Thursday, March 29, 2012

RECIPE: Moroccan Marinated Pork Tenderloin

I often refer to Gavan Murphy's website for cooking adventure ideas. Two of my favorite dishes from his website are Orange-Ginger Pork and Moroccan Marinated Chicken. I decided to see how cooking a pork tenderloin would be with the moroccan marinade. The results? OUTSTANDING! I'm glad I doubled the recipe because now we'll have enough for several meals.
I paired it with some stuffed roasted zucchini. Excellent stuff!
***Please note***The meat must marinate for 4 hours, so there is preparation that needs to be done in advance.
MOROCCAN MARINATED PORK TENDERLOIN

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 pound pork tenderloin


Marinade:
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon groung Coriander
2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
2 teaspoons Lemon Pepper
1 teaspoon organic Agave
DIRECTIONS:
Preparing/marinating the pork ...
Combine the marinade ingredients together and blend well. (I used my immersion blender) Taste and set aside.
Preheat large skillet on high heat. Lay pork on foil or a paper towel then sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to hot pan, then add the pork to sear all sides. This should take 2 or 3 minutes per side. 

Once all the pork is golden brown, add it to the marinade and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Baking the Tenderloin ... 
***Allow the meat to return to room temperature to insure even cooking.***
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place tenderloin on a foil-lined baking dish and place in oven. I doubled this recipe and it took 35 minutes, so be sure to start checking for doneness at about 20 minutes. 
I used my meat thermometer and checked the thickest part of a meat.  At 25 minutes the inside temperature of the pork was 139 degrees, so I returned the dish back to the oven for 10 more minutes. If you're checking with a meat thermometer you want the internat temperature to be 155 degrees.
Remove the dish from the oven and allow the meat to 'rest' for at least 3 minutes. This allows for the juices to be reabsorbed back into the meat for maximum juiciness.



2 comments:

  1. I made this last night for my Mom who is training for a fitness competition and my non-Paleo eating girlfriend and her daughter. They LOVED it. Even the 10 year old asked when I will be making it again. Thanks for the great recipe. :)

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    Replies
    1. So happy to hear that, Deanna! It's one of my favorites!

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