I'm a fan of the PBS show "New Scandanavian Cooking". Not so much because of the food, which honestly, most of the times is pretty unappealing, since the host, Andreas Viestad has a fondness for adding herring to everything. No, I like it because of the gorgeous Norwegian scenery and Andreas' goofball presentation. And while the food isn't something I find all that appetizing, it's always interesting and unexpected. One Scandanavian ingredient commonly used on the show is lingonberries. I wouldn't go out searching for them, but I was at Ikea the other day and there it was on the shelf by the cinnamon buns and hot dogs, a jar of lingonberry preserves. I couldn't resist.
Now this ties in with my new approach with cooking, which is much limited because of my 6 month old son and full time job. I now try to cook a large piece of meat on Sunday and feed off of it for at least a portion of the upcoming week. This week was a pork tenderloin. I first browned it in olive oil with salt and pepper, then finished it off by adding some chicken stock and popping on the lid. With the handy probe thermometer I took it off at 160 degrees and got a great juicy piece of pork, flavorful but neutral enough to be used in different dishes. I made a pasta with broccoli, a stir fry with ginger and tamarind chutney and this:
Pork Loin with Ligonberries
Salad Greens
Olive Oil
Vinegar (I used champagne vinegar because I had some, but I think cider vinegar might be better)
S & P
Lingonberry Preserves.
Pork Loin (cooked)
Make a vinagrette with the olive oil, vingar, salt and pepper and a tablespoon or so of the lingonberry preserves. Dress your salad. Add some slices of your pork loin to the top and top with some more lingonberry preserves.
