A Fantastic Group of Recipes for Roast Potatoes, Pork Tenderloin and Carrots and Sales Approach $3,500 this Month!!

I made a really interesting meal yesterday consisting of Pork Terderloin with Orange Confit and Brown Sugar Glaze, Roast Potatoes with Horseradish and Watercress and Burnt Carrots with Arugula and Goat Cheese. Steph thought there were too many competing flavours for the dishes, but I quite liked them. The meal looked like this:

It took me an hour to make, through I think that has mostly to do with the fact that I used small new potatoes and peeled them and that took forever! It was worth it because they were really crispy and they absorbed the horseradish dressing so well. But I think you could easily do this recipe with regular potatoes, peeled and cut up into large chunks. Peeling the potatoes is critical though as this is what allows them to crisp up and at the same time bake so tender. 

For the pork you will need to make the orange confit first, which is simply cooked orange zest. What I did is take an orange and cut it in half. Squeeze out the juice and then put it into a large saucepan. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/4 cup white cooking wine, 3 bay leaves and about 12 black whole peppercorns. Then add enough water to cover the orange. It will probably have to boil with the cut side facing up in order to minimize the amount of water. Put it on the stove, bring to the boil and then turn down and simmer, covered for 20-25 min. Turn off and let cool. Once it is cool, take out the orange and place it face down on a cutting board. Then using a sharp paring knife, carefully shave off the orange zest, being careful not to cut down to the white pith. It should come away in large shavings. 

The ingredients list for each meal (2 servings) is as follows:

Pork:

1 pork tenderloin

1 orange confit prepared as above, cut into shavings

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves 

1 teaspoon or so salt. 

Potatoes:

1.5lb potatoes, peeled

3 tablespoons white cooking wine

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon horseradish

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 cup sour cream

Carrots:

4-6 medium sized carrots, peeled

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

6 oz goat cheese cut into 1 cm rounds

a couple of handfuls of arugula

a handful of fresh parsley leaves

The potatoes should be prepared first because they need to bake for 40 minutes or so at 425F. Peel them and cut into chunks the size of small potatoes, or peel small potatoes if you want to use those. Place them in a large bowl with the olive oil, thyme, wine and salt. Toss to coat and then transfer to a baking sheet and bake in a single layer until very tender, which will be about 40 min. 

Then prepare the pork. Take the tenderloin and season lightly all over with salt. Then arrange the orange confit slices on the top surface of the tenderloin and sprinkle the thyme leaves and brown sugar on top and press down with your hand. Then drizzle some olive oil over the top. Now heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles when dropped on it. Using a large spatula, invert the tenderloin onto the skillet and leave it there for 5 minutes. If the sugar gets an acrid burnt smell, reduce the heat. Then after 5 minutes, turn it over, cover the skillet and cook for another 5 minutes. Keep turning and cooking for 5 minute intervals until you have cooked it for 15 min. Then take it off the heat and loosely tent it with foil and let it rest while you prepare the carrots. 

Peel the carrots. Slice them in half lengthwise and then again crosswise to form small semi-circular sticks. Heat the skillet with back up on high. Toss the carrot sticks in the olive oil and salt and then when the skillet is very hot, place the carrots in a single layer on the bottom. If you are making this for more than two people, work in batches. But do not multi-layer the carrots in the skillet as you will need to turn them individually with tongs. Let them cookfor 3-5 minutes until they are charred on the bottom and then turn them and cook them for another 3 minutes. Line a plate with the arugula and parsley and when the carrots are done place them on top. Lastly, take the slices of goat cheese and drop them in the skillet to sear them for about 1 minute. Use a spatula to take them out and drop them on top of the carrots. 

The potatoes should be done now, so in a large bowl whisk the horseradish, sour cream and red wine vinegar together to make the dressing. Add the potatoes and watercress, and toss to coat.

Then serve and enjoy!

With 11 days still to go in the month, my sales just passed the $7,500 mark, which means that I sold $3,500 this month - almost double the previous 2 months. So things are definitely progressing.