Grilled Pork Tenderloin - A Treat After an Awesome Weekend at the Lake

It is really hard to believe that August is already here, though summer is not over for sure!  We were lucky enough to spend not one, but two days at the lake, and it was a perfect hoorah before school starts back on Thursday.

We grilled up the steaks on Saturday - I must say that the marinade is a true winner!  That was the recipe I posted the other day, and if/when I learn how to do links I will go back through one day so I can click on that word marinade and it will take you directly to the post where the recipe is!  We also grilled peaches again, and with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of brown sugar, they were just delicious!

Saturday's weather was iffy, but Sunday was GORGEOUS!  We got a pretty good head start and went up to our friend's boat that they had very graciously allowed us to use for the day.  This time, we also decided to rent a speed boat and do a little tubing and exploring and though it was quite expensive, it was incredibly fun!

It was hubby, me, my daughter and 2 of her friends, and we spent the first 4 hours speeding around Lanier.  With my recent tailbone injury of some sort (still not sure of how it is bruised; could be too much working sitting down!), there were some times of grimacing when we would hit a big wave.  When we found a relatively quiet cove, we let the tubing again.  The first few runs were the girls - 2 at a time and the squeals of laughter and looks of horror on their faces when the boat took a sharp turn was priceless. 

When we were down to less than a half hour of rental on the boat, I decided to be brave and took a turn.  Obviously, hubby knew to drive a little slower, though the first 10 seconds or so of the video we took, I am screaming "faster!"  My goal was simple - tube for about 5 minutes, then use the stop signal that I was done.  No way was I going to be thrown off!  I achieved my goal and got back on the boat proud and smiling. 

We got back to the docked boat and enjoyed lounging on the upper deck, floating in the water, doing flips and tricks off the tube (yep, even me) and just enjoying the gorgeous day.  Finally, it was time to head home and I knew the pork tenderloin had been marinading since Friday so it was ready for some grilling!  I showed the marinaded pic the other day; here is the final delicious tenderloin after grilling.  The secret is definitely lower heat, longer cooking, and making sure to give each of the 4 sides a turn.

The other sides were easy - roasted red potatoes and my "cheat" Steamfresh broccoli and cauliflower.  For the roasted potatoes, all I did was put them on a lightly sprayed pan skin side down.  I did a light sprinkling of olive oil over them all, and then sprinkled herbs/spices.  I think I used rosemary, salt and pepper.  I do love fresh veggies, but in a pinch, frozen ones are very close in nutrition and taste.  Recipe for the pork marinade below and picture of the full meal as well!  Enjoy!

Marinade:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup white wine
4 small green onions
3 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (Yes - I really did use fresh!  And the easiest way to peel is with a spoon!)

Add the green onions and garlic to the soy sauce and wine.  Add the pepper and ginger and mix well.  Remove any excess fat from the pork tenderloin.  I used a fork to pierce the pork, and then covered it with the marinade, storing it overnight and flipping it every once in awhile. 

Allow the pork to warm to room temperature about 45 minutes before grilling.  Use medium heat and grill it evenly, flipping on each side to ensure this.  The internal temperature needs to be 145 to 150 degrees fahrenheit, so you will want a meat thermometer.  You do NOT want pink pork!  Cut it into slices and voila.  When the weather cools, I will share a delicious pork tenderloin recipe that is stuffed with diced apples, white bread, etc.

Got Back on that Grill!

After the scary fire the other night, I have been a little hesitant to grill.  I definitely did the salmon in the oven because I was very scared that the teriyaki sauce would increase my chances of another fire.  But I had to look fear in the face and do my thing, and I'm glad I did!  Tonight's menu was Grilled Chicken Drummettes, Roasted Broccoli, Leftover Cauliflower "Potatoes" and a Summer Salad based on something called "Fire and Ice."

Of course the first thing to do is start to marinate the meat, so again, having this blog is helping me remember what I put into the marinade because I took a quick pic.  I used some light salad dressings, basil, garlic, red onion, and two different spice blends - one that was called "Citrus and Tangy" and one that was "Asian".  Also added in a touch of rice wine vinegar and some of my favorite Soy Vey teriyaki sauce.

From there, marinated the drummettes, making sure they were all coated for the best flavors.

I just love broccoli, but get bored with the usual steaming of it, so I googled a recipe and played around with it.  After chopping the broccoli into large florets, I put together a mixture of olive oil and garlic and tossed the broccoli in that.  I roasted it for 10 minutes at 400 - the recipe called for 20 minutes at 425, but that just seemed like overkill.  While it was cooking, I put together a mixture of lemon zest, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, basil, and the last bit of the herbed goat cheese I used for the figs Thursday night.  It also called for roasted pine nuts; I didn't have any so went to roast some sliced almonds but missed out on the timer so the nuts didn't make it!  Topped with bread crumbs and cooked it for the 10 minutes or so and final result on right.  Tasted great and I will keep on playing around with it.

Somehow no one in our family except for me likes tomatoes, so this one was just for me!  My next door neighbor had given me some delicious FRESH tomatoes - the kind you can just inhale the smell.  I chopped them into quarters, added in some cucumber pieces (peeled first) and the balsamic onions from the other night.  That's all this needed, along with 1/2 hour or so for the flavors to blend.  SUMMERY and FRESH!

Then it was time to grill.  I made sure the grill stayed on medium heat, and kept my eyes on it for signs of smoking.  These drummettes are small, so just 6 minutes per side cooked them perfectly with a bit of a crunch, but not a burn!

In an effort to cut back on carbs, we served up the cauliflower mashed "potatoes" again, topping with new chives, and here was our tasty dinner.  Quick and easy too!