Tender

I want to show that I am a blogger of my word.....the pork tenderloin? I said I was going to make it, well I did and twice in one week! I made a marinade of olive oil, sage and garlic and after about 4 hours it was grilled on the BBQ and served with the plum sauce, mashed yams and chunks of iceberg with a grainy mustard and sherry vinegar dressing. When I start cooking with sage it really feels as though fall has arrived and we should start collecting kindling in the yard and load up the wood pile, I will be using the robust herb until the frost takes it, but thankfully it is one of the last to go. I have quite a few sage bushes in the garden, too many really, sage has such an intense flavor that a light hand is required for most dishes, however with the tenderloin I almost wrap it in a coat of sage. This summer a lone tassle flower popped up in between the silvery foliage and made a striking orange display, I plan to plant more emilia javanica with the salvia officinalis, it was one of the most exciting color combinations in my garden this summer. 
The other night I made dinner for a lovely bunch of friends and made the pork tenderloin again, in the same way, but this time the menu looked like this;
grilled pork tenderloin with sage and garlic
cauliflower and apple mash
a medley of mushrooms (cooked with thyme, garlic and marsala) with orzo and parmiggiano
green beans with lemon zest
pan fried scallops with a tomato, celery, red pepper sauce (sort of like a provencal)
a plum clafoutis with cardamom cream
There are no photos of this dinner, I was really itching to take some, but while I think it's OK to make the NZ'er sit around, hungry, food getting cold, as I stand on stools and fiddle about with lamps, I just couldn't do it to my pals, so you'll have to take me at my word.
I have a very good stimulating tonic recipe made with sage leaves.......after an enjoyable dinner with great friends and wine, this comes in handy (for some of us) the next morning.
bunch of sage leaves
lemon juice
honey
hot water
The latin name for sage, salvia, means "to heal".