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READ ON MY KINDLE DURING THE TRIP TO ENGLAND: The Forgotten Garden (by Kate Morton, on my Kindle); several generations of women pepper this book with the story of their lives. It all revolves around a young girl who arrives on a pier in Australia in 1912 with no papers, no family. Nothing except a small white suitcase with little concrete information about her past. She’s four years old and keeps silent about what little she knows. Her story starts there, but then it jumps forward to 2005 when her granddaughter inherits a house in Cornwall (England), purchased by the grandmother and kept secret until after her death. There’s some secrecy going on with all the women. Then the story jumps back to 1975 when the grandmother is a middle-aged woman and you hear part of her story. Much of the book revolves around a walled garden at this house in Cornwall, and how it relates to the “big house” where the grandmother lived some of her early years. It’s quite a complex web of a family saga. I liked it, although each new chapter jumped to a different time, and it’s not until the last 10 pages or so that everything resolves. Good read.

Also read The Queen’s Governess (by Karen Harper, on my Kindle); this one is about a young girl from an impoverished family who is taken to Court and eventually becomes a playmate/governess to Elizabeth I (the story is based on fact, but is a novel). The two girls grow up together. It tells the story of  Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth I’s mother) and others of the court at that time, the intrigues, the murders, the beheadings, and the perseverance of all of the potential kings and queens. Fascinating story, particularly since we visited Castle Howard where where a small part of Henry VIII’s story transpires.

And, I read The Invisible Bridge (by Julie Orringer, on my Kindle) too; a riveting story about a young Hungarian Jew who goes to Paris to study architecture, just before the start of WW II. He manages to scrape together enough money to eat, but barely, falls in love with an older woman, yet his work comes to the attention of some of the school’s teachers. He’s one of only a handful of Jews at the school. Then the Nazis begin invading. And the story goes into plenty of detail about the hardships, the imprisonments and eventual deaths of many of his friends and family. I could hardly put it down, though. Heart-wrenching, however.

STILL READING: Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster – by Alison Weir (paperback from Costco). I was expecting this book to be along the same genre as Philippa Gregory’s novels – honing in on a particular English royal woman – telling her story in novel form. This is not one of those types. It’s non-fiction, and tells the factual story of Katherine Swynford, who eventually became the Duchess of Lancaster. But her journey from young bride to Hugh Swynford (this takes place in the 1300′s) to the Duchess is bursting with intrigue as she was John of Gaunt’s mistress for some time (eventually he married her when she was 46 (certainly an advanced age for that century), which caused all kinds of royal scandal). In that period of history no one related to royalty married for love. It was all about family, bearing many children to inherit land and wealth, to fight for the king, to maintain title and fortune. The Duchess’ children eventually became the House of Tudor (King Henry VII). Katherine Swynford was both reviled (because of her immoral behavior) and loved (by nearly everyone who knew her). Alison Weir is obviously a stickler for research – the footnotes comprise over 40 pages of fine print. She paints a different picture of this woman than was done by Anya Seton in her world-famous novel Katherine, first published in 1954. I was infatuated with that novel – it was one of my all-time favorites. But it’s a romance, and apparently many of the supposed facts – well, aren’t. Life in those times were not romantic. This Alison Weir book is not exactly easy reading; it’s almost like reading a textbook. But it’s fascinating and I’m enjoying it very much.

FINISHEDTime and Again – by Jack Finney (paperback); read for one of my book clubs. Written in the 1940′s it was a runaway hit back then. An early look at time travel. It’s about a U.S. government experiment in the 1960′s (this is fiction, remember), sending a selected few men back to the 1880′s in New York City. They were told to observe. Not to change anything. To be unnoticeable. Yet one of the young men, just couldn’t quite do that  (of course, otherwise there wouldn’t be a story!). It’s his adventure you read. The writer is a master at description. The reader feels transported to that time. Our book club really enjoyed it. Generally I’m not into that kind of book at all, but I found the book fascinating. There is a sequel as well, called From Time to Time.

Spoken from the Heart— autobiography by Laura Bush (hardback from Costco). What a delightful read. It’s not about politics. It’s about Laura’s journey from her young years growing up in Midland, Texas to loving parents, to college grad to school teacher, librarian, to meeting George, whom she barely knew even though they grew up in the same small town, then marrying him. She didn’t come naturally to being a public speaker, but did it, to help her husband. I enjoyed reading about her early years more than the years at the White House. Much of that part was about all the social events required of the President and First Lady. Still interesting, though. I enjoyed the book very much.

IN THE POWDER ROOM: Our guest half-bath has a little table with a pile of books that I change every now and then. They’re books that might pique someone’s interest even if for a very short read. The Greatest Stories Never Told; and Sara Midda’s South of France; and  Other People’s Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See; (edited by Bill Shapiro); Monet’s Table: The Cooking Journals of Claude Monet (Joyes); The Trouble with Poetry (Billy Collins).

