Pork Perfection

I realize the picture above looks a little more disgusting than delicious, but you're just going to have to trust that it depicts absolute pork perfection, if I do say so myself. No one likes a braggart, I know, but maybe this is because they haven't tried said braggart's delicious pork tenderloin. Maybe if they sampled the tasty pork, not only would they like the braggart, they'd love the braggart and beg her to invite them over to her meager digs in order gorge themselves on copious amounts of pork tenderloin. Hmm, okay, I think I'm going way off on a self-indulgent tangent here...

Last night I had the pleasure of cooking dinner for a few dear friends. All week I excitedly mulled over possible menu choices, and finally settled on a pork tenderloin as the main course. It's a dish I've been making for ages, but I couldn't recall the last time I'd made it. (Cooking a whole pork tenderloin isn't exactly something I'm in the habit of making just for me!) I thought I remembered the details of the 'recipe', but there was one hitch: I was to be working in the office the day of the dinner and wouldn't have time to cook the pork in the oven as per my usual habit. But by mid-week when I realized the hitch, I was really set on making the pork. Then I remembered a little-used cooking apparatus housed in my kitchen's lazy susan, the crock pot. Some people swear by these appliances, but I hardly use mine, and hardly know how to use it. Surely, I thought, it would be capable of cooking the pork, but would the recipe need to be modified to include more liquid? Would cooking it on the low setting all day be too much time? Would the pork release too much juice and overflow the pot? Would the pork even taste the same as my tried and true oven method? I agonized over these questions, but in the end decided the pork was worth it, and I'd just do the best I could.

I prepared the marinade the night before and tried to make a little extra in order to have enough liquid for the cooking process. This plan worked beautifully and there was no need to add any extra liquid for cooking. I marinated the meat overnight and then cooked it all day on low. I arrived home to an apartment that hadn't been burned down by the crock pot and hadn't been flooded by any excess crock pot juices, but it smelled deliciously, as if I (or some magic cooking fairies) had been slaving away in the kitchen all day long. When I finally served the meat to my ravenous dinner companions, it had been cooking a full 12 hours. It was so juicy and flavorful it nearly melted in your mouth- no knife required. We all agreed it was tasty as hell, though I effused a little less than them, for modesty's sake.

Here is the recipe for my pork tenderloin if you'd care to duplicate pork perfection in your own crock pot (after seeing how well it turned out in the crock pot, I'd highly recommend it over the oven). Please be warned that this is a very loose 'recipe', and I'm just estimating on the quantities. Use your best judgment if the consistency of the marinade isn't quite right, or if you are making a smaller or larger quantity.

Teriyaki & Orange Pork Tenderloin

2.5 lb pork tenderloin trimmed of really excess fat (do leave some fat because it contributes to the tastiness factor!)
whole cloves

marinade:
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
juice from 3 juicy oranges and some of the pulp and zest too (why waste all that yummy orangeness?!)
2 tbsp orange marmalade

Mix together the ingredients for the marinade and set aside. With a sharp knife pierce the tenderloin all over. Insert whole cloves into the holes. (I'd suggest maybe 10-20 whole cloves, depending on how much you enjoy their flavor.) Place the meat in the marinade and leave in the refrigerator overnight. The next day place the meat & marinade in the crock pot and cook on low for 12 hours. (I'm sure you could get away with cooking it a lot less than 12 hours, so just use your best judgment here.) Serve & enjoy!

With a belly full of leftovers, I cross off #99: prepare pork tenderloin for wonderful friends and savor their compliments as much as the pork itself.

*I paired the pork with mashed potatoes** and green beans*** for the ultimate 'comfort food' dinner. We also drank a bottle of Blackstone Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 vintage. Though the wine was delicious, it was a bit full-bodied and a tad dry for my taste. I'd recommend Blackstone's Syrah over the Cabernet.

**I used organic white creamer potatoes and boiled them (skin on) in free-range organic chicken broth with a little water, then drained and mashed with a stick of butter, several spoonfuls of sour cream and a bit of salt. Yum!

**I used fresh organic green beans, trimmed the stem end, parboiled for 2-3 minutes, drained and sauteed with a little olive oil, shallots and the juice of 1 orange for 2-3 minutes and then served topped with toasted pine nuts. Yum!