Spiced Cranberry Ketchup

My friend, Irene, made a wonderful cranberry ketchup to go with her Lemon-Thyme Turkey (delicious!) at our staff Thanksgiving luncheon November 18th. When we pressed for the recipe, she admitted that she tweaked and adapted a recipe from Food & Wine online. There are more than a few tweaks!

I think I might try twice the amount of spices next time. This is a perfect ketchup for leftover turkey sandwiches, although we loved ours with our potluck dinner.

1 tablespoon olive oil (which is perfect because my daughter is allergic to peanuts)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped shallots (I used more and simply sliced them)
2 bags fresh cranberries
1-1/2 pomegranate juice
1/2 cup combination of any vinegars (I used rice, cider and white balsamic)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground ginger or perhaps more
1/8 tsp. cinnamon or perhaps more
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom or perhaps more
1/8 tsp. ground allspice or perhaps more
pinch of cocoa powder (I used more like 1 tsp.)
1/2 c. maple syrup
salt

Heat the oil and sauté the shallots until softened - 4-8 minutes. Add everything else and boil over low heat at least 30 min. until the mixture is very thick.

Let cool and then transfer to food processor and puree. Season with salt. This made four 1/2 pint jars of ketchup. Plenty for sharing. It's supposed to keep two weeks in the frig but I imagine it will keep through the holidays. Process it in a water bath if you want to preserve it.

Pork Tenderloin with Farro, Sage, Mushrooms and Haricots Vert

On the way home from class tonight, I stopped at Trader Joe's and picked up a bunch of fresh things in the produce section and added some cheeses and meats on my way through the store. I figured I'd get creative once I was in my Marion kitchen.

One of the meats was a small pork tenderloin. Another extras were packages of farro and thin haricot green beans.  A few other leftovers in the frig would add to the dinner menu - scallions and sliced mushrooms. As the guys unpacked the car, I pulled out the rice cooker, a saute pan and a oven roasting casserole.

I preheated the oven to convection roast 350 degrees.  I placed the tenderloin in the casserole, sliced it down the middle and sprinkled some flaked sea salt and freshly ground pepper on top. I sliced some scallions, minced some garlic, added some dried sage and thyme and sprinkled all with finely chopped pecans, pushing them all into middle of the tenderloin.  On top of that I drizzled some LeRoux Porcini Olive Oil and placed it in the middle of the hot 350 degree oven to roast for 25 minutes.

Then I sauteed 1 pkg. of Trader Joe's farro in a few tablespoons of LeRoux Wild Mushroom and Sage Olive Oil and stirred it on high until the farro was hot and crispy.  I added the farro to 1-1/2 cup of organic chicken stock in the rice cooker and turned it on. I placed 1/2 to 1 cup of coarsely-chopped fresh mushrooms into the saute pan with a bit of the LeRoux Wild Mushroom and Sage Olive Oil and butter, some more flaked sea salt, pepper and dried sage and cooked the mushrooms until they were squeaky and browned on high. I shut them off and waited for the roasted tenderloin and farro to be done, adding the mushrooms to the farro.

The pork was just past pink and I sliced it into 1/4 inch slices and placed it with the garlic, scallions, pecans, etc. in the middle of a hot platter.  I scooped the hot farro with mushrooms around the sliced pork.  

The haricot vert (green beans steamed and then coated with butter) were served to accompany the dish. We all gobbled it up.  Great quick dinner I'll make again.