Cooking for the Folks Vol. 3

This is the last day of Shannon's parents visiting. I've only cooked for half that, so I wanted to make something a little more special for tonight's dinner, something I knew they'd enjoy. I first pitched the idea of making a roasted chicken, but after realizing I do not have a roasting pan and after a minor argument over how long a chicken has to be cooked for, I decided to make pork tenderloin instead. Much like my little love affair with sherry, I can see myself falling for brandy now after making this Pork Tenderloin with Tomato Brandy Reduction. I bought 2 tenderloins to be sure I'd have enough, but everyone but me figured that 1 would be enough. I really, really wish I'd made more because all of that absolutely delicious sauce went to waste afterwards. The brandy added a perfect amount of sweetness to the tomato sauce and the pork was just so tender and I really can't say enough good things about this dish at all. It's absolutely perfect and relatively easy to make.

I didn't want to do any really extravagant side dishes, so I made things I've already made before. I made Coleslaw, with slightly more tang and less mayo than this recipe, plus some celery seed. I also made the Dilled Mashed Potatoes that were such a hit at our going away party. The third and final vegetable was <a dish="2006/02/04/asparagus">Roasted Asparagus</a>, except instead of the parmesan in this recipe, I used a little bit of fresh rosemary. I had a difficult time finding asparagus anywhere and what I did find was expensive and tiny. Kind of disappointing, but I had set on making asparagus, so there you go.

The whole meal went over well. I was having a few problems with the oven and wasn't sure if the pork had cooked fully, but it turned out perfect. I found a decent potato masher for only a dollar. 3 of us cut ourselves trying to grate cabbage for the coleslaw, which is kind of funny. I cut myself, asked Shannon to do it for me when I went to the store, she cut herself and her dad said he'd show us how it's done, and cut himself, too. The new grater we have is perhaps a little too sharp. Luckily none of us bled into the coleslaw though. The only downside of tonight's dinner is that the pictures didn't turn out that well. My next investment will have to be another desk lamp.