Feed Me

At the risk of cluttering the sidebar into unintelligibility, I've added a feed for the pork barrel.  TPB is a shared food blog I've set up with some other folks.  I've been inviting a few other people to post occasionally: some have and some haven't.  Anyway, you'll see the subject lines of the last 5 posts as links to the posts themselves. 

Comments

[Heather]

I bought a pork tenderloin the other day and am not sure what to do with it! (Well...I'm going to eat it - of course!!!) I've been searching high and low for a good recipe, nothing too complicated. Everything I have come across seems relatively uninspired. Any suggestions?
FYI: I'm kind of weird about eating fruit and sweets with any kind of meat - even white meat. I've found tons of recipes for maple glazes and plum sauces, etc. Not exactly my cup of tea!
(I hope I am not violating any of the Fan Club rules...it's just that you all were so helpful with the Thanksgiving thing!)

[durhamfood]

Fruit and pork tenderloin go amazingly well together! You should try it!

[Joe]

Heather: Pork tenderloin tends to be a bit flavorless and dry (compared to other pork cuts), so a marinade sounds like the thing to do. DF is right -- fruit does go well -- and I bet it helps to balance out the acid in most marinades. A marinade will also help with the moisture problem.

My two favorite things to use in marinades are soy sauce and olive oil. I'd suggest a marinade with one or the other of those, or both. Pork tenderloin is also a good candidate for brining. Also, don't overcook it. Pull it out of whatever cooking mode you have it in when the center gets to 145 or so, less if you prefer.

There are a couple of free pork tenderloin medallion recipes at America's Test Kitchen, but you'll still have to register:

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=3623&iSeason=7
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=3626&iSeason=7

They assume you already have a sauce to make. They have one sauce that's a free recipe, but it does have orange juice in it:

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=3603&iSeason=7

Do any of these strike your fancy?

http://www.theotherwhitemeat.com/aspx/Recipes/FindResults.aspx?kw=tenderloin&p=n

Or these?

http://www.ncpork.org/apps.ncpork.org/pages/recipes/index.jsp

I apologize for not having something more personal and typed up. It's a shame you don't want a recipe for scalloped potatoes. :)

[Heather]

Ahh...but I didn't need a recipe for scalloped potatoes because I already had yours! They turned out beautifully. I used gruyere and did not peel the potatoes. (Yes, I scrubbed the hell out of them!) Delicious.
I am sure that fruit and pork do go well together, but the inability to mix certain things (salty and sweet) has been an issue for a long time. I just can't get past it, with the exception of a mixed baby green salad with pomegranate, butter toffee almonds and a mustard vinaigrette. Mmmm.

[durhamfood]

Pomegranate, eh? Well, make yourself some pomegranate molasses and use it as a base for a bbq-type sauce for the tenderloin!

OK, I'll lay off the fruit thing now ;)

[Joe Eater]

Heather: Thanks for the potato report. But what went on with the pork? Enquiring Joes want to know. :)