April 19, 2016

Pork Tenderloin in the Style of Cordoba —and Knoxville, Asheville and Charleston

Natacha Sanz Caballero Meat and Poultry, Events & Travel asheville, charleston, cumin, knoxville, north carolina, pork tenderloin, south carolina, springbreak 2016, tennessee, turmeric

Going away for spring break is something relatively new for us. In Spain, we had Holy Week holidays, which coincided, of course, with Holy Week and Easter. Even living in the United States, when the children were younger they didn’t notice if we went away on a trip during spring break or not. In fact, it was nice staying in Fort Wayne: the weather was starting to get warmer and sunnier with spring, and it was a nice week off from preschoolor or kindergarten. It wasn’t until they got a bit older that they realized their friends were going to warmer temperature places during that week of holidays in March/April. In Fort Wayne, warmer places mean Florida. Our family sometimes jokes that half of Fort Wayne moves to Florida during spring break. Anyway, the boys started asking for a vacation away from home during spring break. And as much as we crave the sun and the heat, just thinking of and anticipating my summer in Spain keeps me going for a few more months, so much so that I don’t really need to go south during spring break. As a lover of history, and of road trips, we started to build our spring breaks around places we wanted to visit, places we could get to by car, with multiple stops along the way to enjoy the sights, the food, and the landscape. This year such place was Charleston, South Carolina, by way of a few other states and their cities.

We left Indiana to get into Ohio and visit, on our first stop, Miami University in Oxford. We had heard it was one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation, and we were curious, and not deceived. My oldest son is in college, and my second one will be there in a couple of years, so this was a worthwhile stop. After visiting the school of engineering, and making sure they also offered architecture, two of the areas my son is considering, we set off for Knoxville, Tennessee, via Kentucky. We didn’t stop in Kentucky, since we were spending the night in Knoxville, but feasted on a beautiful drive through rolling hills and pastures with cattle and horses, and gorgeous landscape. We arrived in Knoxville at day’s end, so we can’t  say we saw Knoxville by day. However, we managed to enjoy the nightlife at Market Square and the surrounding area. What a lively city! We made a point to stop there on the way back, as we needed to continue on our way to Asheville, North Carolina, where we were spending the next night, and where we were planning to visit the largest private residence in the country, the Biltmore house. We had read we needed to dedicate at least four hours to the visit, so we were anxious to get on our way.

If you’ve visited the Biltmore mansion, you know what I’m talking about when I say our mouths dropped when we arrived there. The home, the gardens, the property. It is almost surreal, and hard to believe, this was the vacation home of a couple and their only daughter. The grandiosity of the place is only dwarfed by the never ending detail everywhere you looked: the ornate mouldings, the painted ceilings, the giant antique tapestries covering walls, the thousands of books in the large but cozy library, the basement and its kitchen and laundry quarters, one room per purpose, from the pantry to the ice box room, the copper cookware and dream stove… truly something to see. Out in the gardens, and into the Conservatory, more treasures, exotic plants and seating nooks and benches, potting areas and fountains. And farther away on the property, the winery and the lake. We left the place just before it closed for the day, snapping our last photos as we left.  And again, we arrived at the hotel at days end. We decided therefore to spend the next morning exploring this artsy, smallish city we had heard so much about. Truly a treasure of art stores and beautiful architecture, we strolled through and around the Grove Arcade Public Market, a neo-Gothic structure built in 1929, whose interior is lit by skylights that bathe spiral staircases, ornate moldings and delicate wrought-iron balustrades. Inside, specialty stores and boutiques, and outside its south entrance, shaded stalls where craftspeople, artists and farmers sell their goods. Farther away, Woolworth Walk, an arts and crafts haven where I purchased some nice kitchen utensils you’ll soon see in the blog. And a short walk down the street, High Five Coffee, where I found my favorite type of coffee, cortado: a long shot of espresso, or two, with just about 1 ounce of milk.

