For The Love Of Pork Roast originally published on Food and Fond Memories on December 18, 2010 by sandyaxelrod 1 Comment (Edit)
For The Love Of Pork Roast
Pork Salad with Sherry Cointreau Vinaigrette
It was only a couple of years ago that I would get groans from Steve at the mere mention of pork. Not that he didn’t like bacon or baked ham but pulled pork, pork chops or pork roast were groaners. The funny thing was that on rare occasions I would make some kind of pork dish just because I was craving it and though he groused about it at the end of the meal he always said “that was really good”. Just recently, since I have started preparing almost everything Bobby Flay style he has begun to look forward to my pork dishes. A few nights ago I made a fabulous pork entrée of Bobby’s altering it oh so slightly. The actual recipe for Marinated Pork Chops with Blood Orange and Rosemary calls for thick bone-in pork chops but since pork chops are not yet on Steve’s edible pork list I only had a package of pork tenderloins to work with. I marinated the pair of tenderloins for a couple of hours and then grilled them. As soon as I removed them from the grill I drizzled them with the Blood Orange Vinaigrette. We ate one of the tenderloins right away with grilled sweet potato wedges and Caesar Salad and it was fabulous! We even thought about being little piggies and polishing off the other piece. But fortunately our better judgement won over and I wrapped it up for another meal.
Grilled Pork Tenderloins
A couple of nights later I decided to turn the left-over pork roast into a salad for dinner. I wanted to make an orange vinaigrette to dress it with but I had no oranges left. I used the time I spent cutting everything to try to think of how I could bring out the orange flavor in the pork. Hmmm, what taste like oranges? Well Cointreau of course. I decided to be really courageous and just use my culinary skills. I added a bit of Aged Sherry vinegar, Dijon and coarse grained mustards and Cointreau to a bowl with some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then I whisked in some Extra-Virgin olive oil until it emulsified. When I gave it a taste it was good but not quite orangey enough so I added a little more Cointreau. The total sum of the parts to the salad combined to create a truly delicious meal. We practically licked our plates.
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Pork Salad with Sherry Cointreau Vinaigrette
- Total Time: 37 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Ingredients
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsps. aged sherry vinegar
2 tbsps. Cointreau, or other orange liqueur
2 tbsps. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. coarse grained mustard
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 head Romaine, sliced into ribbons
1 wedge red cabbage, thinly sliced
2 oz. arugula, thick stems removed
1/2 of an English cucumber, peeled, sliced, then quartered
1 ripe mango, peeled and cubed
1 ripe avocado, peeled and cubed
1 cooked pork tenderloin (about 3/4 pound), room temperature and cut into bite sized cubes
(I used Bobby Flay’s recipe from his book Grill It!)
Blue Corn tortilla chips for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil it a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until caramelized then add the mushrooms to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms have browned. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature while preparing the rest of the salad.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the sherry vinegar, Cointreau, Dijon and coarse ground mustards and the olive oil until emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients to a large salad bowl. crush the tortilla chips into large pieces and garnish the salad. Drizzle with the dressing and toss well to coat.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Sautéing
- Cuisine: American
