Roasted Pork Tenderloin with a Potato and Spinach Hash

This dish is another fall-favorite; hearty and comforting which is for the colder weather! Pork tenderloin is a tender and delicious cut of pork when it is prepared well, and the mix of sweet potatoes and Yukon gold potatoes in the hash is the perfect pairing! I chose to prepare this pork and potatoes very simply because they were farm-fresh from right here in Pennsylvania. Preparing them simply allows the natural flavors to shine, and this was a very delicious meal!

Ingredients:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin:
1 pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons dry spice rub (I used a hickory-flavored spice rub, but any spice rub you like would be good)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Potato and Spinach Hash:
2 Yukon Gold potatoes
2 yams or sweet potatoes
Handful of fresh spinach (you may use frozen spinach, if you prefer)
1/2 onion, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

To prepare the pork tenderloin:

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Trim any excess fat or connective tissue off of the tenderloin. I like to cut the tenderloin in half to make two smaller pieces, as it is easier to handle that way. However, you may also cook it whole if you prefer. Wash the meat, and add it to a bowl to season. Drizzle one tablespoon of vegetable oil to coat the tenderloin.

Sprinkle the dry rub seasoning over the meat, and rub it over the meat to coat all sides. You may let the meat marinate overnight, or cook it right away. I haven't found much of a difference between the two ways.

Heat a cast iron skillet or heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is hot, add the tenderloin to it. Do NOT move the tenderloin around once you have set it into the pan, as this will interfere with the browning process. After about 3-4 minutes, check to see if the meat is browned on that one side. If the meat sticks to the pan, it is not ready to be turned yet.

Once the meat has browned on one side, turn it to another side and allow it to sear the same way. Repeat until all sides are brown.

Once the tenderloin has been properly seared, place the pan in the oven to allow the tenderloin to cook through. If you have a pan that is not oven-safe, simply transfer the tenderloin to a baking pan. The time to bake may vary depending on the thickness of your tenderloin. I like my meat well done, so I cook the pork until it reached 160F on a meat thermometer. If you prefer a little pink, cook until about 155F.

When the tenderloin has reached the desired temperature, remove from the oven. Place the tenderloin in a plate and pour the pan juices over it. Cover loosely with foil and let the meat rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting into it. This will allow the juices to redistribute, and is important for preventing your meat from becoming dry.

To prepare the potato and spinach hash:

Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the potato cubes.

Allow the potatoes to fry for a while until they are browned on one side, them stir to allow them to brown on the other sides. Once the potatoes are browned, add the chopped onion and garlic. Fry for another 2-3 minutes, and season with a little salt and pepper.

Stir the potatoes, then reduce the heat to medium and cover the pot. Stir and check the potatoes every minute or so, and cook covered until the potatoes are fork-tender.Once the potatoes have cooked, gently stir in the spinach, and cook until the spinach has wilted. You may add more salt and pepper at this point, but be sure to taste first.

Remove from heat and serve. Enjoy!

Classic Mashed Potatoes

There are many interesting versions of mashed potatoes out there, but I usually stick to the classic mashed potato recipe...especially if I am pairing it with a flavorful main dish. The best potatoes for mashed potatoes are Yukon Gold potatoes, in my opinion, as they are creamy and have a subtle sweet and rich flavor. However, Idahos or Russets may be used instead (I only had some Idaho potatoes available when I was making it this time.)

Ingredients:
     3 potatoes
     2 tablespoons of butter
     1/4 cup of milk or cream (you may use more if you prefer your potatoes more creamy)
     salt, to taste

Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut them into uniformly-sized cubed for even cooking.

Place the potatoes in a pot and add enough cold water to cover the potatoes.

Place the pot over a medium-high flame, and bring to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, add about 1 teaspoon of salt to the water. Boil the potatoes until they break apart when pierced with a fork.

Strain the potatoes and add them back to the hot pot. This will eliminate any excess moisture from the potatoes.

Immediately add the butter and salt, to taste, and start mashing the potatoes right there in the pot.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk or cream slightly, until it is just about to boil. Add the warm milk to the mashed potatoes and stir well.

Place the mashed potatoes in a serving bowl and enjoy!

Sicilian Roasted Cauliflower

This recipe is an offshoot of a type of gratin that originated in Sicily, Italy. I haven't yet had the chance to try it in Italy (will be sure to when I go again!), but I did try a version of it at The Smith, a restaurant in the Upper West Side of New York City. It seemed like a simple roasted cauliflower, but I was intrigued at the variety of ingredients added in. The capers were an interesting surprise, as were the raisins and sliced chili peppers. My version is made the same way, with a few additions that pulled off the very same complex flavors I was looking for.

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
10-12 saffron threads (optional)
1/2 shallot, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of pine nuts
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 tablespoons of dried cranberries (golden raisins work very well here too)
2 tablespoons of parsley, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 450F. Chop the cauliflower into 1-2 inch florets, and wash. Shake the excess water off and drop them onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle them with salt and black pepper. Sprinkle the saffron threads over them (optional). Drizzle about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil over the cauliflower, then gently toss them spread the seasoning. Bake for about 30 minutes.Pour in a little boiling water (about 1/4 cup) over the cauliflower, and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and golden on the edges.

Once the cauliflower is roasted, toss it in a bowl with the cranberries (or golden raisins) and set it aside.

Roasted cauliflower with cranberries

Heat a small pan with about 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot, and fry for about a minute, or until the shallot is translucent. Add the pine nuts and capers, and fry for another 2 minutes or so. Add in the chopped parsley, mix, and then turn off the heat.

Shallot, garlic, pine nut, caper, and parsley mixture

Toss this mixture into the roasted cauliflower and serve warm. Enjoy!

Nutritional tidbits:
Cauliflower is one of those vegetables that are often overlooked. White veggies are often thought to have less nutritional value than their colorful counterparts, but cauliflower definitely is an important part of a healthy diet. It contains nutrients such as vitamins (including choline, a B vitamin), indole-3-carbinol, and sulfuraphane. These nutrients have been shown to help prevent diabetes, becoming overweight, and certain cancers (cervical, prostate, and ovarian cancers).

Arroz con Habichuelas (Rice with Beans)

Growing up in New York has its perks...being exposed to a wide variety of cuisines that are all around you is a foodie's dream come true. One that I miss while here in the Caribbean is Puerto Rican cuisine. Spanish food is similar to Guyanese in many ways, but the flavors can be completely different. These two things together, rice and beans, are found as side dishes in many of the Spanish restaurants in NYC. It is one of my favorite comfort foods that is easy on the budget and fast...add some fried ripe plantains (maduros)...perfect for a quick homemade exam week meal!

Arroz Blanco (White Rice)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of medium-grained white rice
1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups water

Add the water to a small pot, and heat over high heat. When it starts boiling, add the oil, salt, and rice, and stir once. Boil, uncovered, until the water level almost reaches the level of the rice. Once the water has reached that level, turn the heat down to very low, stir the rice, and cover. Let the rice steam for 15 minutes. Then, remove the pot from the heat, stir the rice again, cover the pot, and let it rest in a warm place for another 10 minutes. After that time has passed, fluff with a fork and serve.

Habichuelas Guisadas (Stewed Beans)

Ingredients:
1 can of red kidney or pinto beans
4 oz tomato sauce (not paste!)
1 packet Goya Sazon seasoning
1/2 packet chicken or beef bouillon powder
1 1/2 tablespoons of Goya Sofrito seasoning (optional)
1 cup boiling water
salt to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil

In a small pot heat the oil over medium heat. Add the Sofrito, Sazon, and bouillon. Fry for 5-10 seconds and then add the tomato sauce. Cook the seasonings with the sauce for about a minute, and then add the cup of boiling water. Boil for about 5 minutes, and then add the can of beans with the water from the can. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, and then remove the cover and cook for another 5-6 minutes to thicken the sauce slightly. Once the beans are soft and the sauce has the consistency of a gravy, it's all done!

Seafood Fried Rice

This recipe was inspired by the seafood fried rice at Ruby Foo's in New York City. I was missing the American Chinese food over here in Grenada, so I decided to make my versions of a few of my favorite dishes. I kept it quite close to the original, except I used imitation crabmeat instead of real crabmeat like the restaurant uses. Finding good quality crab meat here is difficult, and I do like the flavor of the imitation crabmeat once in a while. 

