Stuff And Nonsense

We all know that the expression, "Stuff and Nonsense" just means "that's silly!" or words to that effect. A certain lovely couple that I know, however, uses it as a little ritual they do every now and then. One of them says "Stuff" and the other replies with "Nonsense." Then, they grin like idiots and are likely to kiss one another, right in front of the children.

I have no idea how that got started - it's private to them; when I asked, they just giggled and blushed. 

I think they are in love.

That anecdote came to mind as I was stuffing our pork tenderloin for dinner - all kinds of weird little things float through my mind at times like that.  Anyway, my internet friend Katie from Thyme for Cooking, whose life in France I follow by reading her blog, often stuffs pork tenderloins, so I thought I'd follow suit (that being an expression derived from the card game of Bridge).

Since My Beloved is a fan of anything cooked with mushrooms and I'm equally fond of shallots, those seemed like the perfect things to stuff into a pork tenderloin. I sautéed them first in a tad of butter and added fresh thyme to the mix before slitting the tenderloin nearly in half with a sharp knife and piling in the stuffing. A final tying with string in four places mostly secured the stuffing inside, but I will admit that there was a lamentable tendency for it to tumble out. Seems I overdid the proportions of stuffing to roast. Oh, well.

I heated the pan into which I was about to place the tenderloin in the oven (350F) for a few minutes before setting the meat, seam side down, into the pan and shoving the pan back into the hot oven; that sears the meat on the "presentation side" and makes it prettier. About 20 minutes later, out came the tenderloin, perfectly pale, pale pink and redolent of mushrooms, thyme, and shallots.

I made a small amount of "sauce" by adding about 2 Tablespoons of white wine to the roasting pan and swirled it around with a rubber spatula until it soaked up all the lovely brown spots from the roast and turned them into magic, which I drizzled over the pork slices. It's hard to describe just how down-home good that was. 

Some people might worry about the pinkness of the meat, fearing trichinosis, but to those doubters I simply say, "Stuff and Nonsense!"