Easy Asian Pork Tenderloin

We ate our first al fresco dinner of the summer last week. Armando found the legs to an old picnic table in someone's street side junk heap and was inspired to make us a table of our own. He's good like that—spotting what otherwise looks like rusted old garbage and seeing a retro picnic table.



If times ever got tough we could easily set up a shop on Fab.com and sell all of the furniture and odds and ends he's made for us over the years and be rich beyond our wildest dreams. Remind me again why we aren't doing that?

Early on in our relationship he used to bring all this stuff home that he would find discarded on the street, having big plans to fix it up and it all looked like trash to me.

So I would throw it away.

That might have caused a fight or two.....I don't remember.



Despite what he might tell you, I've learned to have patience with his vision and ask before I "donate" the plastic baby car with the broken canopy. He will most likely turn it into this ultra design-centric rocker for the kids that would cost us $200 at some high-end toy store.

He is a firm believer in fixing what you have and not discarding something simply because it's broken. It's a good trait to find in a husband.

To christen the new picnic table I made this super easy roasted pork tenderloin. This is the kind of thing you keep the marinade ingredients on hand so you can make it at the drop of a hat. This sweet-salty marinade was made for pork, you can use it on any cut you want, but pork tenderloin cooks so fast and stays nice and rosy in the middle.



Make it the centerpiece for your Father's Day meal, you could even grill it if you want to be really fancy. Serve it up with some roasted cauliflower, steamed rice, and a nice strong cocktail and you'll have one happy Papa.

Easy Asian Pork Tenderloin

Print It!
Makes 4 servings

1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rice wine or sherry
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced

Season pork tenderloin lightly on all sides with salt and pepper and place in a large resealable plastic bag.

Combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to dissolve honey and brown sugar. Pour over pork in the bag and move the pork around to coat with marinade. Seal tightly and place on a plate in the refrigerator for at least an hour but you can also do this the night before.

Heat oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the top of the oven. Cover a baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top of the foil. Pour enough water in the baking sheet to cover the bottom and place pork on the rack, reserve marinade.

Roast in the top of the oven for 40 minutes, turning and brushing with the marinade every 10 minutes or so. Pork is done when the internal temperature reaches 160°F and is browned and glossy.

Mini Rhubarb-Apricot Crisps {Dairy-Free}

Rhubarb may have come and gone in many places around the country, but here in North Dakota, June is peak rhubarb season. I've been trying to get my hands on some for a while now but haven't had much luck until the last week or so then—Bam! Now I've got a fridge full of rhubarb.

I had my own rhubarb plant in the back yard when we first moved here. It was a pathetic looking thing but I lovingly transplanted it to a sunny spot and the next year it was looking much happier. It didn't produce a ton—I think I got one pie's worth, but what was there was delicious, ruby red, and sweet.



Before it's curly leaves unfurled the next spring I spotted my neighbor spraying it with Round-Up and then burying the evidence with piles of rocks. Apparently I had transplanted it her side of the garage...where she had plans for a beautiful rock garden. I can't be too mad at her about it, it was kind of her property; she felt badly and gave me these precious mini pie tins as an apology. But there went my rhubarb aspirations, now I'm just left pilfering from others—not that I would actually steal someone else's rhubarb, I would never do that......ever.

The sour pucker of rhubarb makes it such a natural for baking. It begs for something sweet to temper it's tartness and pies, muffins, and cakes all make wonderful desserts, but my absolute favorite way to eat rhubarb is in a crisp. The crunch of the nutty topping gives way to the meltingly tender fruit below, making an irresistible combination.



Strawberries are rhubarb's most common partner, but I think floral apricots and rhubarb also make a lovely pair and you can always serve some strawberry ice cream on the side so no one feels left out.

Mini Rhubarb-Apricot Crisps {Dairy-Free}

Print It!

