As I’m sitting here writing this, I am distracted by Oprah on her last show. She is professing her belief in God and His hand in her life. It just brought me to tears.
God is love. God is life.
How is He working in yours and mine? I’m making peace with my past and moving toward a brighter, healthier, happier future and I am here to tell you that He is working and active in my life. I felt for so long during my crisis that he was so far away from me and wondered why He was silent. I couldn’t wrap my mind around what was happening and why it was happening to me. I am finally really learning that God IS love and always will be. Because His love is so great for us, He always wants what’s best for us. That frees me from the thoughts or feelings that He was punishing me or denying me in some awful way. (See, First Place 4 Health is working on me…it’s working on my understanding of things and changing how I think about things.)
Moving on…
As I take baby steps through this process of change, I’m having to readjust many recipes that I have used for years. I am also seeking out ways to “healthify” my recipes! I have been amazed at how much fat and calories I have packed into most of my recipes. In finding this out, I have cut back on butters, oils and sugars, but without sacrificing the flavor. I am still using extra virgin olive oil, real butter, sugars, and so on…just cuttin’ back.
On Fridays I plan on doing a weekly rewind where I share my food journal and any corresponding recipes that I blog about. You’ll get to see what I’ve been eating and the exercise I’ve been doing. I hope it will help anyone out there who is traveling this road with me.
Movin’ on to the recipe…
Pork tenderloin is a good choice when watching calories because it’s lean. Most cuts of meat with the words “loin” or “round” are considered lean cuts.
Start off by rubbing meat with 2 tablespoons olive oil (you can cut it down to 1 tablespoon if you’re making only 1 tenderloin). Season all over with a generous amount of salt and pepper. (Remember this is a thick piece of meat and we want the seasoning to flavor all of the meat.) Place on a rimmed cookie sheet and roast at 450* for about 10 minutes to sear the meat.
Meanwhile, in a small sauce pot, combine pineapple juice, bourbon (you may increase pineapple juice if you wish to omit), brown sugar, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-high, stirring often once boiling.
Continue to boil for about 5 to 8 minutes and until color deepens and reaches the consistency of honey. Once you reach this step, remove from heat and stir in lime juice.
Now, stir in ginger, garlic, and diced pepper. Stir well.
Place fresh pineapple chunks around the tenderloin. Glaze pork with 1/3 of glaze. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and glaze with another 1/3 of the glaze. Return to oven for another 5 minutes. Remove tenderloin one last time and glaze with remaining glaze, return to the oven and finish roasting until internal temperature reaches 145*. (A total time of 20-25 minutes)
Why roast until an internal temperature of only 145*? Food actually continues to “cook” even after it’s been removed from a heat source. The internal temperature can rise anywhere from 5 to 20 degrees, depending on the size of meat or other food you’re cooking.
Why is this important? Well, mainly, you don’t want to overcook it, so most restaurant chefs know that they need to remove it from the oven prematurely to avoid tough, dried out meats.
The next extremely important fact about roasting or grilling meats is to let it rest. What does that mean. It means leave it alone. Really, just tent some foil over it and take a break (at least for 5 to10 minutes). When meat cooks, all of the juices bubble to the surface. During carryover cooking, the juices redistribute through the meat, instead of running out all over your cutting board.
Island Pork Tenderloin
Serves 8 (4 oz servings)
Calories: 396 ▪ Fat: 8g ▪ Carbs: 14g ▪ Dietary Fiber: 0g ▪ Sugars 12g ▪ Protein: 17g
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup pineapple juice, divided
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup bourbon
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 fresh habanero, seeded & diced (optional)
1 pound pork tenderloins
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Start off by rubbing meat with 2 tablespoons olive oil (you can cut it down to 1 tablespoon if you’re making only 1 tenderloin). Season all over with a generous amount of salt and pepper. (Remember this is a thick piece of meat and we want the seasoning to flavor all of the meat.)
Place on a rimmed cookie sheet and roast at 450* for about 10 minutes to sear the meat.
Meanwhile, in a small sauce pot, combine pineapple juice, bourbon (you may increase pineapple juice if you wish to omit), brown sugar, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-high, stirring often once boiling.
Continue to boil for about 5 to 8 minutes and until color deepens and reaches the consistency of honey. Once you reach this step, remove from heat and stir in lime juice.
Now, stir in ginger, garlic, and diced pepper. Stir well.
Place fresh pineapple chunks around the tenderloin. Glaze pork with 1/3 of glaze. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and glaze with another 1/3 of the glaze. Return to oven for another 5 minutes. Remove tenderloin one last time and glaze with remaining glaze, return to the oven and finish roasting until internal temperature reaches 145*. (A total time of 20-25 minutes)
*Remember, carryover cooking will raise the internal temperature to 155-160*, which is good for pork.
I’m Jennifer Locklin, author and owner of Jennifer Cooks. I am a trained chef and passionate about good food, cooking for family and friends, and creating recipes that form lasting memories from one generation to the next.
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