You know how I love meat and fish. If you didnt already know that, I am telling you now… I love meat and fish and all things in between. Often times I love having a little chutney on the side to eat with the meat or fish of choice. I was inspired on Sunday when I was over at Nanny zesty’s and had some oven roasted pork loin with a homemade cranberry sauce/chutney.

I remember I had made this chutney a while ago and never featured it on zesty for some odd reason. As I was looking through all my folders of images I stumbled upon this one and knew I had to share. Now before you get too excited or grossed out – depending on your taste buds you have to give this a try.

Whether it be roasted turkey, halibut, pork, on top of your hamburger this will add a dimension of flavor and texture that you will be craving for.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. fresh cranberries
• 2 Cups fresh cherries, pitted
• 1 Cup sugar
• 1/2 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup golden raisins
• 2 Tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 Tsp. ground ginger
• 1 1/2 Tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 Tsp. ground allspice
• 1 Cup water
• 1 Cup chopped onion
• 1 Cup chopped cooking apple
• 1/2 Cup chopped celery

Method

1. Combine first 10 ingredients in a Dutch oven.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until juice is released from cranberries, about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients.
4. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until thickened; stirring occasionally.
5. Chill before serving or serve hot.
6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Chutney will keep in refrigerator in airtight container for up to 2 weeks. This goes great on sandwiches as well in place of mayo or mustard.

One other thing that I forgot to mention.  If you love a little spice, red pepper flakes or chili powder work very well in this to give it a punch of heat.  I am heading to the office so have a great Wednesday and I will talk to you on Friday.

I just checked the long range forecast and I see two days of sunshine for the weekend.  I almost fell off the chair!!

Take care

zesty

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Is it raining where you are?  Holy jeepers, All I have seen for the past 5 days is RAIN.  Not that I am opposed to rain but after a while it gets pretty old.  OK, enough of me whining and complaining about the weather – let’s get on with a really tasty dish that was totally driven by a sale of “CRANBERRIES”.  Funny, I know!  I was walking in the produce aisle where I noticed they had cranberries on sale.  Normally I would just make cranberry sauce and call it a day but today I wanted to treat them a little differently.

How about a roasted pork tenderloin crusted with peppercorns and cooked with baby potatoes and carrots and topped with a cranberry wine sauce?  It sounded good to me and after the results – it tasted excellent!

Ingredients

• 2 Pork Tenderloins
• 1/2 Cup White whine
• 1 Cup Cranberries
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• Baby Potatoes
• Carrots ( cut length wise)
• 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Prepared mustard
• 2 Tbsp. Water
• Crushed Peppercorns
• Salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. In a oven safe dutch oven, preheat over high heat on the stove top.  Add olive oil, season the pork with salt and crushed pepper.  Sear on all sides until golden brown and a crust has formed.
3. Add wine and cranberries and start the de-glazing process.  Let cook down for 3 minutes
4. Add carrots and potatoes and cover for another 5 minutes.
5. In a bowl mix brown sugar, mustard and stir together.  Add water once mustard and brown sugar is blended.
6. Pour sauce over the pork, cover and place in the oven for 2 hours ( or until carrots and potatoes are fork tender )



7. Baste every 30 minutes with sauce.
8. Let Stand for about 10 minutes and then slice



9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: To ensure the pork is super tender and flavorful, I continued to baste the pork in the sauce both prior to the oven as well as during.

Wow!  The pork was so tender I had a hard time to cut it.  Now I realize not everyone has 2 hours to roast supper during the week but it really is worth the wait.  I hope you have a super Monday.  I am not sure what is in store for me today but no doubt it will be exciting.  I am home all week and pretty sure there is a Holiday thrown in the mix.  WOOOOO HOOOO.

Take care

zesty

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Ever just go off the wall and try to create a different side dish that you never tried before?  Enter spinach and cabbage saute. I was unsure what this would turn out like but was willing to give it a whirl as cabbage was on special and I had some spinach to use up before expiring.

Pretty simple to make as I used “real” cranberry juice as the sauce and let accompanied with some red pepper flakes and garlic for flavor.  A fun twist on a combination that I never had before but I would make it again.

The details are here if you want to give it a spin.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp.  Olive oil
• 2 Cups Cabbage ( chopped )
• 2 Cups Spinach
• 1/2 Tsp. Red Pepper flakes
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1/4 Cup Cranberry Juice
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt

Method

1. Heat up a saute pan over medium heat.  Add olive oil, garlic and red peppers and extract the aroma.
2. Add cabbage and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Toss in the spinach and salt – let wilt down for 2 minutes – stirring constantly
4. Add cranberry juice and let cook down until it becomes a sauce and thickens.
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Make sure the cabbage is cooked through so it is not tough.  Normally cabbage is poached and becomes very tender or consumed raw in slaw ( but cut very thin) – so just ensure you give the cabbage enough time to soften up.

The weekend is upon us.  The weather is looking somewhat dismal for tonight and tomorrow but hopefully it will clear up for another great fall weekend.  I hope you have a fun weekend with whatever plans you may have and I will be back in action on Monday for hopefully something sweet…. I need to bake!

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty