I don't cook as much as I should, but when I do, I really like to cook! For dinner New Year's Eve, I experimented with a pork tenderloin and some garlic basil pesto.
The pesto recipe is in my blog at http://mt.gardenwife.com/archives/000236.html , but I'll include it here, too, in case you can't get the link to come up for you.
PART I: Garlic Basil Pesto
1 1/2 cups basil leaves
1/4 cup nuts (I used walnuts)
2 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup parmesan cheese (Calls for freshly grated, but I used canned, grated cheese in a pinch)
3/4 cup olive oil
Put nuts and garlic in food processor and run until incredients are finely ground together. Add basil leaves and process until ingredients form a paste. Add parmesan cheese and blend again, then add olive oil and blend until all ingredients are mixed really well. If the mix looks too runny for your taste, add a little more basil and give it another spin. Great as a rub for roasts or poultry, tossed plain with cooked pasta, or included in other sauces for flavor.
Freezes very well, or use within a week if kept in refrigerator.
PART II: GW's Pesto Pork Tenderloin Roast
1/3-1/2 cup garlic basil pesto
salt
pepper
1 medium apple, sliced into 1/4" thick rounds.
2 whole pork tenderloins (3/4 to 1 lb. each)
New potatoes, quartered (I use Yukon Gold)
1 pound baby carrots
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take about 2-3 tbsp. of pesto and rub meat well with it, top and bottom. Place apple slices flat on top of a rack inside a large roasting pan and place tenderloin on top of apples. Toss potatoes and carrots in remaining pesto* and place them in pan around roast.
Roast 35 to 40 minutes (or until meat thermometer registers 140 degrees and juices run clear), stirring potatoes after 20 minutes. Broil on top rack of oven 5 minutes to brown. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Slice in thin medallions against the grain of the meat. Serves 8.
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* Last night I only had enough pesto for the meat, so I tossed the quartered potatoes in a little olive oil then shook them in a bag with some dried thyme, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and minced garlic to coat them.
I forgot the last 5-minute broil, but it still turned out really good! I thought our house would smell like garlic for days, but my MIL has saurkraut and pork cooking downstairs, so the house stinks like sauerkraut. I prefer garlic!
I took a picture of it prior to roasting and meant to take one after removing it from the oven, but we were all so hungry, we forgot all about taking pictures. So, you just get the "before" shot!
This message was edited Feb 9, 2004 4:47 PM
