Not Floundering For A Meal

Ha ha. Yes.
Terrible pun.
Shoot me.
Apparently I have some of my punster grandfather in me other than just the legs*.

Dinner last night was flounder, as it was on sale and every once in a while I try to feed us something a bit lighter than average for dinner. Especially since it's a relatively warm weekend for October, so the light fare feels good.

Have you ever done a search online for recipes for flounder? They are all SOOOOO boring!!! And the other 80% of them are recipes for flounder stuffed with crabmeat (of which I am not the greatest fan).
So, I did a spin on a sauce I made for chicken, and I have to say it worked great on the flounder. (Or any other white fish.)

For the cooking of the flounder, I simply patted it dry, seasoned with salt, dredged through a little flour, and cooked it in a sauté pan for about 2-3 minutes per side. It's done when you try to remove it and the friggin' thing will not stay in one piece for a pretty plating shot.

Not shown: Grandpa fresh dill, wine, stock

The above is the basis of the sauce. About half a pint of grape tomatoes, halved, 1 shallot, 2 cloves of garlic, the zest and juice of half of a lemon, about 2 tablespoons of capers, white wine and a splash of chicken stock if  you want to mellow the wine flavor a bit.

In olive oil, sauté shallot until softened (about 3-4 minutes). Then add the tomatoes and allow them to cook for 2-3 minutes, or until they look like they are starting to soften. Next add the garlic (minced or grated) and cook off for about 30 seconds, stirring well.

For 2 fish filets, I probably used about 1/4 cup of white wine and 1/4 cup of chicken stock to make the sauce. After adding the liquids, squeeze the juice from the half lemon, toss in the zest & capers, and about 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped dill.

(Reserve a bit for garnish.)

Let the sauce reduce and thicken a bit, season with salt, finish it with a tablespoon (more or less) of butter for richness and gloss, and pour over the fish.

Very tasty, and the tomatoes made it slightly different from the average lemon-butter-dill sauce.

To round out the meal I used some leftover leek & white bean purée (which I really just love, and this time did not contain mascarpone) and tossed in some peas for good measure. I enjoyed the meal, and so did the hubs.

Don't like dill? 

Try substituting cilantro. It will give a bright kick to the sauce.

But this is a light meal packed with protein and veggies.

Enjoy!

*While my face clearly resembles my mother (tho she was much more of a knockout than I ever was) the rest of my body is kind of an odd amalgamation that does not directly reflect on either side of my family in any particular way. However, when I was still a teenager, possibly 18 or so, we were looking through some old black and white photos, and my mom found one of her father at the beach wearing swim trunks. She paused for a moment, pointed and exclaimed to me, "You have grandpa's legs!"

Rock.
Maybe not exactly what every teenage girl wants to hear, but at least it solved part of the puzzle that is me.

How To: Rosemary Pork Tenderloin

Last weekend when I was in NJ, my mother passed along to me her original "real" digital camera, the Canon 10D. I used it for some of my zoo pics, but I am still trying to figure out the kinks, as it were. Mostly I am having issues with focus, as you will see from the photos below. (Yes, I will read the manual at some point.) But I'm having fun with it, because you can't help but feel like a "serious" photographer when you're hauling around a camera that big and heavy.

On to dinner.
I don't believe I have posted this recipe before (am I already repeating myself after only 3 months?) so here goes: Simple Pork Tenderloin.

Growing up I really did not like pork chops. Maybe it was a texture thing, because I still avoid them when on a menu. Pork tenderloin, however, is a whole other animal. (A "wonderful, maaaaagical animal" according to Homer Simpson, a.k.a. actually the same animal, a la the Lisa is a Vegitarian episode.)
Pork tenderloin is exactly what it sounds like: the tender loin cut of the pig. It is juicy and velvety in texture, provided you don't "cook it to death" in fear of trichinosis. (A little pink is good, people.)
This is different  from "pork loin" which is a bigger cut of meat.
Here is how not to cook it to death.

Preheat your oven to 400º and set your pan on medium heat.
As ever, start with a couple crushed cloves of garlic in olive oil, and crushed dried rosemary. Maybe a tablespoon's worth. (Some day I will buy a mortar and pestle and not have to prick my fingers crushing dried rosemary.) Also, if you have fresh rosemary, use minced fresh. I just don't use the herb often enough to ever buy fresh.
When the oil is rippling, remove the garlic from the pan and add your seasoned ROOM TEMPERATURE pork tenderloin. I cannot stress enough: NEVER COOK COLD/CHILLED MEAT!

Sear your meat for about 6-7 minutes on the first side. (Make sure there is enough oil/fat in the pan so the meat does not stick, which is what happened to me, because I was using my nonstick fry pan for the peas.) After the first side has browned, flip your tenderloin, and place the pan in the 400º oven for another seven minutes. It should come out perfectly cooked and still slightly pink in the middle.

If one end of your tenderloin is narrower than the other, tuck that under the end so it does not overcook while the rest is cooking. The tenderloin I had here was fairly even in thickness throughout.

When your pork tenderloin comes out of the oven, let it rest to one side for about 7 more minutes, to let the juices redistribute. At this time, if you want to make a pan gravy, throw some diced onion/shallot into the pan that cooked the pork, sauté, add a little flour, cook 2 minutes, and deglaze with your liquid of choice. Just remember, that pan handle will be HOT so use a mitt or something when stirring, etc..

When your tenderloin is done cooking in the oven and resting, dice up a slice or two of prosciutto in a tablespoon of oil or so, in a non-stick pan. 

Once it has crisped and rendered for about 3 minutes, add your frozen peas, and about 3 tablespoons of water, and stir. Your peas should be done in about 3-4 minutes. About the same time your tenderloin has finished resting.

Hey look! A close-up of leftover horseradish-cream potatoes from Easter! I may be posting this a week later, but I promise I only cooked this a few days later. The potatoes were still viable, if a little over-onion-y. Waste not! I added a spoonful or two of  ricotta cheese before reheating the potatoes, to give them some sort of moisture and freshness, and kind of half-mashed them. May not be pretty, but it was tasty.

There we go! A shot of the pork. See how it is still a little pink in the middle there? Just a faint blush? THAT is how your pork should be cooked. Otherwise you're just eating tasteless hockey puck.

I do not understand people who eat their meat "well done". They should just call it "over done" because that is what it really is. If you eat your meat that way, just go vegetarian. Please? Don't do that to perfectly good meat. Clearly you don't like meat if you insist on treating it that poorly.

I will rant about that again and again in the future, I promise you.

You may notice that there is no sauce on my pork. That is because my pan gravy did not come out. Oh it was perfectly smooth and thick... I just did not like what I chose to deglaze the pan with.  What did I use? I foolishly used some leftover dry sherry (of Onion Soup glory) when I should have used something a bit sweeter. At least I was in the mood for something sweeter, so was not pleased with the outcome of my gravy.

Live and learn.

And go cook!