For those of you who fretted (or took sadistic pleasure) in the fact that I had no fabulous flower-filled, chocolate boxed, balloon busting, teddy bear squishing, romantic Valentines Day dinner plans to gush about… Rest assured – my solo dinner was amazing.
Remember that rooster I just murdered? He (*giggle* okay some of him…) joined me for Valentines Day dinner after marinating for two days in my all-time favorite chicken, rabbit, squirrel, pork, quail, turkey and whatever other game bird type, wild animal you can think of marinade. And just to be clear here – the rooster marinated, not me.
Marinade can do magical wonders for meat. And this one delivers. I found it on food.52.com and modified it a tad, only because I thought regular mustard sucked, and some other things that bothered me, but nothing major.
You can even add garlic if you’re feeling adventurous. Or just because you like garlic. Seriously, this marinade will make you feel like a “rock star” cook – if you aren’t already.
Trust me on this. I once fed a neighbor one of my rabbits doused in this marinade, and she thought it was heaven. Even though she didn’t think could ever eat “bunny…”
I chose to serve my mean-ass rooster sliced, on a bed of Arugula, drizzled with a homemade honey, white wine, Dijon, olive oil dressing. Though just a little, to liven it up and compliment the chicken, not overpower it. I was dead tired after doing barn chores in the snow and cold, so that is where my creative culinary adventures ended for the evening. Simple food, but sort of fancy feeling with a glass of wine and a lit candle. And five dogs and two cats sitting at my feet, begging like they haven’t been fed in weeks…
Maybe Merlot was not a best choice for wine, but I went with what I had. Cheers! ~A
This recipe is written using a pork tenderloin, but any of the above-mentioned meats can be substituted… Vary your cooking methods according to your meat – I seared my chicken in a cast iron pan and skipped the oven.
Serves 2-3 with a small tenderloin
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 sprig rosemary (stem removed, rough chop)
1 pork tenderloin
Salt and pepper
Marinate the pork for at least 3 hours before you intend to serve your meat. Marinating overnight is ideal.
In a large freezer bag, combine mustard, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice and rosemary. Don’t add the salt yet. Shake around in the bag to combine. Zip it closed before you shake it, obviously. Rinse off the pork in cold water, and pat dry. Drop into the marinade bag. Squeeze the air out and squish the marinade all over the pork.
Drop the bag into a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. Preheat oven to 400° F. Remove meat from the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking. Take out of the bag and shake off excess marinade, but don’t wipe it off. Leave any rosemary pieces where they are.
Discard the marinade. Season all sides of the tenderloin with sea salt. Heat a large, oven-proof sauté pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Sear all sides of the tenderloin until golden and crusty, total 8-10 minutes.
Transfer the pan to the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until the center registers 137 degrees. Remove from the pan to a cutting board and cover with foil. Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Carve into diagonal pork medallions for serving. Pink in the middle is perfect and expected. Serve with any of the juices that escape while carving.
Leave comments and questions below : )
