Here we are at the last post of June. What better way to end the month but with a wonderful cilantro and jalapeno rubbed pork tenderloin, sweet potato and goat cheese quesadilla? You see, we were in a pork rut. Pork loin, pork chops, pork tenderloin — I wanted something different to do with pork.

This original recipe is from Emeril and while reading through it, it really appealed to me. It spoke to me, if you will. And the flavors? Wow. They were excellent. The pork and the sweet potato tasted so good together with the goat cheese and all of the accompaniments and what-nots. I also made an apple-chipolte dipping sauce that I made for an earlier pork dish. The recipe can be found at the link above and it went wonderfully with this dish.

What I did, was I used one pork tenderloin (the original recipe called for two) but made the same amount of the cilantro paste. I used half for the roast pork and the other half I mixed with some plain yogurt to make a dipping sauce.

Mojo Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Sweet Potato Quesadillas
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 pork tenderloin, around 1 pound total
2 sweet potatoes, cooked until tender and peeled
2 (12-inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a baking pan with aluminum foil.

Start by combining the first six ingredients in a food processor and pulse several times to make a smooth paste. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and pulse to combine. Set paste aside.

Place the tenderloin in a baking pan and season evenly with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Spread the cilantro mojo paste mixture on each side of the tenderloin (reserving the extra paste).

Bake uncovered 30 to 40 minutes, or until and instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 145-150 degrees. I actually let mine go to 155, because at 150, the juices weren’t quite clear yet. I let it sit for about 15-20 minutes and it was very moist and juicy so it seemed to work out well. So, start checking after 30 minutes and just shoot for 145-155, removing it when you feel comfortable about its doneness. Let it rest covered with aluminum foil for at least 10 minutes.

Reserve the pan juices, including any of the paste mixture that ran off the tenderloins. After the pork has rested, slice into 1/4-inch thick, diagonal pieces.

Place the warm sweet potatoes in a medium bowl and mash until smooth. Season with the pan juices and about a tablespoon of the reserved cilantro paste. Stir well to combine.

Now comes the fun part

If you are using large, 12-inch tortillas just lay the filling on half of the tortillas, as you will be folding it over. If you are using smaller, 8-inch tortillas, cover the whole surface and cover with another tortilla. Spread some sweet potato down, lay a few pork slices about then crumble some goat cheese. If you feel like adding an extra something, saute up some onions until they are nice and caramelized and add those as well.

Heat a large, nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add a little oil and cook the quesadillas, one at a time, until golden and heated through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining quesadillas. Store finished quesadillas in a 200 degree oven until all are finished. I made two big quesadillas, with about 1/3 of the pork left over. You could definitely get 3-4 quesadillas out of one pork tenderloin.

Slice the quesadilla and serve with fresh cilantro and the mojo paste yogurt sauce. As I mentioned earlier, this sauce also makes a great accompaniment. And, of course, the pork could also easily be grilled (I would think), so that you don’t have to turn the oven on in the Summer.

Okay! See everyone in July! Monday, I should be posting about the “official” Je Mange la Ville birthday event.

So, you’re at work and it’s only your first week and your co-workers want to initiate you into the new work environment. You’re given a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke and some mentos. What do you do? Why, you all head out to the parking lot for some office science fun. Ahhh, if only I could be a UNIX Sysadmin too….

Can you have a blog and not post one of these videos?
Watch jwa and the much-loved-the-world over, mentos-induced, Diet Coke fountain of … well, frothy diet coke. And since this is a food blog, I feel a little justified in posting it. Mentos are food, right? Hmmmm….

Low quality but still amusing Diet Coke and Mentos Video
You will need Quicktime to view the video.

Tomorrow, there will be actual food. A roasted cilantro-jalapeno pork loin, sweet potato and goat cheese quesadilla.

We just went through an ugly, ugly heat wave here in Portland. The past two days have been in the hundreds and just brutal. I know, anyone in Phoenix, Arizona or other typically-hot locales are laughing at me. But again, this is Portland and 100+ is just wrong.

Today, marks a return to our sensible, jacket-in-the-morning, highs-in-the-80’s, Summer weather. Hooray! To celebrate the return of the quilt to the bed and a coat in the AM, I have decided to post about this awesome split pea soup I made last week.

Now, this is not a typical, heavy, pork-laden split pea soup, for that would be silly in June, now wouldn’t it? Oh no. This one is light and minty and packs a bit of a surprise in the form of pomegranate syrup.

It’s from the Soup Peddler book and the recipe has its origins in the Middle East — Iraq specifically. I could also easily see serving this soup cold or at room temperature. Give it a try! I bet it’s good that way.

The Soup Peddler’s Shorbat Rumman (Split Pea Soup)
1 lb dried yellow or green split peas (or a combination works)
2 bunches scallions, chopped (white & green parts) or 1/2 of a finely chopped red onion
1 lb spinach, chopped
2 bunches parsley, chopped
2 bunches cilantro, chopped
1 bunch mint, chopped
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp pomegranate syrup
Salt
Garnish: Plain, low-fat yogurt

Start by cooking the split peas in six or so cups of boiling water until soft, 30-45 minutes. Add more water if necessary to keep a nice soup consistency.

Now, I used my food processor for all the chopping. Just add the spinach, cilantro, parsley and mint and pulse until finely chopped. Oh and I defined “bunch” as “handful”.

Add the herbs, spinach and onions to the soup and simmer five more minutes.

Remove from heat and add the lime juice and pomegranate syrup. I found pomegranate glaze at Trader Joes and figured it was close enough. It was, as it tasted very good in the soup. Another option would be to get some pomegranate juice and simmer it down to a syrupy consistency.

Garnish with more mint leaves and plain yogurt.

