lazy sunday

I don’t know about any of you but I’m still sat here in my pyjamas, sipping a manhattan and brimming with smugness for having done almost nothing productive today.  I did do laundry, but I was still on auto-pilot so it hasn’t registered in the productivity scale.

The weekend was highlighted by a crash visit from my Megan who was going stir-crazy in her rural digs and so hitch-hiked in for some mindless entertainment chez nous.  After a brief lecture directed at my loin fruits about the perils of hitch-hiking we most definitely came through on the mindless entertainment part & much wine, food, guitar hero and general joyful conviviality was had by all (except the wine bit for the sprogs – I made them chai and shiley temples).

Today the son indulged us with his waffle-making skills & I created a lovely apple stew to go with them.  Perfect for a lazy Sunday 14:00h brunch.

I can’t share the buttermilk waffle recipe as that’s the son’s secret, but here’s how to make the stew:

What you need:

7 apples

1/2 stick of butter

2 cardamom pods lightly crushed

4 cloves

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/5 cups sweet vermouth

10 dashes of Angostura bitters

Peel and roughly chop the apples into bite-sized bits.  In a medium sauce pan melt the butter then add the spices and the apples.  Cook and stir until the apples become somewhat fork tender.  Add the vermouth and cook and stir over low heat until it thickens.  Try to time this with the finish time of the waffles.  If you miss just add a little more vermouth to loosen it up again.  Serve over hot waffles & vanilla ice cream and top the lot of it with loads of freshly ground pepper.

I hope you all had as lovely a weekend.

Sunday dinner redux

I was feeling adventurous & had a pork tenderloin roast in the freezer begging to be cooked into something yummy. So I experimented with simple ingredients; you can barely see the tenderloin up there smothered in its wine, apple & mushroom jus, but it was very much present in terms of flavour & texture within the meal itself.

What you need:

1 pork tenderloin roast

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups of dry white wine

5 cloves garlic, smashed & peeled, but not crushed

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 sliced, large apples

1/2 stick of butter

salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Once it’s hot gently place the two sides of the tenderloin into it to sear & dust the exposed meat with a little salt (a pinch per loin should do it). Sear the tenderloin, turning as you go in order to get all sides lightly browned. Once browned lightly deglaze with one cup of wine, using a wooden spoon to lift any meat residue from the bottom of the skillet. Slice almost but not fully through the meat at one inch intervals along the length of the roast. Add the garlic to the pan & transfer the roast, skillet & all, to the oven. Cook for about 40 minutes or until the roast is nicely brown on the inside. Remove the tenderloin from the oven & transfer to a cutting board to sit.

Heat the skillet containing the leftover juices & wine from the roast over medium-high heat. Stir the contents until they’re reduced by half. Add the mushrooms & the apples. Continue to heat & stir until the apples & mushrooms are fork tender & the juices have been reduced by about half again. Add the butter & stir that in until it’s combined with the rest of the sauce. Stir in the remaining cup of wine & taste. Add more salt if necessary. Reduce the heat & let simmer for about 10 minutes until it’s slightly thickened.

Cut the roast into medallions along the slits you’ve already made & transfer to the dish in/on which you intend to serve it. Spoon the jus over the roast & garnish with a couple sprigs of fresh thyme or parsley. Serve hot over rice, potatoes or (as seen below) savoury madeleines (a recipe I will not share at this time as I haven’t perfected it yet but is really quite delicious nonetheless.) The fresh, steamed, green beans make a lovely side.