october was also a month of birthdays. two of my friends have their birthday's right next to each other and their wish was for me to cook them dinner. so this year i made them fava with pita, pork tenderloin, and green beans almondine.
fava + pita:
fava is one of my favorite dished that i learned to make while i was in greece. fava beans are better known in the states as butter beans. you mash the butter beans with olive oil to make a dip with the consistency of humus. then you dice red onions and put them on top, raw. drizzle it with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. the picture doesn't show this because it was attacked right as i put it out and before i could take a picture. dip pita in it and it's the perfect appetizer. green beans almondine:
this is way favorite way to eat green beans. when your buying the green beans make sure there's no spoiled ones or brown ones! when you get home make sure you clean them and pull off the end that has the left over stem on it cuz it won't taste good. i would recommend diced or sliced almonds (whole ones won't really work). you then place a layer of green beans in a pan and sprinkle almonds on top. next drizzle olive oil and sea salt. then pop it all into the oven at about 400 degrees. make sure to check the oven periodically to see if the almonds are burning. if they are turn down the heat. after about 30 minutes you'll have perfectly cooked green beans with crispy almonds.pork tenderloin:
this is my mom's recipe that she would always make. it's so good if a little odd. you can find pork tenderloin at most stores and the best thing about it is that it is a very lean cut of mean so you really don't need to trim it. next we make the marinade - you don't need to make it before hand cuz it really need to marinate for only 15 or 20 minutes. mix 1/2 a cup of molasses with 1/2 a cup of soy sauce. the mixture of the soy sauce and molasses makes the sauce sweet, salty and tangy - basically, delicious. after marinating the meat you can toss it in a pan in the oven at 450 degrees to cook and brushing the rest of the marinade on the meat every 10 minutes or so. cook it until there's a nice bronze glaze from the molasses. about 45 minutes. let rest about 10 minutes or all the juice and flavor will run out when you cut it. to keep it hot cover it with a towel. serve and enjoy with wine and friends!
