Gratin, Grazie

I was very happy to find a package of Turkey breast tenderloins at my local grocery store the other day. Unfortunately for me, though turkey cuts are becoming more common at the grocery store, the cuts available in the stores vary from week to week and sometimes I find that no turkey is to be found at all. Sometimes it sucks to be me.

At least this time I was able to find a different cut of turkey and I even had a dish in mind.

A couple of weeks ago my local Sam's Club was giving out samples of their jarred pesto. Now I am a sucker for pesto and as my basil has suffered along with my tomato plants in the unseasonably cool and rainy weather this summer, I knew I wasn't going have enough basil to make my own pesto. I did check out the ingredient list on the jar and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ingredients were all natural, with no preservatives or hard-to-pronounce things lurking inside. Okay, I could get this with no guilt involved.

I also have sliced mozzarella cheese and sliced ham.

I cut down the center of one of the tenderloins until I was about 1/2-inch from the bottom edge.

Plastic wrap covered the tenderloin and I proceeded to gently pound the meat down to a 1/4-inch thickness.

Mission accomplished.



Though not necessary, I opted to remove the vein from the center of the tenderloin. Just slide the knife underneath the vein and then slide it along the length of the vein until it has released from the meat.




The pesto has been spread evenly on the turkey.

Then some slices of ham go on top of that.

And finally some mozzarella cheese goes on top of that. Then, beginning on one long side, tightly roll the entire thing into a neat roulade.

Lay this seam-side down.

This went back into the refrigerator for several hours. Remember, there is little need to secure the roulade with bands or toothpicks or twine if the meat has had a chance to rest in the fridge for some time before it cooks.

Heat a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil in an oven-safe pan on the stove. Salt and pepper each side of the turkey roulade and sear over medium-high heat. Place in oven for about 20 minutes to continue cooking or until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. Cover with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

And now it's time to move on to one of the side dishes for tonight's dinner. This is a dish that Melissa D'Arabian demonstrated in her The Next Food Network Star pilot episode. The thing that I really like about this recipe is that I can make each person's gratin to their personal tastes. For instance, the Foodie daughter only likes mozzarella cheese and my husband doesn't like rosemary. Uh-oh, if you clicked on the link above, you've already noticed that I've changed the recipe. Was there ever any doubt?

At any rate, the mise en place consists of:

heavy cream

grated mozzarella cheese

grated English white cheddar cheese

red-skinned potatoes

fresh chopped rosemary

fresh chopped chives

black pepper

sea salt

After spraying the muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray, I began layering the cups with potatoes that had been sliced with a mandolin.

Chopped chives were next.

Then cheese. The layers were repeated until the cups were filled.

A splash of heavy cream and some black pepper and salt on each cup finishes off the dish. The oven was preheated to 375 degrees. Following recipe directions, the muffin tins were covered with foil for the first half of the cooking process and then the foil was removed. After 40 minutes the potato gratin cups were removed. Or, if you are like me and forget to cover the muffin tins with foil at the beginning, you can cover them at the end and call it even. Whatever. Hey, it's not rocket science.

Run a table knife around the edge of the cups and carefully invert on a plate.

While I worked on the meat and the potatoes, my husband took care of the peas. He was more than happy to oblige as I am apt to overcook peas. Go figure.

The potatoes were good. I happen to love rosemary with my potatoes, and I got to have rosemary with my potatoes without bothering anyone else with my 'weird' tastes.

And this turkey is just too good for words. Moist, succulent, flavorful. The pesto gives a good punch to this mild-tasting meat.

As it was, I got resounding accolades for this dinner. Sometimes it pays to play loose with the rules.

An Apple a Day

I had heard great things about Ann Burrell's recipe for Roasted Pork Loin with Cider and Chunky Applesauce. This sounded like a good choice for dinner tonight. Please note that the pictures will jump around from dish to dish as I am showing the order in which I worked to make dinner.

Here I have cinnamon and apples for the applesauce. Onion, kosher salt, apple cider, dried thyme, bay leaf, fresh rosemary, fresh sage, a garlic clove and one pork tenderloin are ready for the recipe. The butter and crushed red pepper flakes seem to be camera shy and are missing from the picture. I halved the recipe for the meat since I have a smaller cut than the recipe requires.

First, some sliced onion, salt and olive oil go into a baking dish.

Then some cider, the bay leaf and some dried thyme are added.

The rosemary and sage are finely chopped. I grate the garlic and toss in a pinch of red pepper flakes and some kosher salt. I add olive oil to make a paste.

The pork loin is placed on top of the onion and the herb paste is spread on top of the meat. I then set this aside while I work on the next dish.

I think I'll make a potato gratin. I couldn't decide on a recipe, so I made one up. Here I have some Yukon Gold potatoes, milk, black pepper, kosher salt, bacon, garlic and a shallot. I later decide to add some Fontina cheese to the dish.

I peel and slice the potatoes. Then I put down a layer of potatoes in a greased baking dish. I mix some salt, black pepper and the grated garlic in with some milk. A bit of the mixture is poured over each layer. Then I add a sprinkling of minced shallot and a grating of Fontina cheese. Repeat until all the potatoes are used. The remaining milk mixture and the shallots are poured on top and a generous amount of cheese is added. The diced bacon is sprinkled on top.

At this point I preheat the oven and when it is ready, I put in the pork tenderloin. After 15 minutes have elapsed I place the potato gratin in the oven.

Now it's time to work on the applesauce. I peel and core three apples before cutting into chunks. I soften them in melted butter.

A bit of cinnamon and some apple cider are added to the pot and the apples cook over medium-low heat.

The apples are soft and ready to eat. I did deviate from the recipe at this point, as I didn't want to add cream to the apples.

The pork loin is rested and sliced.

And the potatoes are done.

This was a nice and easy dinner, but I would have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed by the pork loin. I think I might try marinating the pork loin next time. We all loved the applesauce, but agreed that it needed more cinnamon. I would likely also mash up the apples a bit more the next time. I would have to say that the potato gratin was a success. Not bad for never having made a gratin before.