STONE CREEK RESTAURANT
Holiday Dinner For 8 with owner Deb Clemente
Ingredients
- Porchetta Italiana
- 3 whole pork tenderloins, about 1 pounds each
- 1 cups pesto (bottled or freshly made), divided
- 1 pound thinly sliced hickory smoked bacon strips
- kitchen string, cut into 18 to 24 10-inch lengths
- 2 cups Alfredo sauce (bottled or freshly made)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Trim the silver skin and the exterior fat from the meat. Make a lengthwise slit through the middle of each tenderloin (through the thickest dimension), leaving -inch thickness of meat uncut. Lay each tenderloin on a heavy duty cutting board and spread open along the cut. Cover each piece of meat with a sheet of plastic wrap and use a tenderizing meat cleaver to pound the meat to 1/4-inch thickness. Spread 1/3 to 1/2 cup of pesto in an even layer across the entire surface of each pounded tenderloin. Beginning with one of the long edges of the tenderloin, tightly roll up as if rolling cinnamon rolls. Wrap the strips of bacon continuously around the meat rolls keeping the meat rolled tightly. At 2-inch intervals, wrap and tie the meat with the pre-cut kitchen string to secure the roll shape. Trim the string ends to 1/4-inch. Place the meat rolls on a rack in a foil-lined roasting pan and roast in a 425 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 145 degrees for medium, or until desired doneness is achieved. Let rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.
Heat the Alfredo sauce in a saucepan over low heat. When ready to plate and serve the tenderloin, cut and remove the strings securing the meat roll. Slice the tenderloins into -inch medallions and fan out some of the medallions on each plate. Spoon approximately 3 tablespoons of the heated Alfredo sauce in the center of each plated tenderloin fan. To garnish, sprinkle the tenderloin and the Alfredo sauce with fresh chopped parsley. Serves 8.
Holiday Pilaf
Ingredients
- 3 6-ounce boxes Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice with Herb Seasoning
- cup dried sweetened cranberries
- cup toasted walnuts*, chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Prepare the rice as directed on the package using the seasonings included. Just before serving stir in the cranberries, toasted walnuts and fresh parsley. Serves 8.
*To toast the walnuts: Place walnuts halves in a pie plate and toast in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes, turning twice. Cool and chop.
Zesty Green Bean and Red Pepper Saut
Ingredients
- 1 28-ounce package whole petite green beans, or 1 to 2 pounds fresh green beans, blanched*
- 2 large red bell peppers, slice lengthwise, cored and seeded
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- teaspoon garlic pepper, or to taste
- teaspoon Cavenders Greek Seasoning, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Thaw frozen green beans for one hour before cooking time, or rinse and trim fresh green beans and blanch them as directed below. Slice the peppers into 1/8-inch strips.
Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the green beans and red pepper strips. Sprinkle with the garlic pepper and Cavenders Greek Seasoning. Saut the vegetables until they are tender, but still retain the bright green and red colors. Add the lemon zest and juice toward the end of the cooking time. Serves 8.
*Blanch fresh green beans by placing them in a large pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes. Drain the green beans and place them in a bowl of ice water until cool. Drain and saut as directed above.
Recipes by Deb Clemente, owner of Stone Creek Restaurant.
