Spicy Pork Tenderloin with Ginger-Maple Sauce

Well, I have done it. I have bitten the ultimate mommy 'bullet'. I have started potty-training my son...officially. As I type this, he is sitting in his big boy underwear and watching Go! Diego, Go!. Today is the first day,and I am not going to lie...we were off to a rough start this morning. With that said, as it approaches nap time, it has smoothed out some. I think I can actually do it, providing I don't loose my mind. We will see. What does this have to do with my cooking blog, you ask???? NOTHING! But it is a BIG deal...so I thought I would share.

Okay, so on to dinner. I had a pork tenderloin planned for last night, but it was not thawed. Today, I am having much better luck. I wanted to try something new with pork tenderloin, but I had a real issue with finding something that was somewhat healthy and different than the other pork tenderloin recipes I have tried. They all seem to have some form of either soy sauce or Dijon mustard. I am just not in the mood for either of those things, so I thought I would mix it up with this recipe. This is probably not something I would normally try with pork, but the reviews intrigued me. Also, this dish is from Cooking Light, and we all know they are pretty reputable when it comes to delicious/healthy meals.

I think I will serve this with some steamed veggies and a baked potato. Nothing too outrageous. I will let you know how it turns out!

Spicy Pork Tenderloin with Ginger-Maple Sauce

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons bottled ground fresh ginger
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; rub pork with spice mixture. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat; add pork. Cook 6 minutes; brown on all sides. Place on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until thermometer registers 155°. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

While pork bakes, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, and cook 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Add ginger, and cook 4 minutes. Stir in broth and syrup, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring broth mixture to a boil; cook until reduced to 3/4 cup (about 10 minutes). Cut pork into 1/4-inch-thick slices; serve with sauce.


Nutritional Information
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 3 ounces pork and 2 tablespoons sauce)
Calories:263 (28% from fat)
Fat:8.2g (sat 3.9g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.6g)
Protein:25g
Carbohydrate:21.7g
Fiber:1.1g
Cholesterol:78mg
Iron:2mg
Sodium:663mg
Calcium:39mg

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2001



The Result:
This was good...but not stellar. Don't get me wrong...it was tasty and the pork was perfectly cooked, but it did not blow my socks off. The spicy/sweet elements to the dish were a very nice contrast. I would make this recipe again, if I had a pork tenderloin and I did not feel like making the Mustard Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin (which is the better recipe, I think). Overall, this was good...but just not fantastic. It is worthy of a try, but it is not a recipe that I will crave.