Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin

October 19, 2014 by Elizabeth Leave a Comment

Perfectly cooked pork with a simple mix of warm syrup and rich spices. Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin is sweet and succulent, and bursting with mouthwatering flavors. Easy enough for a weeknight, and fancy enough for company, this recipe will leave your belly full and your house smelling amazing.

It’s another fall Sunday, and time for our weekly update and another recipe that I can’t wait to share. I don’t know about you, but I feel like this week sure flew by! Our weekend was filled with giggles, cuddles, play time, and even a fantastic date night dinner out, thanks to my wonderful in-laws for watching our two older boys! They had such a blast with Grandma and Grandpa, and Andrew and I sure enjoyed our time together! Sometimes I forget just how much fun it is to get dressed up and head out just the ~~two~~ three of us. (Once Charlie gets older, we’ll get back to having a true adult date night, but for right now, we’re more than happy to bring him along. Plus, he’s always very well-behaved, so that makes it easy!)

This was SUCH a fun night! I picked up Andrew after work, and we headed to the Big Rock Chop House in Birmingham. What a great place! It was a special treat to savor a leisurely dinner, that I didn’t cook for change, get waited on, and just enjoy each other and the moment. We’ve sort of tried to adopt the rule of only talking about work and kids for a few minutes on our dates. Sometimes it can be a challenge, but it’s definitely worth it! Date nights are such a great time to connect and take a step back from the obvious (and sometimes overwhelming day-to-day) things, and just focus on each other. We had a lot to celebrate on this date night! Especially, our anniversary, and Andrew’s early birthday dinner. It was a fantastic night all around. My sweetie, one of my babies, spectacular food, a great atmosphere, and a new outfit (dress AND shoes) courtesy of Andrew! He even searched high and low to find this cute dress that I could nurse in! How sweet! (Doesn’t he have great taste?! He actually finds and buys most of my clothes! I seriously think he has better taste in fashion than I do. I am so appreciative of all the adorable things he gets me. It sure helps to make this stay-at-home momma feel good!) Check out a few pictures from our very special date night, as well as a few others from this week, and a video of my little chef in training!

I think in some ways the beginning of fall is one of my favorite times in Michigan. The leaves are turning bright, beautiful colors and the temperatures are cooling off. It’s the perfect time to drag out my cozier clothes, and break into our favorite comfort food recipes. Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin is a super simple, easy recipe with tons of delectable flavors! I love the way my kitchen and whole house smells when I’m cooking this!

This recipe was greatly inspired from one of my very favorite sources, America’s Test Kitchen. I love the method of pan searing the pork tenderloin first! Wow, what a huge difference it makes! Just a few minutes on the stove allows for a perfectly browned crust on the outside. Move it to the oven to finish cooking the center, and there you have it, the most succulent and wonderfully cooked pork! The light maple glaze is just the right balance of sweetness and spice. Drizzle, pour, or slather it on the sliced pork, and it is yum yum yummy!!!

For the ideal weeknight meal, or your Saturday evening dinner party, this Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin will certainly be a hit!

Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins (3/4 to 1 pound each), trimmed (silver skin removed)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.
In a small bowl, add the maple syrup, cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne pepper. Stir together and set aside.
Pat the tenderloins dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown the tenderloins on all sides, reducing the heat if the fat begins to smoke, about 10 minutes. Transfer the tenderloins to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
Pour off the fat from the pork left in the skillet. Add the syrup mixture to the pan, and scrape up any browned bits that remain. Simmer until fragrant and thickened, about 3 minutes. (Glaze should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, but still runny enough to pour). Divide the glaze into two small bowls. Set one bowl aside for serving.
Working with glaze from the remaining bowl, brush the glaze over the pork and then roast in the oven until the center of the pork registers 140 to 145 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 to 15 minutes. Turn the tenderloins over halfway through the cooking time, and brush the pork with glaze throughout. If the glaze begins to dry up and burn in the oven, stir about 1/4 cup warm water into the pan.
Transfer the tenderloins to a carving board, tent with foil, and let rest about 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Serve with additional maple glaze on top.

http://elizabethshome.com/maple-glazed-pork-tenderloin/

Feel free to visit my old blog and the original post of this Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin recipe.

