Tuesday Dinner: Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Mushroom-Shallot Sauce

Sometimes I buy things for dinner and don’t cook them. For instance, I picked up a pork tenderloin about a week ago. I’m not 100 percent sure what I was going to do with it but I’m crafty and figured I would come up with something. A combination of things got in the way and I ended up not cooking the pork, which meant that the vacuum-packed pork sword remained in the fridge taking up some space. I think it also began to irritate The Wife. On Saturday, I asked The Wife what she wanted for dinner. She asked if I was going to make the pork sword. On Sunday, I asked the question again and received the same answer.

Finally, I stopped asking because I knew I was going to cook it but didn’t want to incur the silent wrath of The Wife, who doubles as our household C.F.O. and likely saw the pork sword as an investment of $5 that may go bad. I can appreciate that. So, I finally broke down and made it.

Tuesday dinner: Chicken with salsa verde

Sunday’s Wegmans trip was a taste of Murphy’s Law at the grocery store. Usually, the produce department is hemorrhaging tomatillos, the sweet but ugly little fruit used to make salsa verde. Of course on the day I was looking for a half-pound of them, they were nowhere to be found. The produce manager told me that they would be on the truck that evening. So, Monday’s dinner moved to Tuesday.

The Wife likes tomatillos and will pretty much go with salsa verde (or simply, green salsa) whenever it is available. Our personal favorite is the variety dished at The Mission. It’s sweet, smokey and has just a hint of heat (they list it as a medium salsa). In the past, I’ve broiled and pureed them with other ingredients to make a traditional cold salsa as an accoutrement. Tonight, I went with a sauté.

Saturday dinner: Filet mignon with mushrooms, shallots in red-wine reduction

It’s been a month, at least, since I’ve done anything of note in the kitchen. When we’re home, dinner is about speed. Of course, we have not been home much as of late. Add craziness at work to our trips to San Francisco and Rehoboth Beach, and the majority of my meals in the past 30 days have been cooked by people other than me.

The Wife was going to take our daughter up to a family reunion, which gave me some time in the kitchen to work. I knew early in the day that we were having steaks and filets are my favorite. Yes, they are more expensive ($18.99/lb. at Wegmans) and they don’t have a lot of fat on them, but they are one of the most elegant cuts of meat you can buy. And that’s what I was shooting for here…a little bit of elegance in amongst the chaos.

Enter the red wine reduction. If you are bored, you can evaporate a bottle of red wine on your stove. Eventually, you will cook off not just the alcohol, but the accumulated liquid, leaving behind a film of tannins and grape residue on your pan. You can also reduce that bottle from 750 mL (or about 25 oz.) to a cup, resulting in a rich, red wine sauce. This concentrate deglazes the pan, complements the steaks and enhances the flavor of the mushroom and shallot.

Al Dente on the side: Shaved brussels sprouts

I came late to the brussels sprouts game. My parents were big on beans, broccoli and greens, like escarole, chard, rappi and spinach. The little ugly buggers never made it to our table, so I never understood why other kids complained about them.

My sister, of all people, turned me on to them, mixing the sprouts with a simple combination of salt and garlic and oven roasting. Since then, they have made numerous appearances at holidays and weekend dinners. I even got The Wife, who once rejected vegetables in all forms, to dive in.

Monday dinner: Orecchiette with rappi and goat cheese

I don’t subscribe to theme nights when it comes to dinner. Grocery shopping is done for the week, usually without any particular plan for which meal on which night. This week, I bought whole wheat spaghetti to have with the rest of the bolognese sauce in my fridge, chicken breasts for something I haven’t thought of yet, and orrechiette, rappi and goat cheese for another meal (Wednesday I have to work late, so that means leftover lasagna; on Friday, the kitchen is closed).

I picked up this recipe on a friend’s Pinterest wall and saw that the original poster said it would be great for “Meatless Monday.” I suppose this is a good way to ensure that you eat more veggies and to get the kids thinking that vegetables are more than just the enemy, but themes seem wrought with disappointment and extra effort. Instead of designing theme nights, spend that extra effort on the meal. Here’s the theme for tomorrow night at the Paventi house: Jared is cooking.

There. We have a theme night.