A ghost from Christmas Past

2009 Feast of the 7 fishes Menu and Recipes

Course One

Fried Calamari and Fried Smelt

I use a boxed seafood frying mix that I a doctor up with cayenne pepper and seafood seasoning. The real trick is soaking the squid in buttermilk for a few hours before using it.

Antipasto

Course Two

Salami Cheese Bread

Kerrie makes the bread dough each year and I get all the credit for filling it and rolling it up. For 4 loaves of bread I use two pounds of provolone cheese and between 1.5 – 3 lbs of Salami. Roll out the dough like you would a pizza, though try to go for a more oblong oval shape instead of a circle. Start with a layer of cheese, about 8 slices, then cover that layer with salami, sprinkle on some grated Parmesan, then repeat the same three layers again. Roll it like a burrito and try to seal it as much as you can. I often wet the tips of my fingers to try to seal it better. Brush the tops with butter before baking at 400 for about 20 minutes. The timing is tough to judge, the bread should be nice and brown and you will likely see some salami and cheese bursting out of the loaf someplace. When you think it is done tap your fingers on the top of the loaf, it should be pretty hard and make a nice thumping sounds when you hit it.

(Kerrie here) Bread dough: You can use refrigerated pizza dough, of course, but here’s my recipe. It’s the pizza dough recipe from the Joy of Cooking, tweaked a bit:

Dissolve 1 pkg yeast in 1 ¼ c. warm water (between 105 and 115 degrees F) for 5 minutes. Add about 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 splash of olive oil, and a couple of pinches of salt (maybe ½ tsp). Stir in 2 c. flour. Sometimes I use all white (I did this year), sometimes it’s half white and half whole wheat. Add more flour in half-cup increments until it’s just pulling away from the bowl, up to 1.5 more cups, and knead for a few minutes. Sprinkle a little more flour on top so you can pick up the dough, put it in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Let rise to double, about an hour. Punch down and roll out to use, ideally letting it rest about 5-10 minutes before cooking.

Meatball Soup

Meatball soup is a family tradition that spans several generations of my mother’s family. As it turns out it was traditionally served Christmas day, but my mother added it to Christmas Eve to offer something to those folks who don’t like fish.

The tradition is to use the turkey stock made from Thanksgiving's turkey as the base. There is no written recipe for the meatballs but I will try to recreate it as best as I can.

Meatballs

3 pounds of meatball mix (a mixture of beef pork and veal)

Mix with a couple handfuls of grated cheese then salt, pepper, garlic, basil, oregano and a pinch of mint.

I use panko breadcrumbs, but you can use the traditional method of soaking some stale bread in milk for a while, then wring out the bread and crumble it up into the mixture instead of breadcrumbs. Add 2 eggs and at least a cup of water and mix well. I like to fry up a little bit of the mix to taste it and make sure the seasonings are right. Then roll the meatballs just a bit larger than a large marble. I usually do this well ahead and freeze them so all I have to do is add them frozen to the simmering stock on Christmas Eve but you can do them fresh as well. The meatballs are done when they float. If you use frozen ones they will float, then sink, then float again.

Cioppino

We use this recipe, but here it is, again:
Cioppino can be made with the shell fish served in the shell, or with the shells removed. Though some diners prefer not to have to muss their hands in eating soup, the shells do add to the overall flavor of any fish soup recipe and allow for a more appealing and realistic Cioppino presentation.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8-10 canned or bottled oil cured anchovies, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup diced celery
1 medium to large onion, diced
1 roasted red bell pepper, diced
1 cup good rose or red wine
3 T red wine vinegar
1 quart homemade fish or shrimp soup stock Shrimp Stock (chicken stock and/or clam or Clamato juice can be substituted)
2 cups or more, (depending on how thick and how tomatoey you like it) homemade tomato sauce or a 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped or 2-3 T dried (add to seasoning mix if dried)
Dash or two of Tabasco Sauce
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup fresh Italian Parsley
2-3 T fresh lemon juice

Seasoning Mix: (use your herb-designated coffee grinder)
1 T salt
1 T black or mixed whole pepper
2 T dried oregano
1 T fennel seeds
1 T fresh or dried rosemary leave

Seafood:
Just about everything works in Cioppino and Italian fish Stew or Soup recipes, but here are our recommendations:
1/2 lb. medium shrimp (save shells for making seafood stock)
1/2 lb. scallops
24 fresh mussels
1 lb. firm white fish, chopped in 1 inch pieces (cod, catfish, halibut, orange roughy, etc.)
16 fresh clams (optional)
(Fresh or canned oysters can be added if you like them)

Fresh bread of your choice, garlic baked if desired, and lots of it. (The juice is incredible)

Prepare the Cioppino:
Heat olive oil to medium and add anchovies. Add garlic after about 3 minutes (this mixture should smell fabulous by now, might even bring a whole slew of hungry family members a-runnin’).

