Tenderloin in a thyme - plum sauce

Who said that it has to be a dessert with a plum? I’m a huge fan of aromatic fruit sauces for meats. It can be cherries, raspberries or even back currant preserve, Add some red wine, spices and instantly your meal gains a flavour and… a class.

Ingredients
2 pork tenderloins
1 tbsp wheat flour
½ onion
1 garlic clove
few thyme sings
1 cup red table wine
8 plums ( Hungarian type)
1 tbsp molasses ( or honey)
1 tbsp cold butter
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
optionally you can add some balsamic vinegar for taste
salt, pepper
oil


Method
Cut the tenderloin clean from the membrane, lengthwise into 2 cm slices. Each smash slightly with the fist, dust with flour, salt and pepper and fry (briefly) until golden brown. Meat set aside in a bowl to cool down.
Pour a little bit of oil into the pan (do not clean it after frying tenderloin) add onion and garlic, fry. Add plums cut in quarters, cook covered until juicy. Pour in the wine with thyme, coriander and molasses and stir fry until the sauce gets quite thick. Pour some meat-sauce from the bowl with the tenderloin, add pinch of salt and pepper. When you take the pan from the heat, add cold butter – the sauce will gain creamy texture and beautiful sheen.

Sweet and sour pork

I had a few pork chops in my fridge. As I didn’t want to make traditional pork chops I decided to fry them and simmer in a sweet and sour sauce. It’s an excellent dish for me!


Ingredients
5 boneless pork chops
2 tbsp brown sugar
¼ teaspoon ground pimento
¼ tbsp black pepper
¼ teaspoon chilli
¼ teaspoon dry thymes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ cup dry wine
salt
1 tbsp oil
optional: 1 tbsp wine vinegar (to taste), ¾ teaspoon potato starch


Method
Mix sugar with pimento, chilli and thymes. Season chops with salt and with the sugar mixture. Heat up the oil in a pan, fry chops each side until brown. Put the meat on a plate and leave aside. Add wine and vinegar to the meat juice left in a pan. Bring to boil and cook for a few minutes until the sauce gets thick, you can also add some flour to make it thicker. Season to taste. Simmer in a covered pot on a low heat for 3 min.

Stuffed pepper

Telling you the truth I made those peppers some time ago but I didn’t know what to write about them. And I still have no inspiration so it will be short: those are the peppers!

Ingredients
18 oz (500 g) minced meat
1 chopped onion
1 chopped garlic clove
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
¾ cup cooked rice al dente
salt, pepper, chilli
6 medium peppers


Method
In a bowl mix all the stuffing ingredients, season to taste. Wash and cut crossways peppers. Clean and remove the seeds. Put the stuffing inside the one half of each pepper, cover with another half, transfer into a greased baking dish. Bake until the pepper’s skin crease and peppers themselves get soft, for about 1 hour at 360F/ 180 oC. I suggest grind the onion or sauté it before baking because mine stayed hard.

Gorgonzola soufflé

In case of Gorgonzola the old saying: what is delicious is also fatty is a truth! This creamy cheese (50% fat) with its delicious taste was a base for a soufflé. Big, fluffy with a pepper and nutmeg aroma. With a simple salad was a Sunday dinner.


Ingredients (make 1 big soufflé or 8 small ones)
2 oz (50 g) butter
1/3 cup wheat flour
1 cup milk
¼ freshly ground nutmeg
3 oz (80 g) Gorgonzola
¼ cup grated Parmesan
freshly ground pepper, salt
4 egg whites
4 egg yolks
+ some flour to flour the soufflé pan


Method
In a saucepan melt butter, add flour, continue whisking cook for 3 min. Add warm milk, well combine, the mixture should be smooth. Cook for a while, add cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg. In a separate bowl mix egg yolks. Continue stirring gradually add egg yolks to the cheese mixture. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Gradually and gently combine the egg whites with the cheese mixture. Spoon the batter into the greased and floured soufflé pan. Sprinkle the top with a Parmesan. Bake in a preheated oven to 400F/ 200 oC for 15 min., decrease the temperature to 370F/ 185 oC at bake for another 15 min.

Potato frittata with goat cheese and spinach

Frittata is a great way to make something good from the leftovers you can find in your fridge. You can use anything you like: French beans left after yesterday dinner, canned green beans from the can you have opened few days ago or cooked especially for frittata asparagus. Add milk, few eggs, favourite spices and your dinner is ready in 15 min.
I added potatoes, spinach and goat cheese. One frittata was enough for 2 people ( it’s a shame nothing left as frittata is also taste when cold – eaten next day for a breakfast at work). Next time I’ll have to make bigger one.

Ingredients ( anything you want, egg mixture has to cover all additions, proportions: ½ cup milk for 4 eggs)
200g (7 oz) spinach (frozen)
8-10 cooked potatoes
½ onion or leek
4 eggs
goat cheese
½ cup milk
salt, pepper
oil

Method
Cook and cool potatoes, dice them. Fry spinach. In a big pan fry the onion, add spinach and potatoes. Season, pour in an egg mixture. Fry on the low heat for a few minutes both sides (to turn the frittata use a plate), or bake in preheated oven to 180 oC (360 F). On top put cheese and fry/bake until golden brown.