Fancy dinner

R and I celebrated the new year with pork a bit early on Sunday. Miss L had suggested a lovely pork roulade type thing, so I decided to give 'er a whirl. The recipe basically called for you to pound out a butterflied pork tenderloin and fill it with a spinach mixture. I know I don't love spinach, so I made it a bit more breadcrumby/parmesan cheesy/herby than spinachy. Probably almost half and half. I also forgot the mustard in the middle. Oops. I did enjoy the pork, I will say. But sadly, I was again reminded that I just plain don't like spinach unless it is surrounded by lovely mayo/sourcream/Knorr veg soup mix or hot artichokes and cheese. I don't know why. I like most other vegetables. The sauce was nice...a bit thick...and I was a bit horrified by the heating of the mayonnaise, but it was good with the pork. And it helped cover up more of the ick spinach. :) And this is definitely a fab way to stretch a somewhat pricier cut of pork. Obviously a pork tenderloin isn't nearly as pricey as a beef tenderloin or other expensive cuts of meat, but being married to a devout meateater means you look for ways to really get your dollar's worth out of meat. I got two very hearty meals out of one tenderloin. And Daisy got the little end.

For the pasta, it was just a modified alfredo type dish. I cooked 2-3 strips of bacon in a high sided frying pan. Remove when crisp. Add about 3/4 c cream. I learned the hard way not to forget to turn the heat WAY DOWN or remove the pan from the heat for a bit. Splatters everywhere. I put in two heaping teaspoonfuls of prepared basil pesto. Ground in some peppers. Tossed in some freshly grated parm. Added in one pound of slightly undercooked linguine. Toss, toss, add more cheese, toss, toss, add a few handfuls of frozen peas, add the crumbled bacon, toss. Serve. It was quite good. I'll be eating the rest for lunch today.