Tis the season for food bloggers to post crazy. It seems that even those bloggers that normally only post a few times a month churn out tons of posts between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And who can blame them. The season is made for cooking…and eating. There are posts on making cookies, making candies, creating holiday themed cocktails or cooking up snacks and appetizers for holiday parties. And while there are also lots of wonderful posts on creating memorial Christmas meals for the whole family there seems to be a lack of posts concerning those who aren’t spending the holidays with extended family but still would like to cook a nice meal.

That is exactly what we are doing this year. It will just be me, my wife and my daughter. While we have family only a short distance away (1 1/2 hours) we decided it would be nice just to spend a holiday with just “us”, something we’ve only done once before with our daughter. I will miss the hustle and bustle of an extended family Christmas, but it will give us a chance to make some of our own traditions and, as Christmas approaches, I find myself relishing the idea of quite, low key Christmas with just the 3 of us.

But that means no huge, roasted Turkey, Crown Roast of Pork, or Rib of Beef. Instead we are thinking smaller. Pork Tenderloin fits that bill perfectly. They normally weigh in about 1 1/2 – 2 pounds, just the right amount for a meal for 2-4 people. And better yet, they don’t take very long to cook-less than 1 hour, start to finish, including prep time. Accompanied by a dried fruit relish or chutney (look for a recipe with a twist on Cranberry relish later this week), creamy brasied cabbage and roasted root vegetables, you have the makings of a simple, yet elegant Christmas dinner that doesn’t have you spending hours in the kitchen (not a bad thing when you are cooking for a crowd, but it can be tedious when cooking for just a few people). Make the meal special by serving a nice bottle of American Pinot Noir or ratchet up the festive level and serve one of my favorite Champagnes, Billecart Salmon Rose. It will run you about $80-90, but it’s well worth it, and besides, it’s Christmas.

While I’m crusting pork in this recipe, the same procedure works just as well with lamb or chicken breasts. In fact, I think the first time I made this it was to crust Rack of Lamb at one of the first high end restaurants I ever worked at. Yes, this recipe is pretty traditional. It surely won’t win any awards for creativity or trendiness, but there is a reason the classics are classics. It’s because they work. Enjoy!!

Mustard Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin
serves 2-4

1 1/2 – 2 pounds pork tenderloin
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 1/2 Tbl. rosemary, fresh, finely chopped
1 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
3-4 Tbl. Dijon mustard
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbl. vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place a skillet over high heat. Meanwhile generously season the pork tenderloin with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the pan and when hot add the pork tenderloin. While the pork is cooking combine the bread crumbs, rosemary, garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper. Cook the tenderloin until it is seared on all sides.

Once seared on all sides remove pork from pan and pat dry to remove excess oil. Liberally coat the entire tenderloin with Dijon mustard, brushing it on with a pastry brush.

Then roll in the bread crumb mixture to crust all sides of the pork.

Place on a pan and roast, in the oven to an internal temperature of 140°F. Once the pork reaches 140°F remove from the oven, loosely tent with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 8-10 minutes. This will leave you with pork that is still a little pink inside. Personally I like it this way and am loathe to return to the days when pork was cooked until grey, dry and lifeless, but if you are squeamish about pink pork then cook it to 150-155°F, but remember this is pork tenderloin and not very fatty. Cook it too far and you will have a dry tough piece of meat on your hands.

After resting, cut the pork into slices about 1/4″ thick and serve.

It’s been a long, hard couple of weeks the last few weeks. Work has been difficult as I’ve had supervisor out sick so I’ve been covering her shift, along with all of my work. It finally culminated on Friday when I had to let go of one of my supervisors. While normally I have no problems firing someone (because most often it has been because they weren’t doing the job and I have no tolerance for that kind of thing) this one was different as she had been doing a good job. Unfortunately, a drop in revenue made it necessary to eliminate a position. While the rational side of me knows I had no choice as I had to do what was best for the company, and for my remaining staff (if I didn’t lay off one then they would all have had to go to part time) the emotional side of me was wrecked over this difficult task. Unfortunately, this scenario has been playing out way too often in the recent years. Too many people I know have lost jobs due to downsizing or loss of revenue. I feel lucky that I still have a job, but my heart goes out to the many that have been unemployed for months and months. It is my hope that our elected officals can come together, put their petty partisan politics aside and come up with a solution to help the economy and the American people get back on their feet.

