Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Mojo Sauce
The Gourmet Cookbook Copyright 2004
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
2 pork tenderloins (1 ½ pounds total), trimmed
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill and on lid, then light charcoal. Fire is hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches about the rack for just 1 to 2 seconds. If using a gas grill, preheat on high, covered, for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to moderately high.
Using a mortar and pestle, mash garlic to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt (or mince and mash with a large heavy knife), Whisk garlic paste together with orange juice, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon oregano in a small bowl. Set aside.
Pat pork dry. Rub each tenderloin with 1/2 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon oregano.
Lightly oil grill rack. Grill pork, covered, turning once, until an instant-read thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each tenderloin registers 150°F, 10 to 14 minutes total. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, for 10 minutes. (Its internal temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees as it stands.)
Slice pork and serve drizzled with mojo sauce.
_________________________________________
I don't use this cookbook as much as I should. My technique is to browse through cookbooks and see what recipes jump out at me but they used a yellow font color for the recipe titles and I can barely read them. The only think that jumps out is a major headache if I spend too much time reading this cookbook. Which is a shame because I believe there are many wonderful recipes in this book just waiting to be tried.
This is one wonderful recipe that isn't waiting anymore. It wasn't a showstopper, but it was simple and delicious. I wonder why lemon is so much more popular in savory cooking - I loved the milder citrus taste of the orange in this. Even though my garlic ended up kind of chunky, it wasn't too strong, as it almost was in the Summer Couscous a couple of days ago. I may have grabbed from a less-pungent head of garlic this time, or could the oil and orange juice have tamed the garlic so much?
I'm glad I splurged on some pork tenderloin last time I went to Costco. I didn't have freezer room for the loin. The tenderloin has a lot more possibilities since it doesn't need to be babied as much.
I started doing a deep-cleaning in preparation for the cookout. I'm working on my kitchen cupboards and I can't believe what I'm finding. I have 6 boxes of baking chocolate (different varieties). Why do I have 6 boxes of baking chocolate? Brownies went on the menu for the cookout. I have 3 different bottles of celery seed. How the heck did that happen?
Question of the Day: Do you know any recipes that use a lot of celery seed?
How about making a batch of your own celery salt to rim glasses of tomato or clamato juice? You can add liquor or not. I used to like celery seed in tomato juice a lot. When we made our own and canned it, we did some with and some without.
ReplyDeleteI don't have the recipe on hand, but there is a recipe for coleslaw that calls for boiling celery salt and other seasonings in a sugar and vinagar base, then marinating shredded cabbage and carrots overnight. It has a lot of celery seed in it (and it is key), and the final result is yellow. Yummy. I'll look and see if I can find it.
I also like baked breadsticks with celery seed.
Celery seed is a nice addition to cole slaw.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to cole slaw, I like celery seed in deviled eggs and egg salad.
ReplyDeleteRats!! I forgot again. That's my comment.
ReplyDeleteJan
I agree regarding the coleslaw. This is how I do it. You can buy a bag of ready made coleslaw mix. Put about half a cup of mayo( light is fine) in a bowl. Add a glug of apple cider vinegar, a healthy dose of celery seeds( more than you think), a bit of splenda( 1 or 2 packets), s + P. Mix that up, add the coleslaw mix and a grated apple( I use 2). I also add some chopped green onion. One of my clients absolutely loves this. Robin even likes it( and it has fruit). The apple adds a different touch to it.
ReplyDeleteWell...you see, I don't like celery seed! So, I usually leave that off!
ReplyDeleteI only have one recipe for celery seed, the Catalina dressing from Cook's Country. It is made with ketchup so it is a little sweet. We really like it. I make it every few months but it uses so little celery seed that I think my tiny bottle (Mccormicks half size) will still last another five years. Geez.
ReplyDelete