Add bay leaves, onions, celery and bell pepper plus 1/2 of the seasoning mix. Sauté for 6-8 minutes.

Add wine, vinegar, Tabasco and Worcestershire and reduce by 1/2, then add tomato sauce, basil and the rest of the seasoning mix. Simmer about 5 minutes then add the lemon juice.

Add the fish stock and bring to a simmer

Add the fish and shellfish, cover and cook about 7 more minutes. Remove any of the mussels and clams that don't open.

Sprinkle the completed Italian fish stew with parsley. Serve with fresh, Italian bread. (Butter it up and garlic it if you really want a taste treat!)

Course Three

Kerrie again:
Pasta dough: I make enough for about half the expected number of people. Eggs, salt, and flour, mixed well. 1 egg for every 2 people; enough flour to make a soft dough, and a good pinch of salt. Or you can use the recipe below listed with the lobster ravioli.

Smoked salmon ravioli

I don’t really have a recipe for this, I just mix in the salmon and cheeses until it taste right. Chop about 4 oz cold-smoked salmon and half a brick of softened cream cheese. Add ½ cup ricotta and a handful of mozzarella. Season with basil, dill, chopped garlic, salt and cracked black pepper until it tastes good, then mix in a lightly beaten egg. Set aside to chill before filling so the flavors blend.

Lobster ravioli

I have used the recipe on this page for a couple of years now and it's excellent. Preparation Time: Approx. 4 hours, allowing for setting and drying time

Servings: 2 dozen large ravioli

Note: Most ravioli fillings are a finely chopped meat and spinach mixture but you may use any combination of meats or vegetables you like.

Ingredients: Noodle Dough

1 and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour -
2 eggs

2 tablespoon water -
1 teaspoon salt -
2 teaspoon oil.

Ingredients: Lobster filling -

1/2 cup minced lobster meat -
1/2 cup cooked minced spinach -
2 eggs

¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup grated cheese -
2 tablespoon heavy cream -
1 teaspoon dried sweet basil - 1 clove minced garlic -
pinch of salt & pepper

Method for Ravioli Filling

Lightly beat the eggs and add the cheese, garlic, heavy cream and spices. Fold in the lobster meat, the spinach, and lastly the bread crumbs.

Method for Noodle Dough

On a cutting board make a well with the flour. Loosely combine the egg, the salt, the water, and the oil and drop this mixture into the well. Work the mixture by hand, folding the flour over the egg until the dough can be formed into a ball. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes then let it stand for an hour.

Roll the dough until it is very thin and cut it into 2 equal sized sheets. On one sheet put a teaspoon of the ravioli filling, in little mounds 2 inches apart. Lightly brush around the mounds of filling with water. Place the second sheet over the first sheet and press gently around the ravioli mounds. Press the outside edges. Cut the dough into squares with a pie jagger leaving a mound of filling in the middle of each square. Place the ravioli on a lightly dusted sheet pan and dry for about 2 hours. If you’re going to freeze it, place in a single layer on that sheet pan and pop it in the freezer for a few hours, then you can put it in a bag.

Drop the ravioli into salted boiling water and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove and cool for later use or serve at once with tomato sauce and grated cheese.

White sauce

Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a saucepan; add several cloves of chopped garlic and cook until the garlic softens a bit. Sprinkle in about 1 Tbsp of flour and cook for a minute. Stir in a pint of cream (FF half and half works well too) and a cup of white wine, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens and almost boils. Stir in ½ c. to 1 c. grated cheese until it melts, turn off the heat and serve immediately.

Brown Butter Sauce

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

In a medium saucepan cook the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the foam subsides, and the butter begins to turn a golden brown, about 3 minutes, turn off the heat. Let cool for about 1 minute. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

I mixed in the parmesan in the pan and then tossed pasta with it but you could easily put the cheese on after the fact

Stuffed Calamari

This is another one where the recipe changes a bit each year but I will put down what I did this year.