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork and Cole Slaw

July 28, 2014 by Elizabeth 2 Comments

Tender, juicy, succulent shreds of pork, paired with a crunchy, creamy cole slaw. It’s a match made in heaven! This Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork and Cole Slaw is incredibly delicious and surprisingly easy. The perfect summer, make-ahead meal that is sure to please them all.

Welcome back! What a fun and BUSY two weeks we’ve been having. Between family time, outings, errands, playing with friends, date nights, and of course, lots of cooking, we have certainly not been bored this summer. 😉 Charlie turned 8 weeks on Friday, and is becoming more and more aware of the world around him. William and James are the best big brothers, and love Charlie so much! They also seem to love each other more and more everyday, and are THE BEST of friends. (Yes, they have their moments, but for the most part, they get along incredibly well!) It warms my heart to see the joy in their eyes when they’re playing together.
Here are a few pictures from this weekend.

Friday at the park with our buddiesMaker Faire at Henry Ford yesterday Tired and hilarious smiles from the big boys after lots of Maker Faire fun 🙂
Smiling pictures of Charlie today! (8 weeks)Here’s a great summer recipe to put on your menu this month. The house will smell amazing and dinner will be cooking away, while you can be out enjoying the summer day. We absolutely LOVE this family favorite. I have been making and trying to perfect this (almost embarrassingly) easy recipe since our days in Atlanta, seven years ago. (Feel free to check out my first version of this Pulled Pork and Cole Slaw recipe on my old blog. It’s amazing to think that’s where we started a few years ago!)

Yes, I will confess that sometimes I can get carried away in the kitchen (Andrew is probably nodding ;)), and that sometimes my recipes are a bit involved. Well, this is not one of them, I promise! This Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork is super duper simple to toss together, and requires just a few ingredients. (It also freezes well!!!) Plus, you’ll love that it doesn’t have to be too exact, either. Just toss in a huge chunk of pork, squeeze in some sauce, add a little onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and spread it over the pork. Put on the lid, and turn it on. I mean, what’s not to LOVE about those directions. 🙂 Easy easy easy. I like to make the cole slaw the night before, so that the dressing and the flavors have a chance to really come together. I love using this Creamy Balsamic Dressing in my cole slaw. Or in a pinch, I’ll mix up a packet of Good Seasons Italian dressing, and use that instead.

(This is the pork just before I put the lid on. YUM!)

Instead of spending the day slaving away in the kitchen, take a few minutes to toss this together in the morning, and when dinner time rolls around, you will have a delicious feast ready and waiting for you!

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork and Cole Slaw

Ingredients

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork:

1 boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), about 8 pounds
2 (40 ounce) bottles Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce
1/4 cup white onions, minced
2 gloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper

Cole Slaw:

2 heads cabbage (medium sized)
1/4 cup white onion, minced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 1/2 to 2 cups mayonnaise
3/4 cup oil and vinegar salad dressing
Salt and pepper (to taste)
2 dashes celery seed (optional)

Instructions

For Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork:

Place pork in slow-cooker and add 3/4 of one bottle of barbecue sauce to the pork. Spread onions and garlic over pork, and add a generous amount of salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for about 6 hours.
After 6 hours, uncover and check meat with a fork; if very tender (starting to fall apart), turn heat to low, otherwise cover and continue cooking on high for 1-2 more hours.
Then, using a large spoon, skim off excess fat covering the liquid in the pot. Now, using 2 large serving forks, gently shred pork/pull apart, (this should be very easy since the pork will be moist and tender), until completely shredded and sauce is absorbed. Make sure to remove any visible chunks of fat while shredding.
Add the last 1/4 bottle and about 1/3 of the new bottle of barbecue sauce, so that the pork is well coated. Add more sauce if needed, then stir and cover.
Allow pork to cook, covered, for 30-60 more minutes on low.
Serve pork on rolls or buns, with cole slaw, (corn, if desired), and extra barbecue sauce on the side.

