Barbeque Pork Tenderloin Wraps

May 1, 2013 by 3 Comments

Years and years ago my family would go to an annual wine festival in Ohio. I was a little too young to sample the wine, but there were other fun festival type things to keep my occupied. And there was the food. Not your typical FRY EVERYTHING festival food, but good food!

One of the wine festival foods that really stuck with my family were the pork tenderloin wraps. Sweet goodness these are filling and fresh. Juicy tender pork with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheddar cheese, barbeque sauce, and ranch dressing, all wrapped in a warm fresh tortilla. Yes, you read that right, barbeque sauce AND ranch dressing. Don’t be scared. It sounds weird, but it works.

My family loved these wraps so much that they became a regular at summertime family gatherings. In fact, these wraps were sort of a pork game changer for me. At one point in my life I didn’t think I liked pork. Then we started having these regularly and I couldn’t wait for my mom to say we were going to my aunt’s house for pork tenderloin wraps. I still love them and I hope you will too!

P.S. These tortillas were homemade, too! Recipe coming soon!

 

Barbeque Pork Tenderloin Wraps

Ingredients
1 lb pork tenderloin, dry rubbed, cooked, sliced on the diagonal (see recipe below)
Chopped lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Diced onions
Shredded cheddar cheese
Barbeque sauce
Ranch dressing
Flour tortillas, warmed

Directions
Fill tortillas with desired fixings. Top with BBQ sauce and ranch dressing. Enjoy!

Barbeque Pork Tenderloin Rub

Ingredients
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
dash cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dry onion flakes

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Combine all ingredients in a small dish. Rub generously over pork tenderloin and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Place tenderloin on lightly greased baking sheet. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 145 degrees. Cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing on a diagonal. Alternatively, you could grill the pork tenderloin.

Here are a few of my other favorite pork recipes!

Island Pork Tenderloin
Garlic and Herb Crusted Pork Loin
Shanghai Stir-Fried Pork and Cabbage
Coffee Chipotle Pulled Pork

Filed Under: Easy Weeknight Dinner, Grill, Pork, Sandwich Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Nacho Burgers

March 20, 2013 by 5 Comments

Oozy nacho cheese sauce, jalapenos, and salsa. Need I say more? What if I put it on top of juicy burger and between two fresh, buttered, brioche hamburger buns? Did you drool a little? Because I did when I first saw this burger on the cover of Food & Wine. This burger is the sort of thing my dreams are made of.

After drooling over the photo on the cover of the magazine for almost a year, I finally made it for myself this weekend. I have to say, it was just as delicious as I thought it would be. Of course I did make a few small changes. First, the tomatoes at my grocer looked really pathetic, so rather than making my own salsa I bought some of the good pre-made stuff  from the refrigerated section (the kind in the plastic tub with flecks of real fresh cilantro and onions). I also added a dash of Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce (Cholula) to the burger meat.  Mmmm!

Nacho Burgers

Ingredients
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 Tbsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1-2 tsp hot sauce
1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper

4 hamburger buns, salsa, jarred jalapenos, and blue corn chips for assembly

Directions
In a small saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and thickened, whisking continuously. Add the shredded Monterey Jack in several increments, allowing each to fully melt before adding the next, until it has all melted. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool and thicken.

Prepare a grill or preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. While the grill or grill pan is heating, mix together the ground beef, hot sauce, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Divide meat into four and form patties. Lightly brush with oil. Grill for about 4 minutes then flip and grill for another 4 minutes. While the patties are finishing toast the inside of the buns.

To assemble, place burgers on toasted buns and then top with cheese sauce, salsa, jalapenos, and crushed blue corn chips.

Source: Food & Wine Magazine, January 2012

What else can you put between delicious homemade brioche buns?

BBQ Turkey Burgers
Homemade Sloppy Joes
Shredded BBQ Chicken
 

Filed Under: Beef, Grill, Main Course, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Best Fajita Marinade

September 27, 2012 by 8 Comments

Whew!! It’s been a busy couple of weeks. As I mentioned in my last post, my in-laws flew all the way from Ohio to visit us here in China. Never having been to China (as I think is the case for most Americans!), they wanted to do lots of sightseeing. During their 2 week visit we did a lot of traveling. First we flew to Hong Kong, where we walked Nathan Road, road to the top of the peak, shopped till we dropped at the Ladies Market in Mongkok, and just generally wore out the bottoms of our shoes. After Hong Kong we had just 2 days of rest in Suzhou before hopping on a high-speed train to Beijing. In Beijing we climbed the Great Wall, walked in THE Water Cube, toured the Forbidden City, walked Tiananmen Square, and, of course, ate the most delicious noodles ever!

