Pork Tenderloin with Fig Chutney

I had never cooked with fresh figs before this week. AHO definitely keeps me on my culinary toes. After tasting one, I thought I'd like to make a chutney to go over a pork tenderloin. Here's what I came up with.









Pork Tenderloin with Fig Chutney
Serves 4-6

2 pork tenderloins (~1 1/2 pounds each)
2 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, diced
2 pints fresh Kadota figs, diced
2 tsp honey
zest of half a lemon
3/4 cup port
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1 cinnamon stick
salt
pepper

Rub tenderloins with grill seasoning. Cook on a grill preheated to 425 degrees until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 162 degrees. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Meanwhile, melt butter with olive oil in a sauce pan over medium low heat. Add onions and garlic and sweat until translucent. Raise the temperature to medium high and add figs. Stir often until the figs begin to release the juice (about 1 minute). Add the honey, zest, port, chicken stock, allspice and cinnamon stick. Bring to a heavy simmer and let reduce, stirring occasionally, until the chutney coats the back of a spoon (about 20 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove cinnamon stick before serving chutney over pork.

*If you don't have port wine, you can substitute with 3/4 of dry red wine, a splash of brandy and an extra teaspoon of honey.

Ode to Mom & Chocolate Cake

Even though I don't have a recipe for it and I didn't make it, I had to post of picture of the birthday cake that my mom made. If I were to write a recipe for it, it'd have to be called Chocolate Coma Cake. I think she used 8 or 9 different chocolates. It was the richest, heaviest, most fabulously decadent cake I've ever had. We had a party of 10, everyone had a large slice and we were still had more than half of the cake left! Everyone LOVED it. I think it will be a new family tradition, as long as mom can remember how to replicate it!

Butternut Squash

Nothing reminds me more of fall than pumpkin and butternut squash. And since we've gotten a few butternut squash in our AHO box over the last few weeks I thought I'd dedicate a blog post to the ways I've used them. First, I made butternut squash risotto. I was very excited when I found a recipe from Everyday Food that didn't require the squash to be cooked before hand. Here's how it turned out.















Another favorite of ours is butternut squash soup. I used one butternut squash and one acorn squash in this Everyday Food recipe. I also added a little sage and topped it with sour cream.

White Peach Mojitos

Mojitos are always a favorite for us in the summer. They're a refreshing poolside drink that summer fruits only make better. In this case I used white peaches and peach rum.

White Peach Mojitos
Yield: 2 glasses

1 lime, cut into wedges
1 small white peach, cut into wedges
14 mint leaves
1 tbsp sugar
5 oz. peach flavored rum
1 can club soda

Distribute lime wedges, peach wedges, mint and sugar evenly between two highball glasses. Muddle until fruit has released most of its juice and all the mint leaves are bruised. Fill the glasses with ice, add rum and top with club soda. Gently stir and serve.

Curry Chicken Lettuce Wraps

So I've neglected my blog a bit over the summer. As a result, the exact recipe for these wraps has been lost. But the method is simple and they're really made "to taste" and with whatever vegetables you have laying around. The inspiration for lettuce wraps came from the abundance of lettuce that we receive in our abundant harvest box (pun intended). Salads can get a bit boring after a while, so I needed another way to use up all the lettuce.

For these wraps, I sweat onions and garlic in olive oil until soft. Then add green and red peppers, tomato, boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces), cumin, curry, salt and pepper. Saute until the chicken is cooked through. Add cooked couscous, adjust the seasoning and serve. This is a meal can be on the table in less than 20 minutes.