as three little summer squash (that was a treat!). This mix was very tasty and such an easy way to prepare vegetables. (Even my kids tasted a bit of the medley!) I also gathered a bit of lettuce and one lonely radish for a small side salad.

The rolls aren't exactly local as there's no source of local flour, but it is from the King Arthur Flour company in Vermont so it has a few local ties. The wheat rolls are from the Dover Farmers' Market and baked by Forty Five Market Street Bakery and Cafè. Very tasty with Kate's Homemade Butter out of Old Orchard Beach, Maine (can be found in many New England grocery stores).

And what meal isn't complete without dessert? I put Rhubarb Crunch in the oven when I pulled the meat out, so it was hot and ready after dinner was done. Another very tasty way to use rhubarb without any other fruit (because strawberries aren't quite in season, yet). I loved the simplicity of this recipe (again made with Kate's Homemade Butter) and it tasted delicious! The perfect end to a perfect meal.

Rhubarb Crunch

3 cups diced rhubarb
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine rhubarb, white sugar, and 3 tablespoons flour. Stir well and spread evenly into baking dish. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine brown sugar, oats, and 1 1/2 cups flour. Stir well then cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over rhubarb layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

I also halved this recipe since it was just two adults, two kids eating it and only a cooler to store leftovers. I baked it in an 8x8 pan and it was just as tasty!

I hope this inspires some more local meals. A local meal doesn't have to be overly fancy! Happy cooking...

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Cinnamon-Rhubarb Muffins

Rhubarb. One, if not the, first fruits available in New England. I've never cooked with it but I figured it was time I find a recipe to utilize this local tart treat. I actually picked up five stalks at a yard sale of all places and found this great cinnamon/rhubarb recipe online. The recipe came together really quickly, which is always a plus in my book and they smelled fantastic while baking. Here's a picture of me and my kids mixing up the batter. (Ignore my allergy face!) They enjoyed the sweet/tart combo and the muffins were gone in a matter of days. (We got our new aprons at that same yard sale, can't pass up $.25 aprons!) Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Rhubarb Muffins

from Fine Cooking

For the muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup sour cream
4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups 1/4-inch-diced rhubarb (7-1/4 oz.)

For the topping:
3 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil baking cups.

Make the muffin batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and whisk to blend.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Lightly stir the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients with a spatula until the batter just comes together; do not overmix. Gently stir in the diced rhubarb. The batter will be thick.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, using the back of a spoon or a small spatula to settle the batter into the cups. The batter should mound a bit higher than the tops of the cups.

Make the topping: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Sprinkle a generous 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon-sugar mixture over each muffin.

Bake the muffins until they’re golden brown, spring back most of the way when gently pressed, and a pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes. Carefully lift the muffins out of the pan—if necessary, loosen them with the tip of a paring knife—and let them cool somewhat. Serve warm.

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