January 2012 – Noon Café

Seattle woke up to quite a bit of snow today, which is a rare treat for us! It is so gorgeous and white outside of my window.

The snow inspired me to bake some muffins to warm up our kitchen and make the house cozy :). After several batches, these banana buttermilk muffins were our favorite. I used all whole-wheat pastry flour instead of mixing it with all-purpose flour. I think banana muffins can stand up well to the nuttier flavor of whole-wheat flour. Other than that, I followed the recipe pretty closely. They are tender from the buttermilk and nice and sweet from the ripe bananas I pulled out of our freezer. It will definitely be a good one to go with our morning coffee even after the snow melts :).

Banana Buttermilk Muffins

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma

1 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 cup well-mashed ripe banana

2 Tbs. canola oil

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Spray 12 standard muffin cups with canola-oil cooking spray, or use paper liners.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.

In another bowl or a large, glass measuring pitcher, whisk together the buttermilk, banana, oil, egg and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Do not over mix. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Sprinkle the tops evenly with the walnuts.

Bake the muffins until they are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn out onto the rack and let cool completely. The muffins will keep in a zippered plastic bag at room temperature for 2 or 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Makes 12 muffins.

Tonight, we had a special dinner for no particular reason other than it is Monday. That’s a reason to celebrate, right? Why not? 🙂 There is a little snow on the ground, it’s a cozy day to stay inside, and I saw an eagle flying over Lake Washington from my window. There are always reasons to celebrate, I think :).

I found a nice bottle of Greystone Cellars Chardonnay for half price at one of my favorite grocery stores called Grocery Outlet. They have many high quality and organic foods and wines for a fraction of the price. It’s always an adventure to see what they have in stock. My latest find was this wine from Napa Valley’s Culinary Institute of America, which I was very excited to discover. I stocked up since their inventory turns over quickly.

That wine inspired me to find a recipe from the Culinary Institute of America to pair with it. I decided it would go well with a pork tenderloin dish from Gourmet Meals in Minutes. I used less salt than the recipe called for, and I added a tad more honey for a slightly sweeter sauce. Just taste as you go to make it to your liking. I also cut the recipe in half since it was just my hubby and me tonight, but the recipe below serves 8. It was easy to put together, but it felt special. Perfect for a Monday!

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Honey Mustard Sauce

Adapted from Gourmet Meals in Minutes

3 pounds pork tenderloin

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons shallots, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

2 tablespoons honey

2 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons thyme, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/3 cups vegetable or chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Place a rack in a roasting pan, spray with nonstick spray, and place in oven. Remove any excess fat or silver skin from the tenderloin. Season with salt and pepper on all sides.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sear the tenderloin until it is golden brown on all sides, approximately 5 minutes. Remove the tenderloin and place it on the rack in the roasting pan. Roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 F. This will take approximately 15-20 minutes. (I use an oven safe kitchen thermometer with an alarm that tells me when the pork is up to temperature. It ensures I have perfectly cooked pork every time. Before I invested in this kind of thermometer, I must admit we had many dried out pork tenderloins! ;)).

While the tenderloin is roasting, return the sauté pan to medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook until warmed through. Add the mustard, honey, vinegar, thyme, chicken/vegetable broth and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until the mixture reduces to a sauce consistency. Keep warm.

Remove the tenderloins from the oven and let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Slice the roast and serve with the warm honey-mustard sauce.

PS. The lovely organic greens and carrots were also from Grocery Outlet 🙂

Snow Day = Muffin Day

Just because it’s Monday ~ Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Honey Mustard Sauce