Confessions on the Pig's Porky Parts

Don't ya just love a good BBQ? My hubs and I have yet to know the feeling of owning an actual grill, but thankfully, our apartment complex has one nestled in its verdant courtyard and we try to take advantage of having one so close. Confession: the meats my husband and I throw on the barby have little variance and piquancy; we gravitate largely towards plain ol' chicken with bbq sauce, burgers, and occasionally-occasionally, fish with olive oil and seasonings.

Second confession: call me crazy, but ever since the prego-ness, I've had a frustrating time enjoying the taste and texture perhaps, of most types of commonly-purchased pork: i.e., the chop, the tenderloin, the boneless chop... While wrestling through a native-to-Utah cookbook, I discovered a recipe for a pork tenderloin marinade that flirted with my taste buds and so, with some resolution and determination, it made my recipe to-do's for last week. In the end, I was pleasantly swallowing each bite of meat with satisfaction and delight and excitement to try more variations of pork ( I guess the pork itself just just has to be exuding some substantial flavor to cover up the "piggy" taste of it and then, all is well).


Third confession:
We grilled the pork tenderloin after it had marinaded (is that a word: marinaded?) a few hours, and if I could do one thing differently, I'd skip the entire grilling portion and instead, pop it in the oven, basting it once or twice. Our mistake occurred by grilling it at too high of a heat, allowing it to charr a bit, thus, the "bbq" smokiness hogged the flavor of the delicious marinade. Hence, if you make this, my suggestion is to bake it in the oven, OR, you could simply sear it on the grill, but then do the remainder of the cooking inside your own oven, basting once or twice with the marinade (internal temperature should be around 150-160 degrees, I believe.. you may wish to double-research that) OR, if you have time, just please grill it at a low temperature for a long time to ensure that it doesn't get charred. Got it?


Lastly, I had some peaches lying around and made a peach-black bean salsa/topping to accompany the pork and it was a wise decision I think. We served, as you can well see, the pork over jasmine rice and then used the black bean salsa as both a side dish and a mix-in.

Spicy Pork Tenderloin*
{"Always in Season: Collections From the Jr. League of Utah"}

1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, minced (leave a few seeds on for heat)
1/3 cup honey
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, crushed
1 2-lb boneless pork tenderloin

Combine all the ingredients (except for the pork) and combine well. Reserve and chill some of the mixture for basting. *I would double this recipe and reserve additional marinade for when you serve it. If you do this, you should divide your marinade into three portions: one for the actual marinading process, another for the basting, and a third batch for serving. Combine the remaining mixture with the pork in a plastic, resealable bag and marinate the pork in the fridge for at least 6 hours (up to 12 hours).

To grill (and you've had my warning), place it on a rack, sprayed with non-stick spray and cook it at MEDIUM heat. Grill for 10 minutes on each side, basting as you go.

To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees (let the pork rest for a few minutes out of the fridge while you're preheating) and bake until done, basting once or twice. Let pork rest again with foil over it for 5-10 minutes after it's been taken out of oven. This will seal in the juices. Cut and serve.


Peach & Black Bean Salsa

1 15-ounce can of black beans, drained
3 cups chopped peaches, peeled
1 cup red onion, diced
Cilantro (eyeball it), chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cumin
Juice of 1-2 limes

Combine the ingredeints and chill in fridge for a few hours in order for the flavors to mold into each other. Serve with grilled meat, fish, or with chips.