she cooks…he cleans

Wow, it’s been a busy week and I am falling behind on blogging!  Days ago, there were apples in the fruit bowl that needed to be consumed.  With the possible exception of apples dipped in caramel (oh, the sugar!), my favorite way to eat apples is after they are cooked.  Apples pair well with onion and sage, so I decided to do an easy pan-saute to accompany a bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin.  Wow…a marriage made in heaven!

Ingredients

• 2 apples, cored and sliced into wedges
• 1 sweet onion, sliced thin
• 2-3 T butter or bacon drippings*
• ~ 1/3 cup Applejack or apple brandy
• ~ 6 fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped, or a big pinch of dried sage
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

* If making with bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, use same pan after browning the roast to take advantage of the resulting bacon fat and fond from the pork.

Heat pan with butter or bacon-drippings to medium heat.  Add onions and cook until soft and just starting to caramelize.  Toss in apples, sage, and applejack; cook stirring occasionally until apples are soft but not falling apart, and the liquids in the pan have cooked down.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bonus!  Bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin! Bacon wrapped around anything is good, but it really zips up the flavor of this lean and mild-tasting cut of meat.

• Pork tenderloin
• 2 T whole-grain mustard
• Sage leaves
• Salt & pepper
• 6-7 slices of bacon

Preheat oven to 400F. Slather the pork tenderloin with the mustard; season with salt and pepper (take it easy on the salt because of the bacon.)

Start wrapping the pork from one end with slices of bacon, inserting sage leaves here and there while wrapping the bacon around the roast.  You could also lay the bacon on a flat surface in rows, place the roast on the bacon, and fold the bacon around the pork.  Whichever is easier for you!  I find it helpful to also tie the roast with butcher’s twine in 1 to 2 inch intervals to  keep the bacon from falling off while browning.

Brown the bacon-wrapped tenderloin on all sides in a large saute pan.  (Remember to use the fond from the saute pan for the apples!)

Place the tenderloin in a shallow roasting pan and cook in oven for 18-20 minutes total, turning once or twice.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Don’t know if you’d call Tom Waits savory…but he’s a good apple indeed…and a newly minted member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Congrats Tom! We had the unique experience of seeing him a few years ago and loved it. If you get the chance to see him perform, do. Nothing else like it anywhere.

So in honor of Tom Waits, here’s a few favorites to get you started. There are two periods of Waits, the first being a boho singer/songwriter who seemed to channel the

Beat Generation. His songwriting is so sharp on Closing Time, with moments like “Martha” and “I hope I don’t fall in love with you”. Classic stuff.

Tom Waits version 2, which began with Swordfishtrombones is a crazed musical lunatic, blazing new paths with each album. This one features moments such as “Shore Leave” and “16 Shells From A 30.6”. No one else sounds like this, trust me.