Even Bookworm’s Gotta Eat

Photo credit: Like I said, me,
at my house, just this past Saturday night.
Let's credit the framing to those two beers I mentioned
(one Woodchuck, one SweetWater IPA)

In this entry, I will brag about an accomplishment that is very loosely tied to reading.  But I’m pretty sure that once I break the news it is about pork, my whole readership (if I know you like I think I do) will be on board.

No, that picture is not from a high end foodie magazine.  It’s from my house!  On Saturday!  And because I love all of you, I will provide the recipe that I read and then cooked (and then did all the dishes for).  It looks like a lot of ingredients, but if I can do it  at approximately 2 beers deep, anyone can.

(When I made this I skipped the pepper because they are gross and substituted dried cranberries for raisins.  We also went out for frozen yogurt afterwards, which I also recommend.)

For pork

                  2 teaspoons salt

                  1/2 teaspoon black pepper

                  1 teaspoon ground cumin

                  1 teaspoon chili powder

                  1 teaspoon cinnamon

                  2 pork tenderloins (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 pounds total)

                  2 tablespoons olive oil

For glaze

                  1 cup packed dark brown sugar

                  2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

                  1 tablespoon Tabasco

For vinaigrette

                  3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

                  1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

                  1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

                  1 teaspoon curry powder, toasted

                  1/2 teaspoon salt

                  1/4 teaspoon black pepper

                  1/2 cup olive oil

For salad

                  3 navel oranges

                  5 ounces baby spinach, trimmed (6 cups leaves)

                  4 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage (from 1 medium head)

                  1 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into thin strips

                  1/2 cup golden raisins

                  2 firm-ripe California avocados

                  Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer

Prepare pork:


Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub.

Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet.

Make glaze and roast pork:


Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140°F, about 20 minutes. Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes. (Temperature will rise to about 155°F while standing.)

Make vinaigrette while pork roasts:
Whisk together juices, mustard, curry powder, salt, and pepper, then add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified.

Prepare salad ingredients while pork stands:
Cut peel, including white pith, from oranges with a sharp knife, then cut oranges crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Toss spinach, cabbage, bell pepper, and raisins in a large bowl with about 1/4 cup vinaigrette. Halve, pit, and peel avocados, then cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Assemble salad:
Cut pork at a 45-degree angle into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Line a large platter with dressed salad and arrange sliced pork, oranges, and avocados in rows on top. Drizzle some vinaigrette over avocados and oranges. Pour any juices from skillet over pork.

Source

I Clicked the Bullet Point Button a Bunch of Times for You, Little Bro

I recently got some blog feedback from my Brother and Reluctant Reader, The Goat.  I will provide the email here in its entirety:

Subject:  blog comments

- more pictures

- more bullet points/less writing

- less book talk

• Somewhat harsh form a guy who doesn’t even have a blog, but if he did it would probably be about sandwiches. 

• Dammit, that’s a great idea for a blog.  I would read that in a heartbeat.  Goat, you should snap up that idea.  You would have entries like Turkey On Wheat, Day 165.  Remember Dijon Wednesdays?  That would be huge for your following.

• So, in conclusion, even a blog that doesn’t exist is probably better than this one.  I blame my (non-existent) marketing team.

Bookworm Knows How to Relax

This past weekend I traveled to exotic Arizona for a little R&R and to, uh, celebrate Presidents I guess.  But it was mainly a reading vacation with one devastating tennis loss, a couple of good shoe buys and lots of good eating.

And what’s a nice vacation without a heavy, depressing memoir?  The answer is: incomplete.  Cue The Memory Palace by Mira Bartók.  This is the true story of a girl and her sister who grew up in Cleveland with a schizophrenic mother.  These two basically had to fend for themselves from the time they were toddlers, as their mom ranted and raved about being gassed, aliens, Nazis, etc.   They eventually had to change their names to escape their mother, who was homeless for 17 years before reconnecting with her daughters right before her death.

This was a shocking story.  Despite being my psychology minor and organizing two mental health rallies at my first job, I know next to nothing about mental illness. All I know is that some guy once made me a necklace out of chicken bones that I politely refused.  I’ll take that chicken on the bone, thanks.  I was shocked about how little medical attention this poor woman got, and how easily she was released from the police and mental health centers, even after threatening her two daughters with weapons. 

If you want to visit a dark and disturbing psychological place on your next vacation, check out this little gem, available on the front table at Barnes & Noble*.

*As mentioned, sponsorships still available.  Not feeling desperate at all.

Bookworm concerned about plight of others;
apparently abandons haircare.

Unbelievably, The Outback Steakhouse is Mentioned Yet Again

I am in my first book club.  Hard to believe for a bookworm like me, but I have never wanted reading to feel like homework, so I’ve never been interested.  I have since learned that you don’t have to read the book and it’s just about drinking wine and hanging out.  I checked with the Club Founder and beers will be permitted.  Phew.

I just completed our first book Rules of Civility by Amor Towels and really enjoyed it.  I never would have chosen this book, and had never heard of it, but any Great Gatsby lover would probably like it.  New York in the late 30s sounded pretty fun if you were in the right crowd, and had the right dress on.

I loved the way this book was written and found it to be was very highlight-worthy.  I mean, how could you not smile at this:

“To begin, Wallace ordered aspic, of all things, and I had the house salad – a terrific concoction of iceberg greens, cold blue cheese and warm red bacons.  If I were a country, I would have made it my flag.”

I think my flag would probably be a Blooming Onion from The Outback Steakhouse.  But depending on where I hung it, I could get big rig trucks stopping at my house so perhaps I need to re-think this.