No vampires here!

I am pleased to report that as of last night, Emerald Hills has been cleared of all vampire activity. How do I know this? Because last night all five Farrars partook of a dinner so laced with garlic, that no vampire could have survived the resulting cloud of garlic breath in which the area is now cloaked. In fact, given how much my mouth is still reeling, I can say with reasonable certainty that most of the surrounding cities should be safe from blood-sucking beasts for some time to come. And if you saw me face to face today, and I breathed in your direction, my sincere apologies.

Despite the after-effects of garlic consumption, I can however highly recommend the pork dish we all ate. And I have halved the quantity of garlic and raw onion in the recipe below. If you wish to be faithful to the original (or you have a colony of vampires squatting in your garage that you want rid of), then feel free to double to quantities below. Next time, I will be going with the quantities shown below - I want to keep my friends, after all...

The Brits are not renowned for their grilling prowess, and this is understandable, given that we live under a soggy cloud of drizzle for much of the year, interspersed with occasional bouts of torrential downpour, and, depending on where you live, slushy snow. There's a reason England is green. I remember well my husband's birthday one year, when we were staying in a Scottish mountain hideaway with a bunch of friends. He had decided that, come hell or high water, he was going to barbecue. Turns out it was high water that came, and a lot of it. I have a photo somewhere of the birthday boy standing in full waterproofs, under an umbrella, tending to a waterlogged pile of charcoal, as he grilled local venison sausages. The photo was taken through a (closed) window, as, birthday or no birthday, we all refused to join him and he was the only one who would go outside to do the actual grilling. We are British, doesn't mean we are stupid :-) And we all set the table... it was a beautiful table setting... took a lot of effort....

Here is a grilling recipe however, for which my husband, on a sunny California Sunday evening, needed no protection from the elements. It came out beautifully, succulent, moist and flavorful, even if the garlic in the sauce was a little overpowering for my tastes, hence the tweaked version below. The original was in Cooking Light Magazine, one of my favorite reads.

Argentinian Pork
(serves 5-6 healthy appetites)

12 TBSP olive oil, divided
2 cups fresh parsley leaves (and thinner stalks), divided
1 1/3 cups fresh cilantro leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 1lb pork tenderloins, trimmed
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 tsp ground black pepper
Cooking spray
2 TBSP fresh oregano leaves
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
2 TBSP sherry vinegar
2 garlic cloves, chopped (original recipe has 4)
1 shallot, chopped (original recipe has 2)

1. Combine 4 TBSP olive oil, 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 2/3 cup chopped cilantro, cumin and red pepper in a shallow dish. Add pork. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, turning once.
2. Preheat grill to medium-high.
3. To make sauce: combine 1 1/2 cups parsley, 2/3 cups cilantro, 1/2 tsp salt, oregano, and remaining ingredients in a food processor. Pulse 10 times. Drizzle 1/2 cup olive oil through food chute with processor on.
3. When you are ready to grill, sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Place on grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill for 8 minutes. Turn pork over and grill for a further 7 minutes or until a thermometer registers 145 degrees F. Remove pork from grill and let stand for 5 minutes. Slice crosswise and serve with sauce.