WARNING:  This recipe is know to the state of California to cause a serious addiction issue.  

Seriously, I made this for my in-laws before they were my in-laws, right after I met my wife, maybe that’s why they agreed to let me marry her because I didn’t share the recipe and they needed their fix.  The crust on this tenderloin is just perfect I think, I had one friend who would try and cut extra crust off because she loved it so much.  I do too.  The herbiness and saltiness is awesome but then drop some berry sauce on top and like I said, forget about it.

So lets talk, I’m usually not super concerned with the whole health thing.  I mean I try to eat healthyish but then something awesome comes up and I forget, its really not a control problem just a memory problem, I forgot I was eating healthy.  This dish right here actually is pretty good for you.

Berries as we all know are loaded with antioxidants.  Rosemary has some great anti inflammatory properties and antioxidant properties as well.  Basil, thyme and garlic are nothing to shake a stick at either, but the real kicker is the pork tenderloin.

Pork Tenderloin

The tenderloin is a group of long cylindrical muscles from beef, pork and lamb (we have one too, but that’s called cannibalism and it is frowned upon in most cultures) that is called the iliopsoas.  The main muscle would be the psoas major with the iliacus as the secondary muscle in the group.   The tenderloin lives up to its name as it is the most tender muscle in the pork.

It also has a very unique feature in pork that makes it one of my favorites.  A single serving of pork tenderloin has a little under 3 g of fat.  To put that in perspective a serving of skinless chicken breast has a little over 3 g of fat.  Pork tenderloin qualifies for the USDA health claim “extra lean”, but it still has great flavor and tenderness.

Part of the tenderness effect comes from the use of the muscle, the psoas is a stabilizing muscle in pork (to help you understand where it is,  think of the Pigeon Pose in your yoga class, that is helping you stretch your psoas).  because the psoas is not used for locomotion in beef and pork it has a slightly different protein makeup which makes it more tender, beep beep beep nerd alert right?

So now that I’ve praised the pork tenderloin and shouted its merits from on high lets talk about the berry sauce.  Remember our tongue has 5 flavors it can detect (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami).  While stacking like flavors can create a potent meal, mixing contrasting flavors creates a tantalizing effect as it lights up the taste sensors with an array of signals to send to the brain.  I mean one flavor all the time would be like a white house with white christmas lights and white flowers and white fences, eventually it becomes too much.  The classic example of mixing flavors is sweet and sour sauce at your favorite Chinese place, they don’t even try to hide what they are doing.

This stuff is like berry crack it is so addictive

This wonderful recipe does just that, the umami and salty flavors with the pork match perfectly with the sweetness of the berry sauce, together they create a flavor symphony anyone can enjoy.  There is little wonder to me why this is my mother in law and sister in laws very favorite thing I’ve ever made them.  Enjoy responsibly.

Recipe

Serves: 4-6

Prep Time: 10 min  ;  Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients

• 1 Pork Tenderloin (1.5-2 lbs)
• 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• Herb Rub
  • 2 tbsp Rosemary
  • 2 tbsp Basil
  • 2 tbsp Thyme
  • 2 tbsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tbsp Black Pepper
• Berry Sauce
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup Red Wine
  • 1 cup berries (blueberries and raspberries are best)
  • 2 tbsp sugar (honey can be used)
  • 1/4 cup nuts (walnuts pieces or blanched almonds)
  • 2 tbsp all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Pork Tenderloin

Set the tenderloin out on a plate and allow it to come up in temperature, some say room temp, but I’m not that patient.  Trim off any extra fat or “silver skin”, the silvery stuff covering some of the meat.  Rub the pork with the red wine vinegar to coat evenly.

Mix all the herb rub ingredients together in a dish that is big enough to hold the tenderloin, I use a 9 x 9 cake pan.  Cover the tenderloin thickly with the rub.  The best way to do this is roll it in the rub, then pick up any missed rub and fill in areas that are lacking.

This rubbed tenderloin goes in the oven for about 20 min but really until your meat thermometer gets to 145 degrees is best.  Take it out and cover loosely with foil and let it sit.