Ingredients:
3 cups of cooked jasmine rice, at room temperature
Handful of asparagus stalks, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 pound of shrimp, any size you like, shelled, cleaned and deveined
3/4 cup of imitation crab meat, sliced (or 1/2 cup of real crab meat, drained)
3 eggs
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
salt to taste
5 tablespoons of vegetable oil for frying

Heat the oil in a wok, and add the ginger and garlic. Fry over medium to high heat for a few seconds until aromatic, and then add the shrimp. When the shrimp are just beginning to turn pink, add the crabmeat. Stir fry until the shrimp are fully cooked (opaque and pink), and then add the asparagus. 

Seafood and asparagus being stir-fried

Whisk the eggs together in a bowl, and add the eggs to the wok. Stir fry with the seafood and asparagus until the eggs are fully cooked. Next, add the rice, sugar, and salt. Stir everything together, and fry for 2-3 minutes. I like to fry over high heat and let the rice sit at the bottom of the pan for a bit before stirring so that it browns a little, but that's optional. Add the sesame oil and fry for another minute or so. Remove  from the heat, and serve. 

Tips: It is very important to be careful not to overcook the rice that you will use to make the fried rice, or it will not fry very well. Just boil the rice until it is just cooked, but still firm. Also, allowing the rice to cool before frying it prevents it from cooking too much and becoming mushy. 

Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner

Sometimes I crave something simple; a light, healthy, meal with fresh ingredients. One without a heavy sauce or spices to mask the natural flavors of the main ingredients of the meal. This chicken dinner just that, and is also easy and quick to make...perfect for a busy weeknight! I usually use lemons when baking chicken, but they are difficult to find here in Grenada. I settled on some unripe oranges, as the oranges here never become as sweet as the ones in the U.S. and usually taste more like lemons anyway.

Ingredients:

2 chicken leg-quarters

2 whole lemons 

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme, chopped

1/4 teaspoon of dry oregano (you may use fresh if you have)

2 teaspoons of olive oil

salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

5 small potatoes, cut into quarters

4 carrots, diced into 1-inch pieces

2 teaspoons of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of parsley

salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350F. Slice the two ends of the lemons off and discard. Then slice two thin round slices of the lemons, and the rest into thicker (3/4-inch) slices. Place the thick slices of lemon on the bottom of a baking dish. 

2 thin slices and a few thick slices

Placed in the baking dish

Wash the chicken, then trim some of the fat and extra skin. Slide your fingers under the skin to lift it off and create a pocket. Mix together the garlic, thyme, and a little salt, and rub the chicken with the mixture under the skin. Next, place one thin slice of lemon under the skin of each of the pieces of chicken. Sprinkle some salt and black pepper on both sides of the chicken pieces. Place the chicken on top of the lemon slices in the pan, and then drizzle the olive oil over the top of the chicken.

Garlic and thyme

Minced garlic with thyme, oregano and salt

Place the chicken on top of the lemon slices in the pan, and then drizzle the olive oil over the top of the chicken.

Chicken ready for the oven

In another baking dish, add the potatoes and carrots, along with the oil, parsley, salt, and black pepper. Mix them together and then place in the oven. Bake both the chicken and the veggies for about 1 hour-1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken read with a kitchen thermometer reads 165F. The veggies should be almost fork-tender and golden brown along the edges. Enjoy!

Roasted Red Potatoes with Garlic and Herbs

Garlic and rosemary go great with potatoes, so I decided to roast some small red bliss potatoes using just that. This is a quick and easy way to cook potatoes that are full of flavor. The trick to getting them crispy is by preheating the pan with a little bit of oil and then adding the potatoes to the hot pan.

Ingredients:

     12 small red bliss potatoes

     2 tablespoons of olive oil

     2 cloves of garlic

     1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary

     1 teaspoon of parsley flakes

     Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F. Chop the garlic into fine pieces and add the garlic, the oil, the herbs, the salt, and the pepper into a small bowl. Spray a baking pan with some cooking oil and place in the oven (juts to let it preheat for a minute or two). Wash and cut the potatoes into pieces of about equal size, and then pour the oil, garlic, and herb mixture over them. Open the oven and add the seasoned potatoes to the preheated pan. Roast for about 15 minutes, and then turn the potatoes over and roast for another 15-20 minutes. When the potatoes are golden and crispy on the outside and soft inside, they are ready!

