My week in review

Sunday
Sunday was pork tenderloin day. I'd been looking through my cookbooks for ideas but then saw an episode of America's Test Kitchen on Saturday that featured a stuffed tenderloin.

It wasn't this pink, though...this might've been taken early in the morning.


The filling was kind of a tapenade but with sun-dried tomatoes in addition to the kalamata olives.


One of the tenderloins was butterflied, pounded to about 1/4", stuffed, and rolled while the other was just tied for uniformity and seasoned with salt and pepper. The color of the pork here is more accurate.


I seared them over lump charcoal and then finished them with indirect heat.


The setting sun adds a warm tone. The stuffed tenderloin had good flavor and the tomatoes added some different notes, and I had processed the filling until it was fairly smooth because I don't care for big chunks of tomato. And tapenade goes well with football.


The plain tenderloin was sliced and used for sandwiches during the week. Here's one I made with some Italian pita bread and mayo.


Monday
We hadn't had chicken for awhile so Monday I did a little websurfing and found this recipe. All I had to do was stop at the store on my way home to pick up the chicken and even though the recipe calls for boneless, skinless thighs I went for the real thing.


Since the chicken was only going to be in the marinade for an hour or so I left the bowl on the kitchen counter.


No searing here, just indirect grilling until it was done, and one piece came with some extra skin and fat. The marinade added a lot of good flavor and the chicken was a definite hit with the family, so I'll be making this one again...with more than 4 thighs!


Thursday
After a couple of days off I wanted to grill last night and since I was cooking for myself I could be a little creative, so I decided to make some beef satays with Thai/Asian-influenced flavors. The bottles are sesame oil and soy sauce and this cut was labeled "butter steak".


After basically putting together a sesame-lemon-soy vinaigrette I went a little off-course and added a spoonful of Dijon mustard to hold everything together before I poured it over the satays.


The beef marinated for about 1:45 and I set up my 26" Weber grill because I'd need as much space as possible, and once again I used lump charcoal. The fire was good and hot so it didn't take long to cook the satays, and the shape of them meant that I got a nice mix of doneness.


I didn't cut the beef really thin so even though the outside was done the inside stayed nice and pink.


All gone! Even though I didn't add any salt some of the beef was a little salty so a reduced-sodium soy sauce might've been a good idea. The sesame flavor was rich and nutty and the lime added some brightness and a nice citrus tang, and I couldn't really detect the mustard so apparently that didn't screw it up.


All in all it was a pretty good week for eating. Tomorrow I'm giving myself a break and letting someone else fix lunch, but I just might be back at it come dinnertime...

Brad

Yum!!! Everything looks terrific. Regarding your chicken marinade, you just reminded me about a marinade for pork and chicken that my wife and I haven't had in months...maybe more than a year now. Gotta pick up some dijon mustard tomorrow. Those beef satays look very good too. I love the nuttiness of sesame oil as well.

You had a really good week! Everything looks delicious. I'll have to look up that ATK recipe, it sounds very interesting.

Jim

Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm..., Mighty fine looking eats there, Brad! And I'm with you... keep the skin on and bones in on the chicken (unless you have really good reason not to do so).

You've been busy, Brad. Really like the look and the sound of the pork tenderloin and the satays. I need to try some satays. Thanks for sharing.