food and fun

Thayer gave me the new Barefoot Contessa cookbook (Back to Basics) and I am loving it. My favorite new recipe is the Herb Marinated Pork Loin. It is easy, tasty, and reasonably priced. I bought a pork tenderloin at Costco for $13.51. I froze half of it, and the other half fed 6 adults and 1 child and had leftovers to boot. Can't beat that. Here you go:

Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4-6 lemons) (the second time I made this I used bottled lemon juice and it turned out fine)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbs minced garlic (6 cloves)
1 1/2 tbs minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 tbs chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Kosher salt
2-3 pork tenderloins, 1 lb each
freshly ground black pepper

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, mustard, and 2 tsp salt in a 1 gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the pork tenderloins and turn to coat with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight, or at least 3 hours. (I've tried marinating it overnight and marinating for 3 hours--couldn't tell much difference.)

When you're ready to cook, preheat the grill. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade and discard the marinade.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then grill, turning a few times to brown on all sides, for 15-25 minutes--until the meat registers 137 degrees at the thickest part.
Transfer the tenderloins to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Carve in 1/2 inch thick diagonal slices. The thickest part will be pink; this is just fine. The end parts will be well done--something for everyone.

On another note, Ella is getting more hair. No ponytails or braids, but if you look close enough you can see a little clip hanging on for dear life on her left side. I've long maintained that there are two hair genes. One for thick, beautiful hair and one for styling hair. Most people get one or the other, and a few lucky people get both. I have neither. Hopefully Ella is okay with a little clippy because that's about all I'm good for. No french twists here.

And on yet another note, I am nearly done with my quilt. Thanks to a little positive encouragement from Beth et al it turned out nicely (with a few carefully placed skewed stitches to make it appear handmade). I'll post pics when it's done.