Heaven and I love pigs (aka Sour cream, cheddar and green onion drop biscuits and Peppercorn-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Soy-Caramel Sauce)

Welcome to my heaven, it's called sour cream, cheddar and green onion drop biscuits.  This is my all time favorite biscuit recipe (I may be biased though because I have not made any other CL biscuit recipes).  If you have all of the ingredients, this comes together so quickly.  Be careful about stirring the batter though--too much and you will have dried out biscuits.  The buttermilk really makes these moist and delicious.

I don't make any changes to this recipe because it's perfect.  However, since I have dark baking sheets, I cook these 25 degrees lower (@425).  Since our family has only 2 people-food members (cats don't eat biscuits), I make these and freeze the rest for later. Thaw them out as you need them. They're not quite as moist this way but they are still amazingly delicious.  We served them this week with Peppercorn-crusted pork tenderloin with soy-caramel sauce for my fiance's parents.  Let me tell you the future father-in-law kept asking for more!

As of today's post 15 reviewers gave this an average rating of 4 out of 5. I don't know who those silly people are that didn't give this a 5 but they should be punished! :)

As far as the pork tenderloin for our day after graduation dinner (congrats Schmoopie!), this is one of our favorite pork tenderloin recipes. We don't alter the recipe at all unless we only make 1 one-pound tenderloin instead of two.  It's another 5-star-er, for 22 people.

I hope you enjoy these in your home as much as we do in ours!

Sour Cream, cheddar and green onion drop biscuits

Recipe by Krista Ackerbloom Montgomery & Ann Taylor Pittman, Cooking Light, MARCH 2005

Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 biscuit)

Ingredients

• 2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1  tablespoon  sugar
• 2  teaspoons  baking powder
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
• 3  tablespoons  chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4  cup  finely chopped green onions
• 1  cup  fat-free buttermilk
• 1/2  cup  fat-free sour cream
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cheese and onions; toss well. Add buttermilk and sour cream; stir just until moist.

Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until edges are brown. Remove biscuits from pan; cool on wire racks.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 146 (29% from fat)

Fat: 4.7g (sat 2.9g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.2g)

Protein: 5.2g

Carbohydrate: 20.1g

Fiber: 0.7g

Cholesterol: 14mg

Iron: 1mg

Sodium: 406mg

Calcium: 134mg

Peppercorn-crusted pork tenderloin with soy-caramel sauce

Recipe by Billy Strynkowski, Cooking Light, December 2005

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 3 slices pork and 2 tablespoons sauce)

Ingredients

·                                 Cooking spray

·                                 1/4  cup  minced white onion

·                                 1  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger

·                                 2  garlic cloves, minced

·                                 1  cup  water

·                                 1/2  cup  sugar

·                                 1/4  cup  low-sodium soy sauce

·                                 2  tablespoons  red wine vinegar

·                                 1 1/2  teaspoons  Dijon mustard

·                                 2  tablespoons  butter

·                                 2  (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed

·                                 1  tablespoon  black peppercorns, crushed

·                                 1 1/2  teaspoons  chopped fresh thyme

·                                 1/4  teaspoon  salt

Preparation

Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion, ginger, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add water and sugar; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat; carefully stir in soy sauce, vinegar, and mustard. Add butter, stirring with a whisk. Set aside; keep warm.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Rub tenderloins evenly with crushed peppercorns, thyme, and salt. Heat a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add tenderloins, browning on all sides (about 5 minutes). Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160° (slightly pink); let stand 10 minutes. Cut each tenderloin into 12 slices; serve with sauce.

 

Nutritional Information

Calories: 227 (28% from fat)

Fat: 7g (sat 2.8g,mono 3g,poly 0.6g)

Protein: 24.5g

Carbohydrate: 15.3g

Fiber: 0.4g

Cholesterol: 81mg

Iron: 1.7mg

Sodium: 441mg

Calcium: 16mg