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Friday night we hosted some friends for dinner. We havent had anyone over for a meal in ages, and were reminded how much we like it! I cooked as G ended up stuck at work until late (he made it home just in time to share the meal). The recipe below for pork tenderloin was excellent. I served it with Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Browned Butter, Roasted Organic Carrots and Orzo Baked with Green Onions and Parmesan.

Prosciutto-wrapped Pork Loin with Salsa Verde
Source: Everyone Can Cook by Eric Akis
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs boneless pork loin
black pepper to taste
8 long, paper-thin slices of proscuitto
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup capers, finely chopped
4 anchovy filets, mashed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season the pork with pepper (no need for salt as the proscuitto adds enough saltiness). Carefully wrap the slices of prosciutto, slightly overlapping them, around the meat. Roast for 75-90 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the thickest part of the roast reaches 165 degrees.

While the pork is roasting, make the salsa verde. Combine the parsley, capers, anchovies, garlic, mustard and vinegar in a bowl. Slowly beat in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside at room temperature.

When the roast is cooked, let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice it thinly and serve the salsa verde alongside.

G and I attended a very lavish Burns Supper last night. Robert Burns is the national poet of Scotland and people around the world honor his memory each year on his birthday, January 25th. This Burns Supper is hosted by some lawyer friends with a few Scots thrown in for good measure. Its held at the Stimson Green Mansion on First Hill and everything is top notch. The whisky selection was extensive, we nibbled on fresh oysters and shrimp, and the meal spared no expense. It included planked salmon, rack of lamb and Cornish hens.

Most everyone in attendance was kilted. Its not often you see that many men in kilts and I must say, I think G was the most dashing of the lot. The Burns Supper follows a specific program beginning with The Selkirk Grace and then on to a Presentation of the Haggis. Everyone at our table ventured to try the haggis, neeps and tatties and most were surprisingly pleased with the taste. The bulk of the evening is then given over the reciting Burns poems, singing songs, and telling a few Scottish jokes. Both G and I prepared poems to recite. Heres the one I read:

My Hearts in the Highlands

My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer
A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe;
My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North
The birth place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Farewell to the mountains high cover’d with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods;
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer
Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe;
My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.