Note: The rhubarb I used was the green variety and very tart (the redder the rhubarb the sweeter it is). Below is the sugar amount I liked the best, resulting in a fairly tart dessert. Feel free to add more or less sugar depending on the sweetness of your rhubarb and your tastes. 

Makes 6 individual desserts

1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, large dice
1 pound apricots, pitted and diced
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

Heat oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the lower third of the oven. While oven is heating, place walnuts in the oven and toast until fragrant.

Combine rhubarb, apricots, granulated sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl and stir to combine. Divide mixture evenly between 6 individual pie plates or shallow baking dishes or use a 8 or 9-inch baking dish.

Combine brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, and salt in the bowl then add the coconut oil and rub mixture together with your fingers until the oil is incorporated into the dry ingredients. Gather handfuls of the topping and break it up in large clumps over the fruit, dividing the mixture evenly between the dishes. This is easiest if you hold the individual dishes over the bowl of topping as you are covering them, the bowl will catch all the bits that fall off.

Place the individual dishes on a baking sheet and bake in the bottom of the oven for 40-50 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is a dark golden. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm topped with a scoop of strawberry ice cream.

Millet-Chocolate Chip Banana Bread {Dairy-Free}

June 7th.

That's the day I got the garden planted this year. I have been waiting an eternity and the day finally arrived. Now I'd like to say a little prayer....... Thank you Lord Jesus for not bringing me to this Earth during a time when one had to grow all their own food...... 'cause my ass is tired.



After listening to my insufferable complaining Armando reasoned that maybe this is why no one was ever caught smiling in photos taken before say 1930—they were too exhausted! Plus they were probably thinking, Ain't nobody got time for no photos. I gotta go kill a chicken for dinner.



My extreme fatigue might have something to do with the fact that instead of planting the corn patch in rows like a normal person I decided to make a million giant mounds and plant a few seeds in each mound. My method will either be brilliant or plant me firmly in the category of people who believe everything they read on the internet.



The long term reward for all my hard work, however, will be the satisfaction of cooking dinner out of my own backyard—in the interim I rewarded myself by making is this banana bread. It's a healthy-ish sort of cake that I can feel good about eating with two scoops of ice cream—it does contain millet after all.



I love this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I didn't mess with it too much, I had to add chocolate chips because my daily intake of chocolate has hit a low point lately, but that was about it. I adore the way the millet pops between your teeth and this recipe requires....get this.....ONE bowl. That's it. It is so simple to throw together. I whipped up the batter and had it scraped in the pan before the oven was warm. Even in my decrepit state.



Millet-Chocolate Chip Banana Bread {Dairy-Free}

Print It!
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 1 9 x 5in loaf

3 large very ripe bananas
1 large egg
1/3 cup melted extra-virgin coconut oil
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup uncooked millet
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350°F and arrange a rack on the bottom. Grease a 9x5in loaf pan.

Mash bananas in a large bowl with a potato masher until very few pieces remain. Whisk in the egg, then add the coconut oil, brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla, whisk until smooth.

Sprinkle the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves over the banana mixture and whisk to combine. Whisk in the flour until completely incorporated. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the millet and chocolate chips.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake in the bottom of the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. If the bread is getting too dark, cover loosely with foil until bread is baked all the way through. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then turn out of the pan and cool completely.

Classic Flaky Biscuits {Dairy-Free}

Ahhh biscuits. Pretty much one of those things I had written off many years ago when we went dairy free. I mean what is a biscuit if it isn't made with butter and buttermilk? If you had asked me that about a month ago I would've told you..... not a very good one.

But around Mother's Day I started pondering my ideal breakfast, if someone were to say make it for me and bring it to me in bed, on a tray, with a tulip in a juice glass. It would be freshly fried cider doughnuts, cheesy grits with a soft poached egg, crispy bacon, and fluffy biscuits with butter and honey.

Aside from being coma-inducing, this meal (if you can call it that) includes practically nothing my husband can eat (aside from the bacon). I wanted to teach my kids how to make at least one of my favorites...ahem....ulterior motives.....and began to consider giving biscuits another try.



