Pork Tenderloin

Tyler and I hadn't really had pork tenderloin until just recently while eating at Outback. They had this amazing sauce on it that I love but I'm not good enough to figure out what's in it. Anyway, I have a couple sauces that I've used that you can try, or come up with your own!

The tenderloin is super easy. Just marinate it overnight in whatever marinate you like. I often use lemon juice, garlic, maple syrup, and whatever else catches my eye at that moment. Then, take it out of the marinate and place it in a shallow baking pan, a 9x13 is fine, bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes until done. Top with sauce or gravy. That's it! Way easy!

Honey Grape Sauce: 2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
**I also add a bit of brown sugar, and a dash of Worcester sauce. Add what you want to make it your own.
Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook shallots and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in grapes, soy sauce, honey, ginger, and five-spice powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Process cooled sauce until smooth in a blender or food processor. Serve over sliced tenderloin.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
I just kinda made this up and didn't really measure anything, sorry! Its a lot like the grape sauce.
2 red peppers roasted - broil peppers till skin is dark, remove from oven and cover with plastic wrap or put them in a plastic bag. Let them cool about 45 min. Remove skins, they should peel off easily. Remove seeds and cut into chunks.
Put in sauce pan with oil, (the peppers will have a bit of natural oil and juice inside of them, you can use this too) garlic, Worcester sauce, brown sugar, a little honey, onion powder, Italian seasonings, salt and whatever else you think it needs to taste better! Simmer for 10-15 minutes, allow to cool a bit then put in blender or food processor. Serve hot over sliced tenderloin.

Chicken with Mushroom & Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com, greatest website ever! It was a super easy recipe and only took about 25-30 minutes to make! We really liked this and the mushroom sauce was so good! I served it with mashed potatoes and added some of the sauce to the gravy. You could also serve this over pasta.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon butter

* Before you start: The only thing I would have done different is that the chicken breasts were a bit to thick so next time I will either slice them, like butterfly them, or pound them flat with a mallet. Also, I only used 2 chicken breasts and the sauce was just about the right amount so if you do 4 chicken breasts you might want to add a bit more broth and vinegar.
Directions
1.Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Rinse the mushrooms and pat dry. Season the flour with salt and pepper and dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute the chicken until it is nicely browned on one side (about 3 minutes).
2.Add the garlic. Turn the chicken breasts and scatter the mushrooms over them. Continue frying, shaking the skillet and stirring the mushrooms. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add the vinegar, broth, bay leaf and thyme. Cover tightly and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
3.Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter and cover with foil. Set aside. Continue simmering the sauce, uncovered, over medium high heat for about 7 minutes. Swirl in the butter or margarine and discard the bay leaf. Pour this mushroom sauce mixture over the chicken and serve.

Chicken Ranch Burritos

Sorry, no picture for this one. Tyler and I love the Crispy Chicken Ranchero from Taco Time so this a spin off of that. Its another one of those things you can add whatever you like to make it how you like it. This is how I made it:

~Fresh uncooked flour tortillas (They should be by the cheeses in the refrigerator section) they cook up in just a couple minutes in a frying pan or griddle and they are AMAZING!
~Chicken - you use any type: grilled, sauteed, fried, baked, pre-made chicken strips, whatever you fancy
~Cheese
~Rice
~Black Beans
-I cheated and used a rice and black bean mix from a box by Zataran's.
~Ranch - your favorite ranch dressing. I used Chiz's.
~Lettuce
~Fresh tomatoes or salsa

You can also add avocado, corn, olives, onion, jalapenos, peppers, etc.
Cook the tortilla, fill it, roll it, and enjoy!

This is a great leftover meal. You can use chicken or rice from the night before and just go from there!

Chicken Cacciatore Stoup

This is one of Rachael Ray's Thirty Minute Meals. (I just copy and pasted the recipe from Food Network) Because I can't chop as fast as her it takes me about 40-45 minutes. This is a cheap meal and you can just use whatever you have in your pantry.

Ingredients
1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1 to 1 1/3 pounds, diced
Coarse salt and black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1-inch squares
4 portobello mushroom caps or 16 cremini mushrooms, sliced or chopped
4 ribs celery hearts, chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered lengthwise then thinly sliced
1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and quartered lengthwise then thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup dry Italian red wine, eyeball it
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped, 3 or 4 sprigs
1 cup basil, arugula or baby spinach leaves, shredded or torn
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, to pass at table
Crusty bread, to pass at the table
**Just a couple of Melissa notes:
*I leave out the wine and just deglaze the pan with chicken stock.
*I add 2 carrots, chopped added at the same time as potatoes
*Choose tomatoes according to what flavor and how much heat you like. I really like chipotle so I will usually use 1 can of tomatoes with chipotle(1 can provides plenty of heat). If you don't like any heat, choose plain or tomatoes with lime or garlic.
*I have never added the rosemary, greens, or cheese and it tasted just fine without it. Those items can be a bit pricey so if you don't have them, it will turn out great without them too.
*For the bread we just use toast or bread and butter.

Directions
Heat a deep skillet or a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, and the chicken. Season it with coarse salt and pepper and red pepper flakes.

While the chicken cooks, chop up the veggies.

When the chicken is evenly and lightly browned all over, 3 or 4 minutes, remove it to a plate and reserve. Add another tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, 1 more turn of the pan. Add the potatoes to the pan. Cook a couple of minutes, then add in the mushrooms, celery, and onion and cook another couple of minutes. Add in the peppers and garlic and cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Add chicken back to the pan. Toss it with the vegetables. Add red wine to the pan and deglaze it, picking up drippings. Add tomatoes and stock to the stoup and stir to combine. Stir in rosemary and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 8 to10 minutes.

Turn off stoup and ladle into shallow bowls. Top with basil (for a sweet finish and balance to the spice in the soup) or arugula (for a peppery finish) or with spinach (for a woodsy finish). At the table, pass grated cheese for sprinkling on top of the stoup and bread for mopping up the bowl.