Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Pear, Potato and Bacon Salad and Rosemary Mayonnaise

I've mentioned on this blog before that my boyfriend and I have a friendly competition as to who is the better cook in our apartment.  I think I win because I can cook and bake and have a better understanding of cooking methods, ratios, food storage, and techniques. His argument is that he cooks chicken better than me and is better at creating a dish off the cuff. 

I think I win. 

Of course, this is a friendly competition. That is, until last night. Jack re-created this dish by Stephanie Izzard of Top Chef fame (do we see a pattern here?  When I look for recipes, I go to books, magazines, and Epicurious.com. Jack goes to the Top Chef website).  

This dish was good. Very good. Very, very, very good.  Plump pork is topped with an earthy mayonnaise infused with rosemary and paired with a dynamic salad of soft roasted fingerling potatoes, smoky bacon, sweet pears, and tender haricot verts. And Jack cooked it to perfect.

But I cooked the pork. The highlight of this dish. And when I say the pork was cooked to perfection, it was cooked. to. perfection. Jack asked me to do my "touch the meat and see if it was ready thing" that I always do for him when he is cooking a protein and for some reason hasn't gotten the hang of yet. And I did. And because of my sound judgement, the pork was moist and juicy. 

So the dish was a success because of me! 

Side note: I am NEVER this arrogant about cooking. I have so much to learn and so far to go and this is so much fun for me. But with Jack, it is a competition!

However, Jack felt that he had to rub it in that he is on a bit of a "hot streak" lately and that he is now the better cook in the apartment. I reminded him of the fact that I cooked the pork in this dish and the steak in the recipe he made a few weeks back by Top Chef Contestant Dale. He said it didn't matter. We argued about this well into the wee hours of the morning, as we lay in bed, drifting off to sleep.  "I'm a better cook...", "No, you aren......"

So today, when I had my serving for lunch (it was late and I didn't want to eat the meal for dinner, so I saved it for today), I called him to tell him that I was eating it.

"How good is it?" he asked proudly.

"It's a bit bland." I lied, still tasting the rosemary and pears. 

"Shut up."

Because he probably won't read this entry, I will admit right here and now that this is a delicious dish and would highly recommend this recipe. The flavors go so well together and the rosemary mayo is absolutely standout. 

But don't tell Jack.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin - from Top Chef

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Pear:

2 pork tenderloins, silver skin removed

2 pears, peeled, diced

2T butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Potato & Bacon Salad:

1 lb new potatoes, cubed (in water until use)

4T extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 lb haricot vert, blanched, shocked

1 red onion, diced small

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

8 slices bacon, cooked to crisp

3T sherry vinegar

Rosemary Vinaigrette:

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1T Dijon

1 cup grapeseed oil

1/4 cup rosemary (ground in spice grinder)

2t soy sauce

1t honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Potato & Bacon Salad:

Toss potatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 450 degrees until golden but not overcooked, about 1 hour. Cut blanched and shocked haricots into bite-sized-pieces. Place diced red onion in nonreactive pot with red wine vinegar and sugar; bring to boil and remove. Let cool and strain. Toss in pears and bacon with sherry vinegar.

Rosemary Vinaigrette:

Place yolks, vinegar and Dijon in blender. Slowly drizzle in oil until thick. Add in other ingredients and season to taste with remaining ingredients.

Pork:

Grill pork until done, about 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on size of the tenderloin.  Saute pears in butter until golden brown.  Season with Salt and Pepper.

To Serve:

- Season pork tenderloins and grill until desired doneness. Heat up potato salad. 

- Check seasoning and add more vinaigrette or salt and pepper if needed

- Top with slices of pork and rosemary vinaigrette.

Comments

[Jesse]

Hahaha, you and your boyfriend make such an adorable couple! I think you win too... but I'm biased cos I always side with the girl!

[Eliana]

Haha. Friendly competition is god especially when it results in great looking food like this.

[Courtney]

I love that you have friendly compettition in the kitchen! I bet its great to take turns making dinner! My husband can't even turn on the stove! This looks FABULOUS!!!!!!!

[Stacey Snacks]

You win! this pork looks amazing...juicy and those pears!

[Tracey]

So funny that you guys have a friendly competition going on! I do all the cooking in my house so I think it'd be fabulous to have someone who can give me a run for my money :)

[Jen Schall @ My Kitchen Addiction]

Your post totally made me laugh after a long day of meetings... thanks for that! Looks delicious!

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Mmmm, mayo mayo mayo. A compound mayo is as good as a compound butter. Yum!

[Tangled Noodle]

If this is what you two come up with when you're competing with each other, then by all means, get your fight on! We'll stand by the sidelines and feast on the tasty outcome. 8-)

[Rebecca]

Oh, wow. This looks fan-freakin-tastic. Jack is a lucky man.

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