2 stalks of celery, diced finely

1 medium onion, diced finally

1 stick butter

1 can of baby shrimp

1 can of crabmeat

Panko breadcrumbs

Chinese 5 spice powder

Salt, pepper and garlic to taste

This amount of filling will make between 10-12 portions depending on the size of your calamari tubes.

Melt the butter, add the celery and onion and cook on medium or medium low until soft. Add a teaspoon (or so) of Chinese five spice powder and salt and pepper and garlic then cook another few minutes until the spices have blended well. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for a few minutes before adding in the crab, shrimp and breadcrumbs. Mix well and give it a taste, add more seasonings as needed.

Let the mixture cool before filling the squid.(the squid should have been soaking in the same buttermilk as the stuff you are going to use for fried calamari) You could try to use a pastry bag to fill them, I just use my fingers and add a little bit at a time. Do not over fill the stuffing expands and the squid contracts so you will lose a lot of stuffing, I leave a ¼ inch or at the large end open so there is room for expansion.

Lay the stuffed squid into a glass baking dish and add a few dots of butter to each squid and sprinkle on some paprika. Bake at 350 until the squid turns opaque, about 10-15 minutes at most. Overcooking is bad.

Course Four

This garlic monkfish was the dish we did not make it to this year. I made it a couple nights later and it was excellent. Couple if tips, be sure you chop the garlic pretty well, otherwise the pieces are too big to fit through the sieve. Also I found the sauce a little too thin for my tastes so I would recommend removing the fish from the pan and add the sauce to a pan to reduce it for a while before running it through the sieve.

Ingredients:

10 cloves unpeeled garlic

1/4 cup softened butter

several thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 pounds thick (1 1/2 -2 inches) monkfish fillets

9 tablespoons thyme vinegar or white wine vinegar

Directions:

Parboil the garlic for 5 minutes in 1 cup of water. The skins will slip off easily. Coarsely

chop the garlic. Use half the butter to coat a shallow baking dish just large enough to hold

the fish in a single layer, and sprinkle with the garlic and thyme. Lay the fish on the herbs and dot with the remaining butter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, and then add 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Now bake and baste twice more until all the vinegar is used. Then bake for another 5 to 15 minutes, basting every 5 minutes, until the fish is opaque.

(Cut through the thickest part to test. Do not let the fish become flaky or it will lose its

lobsterlike texture.) Strain the sauce through a sieve, using a wooden spoon to push the

garlic through the screen.

Crazy Days

So it has been a few days since I have posted anything. Thankfully Kerrie stepped up and filled in the gap. Between BBQ's and a lot of hours of work I have not done much cooking until today. Since I felt like my head was above water for the first time in a while I wanted to take advantage and get some food to the table. Unfortunately I was craving junk food and I really didn't want to go that way. So instead I turned my craving for a burger into a nice meal that, while it was not perfectly healthy, was a whole lot better than a burger out. Thus we wound up with

Fresh ground sirloin and chuck roast burgers with fresh Pico de Gallo and avocado. Served with Grilled chili lime corn on the cob.
Ingredients:
For the Pico
I have to say I really just winged this one so these are all approximates
5 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped and mostly seeded
I like the ones on the vine, they just smelled great today
1 vidalia onion roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic smashed
1 jalapeno pepper seeded and ribs removed, sliced
1 handful of fresh cilantro, just tear off a big handful
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
chili powder

Throw everything into your food processor and pulse until it is blended and all chopped, I like my pico very chunky. Do this up ahead of time if you can so it can set and the flavors can blend. Then you can season to taste.

For the burgers 
16 ounces Chuck roast
12 ounces of Sirloin
kosher salt
Whole wheat rolls
Pepper jack cheese
1/2 an avocado sliced


Sprinkle the meat liberally with salt and cut into one inch pieces, run the pieces through your meat grinder with a medium size plate.  What's that? You don't have meat grinder? Right then, you can go ahead and use ground beef, or if you are feeling a bit more adventurous you can run the meat through your food processor until it is coarsely ground. All my Rochester area friends, you know those chopped steak burgers we all love so much at Don and Bobs, Tom Wahls, Shalers etc, well that is about what you get when you chop some steaks up in a food processor. Just don't grind it too much or for too long, heat is your enemy.

Form the beef into 6 ounce patties, you can go bigger or smaller but 6 ounces is about perfect for me (you need a scale, you really do).  Form the patties to be about the size of your buns or a little bigger, use your fingers to make a dent in the center of each patty. This will help it cook more evenly and prevent bloated burgers with juicy centers and dry edges.

