I cut a pork loin in half for sealing in two vacuum bags along with sprigs of oregano and rosemary, and cooked them both for 4 or 5 hours @ 135°. I see a recommended range from 130° to 150° for pink and juicy at the lower end and firm and not so juicy at the higher side. I still get twitchy about seeing pink pork but I am gradually overcoming that.
The sauce is brown butter with roasted garlic. I cubed the potatoes and gave them a nice soak in cold water, drained them well, and dropped them into 350° oil till they browned. The broccoli was steamed and then buttered with a squeeze of lemon.
pork tenderloin
Pork Tenderloin Braised In Milk
It doesn’t look like much but the pork turned out so tender you could cut it with a quick glance. I had no idea cooking in milk was a thing until I saw the recipe in the NY Times food section. I had a tenderloin and a jug of milk, handy so I gave it a go. 
The milk curdled right away but I hung in there with the recipe and strained out the onions and the milk solids. They were tasty, the recipe suggested they be served on the side but I ended up adding them back to the gravy and running the stick blender to make them into a thick sauce, Kitchen Bouquet darkened the sauce quite nicely.
The first dinner we had was forgettable – sides of a rice pilaf because I had run out of my preferred wild rice mix and some canned corn. It was better today with the fried potatoes – and much prettier!
More Porchetta
The other half of that pork belly I bought back from Behrmann’s. I bought an additional small tenderloin to wrap up inside. I butterflied it and pounded it flat and gave it a smear of the same rub as I used the last time: Rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic, fennel fronds, toasted black peppercorns and fennel seeds all processed into a paste with a little olive oil.
I did the rub on the meat side and a salt/baking soda rub on the skin side and left it to dry in the fridge, skin side up, for 2 days. I set it out on the counter at room temp for a couple of hours this morning, then rolled it up and tied it. It spent 4 hours in a 300 oven on a rack. I pulled it and drained the fat from the pan, cranked the temp on the oven to 500, and gave it another 30 minutes or so, checking every 10. It’s a wonder it didn’t set off the smoke alarm.
Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin
I bought a pork tenderloin at the store today, it seemed pretty big – I thought it was two packed into the same bag like they do. Nope! I decided to do the sous vide thing because tenderloins are so easy to overcook doing them the regular way. I set my circulator to 150 degrees and left it in for 3-1/2 hours. No marinade, just salt and pepper, and I enclosed a sprig each of thyme and rosemary.
It came out with just a bare hint of pink. I’m pretty old school and a bare hint is about all I can tolerate despite assurances that 145 degrees is the new, safe, temperature for pork. The Serious Eats guy has a pretty good take on sous vide pork here. They have a pretty good color chart, 150 degrees is considered medium well done. I made a simple pan sauce by reducing some of the liquids that collected in the bag and adding a pat of butter. It didn’t really need anything, juicy as it was.
I can’t get enough of these fried potatoes. I par boiled them for five minutes then cooled them in running water. Dry them on a towel and fry them in duck fat if you can get some, you will not be disappointed.
Greek Pork Tenderloin Gyros
Sliced some of that tenderloin thin and warmed it under the broiler for a another take on gyros. Pretty good! Much garlic! I will take the occasion to complain about Kroger’s store brand Greek yogurt. Too thin, funny texture, didn’t taste as good, won’t buy that stuff again.
Greek Marinade – Pork Tenderloin
We saw this on one of our TV shows, the diner guy chopped a pork tenderloin into smallish pieces, put them into a small hotel pan, and started adding marinade ingredients. I scribbled them down as best I could because we had just bought a tenderloin and this looked like a great recipe: Olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. He said cover and refrigerate for a week. OK. We nearly forgot it because it was in the basement fridge but we got it out in time.
I wish I had let the grill heat better but I was afraid to overcook the meat. I brushed it with garlic oil while it was on the grill and that really flared up. I did manage to get a touch of brown on there. It was really tender, and the garlic was prominent. I think the long marinade in lemon/lime juice had o lot to do with tenderizing it.
I served it over a bed of wild rice with a side of Brussel sprouts and corn sauteed in duck fat.
Sammich Pr0n – Pork Tenderloin
Pork tenderloins, pounded thin, make for fine sammiches. I floured this one, dipped it in egg, and then into bread crumbs. Fry in a half inch of 325 degree oil – too hot and the bread crumbs will burn. They will cook pretty quickly being all thin like that. I stirred sambal chili paste into mayo for the garnish spread on it but you can use whatever suits you. I had no lettuce or there would be some on there, shredded just so.
Brussels Sprout Salad
I found this recipe while looking for salad ideas and decided to give it a try. It’s pretty good, not change your life good but it is a nice change of pace. My mandoline doesn’t like the little fiddly jobs so I used a knife but it went pretty well, I didn’t do a whole lot of them. I added a packet of Splenda to mine, and a splash of rice vinegar because I thought it needed just a tad more tart.
The meat of the menu was this pork tenderloin all pounded thin and breaded. I ate mine with a little chili sauce. The plate was rounded off with more of that loaded potato salad. I made a different batch with red potatoes this time but otherwise about the same. I did drop a glob of yogurt in with the sour cream and mayo for the dressing.
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