Wednesday, January 18, 2012

What's Cooking Wednesday - Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Thanks to Sue for those safety tips, and I hope you don't have to use them. 

Next – I have a request for help. Someone in our community fell and broke her leg, and neighbors are pitching in to bring her food. The catch is that she and her husband are both on gluten free diets, and I need a gluten free dessert recipe. Something simple. If you've got one and would be willing to share, I'd love to have it. Thanks. Email it to me via the contact tab. (Click on "email" for the link)

This week's recipe is an adaptation of a recipe I found on the web. It's super quick to prepare, and you can vary it to your own taste.

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Fruit Preserve Glaze

Ingredients:

1 whole pork tenderloin
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
4-5 T mixed herbs – this is where you can play around a bit. The recipe called for Herbs De Provence. I didn't have any, so I looked it up to see if could wing it. According to Emeril Lagasse, it's equal parts of the following:
dried savory
dried rosemary
dried thyme
dried oregano
dried basil
dried marjoram
fennel seed
Another source said it included lavender as well.

As far as I'm concerned, you can blend any favorite spices. I used what I had on hand, which ended up being dried parsley, rosemary, basil, oregano, and thyme.


Directions:

Blend all your spices and salt and pepper together. If you're using dried rosemary leaves, you should crush them first to avoid being poked in the mouth.

Preheat oven to 425

Rub the pork with olive oil, then press the herb mixture all over the meat to coat it. Put the pork either in a roasting pan on a rack, or in a skillet. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink (or to an internal temperature of 145 degrees). Remove from oven, cover with foil and let it rest 10 minutes.

Glaze:
1 c jam or preserves of your choice. I used apricot, but the original recipe also suggested fig, peach, or plum.
½ c water
1 T vinegar

Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. While the pork cooks, let it reduce until it's a nice glaze consistency.

Slice the pork and spoon the glaze over the slices.
Great with potatoes. I baked mine, but mashed would be good, too. And apologies for the lack of a picture, but it was so yummy, my plate was half-empty before I remembered I should have taken one.


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4 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

I bet this is delicious. And I'd like to try it with peach preserves, too.

Terry Odell said...

Elizabeth, it IS yummy. Came out perfectly tender. We're having leftovers tonight.

Karen C said...

Mmmm - I'm definitely going to try this recipe. Going to go check my recipes for gluten free - I've been collecting and may have something.

Julie Ortolon said...

I'm making this recipe for a dinner party tonight. I already have the glaze going (wanted to make it in advance). To the fig preserves I added some hot sauce and spicy mustard. It's delicious!

I'll let you know how the pork tenderloin turns out.