Pork Tenderloin in Chili-Tomato Sauce



Michael has been working really hard on a new re-design for the blog. He's giving it a complete make-over and he's almost done! I hope everyone likes the new look when we publish it - it'll have more features and pages as well as a search bar and index. Be on the look-out!

This is the pork that we served with our roasted acorn squash the other day. The recipe is super involved - it took probably nearly 1.5-2 hours. It was pretty good (and healthy), but definitely not worth all of the work. We had high hopes for this recipe, but I'd say we probably won't be making this one again. We couldn't find ancho chiles, so used a combo of 4 red chiles and 4 jalapenos. Well, with that sad, here is the post! :) Recipe from Whole Foods, serves 6-8.

Ingredients

  • 8 ancho chiles, seeded, stemmed and roughly chopped 

  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar 

  • 1 cup crushed tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted 

  • 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
  • 
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided 

  • 2 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut in half
  • 
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided 

  • Salt and pepper to taste 

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 

  • 1 dried bay leaf

Directions

  1. Combine chiles, garlic and 1 cup water in a small pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 2 minutes.
  2. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the cooking water, and transfer chiles and garlic to a blender. Add brown sugar, tomatoes, onions, 2 cups of the broth and 1 tablespoon of the reserved cooking water and puree. Set aside. 


  3. Rub tenderloins with 1/2 tablespoon of the oil and season liberally with salt and pepper on all sides. Mix cumin, cinnamon and oregano together and season the pork with this mixture on all sides.
  4. Heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add one pork tenderloin and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove and repeat with remaining tenderloin. Set both aside. 


  5. Transfer puree to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add remaining 2 cups broth, bay leaf and salt and pepper. Return tenderloins to the pot and spoon the sauce over them. Cook over medium low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 160°F.
  6. Season with salt and pepper. Remove and discard bay leaf. Remove pork from pot and slice on the bias as thinly as possible. Arrange slices on a platter and spoon sauce over the top.

18 comments:

Chef E said...

Oh Fresco duo how I would eat that sauce on anything! I have not thought of it with pork like this...hubby has his fav recipe I make, but I am slipping him a chili sauce cocktail love...

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

That's a wonderful sauce... sure to make a moist piece of meat

grace said...

if only this post had gone up a couple of days ago--i was scouring the web for a good pork loin recipe and this would've been perfect! next time for sure. :)

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

That is a wonderful sounding sauce.. I am sure the meat was very moist from this!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

What a lovely pork tenderloin. I love sauce and your's looks just right.
Sam

Rose said...

Can't wait to see the new look! It's such a labor (of love) isn't it?! Nice work on this pork tenderloin. Great flavor combination!

Jenn@slim-shoppin said...

I hate when you spend so much time on a recipe and it doesn't live up to the hype.

I like the idea of it though!

Ivy said...

Pork is so good with tomato sauce. I surely must try this combo.

Sophie said...

What a meal, it certainly looks tasty! I'm looking forward to seeing what the new blog layout looks like :).

Mary Bergfeld said...

Your pork looks wonderful and I can tell just from a quick read that the sauce is marvelous. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

Conor @ HoldtheBeef said...

Ah dang, pity it wasn't fully worth the effort, but it looks great! Actually, maybe this is a good thing, as now you won't have to go through the effort again ;)

Really love the look of that sauce, I bet it would cling to pasta quite nicely indeed!

Joanne said...

I'm sorry this didn't completely win you guys over! At least the acorn squash was a good consolation prize.

Manju said...

all that has gone into that sauce sounds wonderful!

Esi said...

I haven't cooked with pork tenderloin in a while and I love it. The sauce sounds so good.

Anonymous said...

It looks like it had potential, sorry it didn't work out for you - ancho chiles are amazing!

Debbie said...

Looks so tasty and delicious. The sauce is perfect!

test it comm said...

That is a really nice looking meal. The pork sounds tasty!

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