Stuffed Pork Tenderloin over Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Once again, the nice folks at the Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission asked to sponsor a post here on Cookistry, and of course I said yes. I love berries, and I like to have frozen ones on hand for smoothies or for cooking.

In season, fresh berries are a wonderful thing. But they're also very perishable. Frozen berries are great year-round, and I can use a few or a lot and not worry about having the rest go bad before I get to them.

Raspberries are actually one of my favorite berries, but I'm sort of a weirdo since I like them better cooked, juiced, macerated or otherwise manipulated than I like them fresh and raw. Yep, I'm odd.


I decided to use the berries two ways - or three, if we want to count the garnish.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin over Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

For the raspberry vinaigrette:
Frozen Oregon raspberries, to fill small jar
Cider vinegar, as needed
Olive oil
Salt, as needed

For the pork:
1 cup frozen Oregon raspberries
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 pork tenderloins

To make the raspberry vinaigrette:
Fill a small jar with frozen raspberries and add cider vinegar to fill. You can leave this at room temperature for a few hours, if you need it quickly. If you're planning ahead, refrigerate until needed - you'll have more raspberry flavor if you let it sit for a day or so.

When you're ready to make the salad dressing, combine 1 part vinegar with 2-3 parts olive oil, to taste. For example, 1 tablespoon of vinegar with 2 or three tablespoons olive oil. Add a pinch of salt, to taste, and whisk to emulsify. You can also combine the oil and vinegar in a small jar and shake it. Taste and add more salt, if needed. If you like a sweeter dressing, add sugar or honey to taste.

Serve this over fresh salad greens. Garnish with some thawed frozen berries, if desired.

To make the pork:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and have a baking sheet standing by.

Put the berries, along with about 1/4 cup of water, in a small saucepan. Heat on medium-low heat, stirring as needed, until the berries have fallen apart. Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Set the sauce aside.

Put the butter in a saute pan and heat on medium until melted. Add the onion, apple, and salt. Cook, stirring as needed, until the onions are softened and translucent. Add the raspberry sauce, and stir to combine. Cook until the mixture is jammy rather than saucy. Add the thyme and give it one more stir.

If the tenderloins have any silverskin, remove it, then butterfly the meat and pound it flat. The thinner the meat is, the more of a spiral you'll have with the filling. You don't want to pound so thin that the meat will tear and shred, though.

Spread half of the filling on each tenderloin and roll each one up, jellyroll-style. You can fasten the seam with toothpicks, tie the rolls with kitchen twine at intervals, or just very carefully lift the rolls and place them on a baking sheet.

Roast the tenderloins at 375 degrees, until done to your likeness. I prefer tenderloins at 140 degrees, which takes about 30 minutes.

Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving with salad greens drizzled with the raspberry vinaigrette. Garnish with a few berries, if desired.

Thanks to the Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission for sponsoring this post! Oregon brands of frozen berries include Stahlbush Island Farms, Scenic Fruit, Columbia Fruit, and Willamette Valley Fruit Company.

Yum

Raspberry Vinaigrette

A while back, the Oregon Raspberry Blackberry Commission contacted me about writing a post about their berries. Specifically frozen berries.

I made a few recipes and they were good, but for one reason or another, I didn't want to post them. Sometimes the photos didn't work out, and other times I wanted to tweak the recipes further.

I set the berry cooking aside for a while, even though I had more berries in the freezer. I knew I'd get back to them eventually, because frozen berries are so versatile. They're great when berry season is over, but they're handy to have, even during berry season.

See, when you buy fresh berries, you really need to use them pretty quickly. If you shop on the weekend, but you're planning on using the berries on Wednesday or Thursday, you're probably going to need to sort through the berries to pick out the bad ones. It's best to buy them and use them in a day or two.

But that's not always practical. I don't live horribly far from a grocery store, but I still don't want to drive there more often than I have to.

Unlike fresh berries, frozen berries are just as good a week or a month later, as long as you keep them safely frozen. And they're always there when you decide to make something on a whim. No need to run to the store and hope that the berries are looking good.

So anyway, I finally grabbed some frozen raspberries (Stalbush Island Farms is an Oregon brand, by the way) and made a very tasty vinaigrette.

Since this vinaigrette includes both the juice and pulp of the berries, it's pretty thick. Which means you don't need a lot of oil - which is what makes the emulsion with the acidic component in a normal vinaigrette. A little oil is used to add the richness and savory flavor, though.

