Sunday, March 1, 2009

The Other White Meat

Note: I have opened up posting on this blog to my sisters. Not everything will be from me.

I love a good pork tenderloin. Sometimes they can be hard to find in grocery stores and harder to find without some kind of marinade already on them. I've noticed it's not uncommon to find them to packs of two so here are the two things I make with them.

Pork Tenderloin with Honey Butter
(from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food)
4 T butter
2 T honey
pork tenderloin
salt and pepper
water

Preheat oven to 375. In an oven proof skillet, melt butter and honey over medium heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Turn the heat down if the honey starts to burn. Transfer to the oven. I usually cover it and it takes at least 25 minutes (or more) to cook. In looking back over the recipe on Martha's website, she doesn't say to and seems to think it will cook in 7-10 minutes. I think she's crazy but will try not covering it next time, the honey butter mixture left over is usually pretty thin. Transfer the meat to a plate. Add a bit of water to the pan and simmer over medium heat, scraping the brown bits off of the sides. Add the juices that have ended up on the plate and simmer until it is reduced to half a cup. Slice and drizzle the sauce over the meat.

I like to serve it with something green and mashed potatoes which are also very good with the sauce drizzled over them.

The next port recipe is from a cookbook I have from Costco. It has a picture for every page and specifies Costco products in the recipes. Plus, the food is really good.

Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro Lime Pesto and Smokey Bacon Bits
1 T minced garlic
2 T minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup minced green onions
1 T minced fresh cilantro
1 tsp minced jalapeno pepper (I never add it but you can if you want it spicier)
1/2 tsp pepper
2 T lime juice
2 T orange juice
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 - 2 lbs pork tenderloin
1/2 cup grated jalapeno jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped sunflower seed
1/2 cup crumbled bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the first 8 ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree. Slowly add olive oil until mixture thickens.
Cut tenderloin in half lengthwise and lay out flat. Spread half of pesto over tenderloin and sprinkle with half of the cheese, seeds and bacon.
Close the tenderloin and tie with string to hold together. Top with the rest of the pesto, cheese, seeds and bacon. The recipe says to refrigerate it for several hours or overnight but I never have.
Place tenderloin on a rack and bake until firm 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

3 comments:

Hilary said...

pork loin is the one thing dave always requests when he goes back home, and his dad taught me to buy them in the huge packages (you can usually get it for $1.99/lb or less, significantly less than those little tenderloins, which can be as much $4-$5/lb), and cutting them into meal-size pieces. i'll do some steaks, about 1/2"-1" thick, to grill and then 1-2 big pieces to roast. it seems like a big deal to spend almost $30on a piece of meat, but you'll get lots of meals out of it.

Jen said...

See if Mom still has that amazing recipe for roast pork loin with grilled peaches--or something like that. I just remember deglazing the roasting pan with apple juice. YUM!

Missa said...

My brother likes to cut slits in the pork roast and put in slices of garlic. It's totally yummy. He is one of the best cooks I know. Too bad he lives so far away.