Officially tackling the pig

Besides bacon and bbq, I have never been a pork fan.  I don't think I have ever eaten a pork loin/chop that I enjoyed because they are always so dry and taste like nothing.  Because of this, I also never tried making pork because I just assume it will be a waste of money and time.  After going to Rioja for Eric's bday, I realized that pork didn't have to be well done and dry.  I decided, last night, to take on pork tenderloin, paired with mashed potatoes.  I looked up some recipes but found Alton Brown's to be very simple and it sounded good so I went to Whole Foods and grabbed some ingredients.

The pork loin weighed 1.13 lbs and this is what it looked like after trimming

This is what went into the marinade

1/4 cup Honey

1/2 cup Lime Juice

1 Chipotle Chilis in Ancho 

1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Kosher Salt

I adjusted the recipe a bit after tasting it, adding extra garlic powder, salt, an extra chili, and honey.  The original recipe is way too tart.  The lime was just over powering everything so the extra honey helped calm it down, this was done to taste.  I also didn't feel that one chili was really doing anything so I threw in another one for a little extra kick. The garlic powder was increased to 1 tbsp and the salt was a little over 1/2 tbsp. I put the ingredients in a small tupperware container and shook them up.  After trimming the pork, I placed it in a gallon bag and poured in half the marinade.  This sat in the fridge for about 7 hours.  

I cooked this on the grill and it's a little tedious but I think it was well worth it.  The grill was oiled and set to medium.  The loin cooked for 15 minutes, and I turned it every 2 minutes.  Once done, I placed the loin into a foil "bag" and poured the remaining half of marinade into it, closed the bag up and let it sit for 10 minutes.  While this was sitting, I made my mashed potatoes.  Pretty standard: just milk, butter, salt and pepper.  I use red potatoes because they're less starchy. 

Final product....

I must say, this was delicious.  It is one of the best pork tenderloins I have ever had...which I guess doesn't say much since I haven't had that many, but trust me, it was gooooood.  I was pretty proud of myself for how it turned out since I've never made it before.  The "boring" mashed potatoes went perfectly since the flavors in the pork were stronger and overpowering.  I was sure we'd have leftovers of both pork and potatoes but we ate it all!!