This isn’t a blog post so much as, well… just two pictures. I expected to have posted these pictures long ago, but life intervened again, as it is wont to do.* Sleep easy though, for summer has officially started for me and blog posts should be increasing. There are lots of wonderful food opportunities on the horizon, from a Dolores Park picnic to finally biting the bullet and emulating Harold’s compost location (if he can do it in Korea, I damn well am going to be able to do it in San Francisco) and eventually starting a rooftop garden, to just having a great summer overall. It’s already started well, with lots of food, friends, and family, but very little cooking on my part.

It’s time to start eating food by me again.

Speaking of which, even though I ate this more than 3 weeks ago according to the EXIF information on the image, I still remember it as being quite good. The spinach was cold and crisp and the tenderloin seemed to melt into it. I had brined the pork with a bit of pomegranate juice and wine splashed in, seared and roasted it, then cooled it before shaving it into thin slices.

A good tip if you don’t have a particularly sharp knife (despite my best efforts, mine has become somewhat dull) is to put the meat in the freezer for about ten minutes or so before slicing it. It will harden it up a bit and make it easier to get thin slices.

Then to add a bit of different texture and flavor, I added some blue cheese and praline pecans. For the cheese, I used Maytag, which is a particularly creamy variety with veins of blue streaked through it. I dressed it with a raspberry vinaigrette which was made with the same basic principles as the raspberry cayenne sauce I made as a dessert sauce. However, I made it with only a pinch of brown sugar, quite a bit less wine, and much more balsamic vinegar (as opposed to none). Oh, and no cayenne.

From what I remember, those four ingredients–spinach, roast pork, creamy blue cheese, and crunchy caramelized pecans–were quite delicious together.

I wish I had some pork tenderloin now. I nearly always wish that though.