pork: sugar and spice and everything nice.
My friend knows how to collect good recipes. When my kitchen is on the brink of a lull, all I need to do is call her up for an injection of inspiration. In fact, it was through her that I finally found a chicken curry I could trust. And now, this. She has done it again: supplied me with a blue ribbon recipe, another recipe that my family will adopt, adapt and come to adore.
Now as much as I am a sucker for high quality and time considerate recipes, I will gladly take a fabulous recipe and try my hand at cutting down on the extras (like trimming a budget of unnecessary glut). Bring me an impressive recipe with a long list of ingredients and an even longer lister of 'to-do's' and I will roll up my sleeves, grab my delete key and get to work. I enjoy the challenge of keeping the preparation and ingredients as simple as possible---without, of course, sacrificing the final outcome.
So in the case of this pork, with what seemed a lengthy coconut rice recipe, I decided to make a reduction sauce from the pan drippings with coconut milk. I made sticky rice, and the pork, then we poured the sauce over (fyi: this is especially handy when one of the kiddos isn't into coconut or sauce and is more than happy with 'plain' meat and 'plain' rice).
Island Pork Tenderloin 2 tsp coarse salt 1/2 tsp coarse pepper 1 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp chili powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1 pork tenderloin (for family of four, I use a 1 - 1 1/2 pound loin, if I have guests I use 2 loins)
optional:2 T brown sugar 2-3 cloves minced garlic 1 tsp cardamom 2 tsp Tabasco
Jasmine or sticky rice 1 1/2 cups chicken stock 2 T flour 1/2 cup coconut milk
Heat oven to 400. Combine first five seasonings; rub all over pork. Brown pork in skillet over medium high heat (in 1 T olive oil, 1 T butter). Optional: combine brown sugar, cardamom, garlic and tabasco and rub over top of pork just before inserting into oven. It isn't necessary but really punches up the flavors. In same skillet, add chicken stock, 2 T flour and coconut milk, let simmer. Make sticky rice. Roast loin in oven for 20-25 minutes; remove, drain drippings into saucepan. Let meat sit 10-15 minutes before serving (I cover the meat with a foil tent; also this is the perfect amount of time for your sauce to finish simmering).
You caught me, my family enjoys pork (and I like how easy it is to prepare, with great results). Here are two other pork recipes my family loves:
- Honey Garlic Pork (plus thyme, cream, dijon...)
- Soy Braised Pork
- Brandon Eats offers Roast Pork and Sage
- Kalyn's Kitchen brings Pork Chops with Balsamic Glaze
- Karen from FamilyStyle Food shows us how easy it is to make Tuscan Style Pork
- FoodBlogga nails the season and give us Persimmons 101 with her Pork Chops, Persimmons and Pomegranate
- Find Mandarin Pork & Rice on Kristen's Dine and Dish