I've had great success in the past substituting extra virgin coconut oil for butter so I was pretty confident it could be a catalyst for fluffy (albeit dairy free) biscuits. I can't tell you how pleased I was when the baking sheet of little biscuits emerged from the oven all golden, the crumb stacked up in fine, lacy layers.

Upon further inspection (because who can stare at a tray of freshly baked biscuits and not try one....err...four) they were crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside with a subtle, subtle, subtle taste of coconut (I could probably only taste it because I knew it was there).

So here's how you make them. I used the classic self-rising flour method, which I've always had the most success with in the past. The original buttermilk recipe is on the back of the bag, I've simply adjusted it to make it dairy free.



The first step is to grate the cold, hard coconut oil into the flour mixture. If you are not already doing this when you make biscuits or scones you must start now. The box grater produces thin little strings of fat which get distributed throughout the dough and melt in the oven creating a million tiny air pockets in the baked biscuit.



Next you add the cold milk. I used rice milk but you could use soy milk, almond milk, any milk really. Drizzle it over the flour mixture then use your fingers to combine the dough. Scoop the dough up from the bottom of the bowl, give it a gentle squeeze and then let it fall through your fingers, rubbing it gently as it falls. This will combine the dough without mashing the threads of fat into the flour. When you are done you should have a scraggly mass of dough that holds together when you squeeze it.



Gather this up into a ball and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. You can cut the biscuits into any size you want. I like to make small biscuits that the kids can easily handle. Size, in this case, doesn't matter, what matters is when you cut them plunge the cutter straight down into the dough and then lift it straight up. Don't twist it when you get to the bottom, this will seal the edges and prevent them from obtaining the maximum rise.



When you line them up on the baking sheet you can space them an inch apart if you like crunchy edges or set them right next to each other if you like them really soft in the middle. Then brush a little more milk over the top for a shiny finish - careful not to spill too much over the edge or the biscuits will stick to the tray.



Then all you have to do is pop those puppies in the top of the hot oven and wait....with a big vat of honey.

Classic Flaky Biscuits {Dairy-Free}
Makes 26 (2 1/2-inch) biscuits
Print It!
Adapted from Gold Medal Flour

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup cold extra virgin coconut oil
3/4 to 1 cup cold milk (any kind will do—I used rice milk), plus more for brushing

Heat oven to 450°F and arrange a rack in the upper third. In a medium bowl whisk together flour and sugar. Set a box grater inside the bowl with the flour mixture and grate the cold coconut oil through the large holes. Toss the coconut oil shavings with the flour to coat.

Drizzle 3/4 cup of the milk over the flour and toss the mixture together with your fingers to incorporate the milk. The dough should be a scraggly mess with no dry spots. If there is still flour at the bottom of the bowl drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup of milk over the mixture and toss to combine.

Gather dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a circle about 1/2-inch thick and cut out biscuits with a cutter (whatever size you prefer, I like small 2 1/2-inch biscuits). Place biscuits on a baking sheet about an inch apart and re-roll any scraps until all the dough has been used. Brush a little extra milk over the tops to give them a little gleam.

Bake on the top rack until golden, about 12-15 minutes. Serve warm with honey.

Sparkling Cherry Limeade

With Memorial Day behind us we are officially in summer territory, right? We can wear white now and all that stuff? If so, then it is most definitely limeade season.

Back when I was a kid my dad made my brother and I take tennis lessons from his friend Steve. Steve was a grown man—a friend of my father's from high school—who still lived at home with his mom and may have been good at tennis—I honestly don't remember, I just think my dad felt sorry for the guy.

Dad was always looking for things for my brother and I to do during the summer and hired Steve to teach us tennis. My brother was very good at tennis, an athletic sort of person, he was good at all sports. I, on the other hand, was not. I hated going to these stupid lessons, where I stood out there in the blazing sun, sweating, and swinging my racket, hoping the ball would miraculously make contact.

