Before we left home for our September trailer trip, I found this recipe on the lacremedelacrumb.com site and decided I would serve pork tenderloin prepared this way for one of the dinners we would be serving to Andy’s sister Katie and her husband Rick. We share dinner making when we travel together, so both Katie or I get a night off from meal planning and preparation. (Works great. You should try it if you too RV with others.) Anyway, I made sure I had all the ingredients I would need with me in the trailer. When it came time for the great pork tenderloin adventure, I prepared the marinade and allowed my pork tenderloins to enjoy a cold dip safely tucked away in our trailer refrigerator. Then at the appropriate time Mr. C. fired up the grill, and complete with instant internal temperature thermometer in hand, proceeded to make short work of grilling the tenderloin to perfection. Well, almost to perfection.

The meat was slightly overcooked, but it was not Mr. C’s or the thermometer’s fault. I had instructed the man behind the grill to cook the pork to 145-degrees. Which BTW, if you do a random search regarding the right internal temperature to insure medium-rare pork you will find that 145-degrees is the most common temperature quoted. That is until you come across Alex Delany’s December 18,2017 article entitled “This is the Secret to juicy pork chops, tenderloin, and more” in Bon Appétit. An excerpt from Mr. Delany’s article states “Pork should be cooked medium to medium-rare. Like steak. Like salmon. Like all the best stuff. Now, we pull pork from the heat at 135° and let the temperature rise to 145° as it rests, landing it right in the sweet spot: perfectly pink and USDA approved. (Yeah, the USDA changed its standards too.)”

So, from now on, I will be cooking pork to 135-degrees and then tenting it for about 7-10 minutes (depending on the thickness of the meat) before serving. (The tenting process helps keep the meat warm while it continues to cook and gives the juices enough time to re-absorb.)

But even being moderately overcooked, the pork was still delicious. The marinade had been extremely easy to put together and had given the pork a subtle savory flavor that was enjoyed by all.

So, if you too enjoy pork tenderloin but don’t want to spend a lot of time getting it ready for the grill, this is the recipe for you. Simple ingredients, readily available, and reasonably inexpensive. A magic combination if there ever was one!

Mr. C. has a gig which I will be attending tonight at the Rockfish Grill in Anacortes. That means I don’t have to cook dinner. And as much as I enjoy rattling pots and pans in the kitchen, I also delight in a night off occasionally. So, I’m going to allow someone else to cook for me tonight. And clean off the table and do the dishes. While all the while listening to great jazz. Life just doesn’t get much better, I’m telling you true. And if you cook your pork this way, life isn’t going to get much better for you either.

And as always, peace and love to all.   

An unpaid political announcement: Please don’t forget to vote. And please vote like your kids, grandkids, great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews’ future quality of life depends upon the outcome of the election. Because unfortunately, that just happens to be the case. At least, that’s the way it appears to me. So, please vote for peace, love, and understanding. Not hate, misinformation, and conspiracy theories.

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

juice of ½ lemon

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. honey

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 tsp. Italian seasoning  

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper 

2 sm. pork tenderloin, all fat and silver skin removed, then patted dry 

Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl.

Pour 3/4ths of the mixture into a large Ziploc bag along with the tenderloins. Smoosh everything together until the meat is coated with marinade. Press out excess air, seal the bag, and chill for 1-2 hours. Or longer if you have the time.

Preheat grill to medium and oil the grates.

Using tongs, transfer pork to the grill. (Discard the marinade in the bag.) Brush the top side of each tenderloin with some of the remaining marinade. Close the grill lid and cook turning every few minutes to ensure even cooking. Brush the meat with more marinade every time you turn it.

The meat is ready to come off the grill when the internal temperature reaches 135-degrees.

Remove from grill and transfer to a cutting board. Loosely tent the meat with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

I always know when fall has officially arrived because bell peppers go on sale. And because I am who I am, I simply can’t pass by these big beauties without taking a couple four home with me. And although I like stuffed red, yellow, and orange peppers, my favorite is still stuffed green bell peppers. Blame my parents if blame must be assigned. Because they always stuffed green peppers. Of course, there were no red, orange, or yellow bell peppers to be had when I was a kid. Or at least in my childhood grocery shopping memory, there were not an array of colored bell peppers from which to choose. If you wanted a bell pepper, it was green. Period!

But from the first time I can remember stuffed peppers, I liked them. But then, I preferred green onions to ice cream when I was barely walking. (Or so I was told!) So, as the saying goes, there is no accounting for taste.

But as an adult, I still adore stuffed peppers. And often times, what I stuff them with is what I happen to have on hand. In this case, I can attribute this recipe to us bringing home all the non-perishables from our trailer before we take it in for winterization. I had exactly ¼ cup of a rice mixture left in one of our trailer storage containers. (Why I didn’t use that last ¼ cup in the trailer when last I made rice, I will never fathom. But then, there are lots of things about myself that I have yet to understand. So, why should a simple thing like a quarter cup of unused rice be any different? But I digress…….)

Anyway, the rice along with a half-pound of bulk Italian sausage that was languishing in our freezer, and a lone home-grown tomato that desperately needed to be eaten, all contributed to this thrown together recipe. But somehow, it worked. Also, you will notice from the picture that I used 2 red bell peppers. That’s what I had on hand. And they tasted fine. But, next time, I will make this recipe with green bell peppers. I simply like the bite from green bell peppers better. But it’s all a matter of taste, so don’t let me dictate which bell peppers you should use. Use whichever you prefer. Just make the darn things. They are easy to prepare, quite economical, and taste divine. And bake potatoes to go along with the peppers. Add a simple salad or steamed veggie and dinner is on the table. Very little fuss required. And fairly healthy too. And isn’t that we are all after these days.

