Rosemary Chipotle Pecan Crusted Pork Tenderloin
The Inspiration: 
My sweet mother-in-law brought me back some AH-mazing rosemary chipotle flavored roasted nuts from Joans on Third a couple of weeks ago and the tantalizing flavor of those nuts kept me up at night...I knew I had to come up with a recipe using rosemary, pecans and chipotle and here it is. If you live in LA, or are visiting anytime soon I highly recommend you get yourself a package of these..... If you have no hope of getting to LA anytime soon, please try this pork tenderloin..the flavors are off the charts! For those of you with an aversion to spicy foods, cut back the chipotle by about half and fish out any seeds that may creep into your sauce.
Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs pork tenderloin
1/4 cup chipotle sauce from an 8 oz can chipotle chiles (reserve the chiles for another use)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (regular bread crumbs will do if you can't find panko)
Directions:
In a large plastic zip bag, mix first 5 ingredients and marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours. In a small bowl, mix rosemary, pecans and bread crumbs and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees on Convection Roast (or Bake if your oven does not have this feature). In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add pork tenderloin to the skillet and sear on all sides until pork is a deep golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Reserve the marinade--it will go into the same skillet you seared your pork in later. Transfer pork to a foil-lined roasting pan and cover well with the pecan mixture. Insert your meat probe into the thickest part of the pork, being careful not to push it all the way through. Place pork into the oven and attach the other end of the meat probe to port on the oven. Set the probe temperature to 145 degrees and press start. If you do not have a meat probe, cook your meat for 20-24 minutes until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 145 degrees. Remove pork from oven, remove the meat probe and wrap the foil around the pork. Let pork sit for about 5-10 minutes before carving.
While the pork is resting, add your marinade to the skillet you seared your pork in (do not wash the skillet--you want the pork flavors in the pan) and cook for about 3-5 minutes on medium heat, being careful not to overcook your sauce or it will all disappear. (If this happens to you, like it did to me the first time I made this, simply add another 1/4 cup of orange juice to the pan and cook for another minute--stirring constantly.)
Remove sauce from heat and spread out over your serving platter. Slice the pork into 1/2" pieces and arrange over the sauce. Sprinkle any pecans/breadcrumbs left on the foil over the pork and garnish with a fresh spring of rosemary. Bon Appetit!
Oven Roasted Radishes
There aren't many foods out there that I do like and will not eat. However, these stinky little bunches of radishes have been in my farm basket for the last few weeks and after throwing away at least four bunches of them because I cannot bring myself to even look for a recipe to use them in for fear it will be a complete waste of time I finally had to try something! You see, more than I hate the flavor of radishes, I REALLY hate being wasteful and throwing away food (After 25 something years, I still hear my grandfather whispering in my ear that children are starving in China while I sit and waste perfectly good food in front of me). Sooo, since I do love the flavors of any vegetable I've ever roasted with a little chopped shallot, olive oil, salt and pepper, I thought I'd give it a go. I'm not saying I'm going to run out and buy some radishes anytime soon, but if those rosy little babies end up in my basket again, I definitely won't be throwing them away!
Ingredients:
8-10 radishes, sliced lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees on Convection Roast setting (or Bake if you do not have Convection Roast). In a large zip storage bag, mix all ingredients together, shaking to ensure even coating of the olive oil. On a large roasting pan, spread out radishes cut side down, allowing space between the pieces. Roast radishes for 25 minutes, giving them a turn around 18 minutes. Radishes and shallots should just be turning golden brown on their edges when they are done.
Whole Wheat Couscous
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat couscous
zest and juice of one lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup water
Directions:
In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, heat olive oil and add garlic and shallot. Cook, stirring often for about 3-4 minutes until garlic and shallot begin to turn a golden brown color along the edges.
Add one cup water, lemon juice and zest and bring to a boil. Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let couscous sit for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork before serving.
Wow,, That is awesome!!
Right on!
We made this pork for dinner last night…it was so so delicious! Highly recommend. Thanks Amy