Berry Sauce

This is the pièce de résistance of this meal.  So maybe double it.  Make it while the pork is in the oven.  First melt the butter in a saucepan, add the red wine and berries and cook until the berries soften and mix in easily.

Mix them until they are relatively smooth, some chunk is good, wish it was that way for me.  I’ve used blueberrys, raspberries and huckleberries.  If you try another berry let me know how it goes.

Add the sugar and cook for about 5 min, then add the nuts and flour.  The flour will thicken the berry juice into a sauce.

Slice the pork tenderloin into 3/4 inch thick medallions and cover with the berry sauce.   Serves well with rice.

I hope you love this meal as much as I do, it is undoubtedly one of my favorites to eat and favorites to make.  Share it with those you love and create a new family tradition of tenderloin Tuesday, way better than taco Tuesday.  

My great-grandfather came from Lebanon and settled in Nebraska.  That makes me about 1/8th Lebanese so I guess I have to have a favorite Lebanese dish and this is it.  My father told me about Kibbeh when I was young and how he would eat it as a boy.  We used to buy it from a Syrian man in Texas when I was in high school and I became addicted and learned my own.  This meal is teaming with flavor.

Servings: 4-6

Prep time: 40 min

Wait time: 30 min

Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients

• Kibbeh
  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1/8 lb pine nuts
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp rosemary
  • 2 tsp basil
  • 2 tsp thyme leaves
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • Salt
  • Pepper
• Hummus
  • 1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans)
  • 3 tbsp tahini
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp Cavender’s Greek Seasoning
  •  Salt
  •  Pepper
  • 1 tsp Paprika
• Pita Bread
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • Warm Water

  

  

  Preheat oven to 450

  Kibbeh

Mix all the ingredients together. Shape into balls and place in muffin tins bake at 450 degrees until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160.   True Kibbeh  has soaked bulgur added to it, as any true Lebanese would know, but since I’m only 1/8th I figure i have artistic license.  Besides this way makes it a little simpler and tastier.

Hummus

Mix all ingredients and blend in a food processor until smooth.

This hummus is dusted with paprika a few chick peas and pine nuts.

Pita

Mix all the dry ingredients. Then add water til the dough sticks together. It is better to make it a little sticky, it rises better.  Knead for a minute or two to make sure it is a smooth dough.  Then break it into 8 or so even sized balls. Let them sit for 1/2 hr. Roll them out to 1/8 inch thick or so. Put your top oven rack as high as it can go. This is the fun part, at least for me. Place the rolled out pita on a cookie sheet directly under the broiler then  watch it until it stops rising or gets some brown spots which ever comes first, the rising always amazes me, I guess simple things really amaze simple minds. Then flip and let it do the same. Then pull it out and enjoy.

The moisture from the water causes steam to form, the gluten proteins form a structure strong enough to encapsulate the air and making the bread “rise”.  Over kneading the dough causes excessive gluten formation and can toughen the pita bread, no kneading can result in no gluten and a weak and crumbly pita.  Gluten is really non existent in  plain flour, but is a formed when water is mixed with flour and the two proteins (glutenin and gliadin)  combine.

The white sauce is Tzatziki. It is yogurt, plain – not vanilla or strawberry or the awesome black cherry Greek Gods (drool) with grated cucumber and a small spoonful of garlic.  This dish goes well with my stuffed roma tomatoes (seriously those are great).

This is a quick and delicious spin on a classic.  Plus it allows a lot of freedom to play with flavors.

Servings: 4-6

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Ingredients

1 lb lean steak (cut in small strips)

1 small sweet onion

1 can sundried (look for them in the Italian aisle)

1/4 cup good salsa
2 gloves diced garlic

2 cans black beans

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp Chili powder

Olive oil

Sour Cream

Cheese

Avocado

This is top blade steak

Dice and onion and saute in olive oil until softened.  Add garlic, cayenne, and chili powder and saute until the garlic is sweating.  Coat the steak strips with salt and pepper and add to pan.  Cook until browned on all sides.

Add sundried tomatoes and salsa.

Let cook for a few minutes then add black beans and cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve with avocado, sour cream and cheese.  Enjoy…