It's our 15th wedding anniversary today, and I made this for dinner:
Bunny's dinner plate
Not for us (we went out to the restaurant where we had our wedding reception), but for my sister who volunteered to babysit for us tonight. Sisters who babysit deserve nice food, don't you think?
This is one of those dishes that look fancy but don't take any time to make at all.
the pork loin just out of the oven
For the loin:
- one pork tenderloin (about 2.5 lbs)
- 1/2 onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 cinnamon stick, snapped into 3-4 pieces (cinnamon and pork are a match made in heaven, I think)
- 2 bay leaves
- a glug or 3 of olive oil
Remove pork tenderloin from package and if it's in two long pieces, truss them together tightly with kitchen twine. Put tied tenderloin into a zip-seal bag. Combine rest of the ingredients in a blender (or use stick blender) and whiz into a chunky puree the pour into bag with tenderloin. Allow to marinate in fridge (or on counter if you are me and the pork is very cold) at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325º. Remove tenderloin from bag and place in roasting bag. Put a couple of spoonfuls of marinade over the top of pork (shoving into down into cracks), and salt and pepper it. Put into oven for about an hour or until meat thermometer indicates doneness. It can and should be ever-so-slightly pink in the center (med-well). Pork loins are very lean so be careful not to overcook them.
For the pico de gallo:
i can't get enough of yellow kiwis or white peaches
Combine the following and let sit on counter for at least 15-20 minutes before serving to bring out the flavors. Serve along side the pork.:
- one ripe yellow kiwi (look for the Zespri brand)
- one medium white peach
- one medium tomato
- 1/4-1/2 of a sweet onion (like Vidalia, Texas Sweet or Maui)
- a handful of chopped fresh cilantro
- juice from half a lime
- salt to taste
PS For our anniversary present to each other, we're adopting a ewe. We care for it in the off season (my sending the farmer a donation) in exchange for a half-year's-worth of sheep's milk products (like yogurt and cheese) and we also get a whole lamb (portioned). More about that soon!
