Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin, And A Giveaway!!

It's been a while since I've posted.......I'm not going to make any excuses.  You've heard them all, anyway!

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  

On Saturday we took a drive to the tree farm.  It took all of three minutes for us to find the perfect tree.

Well, my kids found the perfect tree.  All I did was agree with their choice.

It's been a decorating frenzy since then.

The real tree is in the living room, and there are fake trees in the family room and dining room.

In my sewing room, a.k.a. The Land Of A Thousand Unfinished Projects, I had started making a fabric bunting from a charm pack of Mary Engelbreit prints from her "Isn't Christmas Jolly" line.

I finished it today so that I could decorate the final tree.........my dining room tree, which sort of has a kitchen theme.

Which brings us to the giveaway!

 Aren't these glass peppermint ornaments cute?

How about the gingerchef and snowchef?

I bought these at the Williams-Sonoma Outlet last year, during the after-Christmas sale when all the holiday merchandise was ridiculously reduced.  I stocked up, with my dining room tree in mind, forgetting that it's only a five-foot-tall sort of pygmy tree.

I have three extra sets of these ornaments to give away.  You will receive five ornaments--the three peppermint ornaments, the snowchef and the gingerchef.

All you have to do to enter is 1. become a follower of  my blog.  (If you already follow the blog you are automatically entered.)  Or, 2. you could enter the giveaway by leaving a comment.......about anything from what type of ornaments are your favorites to whether or not you think the Red Sox will actually have a manager under contract before next season starts.  And 3. if  you are a follower and leave a comment, you will be entered twice, which means that you could possibly win two sets of ornaments.

Winners will be drawn by noon on Friday.

{This giveaway is sponsored by me.  I am in no way affiliated with Williams Sonoma, and I can say with certainty and conviction that they have no idea that I even exist.}  

Today's recipe was something I sort of stumbled upon in desperation.  Pork Tenderloins were on sale, I bought two, and then I didn't know what to do with them.  I couldn't just sit and stare at them!  I had to cook them!  What to do?!  Google to the rescue!

I scrolled through the recipes that popped up and settled on this one.  Which I just had to tweak, of course.  I read through a few of the comments that were left and made some adjustments.   

Recurring themes throughout all the comments--"Tasty!" "Flavorful!" "Tender!" "Easy!"-- I agree!  Mr. Terrific, Sean and Erin all agree--this recipe is a keeper.

Today's Playlist

• "Roman Guitar"...........Lou Monte
• "Runaround Sue".........Dion & The Belmonts
• "Sh-Boom"........The Crew Cuts
• "Sway".........Ben E. King
• "World On A String"..........Bobby Caldwell
• "Pepino The Italian Mouse".......Lou Monte
• "Mack The Knife".......Kevin Spacey
• "Beyond The Sea"........Matt Belsante
• "Mambo Italiano"........Rosemary Clooney
• "(Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay".........Otis Redding

I admit it, I'm listening to Christmas music.  I don't want to scare you off, so I'll give you a regular playlist.  Come December 1, however, be prepared.......'tis the season, afterall!

Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin 

(adapted from an original recipe by Diana Rattray, about.com)

• 2 pork tenderloins, about 1 1/4 lbs. each
• salt and pepper
• 1 large onion, sliced 
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 tablespoons cold water

Gather your ingredients.

 
Slice the onion.  I lopped off the ends, cut it in half........

 
then sliced right through it.

 
Place the sliced onions right into the bottom of your crock pot.



Trim and remove all visible fat from the pork.  It pretty much just lifts up and peels away.  Lift it with your fingers and use your knife to slice it away.

Done

Place the pork in your crock pot, on top of the onions.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic,

mustard,

honey,

brown sugar (I used light brown sugar),

vinegar,

and fresh thyme, which I so lovingly chopped.  Yes, lovingly.  I am loving that I still have lovely herbs in my lovely herb garden that is still thriving (well, except for the basil and chives), in this lovely, unseasonably warm fall weather.

If you do not have fresh thyme, substitute 1 teaspoon of dried thyme instead.

Add the thyme to the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.

Stir it up.

Pour it over the pork.

Set your crock pot to LOW.  Cover it up and fuhgeddaboutit for 4 1/2 hours.

The original recipe said 7 to 9 hours, but many of the comments left said that it was dry (or burned!) after that amount of time.

After 4 1/2 hours, my meat thermometer registered an internal temperature of 168 degrees.   Pork is safe to eat at 160 degrees.  Therefore, I concluded that 4 1/2 hours was enough.

Remove the pork to a plate, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

 This is what you are left with in the crock pot.  There was no fat to skim.  I'm sure there was a bit of fat in there somewhere, but trimming the fat before cooking did not leave enough to produce the oily layer that would need to be skimmed.  Let me reiterate:  this was not a greasy mess left behind.

I ladled the juices into a saucepan (if you are a well-coordinated person you can pour it from your crock pot into a sauce pot.  I have never had good luck with this.  I spill it, I lose my grip, I burn myself.......much easier to realize my juice-transferring shortcomings and give in to the ladle).  Bring the juices to a boil over medium heat.

While you're waiting for the pan juices to boil, whisk together the corn starch and water, 2 tablespoons of each.

Let the pan juices boil for a minute or two, then reduce the heat and whisk in the corn starch mixture.  This should thicken the sauce immediately.

Slice your tenderloin.  Oh, my goodness, was it ever tender.  Just to prove a point, after I sliced it, I used the edge of my fork to cut a slice into bite-sized pieces.

Spoon the sauce over the pork slices and serve.

Enjoy!