Pork Tenderloin with Apples

Pork Tenderloin with Apples

I found the original recipe for this on a Facebook video and thought that it looked interesting. You can watch it HERE . I liked the look of the dish but my slow cooker is OLD -- Really Old -- and won't accommodate a long piece of meat like a pork tenderloin. As well since we are now officially empty nesters as of August, 2 pieces of the roast even though on the smaller size, means a lot of leftovers! My husband has gotten better over the years about eating leftovers -- he used to hate them and turn up his nose at them, no matter what they were -- but asking him to eat something 3 or 4 times in one week is simply too much! Using only one pork tenderloin, a little over a pound in weight, made 3 generous portions. So dinner for 2 and lunch for one. Perfect!

The hasselback way of cooking something is all over the internet -- everything from apples, to potatoes to this pork recipe. It did indeed infuse the meat with a wonderful flavor throughout and was easy to do. All you really need is a nice, sharp knife. I added extra vegetables to the recipe, specifically onions, because I don't really think you should cook much of anything without onions or garlic or BOTH. I also changed the glaze a little bit, to better reflect what we like. I felt like the whole teaspoon of cinnamon called for in the original was just going to be too much. We thought 1/2 tsp. was just enough.  I loved the apple in the recipe and the glaze was DELISH! Served alongside braised cabbage and you simply can't beat the combo! Try this on a cool evening, it's a wonderful addition to my recipe rotation!

Pork Tenderloin with Apples
Serves 3 - 4
1 tsp. olive oil
1 pound + pork tenderloin
1/2 large apple, cored and sliced into 1/2" thick pieces
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
16 baby carrots, washed or 1 large carrot, cut into 16 thick pieces
16 baby or "new" potatoes, washed

For the glaze:
3 T. soy sauce
1 T. honey
2 T. aged balsamic vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced 
2 tsp. dijon mustard or 1 tsp. plain yellow mustard + 1 T. dry white wine
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of black pepper
pinch of Kosher salt
Whisk all glaze ingredients together and set aside. 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Brush a dutch oven or heavy baking dish with a lid, with olive oil. Toss in the onion, potatoes and carrots to make a bed for the pork. With a sharp knife, slice diagonally almost though the pork at 1" intervals, making sure to leave the roast whole -- don't cut all the way through. Put an apple slice into each cut, and place the roast onto the prepared bed of vegetables, like this:

Pork tenderloin, stuffed with apples, on a bed of root vegetables

Pour the glaze evenly over the meat and vegetables. Your dish should look something like this:

Pork tenderloin, glazed.

Cover the pan and bake at 325 degrees for 90 minutes. While the roast is cooking, prepare your side dishes. We loved this with cabbage and onions, sauteed with a little butter and olive oil. Roasted butternut squash would be a good compliment, as well, and you could roast it in the oven for the last 30 minutes of cooking the roast.

The finished dish is lovely, perfect for your fall dinner table:

Can you tell how much my husband LOVED this dinner? Hearty appetite, born from smelling the goodness all afternoon! 

I know you are going to enjoy this as much as we did! Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

I've written about making a crock pot Latin-inspired recipe before (see the recipe here ) but that recipe included tomatillos. And, while I love tomatillos, I don't always have them on hand and sometimes they are not available locally. Or if they are, they cost an arm and a leg. Here's another recipe, a little different in flavor, but really good, nonetheless. I found this recipe on 12 Tomatoes, a recipe blog/website that I read quite often. You can read their version HERE  I did things a little differently, because I just do. It always caused me trouble in school, but it seems to work out in cooking. I only had one orange -- and it was HUGE-- so I used half -- and 2 limes, but I need one for the slaw, so that's what I used, and honestly, it seemed like plenty to me. I added a little more cumin to make up for it. My jalapeno was huge, so I used half and used the other half in the slaw I made to go on top. I've linked that recipe below.

We liked the Carnitas better the 2nd time we ate them and I actually followed the directions and crisped the pork up in a skillet. The first time I made it, I simply spread it on a cookie sheet and put it under the broiler. Didn't get nearly crispy, so go for the skillet option recommended. Sometimes it IS good to follow directions!

Get out your trusty slow cooker and throw everything in early in the day. Go to work, or head off for a busy day of errands, etc. and you'll come home to a heavenly smelling house!

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
Makes at least 8 Tacos

3 lbs. boneless pork roast, rinsed and patted dry
(I used a sirloin roast, not a tenderloin)
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 half of a large orange                                         3 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped     1 lime, cut in half
1 T. cumin
2 heaping tsp. dried oregano
1 bunch cilantro, rinsed and stems removed
1 T. olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and chopped (should be about 1 T. total)
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Corn or wheat tortillas, your choice, for serving
Limes to squeeze over
Jalapeno Slaw, optional
Hot Sauce (optional)

(Don't skip the step of drying the roast. It makes a difference, as the spices will adhere to it better.You can see mine draining on a paper plate lined with several paper towels.) 

Season the pork roast well with salt and pepper. Place it in the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour over the oil and turn it over to coat. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno, cumin. cilantro and oregano. Squeeze the orange half and the lime over the ingredients. Add the squeezed out fruit to the slow cooker. 

Cook on low heat for at least 6 hours. Remove the orange and lime and discard. Take your roast out and place it on a cookie sheet.

Using two forks, and perhaps occasionally a knife, shred the pork, onions and chili into a big ol' mixture of goodness, like this:

As I said above, I tried crisping the meat up under the boiler, but it didn't get nearly crispy enough. The second time was the charm, when I used a hot non-stick skillet, added a little vegetable oil and carefully laid 2 heaping spoonfuls of the pork mixture and pressed it down into the oil and let it sizzle away into awesome crispiness....Like this:

We enjoyed them topped with a little jalapeno slaw (recipe here, along with Fish Tacos)  and a few drops of hot sauce! 

They were YUMMY!