Today I thought I would share a dish that my wonderful fiance made for dinner Saturday night. He is an amazing chef and has been cooking for around 17 years. I think I mentioned this in my first post but we actually met at a restaurant, the Bridge Tender, when he was running the lunch shift and I waited tables after I graduated from UNCW. Over the past 10 years he has opened my eyes to the world of food and helped me realize that it is one of my biggest passions in life. We all have to eat to survive, so why not enjoy it? This dish in particular was incredible, and also fairly simple and healthy - pork tenderloin with Jasmine rice and stir-fried squash and zucchini (see above photo).
The pork was seasoned lightly with garlic, salt and black pepper, and roasted in the oven at 350 for approximately 45 minutes (until the internal temperature reached 145-150 degrees). It was very moist and the seasonings enhanced the pork flavor beautifully. What really made it stand out was the sauce. We had a bottle of Korean BBQ sauce (you can find it in your local Asian markets, but we got ours at Harris Teeter) and it was fine all by itself, but seemed to be missing something. Chris used a cup and a half of sauce and added 1/4 cup of honey and reduced it down to make it a thick, syrupy glaze. The sweetness from the honey helped combat some of the heat and made it absolutely delectable. I could put that glaze on just about anything and it would be delicious, but I really want to try it on ribs or chicken wings (love chicken wings!).
The veggies were also quite simple. He sliced squash, zucchini and red onions and sauteed them on medium to med-high heat with a tablespoon of vegetable oil, salt, pepper and powdered ginger, and finished it off with a dash of soy sauce. (You can do this with a variety of vegetables and make a quick and healthy side dish in minutes!) I never liked squash or zucchini when I was younger but I can eat them all day long when he makes them! Be sure to cook them long enough so that they're tender but still firm - that will help with the bitterness, as will the seasonings.
If you've never had Jasmine rice, go out and buy a bag RIGHT NOW. I promise it will change your life! Since trying it we've never gone back to regular white rice. It is healthier than most normal white rices and has a sweet, fragrant aroma when it's cooking. We have a rice cooker, which makes cooking rice extremely easy, so if you like rice and want a quick side dish, invest the money and get one. They're not very expensive and you will wind up with perfectly cooked rice every time. Jasmine rice is has a flavor similar to the sushi-grade sticky rice, and all you really need to add to it is a little butter, salt and pepper. It's our go-to starch when we make dinner, so I'm sure you'll see a lot of it on here!
I don't normally imbibe but I bought a bottle of Moscato by the Naked Grape and figured it would be a perfect compliment to the pork. Moscato is a wine made from Muscat grapes that is generally labeled as a dessert wine. It can range from dry to sweet and can be paired with fish, chicken, spicy cuisines or light desserts. I have been drinking Moscato wines for several years but this is one of the best that I've tried, and it's not too pricey, either. The spiciness of this glaze was the perfect foil to the sweetness of this particular Moscato, and the pork itself was the ideal food with which to pair a wine like this. All in all this was one of the best meals I've had in a long time, and that's saying something (since every meal Chris makes is better than the last). If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!
I'll leave you all with this quote: "Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul." - Dorothy Day
Happy eating!
No comments:
Post a Comment