Ingredients for the garlic herb oil

Seasoned potatoes ready for the oven

Honey Glazed Carrots

I love carrots and usually enjoy them raw or quickly stir-fried and crunchy. I decided to mix it up a little today and roast them in the oven, with just a touch of honey to bring out the natural sweetness of the carrots. This is a simple and easy side dish to go with any dinner.

Ingredients:
     1 bag or bunch of carrots
     2 tablespoons of olive oil
     1 tablespoon of butter
     1 tablespoon of honey
     1/2 tablespoon of parsley flakes
     salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425F. Wash, peel and cut the carrots into pieces (may not be necessary if you are using baby carrots), trying to keep them as equal size as possible so that they can cook evenly. Place the carrots on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over them, and place in the oven. Melt the tablespoon of butter and mix with the honey and parsley flakes. After the carrots have been roasting for about 10 minutes, drizzle the honey glaze over them and then continue to roast for another 5-10 minutes. Watch for the carrots to be slightly brown at the edges, and then take them out. Enjoy!

Slicing the carrots

Carrots drizzled with oil ready for the oven

Garlic Rosemary Hasselback Potatoes

I always buy potatoes by the bag, as they are only rarely ever sold individually here in Grenada. A whole bag is usually too much for me to finish, so I tend to have leftover potatoes sitting around. I was studying one night when I got hungry and decided to make a potato dish and finally use up the potatoes I had in my cupboard. I searched online and found an interesting twist on the baked potato. My recipe here is a version of Hassleback Potatoes, which I found out were originally a Swedish side dish, and are usually baked with breadcrumbs and sprinkles of parmesan cheese. I decided to steal the idea of slicing them in that particular way but took a different route in seasoning them. They came out delicious, with a lovely crispiness on the outside.

Ingredients:

     3 potatoes, peeled and washed

     2 tablespoons of olive oil

     1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary

     1 garlic clove

     salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 425F. Make crosswise slits into each potato, about 1/8 inch apart, but stopping before you reach the bottom of the potato. That way, the potato will fan open but the pieces will be held together at the bottom. Soak the potatoes in cold water while you get the oil ready. 

Prepared potatoes soaking

Rosemary-garlic infused oil

To make a garlic paste, finely chop the clove of garlic. Sprinkle a little bit of salt over the pieces, and use the side of the knife to press down and rub the garlic against the cutting board. Repeat 2-3 times over the garlic until it is all crushed. (Here is a video I found that demonstrates the technique: How to Make Garlic Paste) In a small bowl, mix the oil, rosemary, salt, and garlic paste together. Set the oil aside to infuse.

Remove each of the potatoes from the water and pat them dry with a paper towel. Coat them with the infused oil and place on a wax-paper lined baking sheet. Bake for about an hour or until golden and crispy at the edges, flipping them once towards the end.

Sweet Potato Fries

I've tried making sweet potato fries many different ways, including baked, fried with cornstarch, and simply fried plain. I found that the easiest way to achieve a crunchy exterior and soft sweet interior was to do it the way restaurants do: blanching the fries first, and then frying them over high heat until they are nice and crispy. Granted, this is not the healthiest recipe, but it makes fries the way they were meant to be made (will post an oven-baked recipe later). The same method can be used using regular potatoes to make french fries, so this is a pretty versatile and simple recipe. (The set pictured above was made with help from my sous chef Brian.)

Ingredients:
     2 sweet potatoes/yams
     Vegetable oil for frying
     1/2 tsp salt
     1/4 tsp coarse ground black pepper
     1/2 tsp garlic powder
     1/4 tsp paprika

Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into even matchsticks: the thinner they are, the crunchier they will be. Submerge the matchsticks in a bowl of cool water, and put the oil to heat over medium fire. Test the oil with a wooden spoon: if the oil starts to bubble around the spoon when you place the tip on the bottom of the pan, it is ready. Shake off as much water as possible from the sweet potato sticks and place them in the water. Keep the heat on medium/low and allow the fries to blanch for 2-3 minutes (they begin  to soften and turn limp). Dip them out onto a paper towel-lined plate. Allow them to cool for 4-5 minutes, and then put the oil on high. When the oil is very hot, drop the blanched fries in and fry until golden brown and crispy (1-2 minutes). Mix together the seasonings and sprinkle it on the fries as soon as they are taken out of the oil and placed on a paper towel-lined plate.