The silver lining to this whole scenario was that my grandmother, God love her, would always show up with a thermos full of ice cold limeade. I'd pathetically slump down on the park bench next to the tennis court, she'd hand me a glass of limeade and all was right with the world....well, kind of.



Grandma's limeade was always made from concentrate—she was of the generation that firmly believed everything was better from a can—but making it from fresh squeezed limes is the bee's knees. This being cherry season and all I can't stop there, making a simple cherry syrup to sweeten up the tart limes makes an utterly refreshing combination, especially when you add some fizzy, bubbling, cold club soda.

I'm loving this cherry syrup because it seeps all the flavor out of the cherries without all the work. Forget the cherry pitter, spewing juice on you with every punch. You just combine the cherries, whole, pits and all, with the sugar and mash them with a potato masher over a low heat on the stove top. After the cherries are basically mush, you run the whole shebang through a sieve, pushing the sweet juice out and leaving all the pits behind.

Sparkling Cherry Limeade
Print It!

Makes 4-6 servings

1 pound cherries (about 3 cups), stemmed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 cups cold club soda
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice, from about 8 limes
1 lime, thinly sliced
ice

Combine cherries (pits and all) and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir to coat the cherries in sugar than use a potato masher to squash the cherries and release their juice (this will be easier to do once they warm up a little bit).

Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Keep at a simmer, adjusting heat as necessary, and cook until cherries are soft and start to break down, about 15 minutes.

Set a strainer over a bowl and pour cherry mixture into the strainer. Press down on the solids until all the juice has gone through the strainer. Discard solids and chill syrup until ready to use.

When ready to serve, combine soda, lime juice, and syrup in a large pitcher. Stir gently to combine. Fill pitcher with ice and stir in lime slices. Taste and add more lime juice if it is too sweet. Serve immediately in ice filled glasses.

Watermelon and Apricot Salad with Sesame-Ginger Dressing

This is what Memorial Day looked like in our town. 




All parades in Valley City march right past our house. I told our landlord if we ever move he won't have any trouble renting to another family with small kids as long as he promotes the "prime parade viewing" component of the house.

We had no idea there was to be a parade that morning until we noticed the throngs of cars parked on the street when we sat down to breakfast. This is what that looked like.



Viewing a parade while standing or sitting on the curb is apparently an antiquated practice and the majority of residents choose to take in the spectacle from the comfort of their running car. We take a more traditionalist view and enjoy actually sitting outside. This can be tricky however with everyone jockeying for a parking spot so the moment we noticed the hubbub Armando rushed to the front door to verify with a passerby if there was indeed a parade. 'Yes', she said. 'At 10:30'. With that he took off to the backyard to fetch the lawn chairs and place them curbside, marking our territory and preventing anyone from parking in front of our house.



The parade was a modest affair—dedicated strictly to honoring our troops, it lasted about 10 minutes. Louisa called it a non-parade because no candy was thrown. How do you explain to a 4-year-old why a normal candy-pelting parade is not exactly appropriate when memorializing the dead?



After the marching bands shuffled by playing the requisite patriotic music and the parked cars took to the streets again we packed it up and went back in the house. I had bought a gigantic watermelon last week—not sure what I was thinking with that one—but as I walked in through the back porch, I saw it sitting there and remembered this salad I had spotted over at Better Homes and Gardens about a thousand years ago last summer.

Inspired, I took to the kitchen, enormous watermelon in tow and created this lovely, lovely salad. Hot pink watermelon, creamy orange apricots, cool green cucumbers, this is one salad that actually does look as good as it tastes. It's kind of a fruit salad....and kind of not. It's sweet like you'd expect a fruit salad to be, but the fresh ginger and chile add an unexpected kick that is more suited to the dinner table than the brunch buffet.



I brought this to a Memorial Day shindig where it was served alongside shrimp tacos and such, but this could go with just about any grilled offering, just make a little extra to slip into your lunch sack the next day.