By the time we got back to Suzhou we had just enough time to squeeze in one last bit of excitement – by riding the scooters to Guanqian during rush hour. If you know Suzhou, you know how crazy that is! Needless to say, I’m exhausted! I *almost* didn’t even have the energy to write this post, but I had to because I couldn’t wait any longer to share this recipe!

I first made this marinade last month and I was blown away by the flavor! My search for the best fajita marinade is now over. This keeps the meat (chicken or steak)  juicy and provides just the right amount of heat and citrus. The key/secret to this marinade is the zest. Donna, from Apron Springs, wrote up a great post about it so if you’re interested in reading about why she chose zest over juice, check it out!

 

Best Fajita Marinade

Ingredients
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Zest from one lime (~2 tsp)
1/4 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Pour into a Ziploc bag* with 1 1/2-2 pounds of the meat of your choice. Let stand for at least one hour, or as long as overnight, occasionally squeezing and turning bag to evenly distribute marinade.

Remove the meat from the bag and wipe off any excess marinade.

Cook using your preferred method (I have been cooking mine in a skillet because we do not have a grill, but grill is really ideal). Allow meat to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with bell peppers, onions, tortillas, sour cream, salsa… any of your favorite fajita fixins!

*I reserved 1 tablespoon of the marinade and tossed with bell peppers and onions before cooking.

Source: Apron Strings

Here are a few more great marinade/sauce ideas to add variety to your chicken/fish/beef!
Southwest Marinade
Lemon Greek Chicken
Grilled Marinated Mahi Mahi

Filed Under: Beef, Chicken, Grill, Main Course, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Copycat Jack Daniels Glaze

August 24, 2012 by 15 Comments

One thing you might not know about me is that I am a dip and sauce fanatic. I’m the girl that bugs the waiter/waitress for extra sauces – pretty much every single time I go out to eat. Extra side of salsa, a side of ranch, extra buffalo sauce, extra Yum Yum sauce…. You get the picture. Especially if there are fries and/or a wrap/sandwich of some sort. I think I might even embarrass Jesse a little bit because I’ve been known to ask for 3 or more sauces at one time.  It’s a problem, that’s for sure.

There is a popular chain restaurant that has a featured menu that is all about Jack Daniels Glaze. It’s sweet, salty, sticky, and delicious. We don’t go to that restaurant very often, but when we do, you can bet we’ll order the Sesame Jack Chicken Strips as an appetizer. And chances are good that I will also ask for an extra side of the sauce, just so I can dip my fries in it later.

When I came across this copycat on Kate’s blog during a previous recipe swap I was super excited. Of course that time around the Enchilada Casserole won the blog spot, but I didn’t forget about this glaze. When I was assigned Kate’s blog again for this swap, it was fate.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to come clean and tell you that the sauce I made would technically have to be Johnnie Walker Glaze, since the only whiskey we have on hand at the moment is a bottle of black label. It’s technically different because it’s a Scotch whiskey and not a Tennessee Whiskey, but it worked. And guess what, this sauce is pretty spot! The only other change I made was to use only soy sauce instead of soy and teriyaki because… well, because I can’t read most of the labels at the grocery store (Chinese characters) so I’m not sure if my store had teriyaki sauce!


Copycat Jack Daniels Glaze

Ingredients
1 head of garlic- roasted
2/3 cup water
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup soy sauce (alternatively you could use 1/4 cup teriyaki and 1 Tbsp soy sauce)
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp  white onion, minced
1 Tbsp Jack Daniels Whiskey *
1 Tbsp pineapple, very finely minced
1/2 tsp minced ginger (omit if using teriyaki sauce)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

*Obviously, you can substitute Johnnie Walker or any other decent brand of Whiskey. 

Directions
To roast the garlic, cut the top off of a head of garlic so the ends of the cloves are exposed. Peel off any excess layers of the papery skin. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and loosely wrap with aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet and roast at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes, or until the cloves appear golden brown.

In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, combine the water, pineapple juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer.

Squeeze out the roasted garlic and whisk in to the simmering liquid, discard the papery skin. Add the lemon juice, onion, whiskey, pineapple, ginger, and cayenne paper and stir to combine.

Continue to simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally, or until the liquid has reduced by half and is thick and syrupy*. Careful not to let the liquid boil over.

Glaze can be basted onto meats (chicken, steak, shrimp) while grilling, or drizzled over crispy chicken strips (and sprinkle with sesame seeds!), or used as a dipping sauce for fries.

* If your sauce doesn’t thicken up as much as you want it to, you can stir together 1 tsp of corn starch and 2 tsp of cold water, and add that to the sauce.

Adapted from Kate’s Recipe Box, originally from Insider’s Recipes Master Edition

 

 

Filed Under: Grill, Sauce/Condiment Tagged With: , , , , , ,