cooking light, cooking right ~ pork tenderloin and collards skillet

I do not like the word "luck."  I haven't for a long time.  Like, since I was in high school, long.  It was then that I started really noticing how much people lean on "luck" and "coincidence" to describe unexplainable line-ups in life, and I started thinking about what it would be like if I chose to believe such happenings were a God thing.  Big or small.  From a prime parking place when in a major time crunch, to a most applicable, poignant Bible verse when in the middle of a crisis.  

Beginning to see things from that viewpoint changed me, and it gave me this sense of God's closeness in a more consistent way.  I began seeing Him more and more as an active part of my everyday, rather than viewing Him as this big, untouchable being.  And, as a believer, I felt much more comfortable with the idea that purpose drove my daily ins and outs versus a big helping of chance.      

Not being superstitious in any way, this still kicked off our new year with a marvelous start!  It was a great, tasty spin on the southern tradition to eat greens and peas for prosperity and "good luck." And I ate WAY more of it in one sitting than I should have.  Not because of the "luck" part, but because of the "good" part. ☺

Looking at this picture, I don't think "easy" or "quick" would immediately come to mind, but having already given it a try, I am here to say it was both.  AND I only got one pan dirty!  

This recipe is so up my alley.

Pork Tenderloin and Collards Skillet

printable recipe

4 servings

• 2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
• 1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
• 3/4 tsp black pepper, divided
• 3/4 cup sliced yellow onion
• 3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper (I used a mix I had in the crisper)
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 4 cups thinly sliced stemmed collard greens
• 1 cup canned unsalted black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
• 2 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a large cast-iron skillet (I actually used my cast iron dutch oven).  Sprinkle pork with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  Add pork to pan; cook, turning to brown all sides, until a thermometer inserted in the center registers 145 degrees F, about 15 minutes.  Place pork on a cutting board; let stand 10 minutes.  

2. While letting pork rest, melt remaining 1 1/2 tbsp butter in skillet over medium.  Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, and thyme; sauté 3 minutes.  Move onion mixture to one side of the pan; add collard greens to the other side of pan.  Cook 2 minutes.  Add peas and vinegar to greens; cook 1 minute.  Stir together onion and collard mixtures.  Stir in remaining 1/4 tsp salt and remaining 1/4 tsp pepper.  Serve with sliced pork.

Recipe from Cooking Light.

Tips and Tricks

• For a bit more flavor on the meat, salt and pepper in advance and let sit.
• To quickly de-stem and rinse collards, hold by stalk, upside-down, over sink (with a few inches of cold water).  Using a sharp knife, place blade at bottom of leaf on one side of stalk, and push knife down towards top of stalk.  Most of leaf should come off. If not, tear off any left.  Repeat with other side.   

SUPER-EASY pulled pork loin over hoe cakes

It has been a really great week of eating.  We were gone all last week for Spring Break visiting family in Indiana, and when we take those trips, I always take the stack of magazines I've saved to read.  I watch Create TV, of which I have fallen in love, and I surf the internet more than ever.  I prepare and plan meals the way I wish I always did, and it makes for such a smooth week when we return.  Grilled burgers and romaine, fish tostadas with cilantro lime crema, roasted salmon with lemon butter...  Good, good and good.

I'm in the middle of planning for this coming week and am thinking of using one of the greatest gifts given to working moms - the crockpot.  It's a lifesaver and a planner's - or, in my case, a wannabe planner's - dream.  If you have a hunk of meat and any spices at all, you can usually pull something together and make it great.

Enter this recipe.

Once upon a time, there was a pork loin roast hanging out in my freezer, and the rest is history.  It comes out tender, juicy, wonderfully good, and you can use the results for just about anything. As you can see here, I just added some more BBQ sauce and spooned over Paula Deen's Hoe Cakes. Southern goodness.  Almost zero work.  Sounds like a plan to me!

Pulled Pork Loin in Crock Pot

makes about three pounds of meet

printable recipe

• 3 pound pork loin
• 8 ounces of BBQ sauce of choice
• 1 small onion minced (I grated mine - quick and easy to incorporate)
• 2-3 garlic cloves minced
• hot sauce as desired
• salt and pepper 

1. If you have time, salt and pepper the pork loin and let sit for at least an hour.  If not, just do right before using.

2. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over loin.

3. Cook on low 6-7 hours.  

* Towards the end, I did give the meat a good stir and left off the lid to cook off some of the liquid, although you don't have to.  You can drain.  At this point, the meat is not overly BBQ-y.  That's what makes this a flexible dish.  I did add more sauce, as we were wanting a BBQ meal.  And extra sauce is definitely a must for the following hoe cakes to taste their best!

Paula Deen's Hoe Cakes

makes about 15-17 cakes

• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup self-rising cornmeal or mix (Aunt Jemima recommended)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or BACON GREASE (can you tell which one I prefer?)
• Oil or butter for frying

1. Mix all the ingredients except for the frying oil.  Heat that oil in a medium or large skillet (a griddle or cast iron skillet is my preference) over medium heat.

2. Drop the batter by tablespoons (two per cake) onto the hot skillet.  Fry until brown and crisp and then turn to do the other side.  

