December 13, 2015 Breakfast- Huevos Rancheros, Dinner – Roasted Pork Tenderloin Tapa, Sautéed Sweet Potatoes, and Grilled Artichokes

BhDecember 13, 2015 Breakfast- Huevos Rancheros, Dinner – Roasted Pork Tenderloin Tapa, Sautéed Sweet Potatoes, and Grilled Artichokes

Today we woke up seeing a blanket of snow covering everything.  Here is a picture from our front porch.  

We had a leisurely day, I watched the news programs and then we decided to make Huevos Rancheros with the PPI roasted potatoes and the red three chili salsa Suzette made last week.  Since we were going to make the Roasted Pork Tenderloin tapa for dinner and the recipe called for cutting the thin end of the tender off, I cut the thin ends off the two tenders I intended to use for the tapa dish, stored the cleaned and dried tenders in a freezer bag in the fridge, and diced the two end pieces of the tender into about a ½ cup of meat.  I also minced about 3 Tbsp. of onion.  Suzette sliced and sautéed in one large skillet with the remaining cup of Yukon Gold potatoes with the onions in olive oil and in another skillet cooked four eggs sunny  side up and toasted four corn tortillas.  When everything was hot and the eggs cooked Suzette constructed the dish, by laying two tortillas on each plate, then laying the meat and potato mixture on the tortillas, then laying the eggs on top of the meat and potatoes and finally ladling spoonfuls of salsa on top of the dish.  Here is a picture.

After a hardy breakfast, we moved beds and tables to rearrange the bedrooms for the anticipated arrival of Luke and Willy.  Willy called and we talked to him about his travel plans to Germany and Latvia for the Christmas Holiday and to Thailand with friends in January and February to study kickboxing.  We wished Willy a happy Holiday.

Then a little after noon Suzette told me that Cynthia and Ricardo we're hosting a pop up sale for Lena, an artist friend, who makes tie died hand painted silk scarves, so I grabbed a bottle of chilled Nassa Albariño and we drove to the Railyard for the Annual holiday Sale.  We saw lovely Hand blown glass Christmas decorations, but not much else of interest, except we bought a Bosque Bakery baguette to take to Cynthia and Ricardo’s house for the sale by Lena of her hand painted scarves.  We drove from the Railyard to Cynthia and Ricardo’s house and were welcomed by a dining room hung with dozens of colorfully painted silk scarves.   There were appetizers on the kitchen table including an olive medley and hummus and crackers and Brie cheese put together by Cynthia and a pot of hot apple cider and a bottle of home made spiced rum made by Lena, the artist.  

The apple cider was delicious and Cynthia soon brought us a slice of date nut bread she had made using her Mother’s recipe smeared with a thick layer of cream cheese.

I bought a scarf for Luke and Suzette picked out a scarf for her Christmas gift.  This is my favorite way to shop for Christmas.  I dislike going to big stores or the malls, but love seeing beautiful things in a casual atmosphere. 

After buying the scarves we admired some framed architectural designs on the wall of their office. Ricardo explained that they designs were made by a New York architect named Hedjuk, who he was an assistant to when he Ricardo attended Cooper Union in NYC.  Ricardo showed us a folio of designs published by Hedjuk that had been given to him by Hedjuk and then we talked to Ricardo and Cynthia in their living room until Suzette became tired and after inviting them to dinner, we said goodbye and went home to nap.  After a nap, I took a shower and at around 5:30 we began cooking dinner.  I sliced two apples and one large onion into slices and then cut the two pork tenders into twelve 2 inch long pieces for the pork dish.  Then I cut the previously boiled artichokes into halves so they could be grilled.  Suzette peeled and sliced the PPI sweet potatoes into slices lengthwise, so they could be sauteed in butter.  I went to the garden and picked a large handful of oregano sprigs and cleaned them, while Suzette sautéed the onions and then the apples in the long French copper sauté pan.

Cynthia and Ricardo arrived a little after 6:00 with guacamole and chips, the rest of the French olive medley, and the rest of the brie from the party and sesame crackers, a bottle of Cravit Pinot Grigio and a large wedge of date loaf and cream cheese.

Cynthia set up the appetizers on the Texas cutting board and took it to the TV room table while Suzette and I cooked.  

When the apples and onions were softened, Suzette added the pork tenderloin pieces and garnished the pan with sprigs of fresh oregano and placed the pan into a 300 degree oven to roast.  She then sautéed  the sweet potatoes until browned and grilled the artichokes on the grill while I made a mayonnaise, lemon juice, yogurt and herb dipping sauces for the artichokes. 

We then sat for a few minutes and ate appetizers and talked with Cynthia and Ricardo, while Suzette ran from the grill to the kitchen to check the progress of the dinner during the 20 minutes that she roasted the pork dish.  After 20 minutes I made a cup of chicken stock and fetched the bottle of Spanish Pedro Dominguez brandy.  When Suzette removed the pan from the oven I poured a little more than ½ cup of chicken stock into the pan and then we lit two burners and reduced the stock and cooking liquids to a light sauce.  Then we added about ¼ cup of brandy and we lit the brandy and everyone watched the pan burst into flames.  Then Suzette fetched the artichokes and plated plated ps with sweet potatoes and two pieces of pork tender and two halves of grilled artichokes and I ladled apples and onions and sauce over the pork and opened a bottle of La Granja Spanish Rioja blend of Tempranillo and Grenache (Trader Joe's $4.99) and we were ready to eat.

   The Love Birds

  The wine

The pork was cooked perfectly to pink in the center at about 170 degrees.  The sautéed sweet potatoes had slightly caramelized an developed a crunchy edge that was delicious.  The artichokes wer a little tough on the outer leaves but the inner leaves and heart that had faced the flame were soft and wonderfully flavorful, having been soaked in olive oil before grilling.  

We ate and drank and talked until 8:30 when Cynthia became tired from her two days spent cleaning her house and cooking and shopping for the sale.

We were ready to get into bed also after Suzette showed me the three finished bedrooms that we had rearranged and she had completed with fresh bedding and had hung the extra art we had taken down during the remodel. I thanked her for completing the restoration of the three bedrooms, which are finally organized and look wonderful.

Bon Appetit