G’day everyone!!

 

I have been a total SLACKO with the food posts lately! To be fair, work is always busy, but I have become “mildly” obsessed with my new hobby of collecting, propagating and arranging succulents. This is pretty hilarious… I never would have imagined I would become a “crazy plant lady…” but I have (ba ha ha ha haaa! *eye roll*)!!

Now I’ve granted myself a reprieve for a few weeks with respect to the medical blog posts (and have 12 days off over Christmas/NY), frees me up to do my Christmas food prep planning! WOOOT WOOT!! Thankfully this year, I’m NOT hosting either family Christmas – so it won’t be nearly as crazy as last year. I would LOVE to hear what you guys are all prepping and see some pics if you have time to post on the FB page wall!!

(oh and if any of you are as succulent-plant obsessed as me, I would LOVE to see your succulent gardens/arrangements/plants too!! I haven’t been posting plant stuff on the FB blog page, but you can see some of my plants on my Instagram account: @drmeggsiecooks )

 

So I posted some pics of a dinner I did the other night – pork tenderloins in a coconut cream gravy (dairy free) with some sides, and a couple followers requested the recipe.

These pork tenderloins are INSANELY easy to prepare, and look really impressive when served up and presented well on a big share platter.

 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pork tenderloins
• Salt &  freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable/rice bran oil (for shallow frying)

Gravy

• 3 stock cubes (chicken, beef or a mix of both) dissolved in about 1/3 of a cup of boiling water
• 1 can of (light) coconut cream (if you don’t need it to be dairy free, you can use normal full cream – but don’t let your cream boil, or it will split!)
• 2 tsp of corn flour mixed with a little bit of cold tap water (like, ¼ cup)

METHOD

Pork

1. Season tenderloins well with salt and pepper
2. Brown in a hot pan (I use a wok) – just till browned on all sides
3. Remove from heat and cover with foil. Finish in a moderate oven (like, 170 degrees) for about 20-25 min. Rest for 10 min covered in foil. Carve on an angle.

Gravy

1. Add the concentrated stock to the oil left from browning the pork on medium heat.
2. Deglaze the pan (deglazing is where you put a bit of liquid into a pan you’ve browned something in, simmer/boil whilst gently scraping down the yummy tasty residues left on the pan surface into your gravy/sauce)
3. Add 1 can on light coconut cream, reduce for 2-3 min
4. Thicken the gravy by adding your corn flour and water mix over low simmer (and keep stirring)

…and VOILA!!

Suggested sides

• Cauliflower steaks and crispy sage (link here: https://kids-health.guru/cauliflower-steaks-crispy-sage/ )
• Roasted veggies (in these pics I used zucchini and cherry tomatoes – but whatever you like)
• Creamy mashed potato

So I will post a few pics of Christmas food prep over the next week or so – please post me pics of what you are prepping too à I love being inspired!!

Merry Christmas to you and happy start of the holidays to me!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

xxDr Megs