So, for today, my work here is done. I’ve given you a recipe for a simple, healthy entrée. The ball is now in your court.

Peace and love to all.  

¼ c. rice (I used a rice mixture)

½ c. chicken broth

2 green bell peppers (or red, orange, or yellow if you must)

2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

½ lb. bulk Italian sausage

¼ yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

½ c. diced tomato, fresh or canned

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp. fennel seeds

¼ tsp. dried oregano

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 c. grated cheese (Mozzarella, Jack, cheddar, etc.), divided   

Place the rice and broth in a covered saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, leave covered, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender but still has some bite. (Most of the broth will be absorbed at this point.) Remove from heat and let sit uncovered until needed.

Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise. Discard the ribs and seeds. Place in a lightly greased shallow baking pan, preferably one with a lid. (If you don’t have a pan with a lid, you can cover the pan with aluminum foil after you have placed the peppers into the pan.)

Heat the olive oil in a large fry pan. And the sausage and crumble as it cooks until it’s nicely browned. Add the onion and cook until the onion is starting to soften. Add the garlic. Cook for one minute. 

Add the diced tomato. Cook until no liquid remains.

Add the salt, black pepper, fennel seeds, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, and cooked rice. Stir to blend all the ingredients.

Remove from heat and stir in half of the cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings. Stuff the half peppers with sausage mixture, dividing equally and gently packing the mixture down.

Bake covered in a preheated 375-degree oven for 60 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Remove from oven, remove lid, and add the remaining cheese on top of the peppers. Return the pan uncovered to the oven. Bake for a few minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve hot out of the oven.

When we decided yesterday morning to grill pork chops for dinner, I immediately looked for a brine recipe especially designed for chops that were going to be cooked on a grill. Made sense at the time and now that we dined on perfect chops last evening, it makes even more sense. Because these were the best pork chops to ever come off our grill.

Now I know a lot had to due with the chops themselves. Because unbeknownst to me, I had lucked out the day I went to our local QFC for meat. Not only was I fortunate to pick out chops from a Berkshire pig (read all about these darlings below), but they were on sale that day. So, ultra-thick, bone in chops that were usually $12.99 a pound, were reduced to $5.99 a pound. So, instead of spending $23.38, I only had to fork over $10.78 for 1.80 pounds of pure deliciousness. So, bottom line, the quality of the pork chops had a lot to do with what came off our grill. But the brine put the entire dining experience over the top.

I found this simple recipe on the shutterandmint.com site, and I will never use another brine recipe for grilled pork chops again. The flavor was subtle, but very tasty. And the brine had been a snap to put together. No fancy ingredients. Just basic items I always have on hand.

So, if you too love a great pork chop, thick chops from a Berkshire pig and this brine recipe are a winning combination.

Well, it’s hot today. So, we are staying in our nice, air-conditioned home and letting the world drift by as it is wont to do. Nothing would be gained from either one of us suffering from a heat stroke or allowing ourselves to be terribly burned by working in the sun. So, being a bit idle is the wiser choice for us today. That being said, it’s probably time for me to start prepping for dinner. Mr. C. has a rehearsal tonight, so dinner has to be on the table by 5:30. And since I am preparing 2 new recipes for tonight’s repast, it will take me a little longer than say, slamming a slice of bologna between to pieces of bread, to get myself organized and dinner on the table in a timely manner.

So, wish me luck with my two new culinary experiments. If they work, you will be seeing them in print within the next couple of days.

As always, peace and love to all. And do try to find Berkshire pork. I promise it will be well worth your effort and expense.  

And sorry about no picture. I will add one next time I make these chops.

1 c. cold water

3 T. apple cider vinegar 

¼ c. brown sugar 

¼ c. coarse sea salt (preferably not iodized)

coarsely ground black pepper 

3 garlic cloves, thickly sliced 

1-2 fresh thyme sprigs or ½ tsp. dry thyme

2 very thick (over an inch) pork chops (from a Berkshire pig*, if possible)

In a large bowl, whisk together the cold water, vinegar, brown sugar, coarse sea salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme. Place the pork chops in a gallon size freezer bag and pour in the brine. Place bag in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or up to 12 hours. (I brined mine for 6 hours and that was about perfect.)

When you’re ready to grill the chops, take them out of the brine (don’t rinse them!) and pat them dry. Discard the brine. BBQ until the internal temperature of each chop reaches 145-degrees.

Remove from grill and let rest for about 4 minutes before serving.

Hint from Mr. C: turn the chops every 2 minutes and remove them from the grill when you take their temperature. He cooked our chops for a total of 7 minutes on about a 425-degree heat.

*Berkshire pork looks and tastes like no other pork meat. Unlike commodity pork or “The Other White Meat”, Berkshire pork is visibly different. It has a darker, richer color with an abundance of intramuscular marbling, comparing it favorably to prime beef. The flavor is distinctive with an unparalleled tenderness for pork. It is thought by many to be the Kobe beef of pork.

I found the pork chops we enjoyed last evening at the meat counter in the Stanwood QFC. The pork chops were labeled “Berkshire free range prime pork rib chops bone in”. And they were cut almost 1½ inches thick. Perfect for the grill.

I would definitely recommend you give Berkshire pork a try.