For Cole Slaw:

Finely chop (shred) the cabbage, then dice into small pieces. Add cabbage to a large mixing bowl, and stir in the onion and carrot.
Add mayonnaise, dressing, salt, pepper and celery seed if using, and stir together. (Cole slaw should be creamy and well-dressed. If needed, add more mayonnaise and or dressing to achieve desired consistency.) Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight. Serve on or with pulled pork.

http://elizabethshome.com/slow-cooker-pulled-pork-cole-slaw/

Pan-Seared Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Apple Chutney

April 13, 2014 by Elizabeth 7 Comments

Juicy, mouthwatering, tender slices of pork, topped with a sweet mixture of apples and cherries. For a gourmet Easter feast, or a quick weeknight meal, this Pan-Seared Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Apple Chutney is an easy and fantastic way to serve pork tenderloin.

Happy Sunday! This week I hit the 32 week (8 month) mark in this pregnancy. Yikes! The weeks are just flying by. There are still so many things to conquer on my to-do list before the new little guy arrives! I’m so thankful that my sister came over this weekend and helped me organize some of the boys’ clothes that have been stacking up. We didn’t get through everything in the clothing department, but at least we made a dent in it, and had a blast hanging out together.

We had such a great time yesterday hunting for Easter eggs and visiting the Easter bunny with the boys. William ran right up to give the Easter bunny a huge hug and sat right on his lap. James, however, was clinging to me for dear life, and couldn’t have been more terrified. (We remember that William did the same thing when he was two, but thankfully he has outgrown that fear.) Maybe James will be more excited next year. After our visit with the Easter bunny, we walked outside in the sunshine and snapped a few family pictures.

I can’t believe Easter is only a week away! If you like to plan ahead like I do, I bet you’re already thinking about what you will be cooking for a wonderful Easter brunch or dinner. This year we are going to have a casual brunch at home just the four of us, after church, and then I’ll be cooking up a fancy little feast for a larger group for dinner at our house. Our menu looks like this: Pan-Seared Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Apple Chutney, roasted tiny potatoes, steamed green beens with toasted almonds, and a green salad with creamy balsamic vinaigrette. Yum!!! For dessert, I’m still deciding between Good For You Mini Carrot Cakes, or Mini Banana Cream Pies. I can’t wait!

Pan-Seared Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Apple Chutney is a great way to celebrate a special occasion or any day. It is quick, easy, and the cherry apple chutney can even be prepared in advance to help save valuable time. Healthy, filling and incredibly delicious. Loved by adults and even the picky little eaters in the family, this recipe is a great crowd-pleaser any night of the year!

Pan-Seared Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cherry Chutney

Ingredients

Pork:

2 medium pork tenderloins
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Apple Cherry Chutney:

3 medium sweet apples, peeled and diced
2 cups frozen cherries
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
1 date, minced

Instructions

Trim and remove the silver skin from pork if present. Season all sides of the tenderloins with salt and pepper. Allow pork to sit out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.
In the meantime,combine apples, cherries, water, wine, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt, honey, and minced date in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and bring to a low boil/simmer for about 30 minutes until apples are soft and sauce has thickened.
While sauce is cooking, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Sear tenderloins on all sides, making sure to get a nice brown color on each side. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, turning occasionally, until almost cooked through. Remove lid, increase heat to medium-high and finish cooking and browning until just cooked through or meat thermometer registers 145 degrees. Remove pork from pan, and place on a clean plate and tent with aluminum foil. Allow pork to rest for about 10 minutes. Move pork to a cutting board and slice into 1/2" thick pieces. Serve sliced pork with warm apple cherry chutney.

http://elizabethshome.com/pork-tenderloin-with-cherry-apple-chutney/