We left Asheville to enter the Smoky Mountains, another discovery for us, and a place we swore we’ll go back to, because we didn’t have time to stop this time. Living in Indiana all year, flat as a cutting board, being in the mountains was a treat for the eyes and the spirit. For me, in particular, this kind of mountain, old, rounded, like the mountains where Onteniente sits, brought memories of the road trips of my childhood, squeezed in the backseat of my parents’ car, but happily singing and playing games.

And finally, Charleston. What a jewel of a city! I am sure it has something for everybody. The sea and the beaches, the cobblestone streets and buildings that bring you to a foregone era, the history that the city carries proudly, the warm, sunny weather, of course, and the food scene. I can say we didn’t have one single less than delicious meal there. Hominy Grill, Husk, Amen Street, Carmella’s, Kaminsky’s, Jeni’s Ice Cream, Monza, are some of the places where we ate, and if you’re planning on a visit such as ours, I suggest you make reservations first, because we couldn’t try some recommended restaurants for this reason. Every corner, every step in Charleston, was a photo opportunity, and I drove my family a bit nuts with my picture taking (that’s why you see lots of their backs in my photos, as I was trailing behind). You can imagine that I took many, many more photos than the ones I show here. I’ve tried to contain myself and post just a few, with questionable success.

A happy encounter in Charleston, our friends from Fort Wayne Shelby and her son Davis, who travel to Charleston often, and I can now understand why. We spent three days there, one of which we had initially planned on traveling to Savannah for the day. That trip will have to wait for another time (maybe when we go back to the Smoky Mountains?), because Charleston offered so much.

Back on the road again, with a goal to spend more time in Knoxville by day. The University of Tennessee, Old Town and Market Square, and the World’s Fair Park, where the world fair took place in 1982. Having lived in Toronto, and going up the CN Tower, and the Skylon Tower at Niagara Falls two hours away from Toronto, where the lines are long and the fees high, another nice surprise in Knoxville: anybody can go up the Sunsphere and enjoy an aerial view of the city from its golden colored glass observatory. No lines, no fees, just as easy as pressing the up button of an elevator.

Once home in Fort Wayne we learned that spring break here had meant winter: snow, rain, hail, and cold temperatures. Considering everything, this was a great time of year to be away for spring break, even if it was a vacation of just four of us, with our oldest away at college. Our first trip without him, and a sign of times to come.

I have been receiving boxes of products from Hatchery for a few months now, and I promised I’d share one of my recipes using some of their products. When I opened the small jar of Bombay Bliss that came in this month’s box, I knew it would be perfect in lomo a la cordobesa, pork tenderloin in the style of Córdoba. Córdoba is a city in Andalucia where the influence of the moors during their centuries long occupation during the middle ages can be seen at every turn, the most evident of which is the Mezquita, the Mosque, a place that will bring you to the stories of One Thousand and One Nights. I don’t know exactly what other spices Bombay Bliss contains, but I’ve written the recipe so that you can use the individual spices they would use in Córdoba. I used Bombay Bliss, as I say, but the result will be just as delicious. Accompany it with your vegetable of choice.

 

PORK TENDERLOIN IN THE STYLE OF CORDOBA

Lomo al Horno a la Cordobesa

Ingredients:

2 pork tenderloins, about 1 lb each

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup white wine

1 cup sherry

1 lemon

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric

2 Tbs pine nuts

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.

Sprinkle the pork loin with salt and pepper to taste and place in a baking dish. In a small bowl, mix the cumin and the turmeric and dust over the meat, rubbing it with your fingers (if using Bombay Bliss, rub about 3 tsp all over the meat). In another bowl, mix the wine, the sherry and the olive oil. Pour the mix over the meat and into the baking dish. Sprinkle the pine nuts over the meat, cut the lemon in half and place it in the dish. Place the dish in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes to 1 hour.

To serve, slice into 1/2 inch medallions and pour over the sauce.