Watermelon and Apricot Salad with Sesame-Ginger Dressing
Print It!

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
Makes 6 servings

1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 pounds seedless watermelon, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 pound apricots, quartered and pits removed
1/2 large English cucumber
1/4 cup thinly sliced shiso leaves or a combination of cilantro and basil

Combine sugar, vinegar, ginger, salt, and cayenne pepper in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a jar with a tight-fitting lid (like a Mason jar), add vegetable oil, olive oil, sesame seeds, and sesame oil and shake until combined. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Arrange watermelon and apricots on a large platter. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the cucumber into long ribbons, stopping when you get to the seeds in the middle. Turn the cucumber and start from the other side, stopping again when you get to the seeds in the middle. Repeat until all your left with is the core of seeds. Take one cucumber ribbon, twist it into a tight spiral and tuck it in among the watermelon. Repeat until all the cucumber ribbons are gone. Sprinkle the shiso leaves over the salad, drizzle about half of the dressing over the salad. Serve with remaining dressing on the side.

Triple Berry Pancakes {Dairy-Free}

Gardening season has begun! Well....kind of. I should clarify and say I've tilled the compost into our garden spot and tilled up the other side of the yard to grow a corn patch. I've made it to my heirloom dealer and bought my tomato and pepper stash.......but nothing's made it into the ground yet. It has been cold, then rainy, then windy, then cold some more but I do get a tinge of excitement every time I walk past the spindly green plants that sit patiently by the window.


Norma, who has been heading up the Farmer's Market since before I was born gave a gardening talk at the local mom's group a few weeks ago and I asked her where one would find heirloom tomato plants near by? She said they had some Brandywines down at the Cenex (a pop-up garden store from May to July and a gas station the rest of the year). After the meeting my friend Susan pulled me aside in a covert kind of way and said I know where you can get some heirlooms. I know a woman. I'll call you.



Two weeks later I find myself meeting Susan in a empty church parking lot in Fargo and following her through twisty back roads to Karen's house. Karen, it turns out, is a nurse, who loves gardening, has a cat, and turns a corner of her living room into a greenhouse every spring.



She grows more stuff than she knows what to do with and had some plants to share. I was happy to take a few off her hands. I got three different cherry varieties, a variegated roma, a Dakota hybrid, and a couple of others along with some hot peppers that Armando will love. So now I just sit...and wait....for this North Dakota spring to cooperate.



While I'm waiting, I'll make some pancakes. The berries have been extraordinary this spring and I find myself putting them in everything—and eating them by the handful, slightly damp from the strainer. They feel right at home in these hearty whole wheat pancakes, adding a touch of tartness to an otherwise sweet breakfast treat. Pile some more on top if you like more berries than could every possibly fit inside, but don't forget the butter (which by the way no longer makes them dairy-free), and the syrup...warm maple syrup.


Triple Berry Pancakes {Dairy-Free}
Print It!
Makes 4 servings

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups rice milk (any type of milk will work here)
1 large egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup strawberries, chopped
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries
Baking spray for greasing the pan

Heat oven to 200°F and place a large tray or plate in the oven. Heat a large nonstick frying pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to break up any lumps. Combine milk, egg, oil, syrup, and almond extract in a separate large bowl and whisk until egg in completely incorporated. Add dry to wet in one fell swoop and whisk to combine (it's okay if a few lumps remain).

Spray hot frying pan with baking spray and test to see if the pan is hot enough with a few drops of water (they should disappear within a couple of seconds). Adjust the heat of the pan if necessary and ladle the batter into the pan (1/2 cup for larger pancakes, 1/4 cup for silver-dollar sized). Drop a couple of blueberries, a couple of raspberries, and a couple of pieces of strawberry onto each pancake and cook until bubbles form around the outside, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side a couple of minutes more or until browned and crispy.

Transfer pancakes to the tray in the oven to keep warm while the rest of the pancakes cook. Serve with plenty of butter and maple syrup.