Taters and tenderloin and cranberry sauce, oh yum

It's no secret that I love to cook. I'm always on the prowl for new and delicious recipes. It helps that my friend E just started a cooking blog, so  stealing ideas from her has become exponentially easier. Not that she minds sharing... in fact she just forwarded me a recipe for some mouthwatering twice-baked potatoes that inspired me to write this post. (Thanks, E!) 

Twice baked potatoes are a new concept to me. My  mom was a health nut when I was younger (and still is) so we rarely ate anything as delicious as potatoes with sour cream and cheese. So as you can imagine, when I started cooking on my own, there was a whole new world of delicious and bad-for-you foods to try. Including this one. Which I think I might have to make this evening. Recipe can be found here. Both E and I suggest putting bacon in said taters. It will only make it more delicious and bad for you.

I recently took an interest in learning how to make pork tenderloin. I remember my mom making it when I was little and how delicious and juicy it was. So one night a few months ago I did it. And Internets, I dare say, it was AMAZING. Hands down the best meal I've ever prepared. I used Ree Drummond's recipe from her fabulous website, The Pioneer Woman and she absolutely nailed it. (If you read my blog regularly, you'll find that I use her recipes quite often.)

The cranberry sauce, however, was a spin on a Cranberry and Caramelized Onion recipe that I found on Oprah's website. I used it mostly as a template for my own creation (below).

As a side dish to that pork tenderloin, I made Pioneer Woman's smashed potatoes. But since I already talked at y'all about taters, I'll save those for another post =)

Happy Cooking!!

Twice Baked Potatoes: click here.
Pork Tenderloin: click here.
Smashed Potatoes: click here.
Oprah's Cranberry and Caramelized Onion Sauce: click here.

Danielle's Cranberry and Caramelized Onion Sauce: 

Ingredients: 

1 can jellied cranberry sauce 

2 1/2 shallots finely chopped, or 1 white or yellow onion finely chopped

1 cup chicken broth 

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons honey, or as desired 

white wine to taste (optional) 

salt and pepper to taste 

Directions: 

In a medium-sized skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add finely chopped shallots or onions and cook until they just start to get brown. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 of the chicken broth and a few splashes of wine (optional) for taste. Let simmer on low until liquid reduces by about half. Add cranberry sauce and stir until hot. Add remaining chicken broth and wine as desired. Simmer until desired consistency is reached. (Some people like their cranberry sauce thick, some like it thinner.) Add honey to taste. (Again, some people like it sweet, others like it more on the bitter side.)

Tip: the more chicken broth and/or wine you add, the more flavor it will have. If you want thick, flavorful sauce, use the full amount of broth and let the sauce simmer down until it becomes thick. If you like your sauce thinner, take it off the heat earlier. If you don't want a sauce that's too salty, add the remaining chicken broth to the cranberries in small increments until the desired taste is reached.

Enjoy!