You can grill the burgers or pan fry them, I actually like to pan fry fresh burgers like this, I like the crust you get from a good hot pan and I like being able to regulate the temperature more effectively. Heat up a griddle or large frying pan with a thin layer of oil (or butter if you are so inclined), get it nice and hot then put the burgers on dimple side up, reduce the heat to medium and let them cook for a few minutes. Then flip , you should see a nice brown crust on the burgers, let them cook another couple of minutes then add your pepper jack. It helps to cover the burgers for a few minutes once you have the cheese on, it melts much better.

Now since you made these burgers yourself from meat that you selected and cut yourself you can make them as rare as you like, I like mine pretty rare.

While the burgers are cooking prepare your rolls, you can toast them if you like, I typically don't unless the rolls are a day old or so. The recipe that inspired me to make this called for a thin layer of Greek yogurt on the bottom of the bun, that would have been an excellent choice. I went with my standard which is some mayo and fresh black pepper. The yogurt with the black pepper would have been better.Once the burgers are done to your liking put them on the bun, and finish dressing the burger, add your avocado slices and top with a big spoonful of your pico de gallo. While you are dressing the burger the juices from the meat will have melted your mayo or yogurt and turned it into a delicious sauce. Thank you Alton Brown

With the nice fresh pico, the creamy avocado and the delicious sauce on the bun you won't need another thing to make this burger great.

I served the burgers with grilled chili lime corn on the cob. This one is so easy and fast you will kick yourself for not trying it before.

Ingredients:
As many ears of corn as you want or can fit on your grill
Fresh lime juice
chili powder
olive oil
kosher salt

Pre heat your grill
Take off the outermost layer of your corn husk then peel the rest almost all the way off leaving it attached at the bottom, you can give the husk a couple of twists and it should stay in place at the bottom like a nice handle. I like to tie mine with some kitchen string to keep it in place. Oh come on you don't have a kitchen string dispenser on your counter? How did you tie the tails of your coffee crusted pork tenderloins in place when you made them. Oh right I skipped that step since I didn't expect anyone to do it. If you are curious just ask.


Once you have the corn ready lay it out on a cookie sheet  and mix together the juice of one lime, a teaspoon or so of chili powder and a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and pinch of salt. Those amounts will coat 4-5 ears of corn nicely.
Pour the mixture over the corn and rub it in, you can see it soak in between the kernels. Put the corn on your hot grill and cook it for 6-8 minutes turning it often so it doesn't get too charred. It is really easy to overcook it, pull if off the fire as soon as you feel the kernels start to soften, it will cook a lot more after you remove it from the heat so if you keep it on the grill until it is soft then it will be overdone by the time you eat it.

It doesn't need need anything else, the slightly charred flavor from the grill along with the lime, chili and salt is a great combination.

A nice green salad would go well with the overall meal

I had a Labatt blue light lime with dinner and it was an excellent complement.

Tzatziki

This makes a great sandwich spread or veggie and pita dip. It's a summer staple in our house.





Ingredients:
1 cucumber*
1 pint plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
Olive oil
White vinegar
Garlic powder
salt
white pepper

Peel, core, and grate/shred a cucumber. Peeling isn't necessary, but I recently learned that Mark can't abide cucumber skin. So, I peel them now.

Sprinkle with 1/4-1/2 tsp salt and let sit 5 minutes; press out the water and then put the cucumber into a medium (about 4 cups) bowl with a lid. The salt helps the water come out. And you want this drained well so you don't have runny tzatziki.

Top with a pint of plain Greek yogurt (nonfat usually; I also sometimes use sour cream and you can use any non fat, light, or full fat that you want). Add 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar. Sprinkle garlic powder until it looks like the top of a cooked lemon meringue pie (or add 2-3 cloves pressed or minced garlic). This is just the way I learned to make it; I've never measured. Add more to taste. Add about 1/2 tsp white pepper. It's milder than black pepper and doesn't show up on the tzatziki.

*I have occasionally used a dill pickle when we're out of cucumbers. Dice it, then don't use vinegar or salt. It's not as good, it's not tzatziki, but it works.

What to do with it:
Top gyros with it
Use as a salad dressing
Serve with falafels (that's how we're having it tonight)
Serve with chicken, pork or lamb kabobs with a side of naan
Spread about 2 Tbsp into a pita bread, add a grilled chicken breast, feta, sliced tomatoes and shredded lettuce. If you have trouble opening pita pockets without shredding them, microwave one for about 20 seconds, slice off a strip 1" from the widest side, and it'll open right up.

