Board (Bored) Meeting

Cosmos do the trick for sure, Meg (when you’re enjoying the Golden Globes). But, when you’re saddled with an Association Board of Directors dinner, it can be a different story (though the cosmos would probably help!). While you were busy enjoying your friends and frolicking through fields of stuffed dates, I had to figure out what semi-serious kind of dinner I could fix our board members the next night.

The group is easy to feed, in general, so coming up with a menu isn’t hard…most appreciate a home-cooked meal, particularly after a long day of work. The real trick is having it ready EXACTLY as they arrive because they dish up, sit down, and get down to business, fork-in-hand.

I had such success with a pre-holiday dinner in December, that I decided it would provide just the answer for the board. Since it’s dinner-only (sans appetizers or salads or pre-dinner anything), I went straight for the good stuff: Pork Tenderloin with a Cranberry and Roasted Garlic Sauce (recipe from Bon Appétit), a spiced rice from San Francisco a la Carte (one of my most-loved books, p. 166) featuring yummy currants, raisins and dried apricots in its mix, and a simple lemon and herb green bean veggie, with pumpkin date torte for dessert.


Too bad the grocery store didn’t cooperate…NO CRANBERRIES to be had. Is there a time clock in the produce section that says, “I’m sorry, tick tock, but Christmas is over…you may not purchase cranberries anymore”? I stood there, knowing full well that someone was standing hip-deep in their rubber boots in a bog somewhere, trying desperately to be sure I could have them, but noooo. Epiphany in the produce aisle: I remembered a pork á l’orange I’d made some time ago with a pork loin roast and decided its simplicity would work just fine…I picked up an orange.

I still coated the tenderloin as directed on the recipe, oiling it with about 2 Tbl olive oil and then with a combo of:

¼ cup flour
1 tsp. each of garlic powder, cumin, dried thyme, ground black pepper
½ tsp. cayenne pepper

Then I prepared a reduction of fresh orange juice, champagne wine vinegar, chicken stock, a little white wine and a bit of orange zest; finishing it with a couple tablespoons of orange liqueur and orange sections. The tenderloins were seared in a hot, oiled skillet til browned on all sides and then cooked in a 400° oven for about 13 min. (til thermometer inserted into center registered 145°). Pork removed to warm platter and served with orange sauce.

It was a hit! Sometimes out of culinary chaos comes an answer…even if it wasn’t on the agenda.

--the mother