3. Remove cooked cakes with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Will keep in fridge for two days.

apple cider pork tenderloin

Five more days and we are officially out of our house.  It looks like a small tornado has been through it, but I can sort of, kind of, see a light at the end of the tunnel.  Having survived the last 72 hours, I am thankful for two things:  

1. my hard-working, never-complaining husband
2. and my crock pot.  

How would a girl ever do without either?

I have made this recipe twice in the last ten days.  Served with a side of green beans and corn pudding, it is such an appetite-pleaser, mark my words.  And there is so much you can do with the leftovers (on the off chance you even have any), it's worth doing.  Especially during the busier seasons of life.  

I'm pretty doggone sure that's the season we're in right now.

I'm so eager to get cooking and experimenting again once we're settled.  Saturday evening I began packing up my kitchen and lamenting the indefinite amount of time I'll be without some of those things that seem indispensable.  Storage is going to be tight in our temporary place, so I'm really having to be strategic about the kitchen, in particular.  Without a doubt, the Keurig, Kitchenaid stand mixer, and my Ninja is going with me.  Oh, and I can't forget a large stock pot, skillet, and - of course - the crock pot.  Well, and I have to toss in the ice cream maker that, now that I think about it, should have been #3 on my list above.  Sigh...  Decisions, decisions.  Ah, well... five more days to decide on all of that.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying me some Apple Cider Pork Tenderloin and calling it a day.  Come on and join me!

Apple Cider Pork Tenderloin
makes six servings

• 3 pound pork tenderloin
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2-3 cored and sliced apples
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cup apple juice (maybe more)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

~ Sprinkle loin lightly with salt and let sit at least 10-15 minutes.
~ Place onions and apples on bottom of crock pot. 
~ Place loin on top of onions and apples.
~ In mixing bowl, stir together sugar, soy sauce, apple juice, garlic, cranberries and black 
    pepper, to taste.  Pour over loin.
~ Cook on low 7-9 hours.  Remove from crock and wrap loosely in foil.
~ Pour juices into saucepan and simmer until slightly thickened.  Serve over meat.

 

grilled pork tenderloin with pepper jelly glaze

We had two suppers last night.   Well... not really.  Actually, what I intended to have for supper ended up being an after-dinner snack.

A really good after-dinner snack.

When we were home last weekend, Mom gave us a couple of nice-sized pork tenderloin roasts to bring back with us.  I put them in the freezer and had planned to use one last evening for supper.  Before leaving for work, I put it in the fridge to thaw, but it apparently was barely so when we put it on the grill.  It took about 30 minutes longer than I had planned, so we went ahead and had BLT's while waiting.  About an hour later, we enjoyed some smokey, sweet and spicy awesomeness.

I have found the key to really good pork is the brining process, especially with a four or five pound tenderloin on the grill.  If one's not careful, the outside cooks faster than the rest, and supper ends up being a dry chewing fest calling for a gallon of water to wash it down.  Not fun.  Brine is the answer every time, rendering juicy flavor without fail.

A couple of years ago, I brined a pork roast for hours and got a bright idea to baste it while grilling with a bit of pepper jelly I had left in a jar, just because.  Oh my, was it good!  So, that's what I've done periodically, including last night.

Take note:  Watch your grill carefully and keep turning the meat.  You don't want to overly char the outside.  We are charcoal people all the way, but a gas grill will work just fine.  Set a medium-high heat fire in the grill and find pieces of wood to add to the coals/heat source for a bit of tasty smoke (our hickory trees help us out here).

With this grilled pork tenderloin - no matter what time supper is ready - you're gonna enjoy every bite!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Pepper Jelly Glaze -
serves 4-6
Ingredients:

• 1 4-5 pound pork tenderloin
• 6 cups water
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. peppercorns (optional)
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary (optional)
• 6 tbsp pepper jelly, divided

~  For the brine, combine water, salt, sugar, and spices in a large pot.  Heat until sugar and 
     salt have dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes.
~  Once cooled, place tenderloin in water and set pot in fridge at least 8 hours, or 
     overnight.
~  When ready to cook, remove roast from fridge and brine and let sit to take off chill, 
     about 15 minutes.
~  Meanwhile, heat grill to medium-high heat.  
~  Place three tablespoons jelly in microwave-safe dish, and heat in 20 second intervals 
     until thinned.
~  Place roast on greased grates over coals.  Using pastry brush, baste roast with thinned 
     jelly on exposed side.
~  Rotate meat and continue basting intermittently for about 45 minutes.  Wrap in 
     aluminum foil and continue rotating, checking for doneness with meat thermometer in 
     the thickest part of the loin.
~  When temperature reads 140 degrees, remove from heat.  Keep loosely wrapped with 
     foil for 10-15 minutes to allow juices to redistribute.
~  In the meantime, heat remaining jelly as previously directed, and pour over tenderloin 
     slices.

**  If you are not a fan of pepper jelly, other options will work.  Both mango and peach  
      preserves/jellies work beautifully!
   

Recipe from The Lazy Daisy Kitchen