Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is nothing if not a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas dinner. Standing rib roast, broiled potatoes, yorkshire pudding, etc., etc.. But this year he discovered that he had consumed the rib roasts from the steer that the Smallholder had raised for him. He consumed them earlier by cooking for parties. So now here comes Christmas and he doesn’t have rib roasts.

Your Maximum Leader, while not miserly, is of Scottish extraction. This means that does have a cheap streak in him. He just couldn’t bring himself to buy a rib roast from the grocer when he has a huge chest freezer filled with meat (raised for him by Smallholder).

This past year your Maximum Leader purchased from Smallholder a whole steer and a whole hog. Your Maximum Leader has frequently praised Smallholder for both. Well, when it came time to send the animals to the abbatoir, your Maximum Leader asked the butcher to keep the hog’s tenderlion completely intact. This was out mostly out of curiosity. Your Maximum Leader figured that he could always cut down the tenderloin to the size he needed for any particular meal - and if he wanted to cook up the whole thing while entertaining he could.

Well… When the meat came the tenderloin package was massive. Much larger than he thought in fact. He forgets sometimes that Smallholder’s hogs are often twice “normal market” weight. The tenderloin sat in the freezer. Sat until last night that is. It was then that your Maximum Leader determined that the pork tenderloin would be Christmas dinner. He took the tenderloin out to thaw and started to unwrap it this morning.

For your edification, here is his tenderloin - still mostly frozen.

Yes. That pork tenderloin is about 10 inches long - when doubled over on itself! It is about 5 and a half inches thick on the narrow end. It weighs (frozen) about 12 pounds.

Your Maximum Leader is going to cut it into sections and use it over the whole holiday stretch. It is much too large to use for one meal (plus he doesn’t think he could cook the whole thing effectively without a large spit).

Christmas dinner will consist of an Almond Encrusted Tenderloin (section), whipped potatoes, a baked apple casserole, asparagus and hollandaise, and a green salad.

If any reader would like to suggest additional tenderloin preparations (for New Years perhaps) they would be appreciated. He is considering a tenderloin in orange sauce and a rosemary tenderloin already.

Carry on.