July 1, 2011

Island Pork Tenderloin

 
This recipe has been my most popular one since starting the blog.  It is loosely based on the P-90X recipe in their cookbook that comes with the workout kit.  I have modified it and added some other uses for it!  This sometimes gets served in my house at LEAST once a week.  The island flavors make it great for a summer time meal, but the warmth, texture and creaminess make it great as a winter comfort food as well.  Because I serve it with a touch of cream sauce, it goes well with pasta, rice and our favorite, cous-cous.
 Ingredients
16 oz lean pork tenderloin
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 brown sugar, packed
1/2 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon hot sauce

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chile powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with the spice rub.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium high heat and brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes.  Remove meat and place onto a baking sheet
  4. Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and hot sauce and pat onto top of tenderloin.  
  5. Bake for about 25 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.  Let rest before slicing

Make it a salad: For one salad:

  • 2 cups fresh greens 
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into THIN strips
  • 1/2 cup Mandarin oranges, drained
  • 1/4 cup slivered red onion
  • 1 cup Napa cabbage, shredded
  • 1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
  • 3 ounces Island Pork Tenderloin
  • 2 tablespoons cumin vinaigrette (see below)
  • Almonds for garnish
  1. Toss all the salad ingredients EXCEPT oranges and pork, in a large serving bowl.
  2. Prepare the dressing (below)
  3. Prepare salad vegetables on large platter or bowl.   Arrange pork and orange slices on top and drizzle with dressing and almonds.

The Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
Serves 2
Whisk together until emulsified.

Make it an appetizer:
I used this recipe to make pork tenderloin skewers for a cocktail party wedding reception.  After roasting, cut into bite sized pieces, place on a party pick and serve in appetizer cups with a white wine cream sauce (recipe below).

The Sauce: ( Not from P90X)
White Wine Cream Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3 shallots, sliced thinly
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups white wine, divided
  • ground white pepper to taste
  • 1cup heavy cream at room temperature
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional:  Add the pan juices from the tenderloin for added flavor.  
  1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook and stir the shallots until they become translucent and tender; stir in garlic and cook until tender and aromatic.
  2. Stir in 1 cup white wine, increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Once it boils, add the remaining 1/2 cup wine. Reduce to half.
  3. Slowly stir in cream, lemon juice salt and pepper.   Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. 
Some of you have asked about making it without wine.  The Sauce: ( Not from P90X)
Without Wine
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  • Pan juices from tenderloin and/or 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1cup heavy cream at room temperature
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Large pinch of tarragon
  1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.
  2.  Cook and stir the shallots until they become translucent and tender; add garlic.
  3. Pour in pan juices and or chicken broth  
  4. Stir in 1 cup heavy cream. 
  5. Simmer for 5 minutes to reduce and thicken.  
  6.  Serve with tenderloin and garnish with tarragon

25 comments:

  1. Amazing flavors!! Oh Yes, I am pinning this!!
    Thank you for sharing at my Facebook 1000 fan party:)

    If you get a chance drop by and link up to Lets Get Social Sunday:)

    http://www.myturnforus.com/

    Have a great week!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh yum!!! I just found you on Linda's link party! This sounds soooo good! I'm pinning this! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the spice combination! I would never have thought to use cinnamon. I just pinked this. I found you at Feeding Big :) Krista @ http://ahandfulofeverything.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the spices used in this recipe! I really like the idea of making it a salad.

    Thank you for linking this recipe up to the In and Out of the Kitchen link party! I can't wait to see what you bring next week!

    Cynthia at http://FeedingBig.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pinned ! I am a huge fan of Pork Tenderloin :-) Love the salad version ! Thank you for sharing at our ALL MY BLOGGY FRIENDS party :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am never without pork tenderloin in the house. I will be after I use this recipe! Looks great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just updated the recipe...It was a bit confusing.

      Delete
  7. I'm making this tonight and I just noticed that you don't mention how much wine to use in the 'White Wine Cream Sauce'...and no mention of how to use it either!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oooops...never mind! I see it now, but you must of recently edited it because its not on my copy that I printed out on April 2nd. =D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh wait...now I see that you have 2 recipes for the white wine cream sauce! One without the wine and less shallots, no garlic, no tarragon and no lemon juice! I'm very confused! Can you please clarify! Thanks! =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for the delay Lillian. I did edit it and did not finish before I updated. My apologies for the confusion! When I originally wrote the recipe I was a bit inexperienced with writing my recipes out. I feel that every week I get a little bit better at organizing. My difficulty comes from getting recipes from my head to paper. Especially because when I am cooking -I don't measure! Hope this helps. Thanks for trying.

      Delete
    2. Thank you so much Sherry! It was so delicious sounding that I just went for it! I'm glad I did because it was delicious! I blogged about it here...
      http://myrecipejourney-lillian.blogspot.com/2013/04/island-pork-chops-with-white-wine-cream.html#comment-form
      Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe!

      Delete
    3. Thanks. I am so glad you tried it. I will check out your blog.

      Delete
  10. The recipe doesn't say how much brown sugar to use - as a guess, I used 1/4 CUP. Hoping you see this since last post was in 2013. Looking forward to this coming out of the oven!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Drae,
    Yes, that’s what I did...I used 1/4 cup brown sugar.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...