This is amazing on salads, and wonderful drizzled on vegetables. It would also be a lovely glaze on chicken or pork. You could use it as a marinade.

I'm pretty sure you will think of plenty of other uses after you make it. It's really versatile.

The easiest way to get separate juice and pulp from berry seeds is to let the berries thaw and then let a juicer do the work for you. If you don't have a juicer, you can use a blender to break them down a bit, then pass them through a fine-mesh strainer to get rid of the seeds.

You could also use a food mill to mash the berries and get rid of the seeds.

Some folks don't mind the seeds, but I don't care for them. If you like seeds, leave them in.

I used red raspberries, because I wanted the bright color. You could certainly use black raspberries, or a berry mix.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

4 ounces red raspberry juice and pulp (extracted from 8 ounces frozen Oregon berries)
2 ounces red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon prepared brown mustard
2 ounces olive oil

Combine all the ingredients in a jar (I used a dressing shaker with a handy pouring spout, but you can use a jar with a lid) and shake to combine.

Taste for seasoning, and add more salt, sugar, or red wine vinegar to adjust it to your taste.

If it's too thick to pour, you can add a little water to thin it out.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate until needed.

This was particularly good on asparagus along with a basil mayo drizzle. it sounds like an unlikely combination, but it was really really (really) good.

Thanks to the Oregon Raspberry Blackberry Commission for sponsoring this post!

Yum

Rum Raspberry Tart #ChristmasWeek

Welcome to Day Two of Christmas Week. This event is hosted by Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic and Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen. We hope to inspire you to break out those holiday sprinkles and get your bake on!

The holidays are crazy hectic for all of us, but for someone like me who feels compelled to make everything from scratch, it can turn into a giant mushroom cloud of insanity.

I still have vivid memories of the holiday dinner when I had a near-meltdown a couple hours before company arrived. I figured out what had to be done before they showed up and my timeline said that I'd be done vacuuming and setting the table two hours after they arrived.

That was also the first year I bought a bagged salad and brought home a cake from a charity auction. I felt so guilty about that cake, but after the guest had gone, I realized that if I had taken the time to bake, frost, and decorate a cake, I might have been eating dinner in a straightjacket.

Since then, I've decided that it's important to pick one's battles, and if someone sends me a box of gloriously delicious cookies, it's perfectly find to plate those up. I don't need to churn my own butter, make my own cheese or bake my own brea - uh, wait a minute. I do bake my own bread. Never mind on that one.

This recipe speaks to all of us who are flat out of time. Many years, I make a rum cake for the holidays, so I had to add rum to this dessert. While it starts with a mix, it's gussied up just a little bit for the season.

And, best of all, it's quick, easy, and can be made well ahead of time.

While this has enough rum to add a hint of flavor, it's not enough rum to get anyone tipsy, and the filling bakes, so you're going to burn off alcohol in that process, anyway. If you want to make this an adult-only dessert, use some rum for the glaze instead of just water.

As for that pearl sugar, if you can't find it locally, it's available online from a number of sources. It's a round white puffed sugar that's often used for decorating pastries. It doesn't melt or brown when baked, and keeps its bright white color.

Rum Raspberry Tart

1 box Krusteaz Raspberry Bar mix
1 stick of butter, melted
1 tablespoon rum
1 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt.
5-10 drops green food coloring (optional)
3-4 teaspoons water
1 tablespoon pearl sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and have a 9-inch square tart pan with a removable bottom standing by.

Mix the flour portion of the bar mix with the melted butter, just until all the flour is moistened. Put about 3/4 of the mix into the tart pan, pressing it into the bottom. If you have enough to go a little above the sides, that's great. It seems thin, but it will puff.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, until the edges are just barely brown.

Meanwhile, mix the rum with the raspberry filling from the bar mix.

When the 15 minutes are up, remove the baked tart shell from the oven and spread the raspberry filling over the top of the tart. You can leave the outer edge uncovered, if you like, but it will likely spread that far during baking, anyway.

Use a fork to break the remaining dough into crumbles and sprinkle on top of the raspberry filling. You won't have enough to cover the filling - just scatter it randomly across the top.

Return the tart to the 350 degree oven and bake until the top crumbs are turning golden and the raspberry filling is bubbling around the edges.

