Pork Marinade

This is our recent favorite marinade for a pork tenderloin.  We love to grill this, but you can roast it in the oven or pan fry as well.

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sherry
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced onion
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 2 (3/4 pound) pork tenderloins

Directions

1. Place soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, dried onion, cinnamon, olive oil, and a touch of garlic powder in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal, and shake to mix. Place pork in bag with marinade, seal, and refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours.
2. Preheat grill for high heat.
3. Lightly oil grate. Place tenderloins on grill, and discard marinade. Cook 20 minutes, or to desired doneness. Slice into medallions, and serve.

Pork Tenderloin

I almost always have a pork Tenderloin on hand because my kids and hubby both love it.  I found this quick recipe the other day and it was an instant hit.  The pork turned out really tender and juice with great flavor.

1.  Rub tenderloin with olive oil, dijon mustard and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt & pepper.
2.  Roll tenderloin in breadcrumbs.  I mixed some dried rosemary in with my breadcrumbs.
3.  Sear in frying pan with butter.
4.  Bake at 425 for 35 minutes and then let it rest of 10 minutes.

Tangy Grilled Pork Tenderloin

My husband loves pork so I am always looking for new ways to cook it. This is a very simple recipe I found on Allrecipes. Just marinate and grill.

1 pounds pork tenderloin

2/3 cup honey

1/2 cup dijon mustard

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix last found ingredients together for marinade. Put meat in with marinade and let sit for at least 4 hours. Let meat come to room temperature before grilling (about 20-30 minutes) and pre-heat grill. If using outside grill prepare for indirect heat. I just used my grill pan and cooked over medium-low heat. Lightly oil pan and grill for about 7-10 minutes per side, or until done.

This meat has a nice sweet flavor and a little kick. It was nice for a summer bbq dinner.

Sour Cream Pork Chops

I found this today at allrecipes.com You can visit it here. The majority of the family enjoyed them. I didn't do it in the crock pot, since I didn't have enough time, but frying them in a pan, letting them sit in an oven at 325 while I prepared everything else worked out just fine.

Lettuce Wraps

Again, I found this on allrecipes, but I tweaked it to my taste. Here's the original. This is mine with my changes.

16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves (I used iceberg because the other stuff looked gross)
1 pound lean ground pork
a little sesame oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce (at least 1 T. I probably used more)
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (again, I think I used more)
Asian chile pepper sauce (I used the hot sauce Jenn used in the spicy chicken)
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 carrot, julienned
2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.
In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground pork in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, carrots and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!

Martha Stewart's Meatloaf

I admit that I'm not such a fan of meatloaf. I shun it. But the other day I was watching TV and someone was talking about how good Martha Stewart's meatloaf recipe was. Well, that started an urge, and for the first time in my whole nine married years, I made it. I was pleasantly surprised. This was actually enjoyable--even delicious. My kids ate it! J.D. said it was pretty good for meatloaf. So, maybe you might want to try it too. I used a combination of ground pork (not sausage) and ground sirloin--adapt the recipe as you see fit. I even love how it has vegetables in it.

4 slices white bread, torn into pieces
2 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into eighths
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves (I used dried)
1 large egg
1 cup ketchup
3 teaspoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place bread in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade; pulse until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a medium bowl, and add ground beef.

Place onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade; pulse until fine. Add to meat mixture, using hands to mix well. Add egg, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, salt, and pepper; use hands to combine thoroughly. Place in an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pan.
Combine remaining 1/2 cup ketchup, remaining teaspoon dry mustard, and brown sugar in a bowl; stir until smooth.

Brush mixture over meatloaf; place in the oven with a baking pan set on the rack below to catch drippings. Cook until a meat thermometer inserted in the center reads 160 degrees, about 90 minutes. If top gets too dark, cover with foil, and continue baking.

Yummy Ham

My sister-in-law Jo made this ham for Thanksgiving and it was so good.

One bone in ham shank (not cooked)
Put ham in roaster and cover with a 2-litre bottle of 7-up
Put in oven at 250 form 11 hours
Take out of oven and cover with brown sugar and put back in oven for one more hour.
Total cooking time: 12 hours.

When you take the ham out of the oven it just falls apart and is so tender and sweet. I wish I had a picture, it would make you want it right now.

Sautéed Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Port, Dried Cherries and Rosemary

Shawn loves Pork Tenderloin and this is a great way to make it with a lot of flavor. I like to make this and serve it with my red skinned roasted garlic mashed potatoes (I'll post that recipe later).

1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
olive oil
2 cloves fresh pressed garlic
1 lb. pork tenderloin trimmed and cut into 1-inch slices. Pound each slice 3/4 inch thick. (I put plastic wrap on counter and then put in pork. Put another piece of plastic wrap on top and then I use my meat mallet, but you can use anything heavy to pound it flat. Tenderloin is a very tender meat so it doesn't take much to get it pounded flat.)
1/3 cup port-I usually substitute apple juice
1/2 cup dried cherries
2/3 cup water mixed with 1 tsp. chicken soup base (this is kind of like bouillon, but a paste that you keep in the fridge)
2 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix salt, garlic powder, and pepper together. Sprinkle over both sides of the pork medallions. Put a little olive oil in large skillet over medium high. Add garlic to pan and brown slightly before adding medallions to pan. Working in batch's of no more than six medallions to avoid crowding, sear the pork without moving them until browned on one side about 80 seconds. Turn and sear the other side about 80 seconds or until pork is firm to touch. Transfer to a plate.

Set the now empty skillet used to cook the pork over medium high heat and add port/apple juice and cherries to pan. Cook scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula to loosen any browned bits until the liquid in the pan reduces to about 2 Tablespoons (about 2-3 minutes). Increase the heat slightly and add chicken broth, rosemary and any meat juices from the plate. Stir often until sauce is the consistency of maple syrup. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.

Reduce the heat to medium and return pork to pan, turning the meat to coat. Simmer to heat the pork through, about 3 minutes. Transfer pork to serving plate and spoon sauce over meat. Serve immediately.

Each 4 oz. cooked portion of tenderloin with sauce has approximately 200 calories, 7.4 grams total fat.

Cafe Rio's Sweet Pork

Put a pork loin in the crock pot for 4-6 hours (salt and pepper)
(I like to put it in the night before with a little water in the bottom)

Drain the fat
Shred the pork really good
Put the shredded pork back in the crockpot
Mix in: 1 can coke
2 Cups brown sugar
16 oz. mild salsa

Heat through and serve!

We like to eat this on fresh tortilla's, on a bun or in a salad.