In line with my vintage interests, one member
of a mystery writers’ group I belong to is starting a new series set in a
vintage cookbook shop in New Orleans. Her announcement of this sparked a lot of
emails about vintage recipes and images of cookbook covers. One image several
people sent was a cookbook titled Cooking for Two, apparently part of a series.
Don’t bother looking on Amazon, because there are literally dozens of books
with that title—and I didn’t find the picture I was looking for.
The image
in the emails was of ham roll-ups. Remember them? No, not the ubiquitous appetizer
suggestions we have today, but the main dish, usually ham wrapped around broccoli
(or maybe asparagus) and topped with a cheese sauce that was suspiciously
yellow. Yep, Velveeta. The sauce alone occasioned many comments, mostly
derogatory about Velveeta. I jumped in with my opinion that there are a few recipes where nothing but processed American cheese will do, and I was
gratified that the author of the forthcoming series agreed with me.
But
ham roll-ups is not one of them. In fact, the whole idea of roll-ups, served
perhaps like crepes, is not appealing, unless you grew up eating them
and the memory takes you back to your mom’s table. Even then, I think
Hollandaise would be better than the cheese. To top it off, a half of a canned
peach sat next to the roll-ups, with a Maraschino cherry carefully placed in
it. Ah, the food of the Sixties!
Of
course, part of the appeal of food from that era was the convenience.
Housewives were just learning they did not have to spend their entire day in
the kitchen. Some days I don’t want to either. Sometimes I want something quick
and simple, and the other day I fond it in a crockpot recipe (thanks, but no
Instant Pot or air fryer for me!). Crockpots are old-fashioned but reliable. Also, with this recipe, I accidentally demonstrated that a crockpot could overcome
the problem of an unreliable cook. Here’s what I did:
Slow cooked pork tenderloin
About two lbs. pork tenderloin
(we are at that breaking point where one is not enough and two is too much; I’d
always rather have leftovers)
¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. corn- or potato starch
½ cup water
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. fine ground pepper
Put the meat in the crockpot, mix the remaining
ingredients, stirring until sugar and starch are well blended into liquid, and
pour over the pork. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-5 hours.
I
really need to learn to read directions more carefully. I thought it said cook
on high for 6-7 and then low for 3-5, which I thought was an awful lot of
cooking for a tenderloin. Nevertheless, I persisted—and realized my mistake
about three hours in. So I turned it to low and let it cook the rest of the
day. The meat was a little dry, but generous use of the sauce compensated for
that—and the flavor was wonderful. We served it over Asian noodles.
Terrific
leftovers the next day: sandwiches on rye bread with generous dollops of mayonnaise
and a crisp leaf of lettuce or two. The meat shredded easily, making it perfect
for sandwiches. I’ll definitely do this again and just cook it most of the day
on low.
You
can’t win all the time in the kitchen, but this was an instance where my
carelessness—or haste—worked out just fine. I do recommend careful reading of
instructions, however.
