Spiced Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

Because the pork tenderloins I bought at Costco come in packs of two, I needed another tenderloin recipe pretty quick after making the first one. This one calls for things I generally have on-hand anyway so there was no special purchases at the store; that's a win for me especially if it turns out to be tasty.

Spiced Balsamic Pork Tenderloin
from Cooking Club, Fall 2012
click to print

2 tsp packed light brown sugar
1 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 1-lb pork tenderloin
2 tsp canola oil
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c water
1 1/2 tsp hot sauce, such as Frank's

Heat oven to 350°F.

Combine brown sugar, sage, thyme, pepper and salt in a small bowl.


Rub over pork, pressing to adhere.


Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot.


Cook pork 4 minutes or until browned on all sides; place on foil-lined small rimmed baking sheet. Reserve skillet with drippings.


Bake 15-20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 145-150°F. Cover loosely with foil.

My tenderloin went from 66.2°F to 146.1°F in 18 minutes.

Let stand 10 minutes; thinly slice.


Meanwhile, heat reserved skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add vinegar, water and hot sauce; bring to a boil.


Boil 3 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from bottom of skillet. Serve over pork.


Well, well! This tenderloin turned out marvelously! But with a simple dry rub and balsamic vinegar, that isn't really all that surprising, is it? Plus it reminds me of this tenderloin, but with a little more pizzazz and a little less velvet. Done in just about 45 minutes, I'll be sure to keep this one in mind the next time I'm in a tenderloin mood. And I bet it's fairly inexpensive. Let's see.

Cost:

• light brown sugar: $0.01
• pork tenderloin: $3.96
• canola oil: $0.19
• balsamic vinegar: $0.67

Total: $4.83 and rounding up to $5 to consider dry spices, that makes each of three servings about $1.67.

International Collection Sherry Wine Vinegar

I could not find sherry vinegar previously to save my life.


That's why the sardine toasts were balsamic'ed instead of sherried.


Snagged some by chance just in time for the slaw. Too bad I didn't go to this particular store before I did the marinade for the pork.


International Collection Sherry Wine Vinegar available in the vinegar/oil aisle of Stater Bros (not the one at 22nd and Newport!) for $7.99 a 8.45 oz bottle, making each of the 17 tablespoons about $0.47.

Stater Bros. All Vegetable Shortening

All out of the Spectrum stuff, I selected Stater Bros. brand since it's cheaper than the only alternative, Crisco, at that particular store location.


Considering the ingredients, maybe I should've spent a little more. Ew, partially hydrogenated oils, which means there might be trans fats.


Am I concerned enough to return it? Uh, no. I'll just do my best not to buy it again.


And this crazy plastic-lined foil liner is a really good reason to avoid it too. I spent 5 minutes trying to get past it. A knife was employed.


There you have it. Shortening. Let's make pie!


Stater Bros. all vegetable (partially hydrogenated oil) shortening, available in the oil aisle in a 3 lb. container for $5.99.

That makes each of 6.5 cups about $0.92.

La Tourangelle Roasted Walnut Oil

Browsing around for walnut oil in the baking/oil aisle of Ralph's I spied a couple of options on the very top shelf.

Rather than buying the Made in France walnut oil, I opted for the local California oil which follows "the 150-year-old traditional methods of its French sister oil mill."

I like the little meter (in the image below) above the nutrition facts: it shows that the oil is suitable for medium-high heat so in addition to being good for dressings and drizzles it's good for baking and sauteeing. With luck I'll remember I have it and use it so I won't find this in my kitchen when I'm 80 along with miles of twine and hundreds of feet of parchment paper.


Unlike other oils such as vegetable or olive, this one keeps best in the fridge and comes with a nifty cap.


Pop out the little safety seal thingy and you've got a pour spout. Why don't all oils come with a pour spout like this instead of a gaping bottle mouth?

La Tourangelle Roasted Walnut Oil available in a 16.9 oz can at Ralph's for $10.99, making each tablespoon $0.32.

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When I was at Sprouts a couple days ago I happened by the oil section of the store. There is quite a variety of La Tourangelle oils offered there at a better price. 

Spectrum Organic All Vegetable Shortening

I wanted a small container of shortening and Target only had big ones. Wandering over to Sprouts next door, the only option was this Spectrum stuff.

Hmm. Non-hydrogenated. That's different from the Crisco* I used to get regularly when I baked pies to persuade Dad into giving me keys to an auto and am more familiar with, you know, the partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

What's the difference? Well, partially hydrogenated oil is manufactured to yield oils with more hydrogen atoms on them. That generally means it has a longer shelf life. That's good, right, so what's the big deal? Not a huge deal, but studies have shown that trans-fats (trans meaning the shape the chemically partially-hydrogenated oil takes on due to where the hydrogen atoms are added) tends to give folks heart disease. And that's why there's been such a push in food industry to eliminate trans fats. Consumers, being the finicky kind that they might be, just don't want heart disease and they vote with their dollars.

So what do we have here? Mechanically pressed organic palm oil.

Does that mean it'll look like "regular" shortening? Seems so.

Even feels like it.

I'll put it to a test.

Spectrum Organic All Vegetable Shortening available in a 24-oz plastic container at Sprouts for $6.99.

*I've read that Crisco no longer partially-hydrogenates their fats and thus is essentially trans-fat free but I haven't read a label on a container recently.

Pompeian White Wine Vinegar

For some reason, I thought white wine vinegar was an elusive thing. Turns out I just had my head on backwards because it's readily available in the vinegar and oils aisle, right next to the red wine vinegar.

So it's true, in case you were wondering, white wine vinegar does exist. You no longer have to substitute rice wine vinegar or distilled white vinegar for it.

Available at Stater Bros.

Oh shit, I missed listing it on my grocery list. I'm gonna SWAG $3 for 16 oz.