Those little pigs sure do cause a lot of trouble. First it was antagonizing the wolf with their straw, twig and brick houses...then it was that little wee, wee, wee... all the way home thing. Now they very well could have started a full on pandemic. Power to the PIGS!
Then there's the poor pork producers...a public relations disaster if ever there was one...a global pandemic in the making is grinding the pork industry into, um, er, sausage. You have to wonder about the collective IQ of North Americans if they think that by eating a link of sausage, a piece of bacon, a chop or a tenderloin that they run the risk of contract H1N1. Stop and just imagine this for a moment...death by bacon. I can think of worse ways to go!
Pigs & swine and pork have been filling the airwaves, internet and headlines all this week, but they have all played a central role in the relationship I have with the one whom I adore. We love pork here in the Oyster Bed Bridge. The sound & smell of bacon cooking is part of our Sunday morning ritual, and at least once or twice a week I'll whip up a roasted pork tenderloin or a big feed of chops. Pork, it's the OTHER white meat.
Two years ago when we were in Florence I snapped this picture of 4 little pigs enjoying Chianti and what one can only assume is good Italian slop at a local enoteca. Look closely...there really are four stuffed pigs sitting at this table.
It shocked me at first, but then we realized that the WHOLE place was full of HAM. Rows and rows and rows of ham curing on the walls. So OF COURSE I had Dwayne pose amongst them. PICTURE OF DWAYNE IS MISSING - TOO BAD, IT WAS REALLY A GOOD ONE!
We had read in one of the guidebooks that at Florence's central mercato was a bronze statue of Il Porcolino and if you rubbed its nose it would bring you good luck. So, after our first swine encounter in the city, of course, we set out immediately to find the big bronze pig and then we snapped THIS picture of me going in for a kiss on the snout.
Perhaps my best pork story, however, takes place during the very earliest days of our relationship, on our first joint grocery shopping expedition. A simple pork chop could very well have ended our relationship before it ever began. Have I mentioned that the one whom I adore is a financial guy? A financial guy who is never happier then when he has discovered a DEAL? Did I mention I'm a marketer? A woman who will whore herself out to stay loyal to a brand she loves? Our very first fight went down in the meat aisle at the local Safeway. We were shopping for pork chops for dinner. I found my favourite brand of chop and casually tossed them into the cart. Meanwhile he had found a package of chops that were twice the size and thickness of the ones I had selected and cost less money! He simply made a mild suggestion that perhaps the chops he had located were, ahem, a better value then mine. Forgive him Lord, for he knew not what he did. Either did I, actually. Hormones must have been raging that week because I took my pack of pork chops and threw them at him. Yes, I chucked chops right at his head, right there in the meat aisle at the Hinton Safeway. As I stomped away I (not so mildly) suggested it would be best if he did the (insert expletive here) shopping from now on.
It is testimony to the patience and understanding of the man that I would one day marry. He took my pork chop outburst in stride. He put my expensive & thin chops back in the cooler and carried on his merry way, checking us out and loading the bags into the car. He didn't flip out at me, although he would have had every right to, given my infantile fit. He didn't punish me by acting all hurt and put out. No, he simply filed the incident away in his memory and carried on as though nothing had happened. That, my dear Internet, is a man worth marrying.
So, the moral of this story, dear Internet is this: not every swine you encounter is a pig and not every pig will give you the Swine Flu. Do your part for the pork producers everywhere and put a little pork on your fork. Or at least between two slices of bread.
Kim's Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin, silver skin trimmed
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Herbes de Provence
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Method:
Stud the trimmed pork tenderloin with chopped garlic, salt, pepper an herbes de Provence at least one hour prior to roasting. Roast at 375-degrees until meat thermometer reads 165 at the thickest part of the tenderloin. Remove & rest five minutes.
Before serving glaze with Balsamic Vinaigrette (recipe below) and serve.
Balsamic Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tsp Herbes de Provence
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Pepper
Combine all ingredients and glaze tenderloin prior to serving. Also serves as a great salad dressing.
