Fun with cooking

I recently decided that at least once a week I would try and make a new food item from either the recipes I have received or from one of my many cookbooks. I was telling Cyndy about this and she suggested I started with a pork dish because it's always good to have a recipe for pork that stays moist. So Tuesday night we had Rocky Mountain Pork from the Colorado Collage cookbook Matt and I received as a wedding gift.

Rocky Mountain Pork:
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
6 tablespoons honey
2 small shallots, peeled and halved
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
2 bay leaved, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
3 lbs pork tenderloin

mix everything but the pork in a food processor and puree. put into some sort of marinading vessel (i love big ziplock bags) and add pork. Marinade overnight (this is the key to the whole thing - get that flavor in there!)
the next day, preheat grill to medium high, reserve marinade and grill pork - turn frequently for ~ 20 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 170 degrees. I cooked it longer because my tenderloin was thick and I don't have a meat thermometer, so I wanted to be sure that it was done.
When the pork is done, remove and cover with foil to keep warm.... take the reserved liquid and boil in a saucepan until slightly reduced (5 minutes or so). Slice the pork and serve with the marinade drizzled over it.

My impressions:
It was delicious and moist. I was shocked at the flavor at first because I am used to pork having a more savory & sweet flavor, but this was tart from the lemon juice. I served Bok Choy and red potatoes mashed..... maybe if you had something sweet like salad with pears or apples in it to counteract the tartness from the marinade it would be perfect? You definitely could use a different type of meat instead of tenderloin - pork chops would work, chicken or if you were a vegetarian it would taste good with a bunch of vegetables stir fried. Also, you could half the recipe and only buy half the pork tenderloin too. I liked having mashed potatoes as a side because they soaked up some of the marinade, but I am sure rice or vegetables would work too.

In case you are wondering about Bok Choy - it's chinese cabbage and pretty easy too cook. Just cut it up into 1/2 inch strips and throw in a skillet with some oil and garlic. You should probably put the white stalks in first for a few minutes before adding the green leaves as to not overcook the leaves. Cook time is about 10 minutes.

Last night we had leftover pork, salad and I made quinoa salad too - quinoa, toasted pine nuts, dried cranberries, parsley, and a little olive oil and lemon juice. It wasn't bad, but could still use some tweaking on portions of each (that happens when you don't use a recipe). I'm thinking my G'ma would be pretty proud of me right now. UPDATE: the last couple days I have been warming this up and eating it for breakfast and it is GREAT - the dried cranberries are delicious!

Matt has said that he will cook dinner on his days off - tonight we are going to make eggplant parmesan together to get his feet wet. We didn't make it last night - will try again tonight!