Meet Pork

Blog reader, meet pork.



For some reason, the pork PR people never really got it off the ground they way they should have been able to. Maybe it is because little piglets are cuter than cows and chickens and especially fish (even otherwise vegetarians will eat fish they can be so ugly). Obviously, certain types of pork are more popular than others. The following include the types of pork I usually like best and how I prefer to eat it:

Bacon: thin and crisp or wrapped around shrimp.
Hot dogs: mustard only on a bun
BBQ – pulled and slathered in sweet sauce…no need for buns.
Roasted whole – the way my aunt Janet does for Christmas every year.

Something I never really considered was pork tenderloin. The meat is so versatile; I almost forgot that a nice slab of it could be delicious roasted with just salt and pepper. I am also getting very comfortable with the idea of what I have started referring to as “one pan wonders”. This delightful concept was introduced to me when I made the Mediterranean white fish recipe last summer. The entire meal went into the oven on one baking dish. This not only makes for easy meals, but it also seems to help with flavor (especially with the fish recipe).

Ever since I started this blog, I pay more attention to the meals people prepare for me. Every meal is a potential posting. Friends and family members have passed along recipes for me to try, and I am loving it. I have more recipes on my list to get to than I would ever have time to write about, but every once in a while I try something that I feel I must go for. I wanted to try this meal after Zach’s mom made it for us one night. It comes from a recipe given to her by her friend, Mrs. Gill. Although there is still one degree of separation between Mrs. Gill and me, there is now no separation between me and her one dish wonder pork tenderloin recipe. This particular recipe appealed to me because it is surprisingly easy. I use the word “surprisingly” here because you would never know how simple this is by tasting it.



This is so simple that Zach did the bulk of the work. This is less of a slam on his cooking skills and more of a way of saying he does not particularly enjoy being in the kitchen before the food is ready to eat. He is usually willing to help and always takes the reigns over the grill, but rarely do I ask him to prepare 85% of the meal all by himself. I was stuck in the office pretty late, and we were both hungry. By the time I got into the kitchen, there was little left to do. The result was a delicious and satisfying pork tenderloin dinner for 6 (or for 2 hungry 20-somethings for a few nights in a row).

Remember Pork Tenderloin (and other goodies)

(a recipe by Mrs. Gill)

2 pork tenderloins
1 1/2 lbs potatoes of your choice, cut in chunky bites
1 bunch of asparagus spears, ends removed
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Lipton Onion Soup Mix
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut up potatoes.
Put them in a microwave safe container and microwave them until just softening (maybe 4 minutes).
While they are cooking, clean and dry off tenderloins.
Place tenderloins on a oiled broiler pan.
Salt and pepper tenderloins and sprinkle them with garlic powder.
Mix the microwaved potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and toss them with the Onion Soup mix.
Place the potatoes on the broiler pan with the tenderloins and place in oven.
Let them roast for 25 mins.
Place asparagus on roasting pan after 25 minutes and drizzle with Olive Oil and salt and pepper to taste (I used kosher salt).
Continue roasting for 10 more minutes.