***

In other news, Je Mange la Ville is turning 1 year old on July 14, 2006! Wow! I am trying to come up with a special event for that day or some way to mark the occasion accordingly. Right now my big idea is the Amazing & Celebratory Cake-athon-2006. Make a cake. Make some cupcakes. Buy a cake. Buy some cup cakes — you get the idea. Whichever you choose, take a picture and post it on your blog (along with the recipe if there is one) around July 14 and I’ll link to it that week and recap all the cake-like items. Sound fun?

This was a great theme (imho) chosen by Ono Kine Grindz, as I currently like to use tofu in things like sauces and soups. It’s just so easy to use in place of cream or other high-fat, unhealthy creamifyers. Instead of making one dish (a sweet one) for both IMBB and SHF, I chose to make two separate tofu dishes. Kind os a two-for-one theme deal. Besides, I used 1/4 of a block of tofu for the peanut sauce and used the 3/4 remaining for the mousse. Perfect!

The IMBB dish, Honey-Garlic Peanut Noodles with Vegetables and Chicken, came from the cookbook, Tofu Mania. Now, I know I’ve made two peanut noodles dishes before but honestly, I think this one is my favorite. How about that?

The recipe in the book is just for the sauce, so I will give that and then just list what else I did. Because really? You could use this sauce for anything. It’s delicious! What I ended up doing was to serve the peanut sauce with grilled chicken, vegetables and soba noodles.

I:
IMBB27: Honey-Garlic Peanut Noodles with Vegetables and Chicken
Sauce:
1/4 cup firm tofu (I pretty much sliced off about a 1/4 of a block of tofu and called it 1/4 cup).
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp honey
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 tbsp ginger, chopped
2-4 tbsp soy sauce
red pepper flakes to taste

Other:
Cooked chicken
Soba noodles
Vegetables of your choice (I used bell peppers, onions and green beans)
More basil for garmish, as well as some chopped green onions.

Add the tofu and juices to a food processor. Puree until smooth. Next add the peanut butter, basil, honey, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes and soy sauce. Process a bit more, until creamy annd smooth. Taste and adjust any seasonings.

The sauce can be set aside until you are ready to use it or refrigerated or up to 3 days. Just reheat gently, in a pan, over low heat. I let the hot cooked soba noodles warm my sauce up.

I served my honey-garlic sauce with soba noodles, grilled chicken and sauteed bell pepper, onion and green beans.

Toss everything together and serve with more fresh basil leaves.

II.
The SHF dish came from the Scharffen Berger Web site. It’s a tofu chocolate mousse and it turned out really good too — very rich, chocolatey and creamy! I’ve always heard that using tofu in chocolate mousse works well — I was anxious to see this for myself. I am now a convert!

SHF20: Tofu Chocolate Mousse
(I made a half recipe by using 3/4 of a block of tofu and a little bit less than half the other ingredients. It made two generous-sized servings.)
from Scharffen Berger
2 (12.3-ounce) packages extra firm silken tofu
4 ounces Bittersweet or Semisweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate chips, sorry sb…)
1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 tbsp instant espresso or coffee powder
3/4 cup good-quality maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
Optional: 1 to 2 tablespoons coffee-flavored or orange-flavored liqueur
Garnish: Fresh raspberries or strawberries

Drain the tofu in a colander for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double boiler or use your microwave — just give it 30 seconds at a time and stir after each turn in the microwave. When it hot and almost melted all the way, stir until the last remaining pieces melt.

Place the tofu in a food processor or blender and puree until creamy. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the cocoa and espresso powder and process until well blended. Next comes the syrup, vanilla, melted chocolate, and liqueur. Puree it all until smooth.

Transfer to individual dishes, cover and chill several hours or overnight. Serve with the fruit.

III.
Thanks again to Ono Kine Grindz for hosting this duel IMBB/SHF event!

Tagged with: IMBB27 and SHF20.

This month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge is picnic food. This is a great topic as it is very open — there are so many foods that make for excellent picnic-fare. For this assignment, I reached for a very underused cookbook in my collection, Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. After a few minutes, I picked my recipe — Greek Lima Bean Dip.

You might be asking, “Huh?” But, yes! Greek Lima Bean Dip, I say! I love humus-like dips. I am always looking for new ones to try and I think they are perfect picnic foods. Sure, dips are not the main attraction like sandwiches or fried chicken or what have you, but the side dishes play a very important role. The role of snack. So here, without further introduction or justification, is this great little picnic dip. It was very fresh tasting and the lemon/oregano/garlic combo did indeed give it a nice Greek flavor.

Oh, okay, wait. A couple of other things — 1. it saves well for a few hours at a picnic, as there’s no mayo in it (the tablespoon of yogurt I added is optional). 2. I changed the dill the recipe calls for to oregano, used more olive oil and added more garlic and lemon.

Greek Lima Bean Dip
3 cups cooked lima beans (2 15-oz cans or use frozen and just cook them according to the instructions.)
4 garlic cloves
Juice of 2 lemons (and a few strands of zest)
2 tbsp fresh oregano
1 tbsp fresh mint
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tbsp plain, low-fat yogurt (optional)
1/3 cup red or sweet onion, chopped roughly
salt & pepper to taste

This is the best kind of recipe — throw everything in the food processor, (except the olive oil, yogurt, salt and pepper) and process until combined well and it looks like a rough paste. Stream in the olive oil until it comes together.

Taste — add salt and pepper. If you want it a little creamier, add the yogurt. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and some lemon zest. Serve with toasted pita, crackers or use in a wrap.

It’s excellent, whether eaten outdoors on a blanket or in front of the tv, where you accidentally started watching Supergroup and now you are ashamed to be sucked in — will Ted Nugent beat up Sebastian Bach over his excessive drinking???!! Aghh — I need to keep watching to find out!