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Posted in Pork, on March 19th, 2009.

pork-tend-orange-onion-sauce

Leafing through some recipes for pork tenderloin, nothing struck my fancy. Either I didn’t have the ingredients, or it sounded like too much work. Then provenance provided. A friend from my art class brought in some citrus to share. Handing us a bag, we picked through and took what appealed. Paz told us that these little guys (pictured) are sour limes. (No, they’re not kumquats, although they’re similar in size, but not in shape.) But, these were the orangest-looking limes I’ve ever seen, but they were tart. Very tart. What to do with them? Paz said she doesn’t use them for anything, that’s why she was giving them away. She suggested a lemonade-type drink, using lots of sugar.

sour-2Why not a marinade, then? I concocted my own mixture of a little bit of olive oil, the sour citrus juice and a clove of garlic, mashed. It marinated with the pork tenderloin for a few hours, and I rolled it around a bit now and then to make sure all the sufaces were in contact with the meat.

Pork is so lean these days, that I never serve a tenderloin, anyway, without something to go with it. It needs a sauce or a salsa, or something to accompany it. Even though the meat is tender and moist (if it’s cooked right), tenderloin in and of itself lacks any robust flavor. So serving it with a strong-flavored sauce is generally a good thing. Paz also gave us oranges, so I created a VERY easy pan sauce to accompany the pork. While the meat was roasting in a 400 oven, I sauteed some yellow onion (slices, halved), then added some fresh orange juice and vermouth and just before serving I added some orange zest.

I removed the roast when it reached 140 on my handy-dandy meat thermometer (I have the probe-type that inserts into the meat and dangles out the oven door to its base, where I set the finished temp). Once I took it out of the oven, I tented it lightly with foil, which keeps the meat warm. It actually rose in temp another 4-5 degrees while it sat. Meanwhile I finished up the rest of the dinner and salad, then the meat was sliced a bit on the diagonal and I spooned some of this pan sauce on top. The onion had taken on the sweetness of the orange juice, tempered by the vermouth, and was altogether lovely. Each bite of pork was consumed with a bit of the orangy-onion. If you wanted even more flavor, add some dried cranberries, or even raisins. Another option would be to add the sections (supremes) of another orange to the sauce just before serving (cook them just long enough to heat them through in the pan sauce).

Baked Pork Tenderloin with Orange
Onion Pan Sauce

Recipe: My own concoction.
Servings: 3
1 pound pork tenderloin
1 whole garlic clove — minced
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
SAUCE:
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 whole yellow onion — halved, sliced
1/2 cup vermouth
GARNISH:
Italian parsley & orange zest
1. Carefully trim the pork tenderloin of silverskin and most of the fat.
2. In a ziplock plastic bag combine the garlic, orange juice, olive oil plus salt and pepper. Add the pork and seal. Squish it around and refrigerate for several hours, turning several times.
3. Preheat oven to 400. Remove pork from marinade and allow to sit at room temp for about 20 minutes. Discard marinade. Dry off pork with paper towel.
4. Heat a medium skillet (large enough to hold the pork), and add the additional olive oil to the pan. Sear the pork on 3-4 sides to brown, about 1-2 minutes each surface. Remove to a small baking sheet lined with a Silpat (or foil).
5. Bake pork for about 15-20 minutes, until the meat has reached 140 (use meat thermometer). Remove from the oven and lightly tent with foil for about 10 minutes. Meat temperature will continue to rise during this time.
6. SAUCE: While the pork is baking make the sauce. In the same skillet used to brown the meat add olive oil and heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the sliced onion and saute on medium heat until the onion is translucent, and may even lightly brown on cut edges. Do not burn. Add the orange juice and vermouth and cook for another 10 minutes covered, at a simmer, stirring occasionally. If all the liquid evaporates add a bit more vermouth just to keep the onions moist. Season with salt and pepper and just before serving add the orange zest.
7. Slice the pork tenderloin on a slight angle, making slices about 1/3 inch thick and spoon the onion orange sauce on top of each slice. May also garnish the pork with finely minced Italian parsley and additional orange zest.
Per Serving (assumes you eat the marinade too): 465 Calories; 26g Fat (56.0% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 98mg Cholesterol; 89mg Sodium.
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  1. Toffeeapple

    said on March 20th, 2009:

    This is making my mouth water! It sounds marvellous.

    T-A: It was good. Maybe not off the charts, but healthy, anyway, and I loved the orange flavor with the onions. . . Carolyn T

  2. Marie

    said on March 24th, 2009:

    I have never heard of sour limes! I have had qumquats, and I loved them. What a lovely sounding sauce to serve with pork. I agree with you. Pork tenderloin on it’s own without a sauce to accompany it is quite lacklustre, no matter how properly cooked. A good sauce is it’s best companion!

    I still don’t know for sure WHAT they were. Small. Orange. But she definitely said limes. I used them all up in the marinade and sauce, so don’t have any more of them. . . Carolyn T

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