Remove the tart from the oven and let it cool on a rack. As soon as it's cool enough to handle, remove the tart from the pan. Leave it on its bottom at this point - we just want to remove it from its ring. If you wait to remove it until it's completely cool, any raspberry filling touching the rim of the pan will be really sticky.

Let the tart cool completely on the rack.

Meanwhile, mix the powdered sugar with the salt. Add about half of the drops of green food coloring, if you're using it. Add the water, a teaspoon at a time and mix. If you like, you can substitute rum for some of the water. Continue adding water to the mixture until it's a thick, but easily pourable consistency. Add more green food coloring if you prefer a darker shade, but keep in mind that most food colorings don't taste great, and the drizzle will darken a little bit as it dries.

When the tart is completely cooled, drizzle with the green icing, then sprinkle with the pearl sugar.

Slice into squares to serve.

 More about CHRISTMAS WEEK!!!

Swing by all the participants to see what they've been whipping up for the holidays:

• One 5 piece set of Anolon Bakeware Set
• Two Sets of Ball Heritage Collection Quart Jars (each set includes 6 jars)
• Two Sets of Ball Heritage Collection Pint Jars (each set includes 6 jars)
• One Set of 1 Dozen Assorted Cookie Sampler Box from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen Bake Shop
• Two Sets of Brownie Brittle Snack Sampler (each set includes One 5-ounce bag of each flavor)

Plus 1 Copy of each of these cookbooks:

• One Autographed Copy of Make Ahead Bread by Donna Currie
• One Copy of The Mixer Bible by Meredith Deeds
• One Copy of 175 Best Babycakes Cake Pop Recipes by Kathy Moore and Roxanne Wyss
• One Copy of 175 Best Mini Pie Recipes by Julie-Anne Hession
• One Copy of The 250 Best Brownies, Bars & Squares by Ester Brody
• One Copy of Oatrageous Oatmeals by Kathy Hester
• One Copy of Adventures in Comfort Food by Kerry Alteiro
• One Copy of Food Truck Road Trip by Kim Pham
• One Copy of Decadent Gluten-Free Vegan Baking by Cara Reed
• One Copy of 100 Juices, Smoothies and Healthy Snacks by Emily von Euw
• One Copy of CopyKat coms Dining Out at Home Cookbook Recipes by Stephanie Manley
• One Copy of Copykat.com's Dining Out At Home Cookbook 2 by Stephanie Manley

Giveaway is OVER.

I was not provided product or incentive for participating in this event.

Yum

Mocha-Nana-Smoothie - it's lighter than you think #lighticedcoffee

This drink reminds me of a lovely cocktail served onboard a cruise ship ... ah, I can remember the tropical breezes. And the sunburn. Ouch.

That on-board cocktail was only served poolside, because that's where the ice cream drinks were made. Yup, it was almost a milkshake. Thick, rich ... and it required quite a few laps around the deck to work off.

This one is much lighter since it's not made with ice cream, and the light iced coffee has fewer calories than the original version. Good deal, right?

If you wanted to, you could make this a more adult beverage with the addition of some coffee or chocolate liqueur, and maybe even serve it in pretty cocktail glasses for an after-dinner treat. But as it is, it's a great morning smoothie or an afternoon refresher.

Have you ever made a smoothie and wondered why you end up with chunks of ice, no matter how long you blend it? The trick to getting a smooth smoothie using ice cubes is to blend the ice cubes first, all alone - then add the liquid and other ingredients. If the ice comes to the party last, you're more likely to end up with bits and chunks of ice, rather than a smooth, thick drink.

I thought this was perfect with the mocha-flavored iced coffee, but the vanilla would be just as nice.

Mocha-Nana Smoothie

1 cup ice
1 cup International Delights Mocha Light Iced Coffee
1 banana, peeled and cut in chunks

Place the ice cubes in your blender and blend until you have "snow."

Add the banana and International Delights Iced Coffee and blend until the banana is obliterated and the mixture is smooth and frothy.

Serve immediately. A straw would be appropriate. Little paper umbrella isn't required.

With fewer calories and less sugar, International Delight Light Iced Coffee lets you enjoy MORE of what you love! For more fun ways to break up your day, visit ID's new online games today for a chance to win sweet prizes and coupons to use on your next purchase.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

Yum