While I could go on and on about politics and the crappy weeks I’ve had, that’s not what you are here for so I should probably bring it back around to food. In my last post I promised a number of beet inspired dishes so today’s offering is a wonderful Autumn time side dish, Roasted Beets. Add to those beets some onion and a few cloves of garlic and you have a dish that delights both the sense of taste and smell.

While this recipe works well with red beets, I prefer to use golden, Chioggia, or candy stripe beets. These beets tend to bleed off less color than your standard red beets, keeping the onions and garlic from taking on a pinkish hue. If that doesn’t bother you or you can’t find anything other than red beets go ahead and use the red.

Roasted Beets with Garlic and Onions
serves 4

2 pounds beets (I used a mixture of golden and Chioggia beets)
1 large onion
8-12 cloves garlic
3-4 small sprigs rosemary
3 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil
salt
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Peel the beets and cut into 1-1 1/2 inch cubes. Place in a baking dish. Peel the cloves of garlic and place in a bowl. Peel the onion and cut into bite sized wedges and add to the garlic. Add the olive oil to the garlic and onions and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper then pour over the beets. Add the sprigs of rosemary to the baking dish then cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake. After 45 minutes minutes remove the foil, increase the temperature to 400°F and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender and slightly browned (approximately another 20-30 minutes). Serve immediately.

It’s the first week of March and the weather has taken a decided turn towards spring here in Wisconsin. What that means exactly is that the thermometer has finally risen above freezing. I’m not getting my hopes too high yet, as there is still a very good chance for, at least, 1 or 2 more good snows, and even the possibility of a late winter, early spring blizzard, but there’s something in the air. I can feel it, and it is Spring.

If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m not one of these people that hates winter. In fact, I rather enjoy winter, though there are things about it I don’t like, such as driving 30 minutes to work on snow covered roads. I’m someone who loves all the seasons, although I have to admit that fall is by far my favorite. For me, autumn is the only season with no drawbacks. Winter, spring, and summer all have their positives, but they also have their downsides. Spring is starts off muddy, rainy and dreary, Summer can get too hot and humid, while Winter can get too cold and the snow can be a danger, at times, but I wouldn’t give up any of them.

I always look forward to the change in seasons and this year, I have to admit, I”m really ready for spring. It’s a gamble though, in Wisconsin, as to when spring will really arrive. Some years it can be as early as mid March and in others as late as late April or early May. It’s always a crap shoot, but I’m hoping for an early spring this year.

Today’s dish is a quick pasta, that can pretty much be done in the time it takes to bring water to a boil and cook your pasta. Something you’ll hear from me quite often is that good food doesn’t always have to take lots of time. Don’t worry, I’m not turning Rachel Ray on you, but I do think that there are plenty of wonderful dishes out there that take very little time.

This pasta, while short on cooking time, doesn’t skimp on flavor. Paired with a salad, some garlic bread and a glass of wine, this dish is a perfect late winter dinner, both when time is short and when you want to impress.

Farfalle with Red Chard and Chicken
-the amounts are for 1 serving, but this dish easily scales to just about any number of servings

4 oz. farfalle pasta
6 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast
2-3 oz. Cremini mushrooms
1 cup chard (swiss, red, rainbow your choice)
1/2 shallot
1 clove garlic
3/4 Tbsp. rosemary, fresh
1/4 cup white wine
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated
salt
pepper

Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, mince the garlic and the shallot. Chop and rinse the chard, stems included and finely chop the rosemary. Add the pasta to the boiling water. Preheat a large skillet and add the olive oil. While the skillet is heating dice the chicken breast. Add to the hot skillet and season. While chicken is cooking slice the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms when the chicken is 3/4s of the way done. Saute until the mushrooms start to wilt then add the garlic and shallots. Continue to saute for 4 minutes longer then add the chard. Toss a couple of times then add the wine and rosemary. When pasta is done (about 11 minutes cooking time depending on brand) drain, reserving a couple of tablespoons of cooking water. Add pasta to the skillet,then add the butter and parmesan. Remove from heat and toss and stir until the butter and parmesan have melted into the remaining liquid to make a smooth creamy sauce. The pasta should be lightly coated with the sauce. If a little too dry add a tablespoon or 2 of the pasta cooking liquid. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.