One of my favorite past-times is cooking. I just finished a delicious meal and wanted to share it with someone. Unfortunately, I now cook for one and there was no one else to share in the experience. It was a fairly simple meal - pan-broiled venison tenderloin with a balsamic mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, and whole kernel corn. Oh yes, I also had dinner rolls. Those don't count as cooking, though. They were the frozen dough kind that you let rise and then bake. Almost as good as the real thing, but not real cooking.

I seasoned the venison with salt and pepper, chopped rosemary, and a little dried thyme then seared it on one side in a cast iron skillet with the bottom barely covered with olive oil. As soon as one side was seared I turned the tenderloins over and put the pan in a 400 degree oven for 8 minutes.

Before I started the meat cooking, I peeled and cubed some potatoes and put them on to boil. I also put some frozen whole kernel corn in a pan to heat. The rolls went in the oven at the same time as the meat. They take a little longer, although they were done sooner than the package stated, since the oven was at 400 instead of 350.

I started the sauce by melting a tablespoon of butter in a small saute pan. As soon as the butter melted I added some roughly chopped garlic - about 4 small cloves. I had intended to saute some onions with the garlic, but somehow they ended up being forgotten. I would have used shallots if I'd had any.

When the garlic was lightly cooked I added about 3/4 cup of beef stock and turned up the heat to medium high. Once the mixture came to a boil I added some balsamic vinegar - sorry, didn't measure anything - and let the sauce reduce by half. Once it was reduced I added some portabella mushrooms that were cut into half inch cubes and cooked the whole mixture for a few more minutes at a lower temperature.

The tenderloins had finished about the same time as the potatoes so I set the pan on the stove top to let the meat rest and made the mashed potatoes. When everything was ready I dished up a plate, poured the sauce over the meat and some on the potatoes, put some pats of butter on the corn and potatoes, seasoned to taste and watched the dog drool while I enjoyed the meal. He settled for some scraps and all of the oil and grease from the roasting pan poured over his food. He was happy.

If I make this again, and that's a real possibility, I'll measure everything so I can record the recipe. It will probably have to be the tip of a beef tenderloin. Venison tenderloin is kind of hard to come by. I'll also take time to take a picture of the finished meal. I think I will add a cooking section to this blog. You should taste my twice-baked potatoes with shredded crab meat and Parmesan cheese or my shrimp sandwiches made on French rolls. Uhmmmm... If I wasn't so full I'd be getting hungry again just thinking about them.

The only trouble with a recipe section on the blog is that I'll have to start measuring ingredients. I don't usually bother with that. Close enough is good enough. That adds a little variety to meals. A little more of this or a little more of that...