Variations:
Add feta
Add feta, chopped kalamata olives and tomatoes, makes an even better dip for veggies and pita wedges
Add feta, olives, tomatoes, and chopped grilled chicken breast for a Greek chicken salad-- stuff into pitas with some shredded lettuce and it's an easy lunch to serve.

Quinoa Tabbouli

Mark's bogged down in work this week, so he's asked me to share a few of my recent recipes. Here's one I made Saturday for a cookout. We love Greek and Middle Eastern food, it's so fresh and flavorful and great for summer. And there are interesting vegetarian options.

Tabbouli is a cold grain salad, traditionally made with bulgur, which is cracked wheat berries (the whole grain kernel that is ground down to make wheat flour). Then you add some seasonings, lemon juice and diced raw tomatoes and cucumbers. However, I am not a fan of raw tomatoes, so I decided to use sun-dried instead. Also, I discovered that I was out of bulgur, so I knew I'd have to be creative.

But I did have quinoa, and since I've finally developed a taste for it, decided to use it for this dish. Quinoa is actually a seed, not a grain; it's very high in protein, and a complete protein at that (has all 20 amino acids, if you follow that, including all 8 needed for muscle repair which is helpful if you're exercising a lot). Because it's such a super-food, I've been trying to like it. Other recipes I've tried have been a bit on the bland side, but a few weeks ago I made "Quinoa with Sun-Dried Tomatoes" from the Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno and it was really good. So this recipe was sort of a combination of that one, and a traditional tabbouli. This looks really long and complicated, but only because I babbled quite a bit. It was actually very easy.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
6-8 sun-dried tomatoes
2-3 cloves garlic
1 c. dried quinoa
2 c. really good chicken or vegetable stock
1 cucumber
1 avocado
Lemon juice, or lime juice, or both
Fresh herbs: I used mint, oregano and chives because that's what we have in our garden right now
Salt and pepper to taste

First: quinoa has a soapy coating that can make it taste bitter, so rinse it well in a mesh sieve lined with a coffee filter for a few minutes, until the water runs clear and the bubbles go away. Quinoa is also an amazing mess to clean up if you spill it all over the floor, or if a toddler finds the bag in the pantry and decides to try to build a sand castle. Just trust me on this. So be careful how you store it. We buy some grains at Wegmans, but prefer to stock up at our local co-op because they carry grains (and many other foods) in bulk there and of course we also like to support our local businesses. If you buy grains in bulk, store them in the freezer for a couple of days at first to make sure any pantry moths or whatever are gone.

Next: Heat oil in a pan on medium. Slice or chop your tomatoes, add to pan, mince or press garlic cloves and add to the tomatoes. Just stir around for 2-3 minutes until it's fragrant. Then add the quinoa and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Grains benefit from toasting in the pan before adding your liquid; either dry-toast or stir-fry in a little oil. It brings out their flavor so they taste kind of nutty and rich. We do this with most of them: steel-cut oats, bulgur, brown rice.

The directions on a bag of grains usually call for water. Always, always use a good stock or broth instead. Even whole-wheat pasta can benefit from a few splashes of broth in the water when you boil it; it improves both flavor and texture. The only time I don't do this is when making a breakfast cereal, when I use half water and half milk.

Back to the quinoa: stir in 2 c. stock, bring to a boil, and let it simmer on low for 15-20 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa seeds have exploded into these neat little UFO-looking spirals. The tomatoes will have cooked and softened by now, too.

Spoon into a shallow bowl, fluff a little, and allow to chill, at least to room temperature, because you won't want to cook the veggies or herbs you'll add. Stir in about 1 Tbsp lemon juice and a splash (capful) of lime juice. Fresh is better but sadly, we don't always have fresh limes and lemons around. If you use fresh ones, add a little of the zest. It's concentrated citrus flavor.

Peel, core, and dice 1 whole cucumber and stir in. Same for the avocado-add this just before you serve. If you're making the dish ahead of time, save this step for last so the avocado doesn't brown, though the citrus juice will help. Avocado isn't a traditional ingredient in tabbouli but it goes really well in this salad. And it's a great source of mono-unsaturated fatty acids so they can help regulate your cholesterol levels, flatten your belly and keep you satisfied longer after meals. Avocados are another super-food. And they're yummy. So don't avoid them just because they have fat.

