Still hot here in Florida. Surprised? :) I love making pork tenderloins because they are cheap, easy, and flavorful, but I don't love turning on the oven for an hour when it's 89 outside and 100% humidity. So that got me thinking...pork loin in the Crock Pot! This recipe is super simple to make and cooks a lot faster than you would think. In fact, I overcooked my pork and it was still fabulous. Outstanding! Amazing! Sooo dang good!! I'll tell you how long to cook it properly, but you really can't hurt the pork in this recipe.
You will need:
pork tenderloin without seasoning 1/4 cup grape juice 1/4 cup sugar 1T garlic salt 1T Montreal steak seasoning 2 large or 4 small pears
If you are not a fan of grape juice you can use cranberry instead. Or fancy it up and use pomegranate juice!
Rinse the tenderloin and cover it with the garlic salt and steak seasoning. Place it in the slow cooker.
Add the juice and sugar to a small saucepan and heat on low until the sugar dissolves. Don't let it get hot, though! Pour the juice over the pork loin and put on the slow cooker top.
Turn the slow cooker on high for one hour and then turn down to low for 3 hours. OR Just cook on low for 5 hours. Add the peeled and chopped pears when you turn it to low.
I thought it would take much longer and my pork was ready three hours before dinner. Yikes! I turned the slow cooker to warm and just left it alone. It was perfect! It cooked down almost like pulled pork. It was out of this world! So, don't panic if it cooks longer than you want. Pork is supposed to be done at 145 degrees, but I usually cook mine until 160 and it's still juicy with no trace of pink. Sometimes at 145 it still looks a bit pink to me.
Drizzle the syrup over the pork and pears. Full of flavor and absolutely delicious! I don't think I'll go back to cooking it in the oven even when it isn't hot as blazes. You could add any flavoring or just cook it with the steak seasoning. So versatile! My Blackberry Pork or Honey Mustard Pork would also be awesome.
This month's Food Network Magazine contains 11,375 different stir fry recipes. They have five simple steps for each recipe (i.e. pick your protein, marinate, prep veggies, choose a sauce, and stir-fry) hence the many different varieties. I chose to make Sweet and Sour Pork with carrots, snow peas, onions, and 3 types of peppers, but the choices for veggies are endless. You could add broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, celery, cabbage, etc. Same goes for the protein--chicken, shrimp, beef, tofu. For my version...
3/4 cup chicken broth (low sodium) 2tsp cornstarch 1/4 cup ketchup (I used low sugar) 2 packets (or 2tsp) soy sauce 3T rice vinegar 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1tsp sesame oil
The pork tenderloin has to be cooked a bit before adding to the stir fry. Heat 1T of oil in a frying pan and sear the pork over medium high heat until brown on each side, about 5 minutes. (The pork spatters quite a bit while browning. My poor magazine is covered in oil and pork juice.) Then cook the pork for 20 minutes in the oven at 425 degrees until the internal temp of the pork is 145 degrees. It will still be a tiny bit pink inside, but that's fine because you'll be cooking it further in the stir fry. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes at least before slicing.
While the pork is baking, prepare your veggies. Slice the peppers and onion into strips. (I only used half of each pepper because they were really large. Usually peppers are smaller. But I saved the other halves for a veggie tray the next day.)
I like to cut the baby carrots in half and then half again.
In a small saucepan or bowl whisk together the chicken broth and cornstarch until thoroughly combined. Then mix in the rest of your sauce ingredients. If you don't have rice vinegar you can substitute apple cider or even white vinegar, but rice is best. There really isn't a substitute for the sesame oil. It's not expensive and definitely worth having a bottle if you like to make homemade Chinese food. Set aside the sauce.
Add the 2T oil, garlic, and ginger to a saucepan. I just wiped out the same pan I used for the pork. (See the scratch marks on my favorite green pan? They were made by a metal utensil, but not by me. :( I was so upset when I saw the scratches.)
Heat to high and then add all the veggies. Stir-fry them all until crisp-tender.
Then add your sliced pork and pour the sauce on top of it all. Stir until the sauce thickens and the veggies are tender (but not soft). If you find that the sauce becomes too thick you can add a bit more chicken broth, but I didn't have that problem. Everything worked out perfectly.
So much better than take-out! And better for you, too. The sauce is perfect. Not too sweet, not too sour. I like this version a million times more than the super thick, super sweet stuff we get from our local Chinese food place. Toss some sesame seeds on top before serving to fancy it up if you like. :)
We have pork loins for dinner pretty often. They are cheap (less than $8 and there is usually a $1 off coupon in Sunday's paper), easy, and super tasty. You can buy them in different flavors, but I buy the unflavored or original. And I always rinse it before adding my own seasonings. This flavor combination might sound a little strange, but trust me--it is amazing! Bubba and the girls said it was my best pork loin ever. Not a single scrap was left. I found the recipe on smuckers.com but changed it up a bit.
You will need:
1/2 cup seedless blackberry jam 3T BBQ sauce 1tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Put the blackberry jam in a bowl and zap it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. You could skip this step, but I've found that the jam is easier to mix up if its not super cold from the fridge. Then add the BBQ sauce and seasoned salt...
and whisk together.
Place the washed pork loin in a Ziploc bag and pour the sauce over the top. Marinate for at least an hour. I usually prepare the pork loin in the morning, so it marinates for about 6 hours.
An hour before you are ready to eat preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 inch baking dish with foil. Pour the pork and sauce into the dish and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the pork reaches 160 degrees.
Let it sit for 15 minutes and then slice.
When plating, pour a little bit of sauce over each serving.
Absolutely delicious!! I served it with green peas and vegetable pasta with Parmesan. This pork is succulent and flavorful that it would be the perfect dish to impress company. Everyone will think you slaved away!
This recipe is simple, delicious, and easy on the budget.
I took about a 1/3 cup of honey mustard and added 1T of oil. (Any spicy mustard with 1T of honey can substitute.)
I spread the mustard mixture over a pork loin (less than $10) and baked at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
While it was baking I chopped up two pears. I left the skin on, but made sure to wash them with soap and hot water. So important to wash your fruit! Even bananas and cantaloupe. After 25 minutes I removed the pork from the oven, added the pears, and continued cooking for 20 minutes. (The pork should reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees.)
I sliced the pork and drizzled it with the drippings from the pan. Since I am going the way of the diet, I chopped up my pork and pears and put them over a bed of lettuce. I used a lowfat honey mustard vinaigrette on top.
I created this food blog when my two girls were young, I was a stay-at-home mom, and I had not yet attended culinary school. Now I'm a classically trained chef with two college-age daughters. This blog will always be so special to me and I hope you enjoy my old recipes.
