Sunday, October 16, 2011

Cranberry Pork Tenderloin

I do not aim to turn this into a food blog, but I enjoy sharing delicious recipes and this one rates right up there with one of our finest.  We first tried this recipe when we went to Dinner Rush with some friends a couple of years ago.  Of course we didn't have access to the precise recipe, but we did our best to remember what we could and I think we came up with a fine subsitute.

At Dinner Rush it was made with dried cherries, which were nice, but are a little pricey.  We decided to try it with craisins this time and honestly I didn't notice a difference in the taste at all.  So I think I would stick with craisins, but really, I am sure you could use other dried fruit too if you wanted.  We made 3 tenderloins for supper last night, feel free to modify the quantity of sauce if you only make 1 or 2.  I would maybe reduce the sauce and seasoning by half if doing 1 or 2 tenderloins.

Cranberry Pork Tenderloin

3 pork tenderloins
1-2 tbsp oil
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
3/4 cup craisins
2 cups red wine (any variety is fine, we used pinot noir that Jay's dad made)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp garam masala (or subsitute a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, pepper, etc)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Heat oil in a frying pan and sear the outside of the tenderloins until they are nicely browned.  Place them in a 9x13 baking dish.  Saute the onions until soft then pour in the wine, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, craisins and spices.  Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any nice brown bits from searing the pork.  Simmer the sauce until it reduces a little and the craisins plump up.  Pour the sauce over the pork tenderloins and cover with foil.  Place in the oven and cook until the pork is done, approx. 30 minutes.  Allow the pork to stand for 10 minutes before slicing it.  Then slice it and serve it with onion and cranberries and sauce drizzled over top.

I have to give a plug to our digital meat thermometer.  I have come to really enjoy pork tenderloin, however, it is easy to over cook and then it is dry and blah.  I recommend a digital thermometer that you can leave in the piece of meat as it cooks so you know precisely when it is done so you never have to eat dry, overcooked meat again.  They also work great for turkey!  Never have dry white meat again!  The one we are using was only about $25 from Superstore too.  A small investment to have amazing meat :)

3 comments:

Karen said...

I can pin it if you add a photo!

Angie said...

I should have taken a picture, but we were all anxious to eat it. Next time maybe....

Lyn said...

I have stumbled upon the perfect way to roast pork tenderloin - I still use my meat thermometer with it, but it's so juicy and wonderful this way! Could be adapted to your recipe too!

http://www.food.com/recipe/perfect-pork-tenderloin-63828