Chop about 1 Tbsp each of fresh mint, oregano, and chives and add to the quinoa. You can use green onions instead of the chives, or add some flat-leaf parsley. Mint, oregano, and lemon are very Greek flavors and they go really well together in this (or any) dish. Dried herbs aren't going to be the same, but you can use them if you add them earlier-- I'd add them to the broth before you cook the quinoa. Fresh herbs are best added last. Sprinkle a little freshly ground black pepper.

Blend it all together and taste. Add salt if needed, or another splash of lemon juice. I recently read an interview in Clean Eating magazine with a chef who said most recipes benefit from a little acid to finish them off-- vinegar, lemon juice, etc. Since we started doing that, we've noticed a difference in the flavors of our recipes.

Let chill an hour or 2 so the flavors blend; stir again and serve cold. This is a great side dish, or if you add a can of chick peas it's a fine, light, summer meal.

Coffee crusted pork tenderloins with red eye BBQ sauce,

Since I have not cooked in a couple of days I wanted to grab something from the past and keep my momentum.

This one is straight out of one of my favorite cookbooks BBQ USA: 425 Fiery Recipes from All Across America This is another one of those cookbooks I have used many times and it never fails. If you want to look like you know what you are doing around the grill this is the place to start.

First a bit about dry rubs. If I were a better man I would make up 3-4 of my favorite rubs is large quantities and keep them around.  Sadly I am not that man, yet. However I have at least 2-3 rubs I can make off the top of my head that will cover most needs so I guess I will be content with that for the time being.
Many of the more common rubs you find in a store will start with the same base of salt, pepper, brown sugar and paprika. from there you can shift the flavors around to suit the meal you are making. Add some cumin, coriander, cayenne and cinnamon and you have great rub for lamb, add some cardamom pods to that and you have more of an Indian flair. Add some granulated garlic, ginger and some lemon peel and you have a nice rub for fish. Really just go crazy, it's tough to blow a rub. One additional note when you are changing around your flavors to add more heat or more of a different flavor profile don't add more salt until after you have tasted it. Since salt is such a key ingredient in many rubs, if you add more rub to get more heat you wind up with more of everything. You are better off just adding some more cayenne or chilies than adding more of your rub.

On to the recipe.
You can and should make this up the night before. At the very least your pork should sit in the rub 4-12 hours, longer won't hurt. You need
Ingredients
2-3 pork tenderloins
3 Tbsp of fresh ground coffee
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar (if you only have light that is fine)
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbsp canola or other neutral oil

Trim the pork tenderloins and set aside.  For more on trimming pork tenderloins watch this handy video and set aside.

Next mix all the remaining dry ingredients in a bowl and stir together well, you can use a whisk but I like to use my hands (best tool in the kitchen so they say)

Next rub your Rub all over the tenderloins and then drizzle the oil onto them, this will help everything stick. Put the tenderloins in a plastic bag, cake pan or my favorite the Tupperware Season-Serve Marinating Container
Seriously if you don't have one of these you should. I use mine constantly, there are days I wish I had two.

Let it sit over night and pull it from the fridge 1/2  an hour before you are ready to grill so it is not cold going on the hot grill. It will stick less. Rubbing your grill grates with some oil helps too.

Preheat your grill to high then reduce the heat to medium/medium high  cook the tenderloins 3-4 minutes per side (12-16 minutes overall) to an internal temperature of 160. Do we need to have a chat about cooking to temperature rather than time? If you don't have an instant read thermometer at a minimum, then send me a message, I will happily spend the time to convince you to not overcook your food.

Let it rest for for 3-5 minutes then slice and serve.

Trust me on this, the pork itself is absolutely amazing and does not need a sauce as long as you have not cooked it dry. However the Red Eye BBQ sauce recipe below is pure awesome.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp butter
1 slice bacon finely chopped
1/2 medium onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic minced
3/4 cup strongly brewed coffee or espresso
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp brown sugar
kosher salt and pepper

Melt the butter then add the bacon, onion and garlic and saute until slightly brown (3 minutes or so)
Add the coffee, ketchup, Worcestershire, cream, mustard, molasses and brown sugar. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until it thickens up, about 10 minutes, whisking occasionally. Taste it  and add salt and pepper as needed.

You can serve it fresh or make it up well ahead of time. You best bet is to make it with your breakfast the day before or the day you are going to cook your pork. You already have the coffee and bacon out anyway. ( it does not suck on eggs)

The richness of the sauce and the coffee in both dishes acts as a great bridge for the flavors in both and the sauce really brings the pork up to another level.

This is a beer dish all the way, a good porter or scotch ale would be a winner. A nice pinot noir would also work really well,