Pork Tenderloin: Take 2

Remember how I said leftover pork tenderloin has lots of uses??? Well, here you go!

The first night, we ate a little over half of one of the tenderloins, which left quite a bit.

The next night, I made a stir fry (sorry, no pics). You can use your favorite stir fry recipe and add the pork that's been cubed. Mine was a combination of mushrooms, onion, rice, soy sauce, and the pork. It was delicious! A great way to use any of your leftover veggies. Broccoli, bell pepper, carrots would all be a great addition!

I still had a little less than half a tenderloin left. And I thought about Jeremy's family. At every big holiday (mostly Thanksgiving and Christmas), they have tenderloin and biscuit or ham and biscuit. I had never heard of this until I met Jeremy! It must be a Tennessee thing!

After trying the tenderloin and biscuit, I'm a big fan! As most of you know, I don't exactly care for ham, but I'm sure those are delicious as well!

This next dish is a tribute to Jeremy's family's tenderloin and biscuit. Although, it doesn't even come close to Granny B's. She breads and fries the tenderloin, so you can imagine how tasty that is!!!

I just sliced off a couple pieces of the tenderloin, salt and peppered both sides, and heated them up in the skillet until they were a little brown.

I cheated big time and bought the Grands frozen biscuits. I baked up two of those, added a little grape jelly.

And I had a quick version of tenderloin and biscuit! Not the same, but it will do!

Easy Dinner

For an easy dinner, pork tenderloin is a great idea. I made the marinade the night before, so the meat had time to soak in all those delicious flavors at night and while I was at work.

Even better, I found pork tenderloin on sale- buy one get one free. Lots of ways to use the leftovers, so I went ahead and made both. I served the tenderloin with garlic mashed potatoes, and a side salad. Yum!



I can't remember if I've posted the way I make my garlic mashed potatoes, so I'm going to give the run down again, just in case. I cube my potatoes and put them in the cold water and also add in 1-2 whole garlic cloves. Then, cook the potatoes over medium high heat for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Drain the water and then put the pot back on the warm burner (you can turn the burner off and it will still be warm). This way you can be sure all the excess water gets out!

Mash the potatoes up with the pastry blender and then, add a little butter, sour cream, half and half, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. Garnish with green onions.

If you're wondering what happens to the garlic, it gets soft and mashes up with the taters. It just leaves a hint of garlic. You can also change up the ingredients a little bit depending on what you have- milk, cream, or half and half will work. Or if you don't like sour cream, omit. The cheese is also optional.

Pork Tenderloin

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry red wine
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 green onions (green parts only), chopped

Combine marinade ingredients in a measuring cup and whisk to combine. Pour over pork tenderloin in a plastic bag. Marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 45 minutes or until meat is 145 degrees F when measured with an instant-read thermometer. Allow meat to rest about 10 minutes before cutting into 2-inch serving pieces. Drizzle a small amount of the meat juices from cooking over each piece of meat.

E’s Notes:

• I used a lot less cinnamon- less than ¼ teaspoon.
• I also used reduced sodium soy sauce.
• Plan on cooking meat for at least 1 hour if not more.
  
  

Sorry the meat pics look a little disgusting! I don't know if there is a good way to make a meat dish look pretty?!?!

The Other White Meat

Dinner tonight- Pork and Broccoli Stir-Fry with Ginger and Hoisin Sauce, served with rice.

I really wanted to change this up and omit some ingredients. Out of necessity, I did a few steps slightly different. But this actually turned out better than I thought and each ingredient was worth putting in the recipe, especially the ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes. Even the hoisin sauce added a nice subtle flavor!

Pork and Broccoli Stir-Fry with Ginger and Hoisin Sauce

1 lb. pork tenderloin or 2-4 boneless pork loin chops
2 T soy sauce
1 T dry sherry
1 T cornstarch
4 cups broccoli flowerets, cut into same size pieces
1-2 T oil (recipe called for peanut, I only had olive)
4-5 slices fresh ginger root
4-5 sliced garlic cloves

sauce:
2 tsp. ginger puree (also called ground ginger, or use finely minced fresh ginger root)
2 tsp. garlic puree (also called ground garlic, or use finely minced garlic cloves)
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 T hoisin sauce (you can find this on international foods aisle)
pinch of red pepper flakes

Trim all visible fat from pork chops and cut into strips about 1/2 inch thick and 2-3 inches long. Combine soy sauce, dry sherry, and cornstarch in bowl and add the pork strips. Stir to coat pork and let marinate while you prep the other ingredients.

Wash broccoli and cut into same-sized flowerets, keeping a few inches of stem on the pieces. If using ginger and garlic puree, combine with chicken stock, Hoisin sauce, and pepper flakes. (If using freshly minced ginger and garlic, keep them out of the sauce so they can have a minute or so of extra cooking time.)

**Have all ingredients ready and turner and serving plate ready before you begin to stir-fry.

Heat wok over high flame or hot burner about 1 minute, until it feels hot if you put your hand over the wok. Add 1 T oil and heat until the oil looks shimmery, then add garlic and ginger root slices and cook 30 seconds to one minute, just until you start to smell the garlic and ginger. Be careful to remove every bit of ginger and garlic or it will burn and make the oil taste bitter.

Add broccoli and stir-fry, stirring often, for about 3 minutes, or until broccoli turns bright green and is barely getting tender. Remove broccoli to a plate. Add a bit more oil if needed, heat about 30 seconds, then add pork and marinating liquid. Stir-fry pork about 3-4 minutes, until it's firm and slightly browned. (If using freshly minced garlic and ginger, add now and cook about 1 minute.) Add sauce and cook about 2 minutes more, stirring until meat and vegetables are coated with sauce and sauce is slightly thickened. Serve hot.

E’s Notes:

• I used olive oil, instead of peanut oil
• After putting broccoli in pan, I added chicken stock and stirred for about 30 seconds. Then, I put the lid on the pan for 1-2 minutes. It steamed the broccoli a little bit. (I just don’t my broccoli too crunchy- it still had a little bite to it)
• Seriously, a pinch of red pepper flakes goes a long way, but definitely add a little!
• I used fresh ginger and garlic- I think they have better flavor.
• I sliced my pork very thin- less than ½ inch, so it cooks super fast!
• I didn’t have sherry, so I used a white wine that we already had. You could even use chicken stock if you don’t have wine.
• I cook my rice in chicken stock for more flavor.
• I used my microplane grater to grate in the fresh garlic and ginger.