Apple-Bacon Pork Tenderloin

Inspired by a recipe I found on Pinterest, last night I made a pork tenderloin. In the end, the only elements of the recipe that I actually used were the idea of wrapping the tenderloin in bacon and using apple to flavor it. It turned out even better than I expected! One element you shouldn't skimp on is the juice. We love the natural apple juice (Mott's brand) because the apple flavor is so strong. It really does taste like fresh-pressed apples. You could use cider or spiced cider, too.

Apple-Bacon Pork Tenderloin

1 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons apple butter
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

4 slices bacon
pork tenderloin

In a small bowl, whisk together the first 6 ingredients. Marinate the tenderloin in the mixture for at least 4 hours (you could do it all day, or overnight, too). In a large skillet, or in the oven, cook bacon until some of the fat is rendered but it's still limp. Remove the tenderloin from the marinade and wrap the bacon around it. Place on a baking sheet or in a dish. Bake at 375° 20-25 minutes.

Stretching Leftovers

For dinner Thursday night, I made pork tenderloin in a simple marinade of garlic, rosemary, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. It's one of my absolute favorite marinades for pork! After feeding my family, plus a friend who had come over to babysit the little ones (praise the Lord!), I had about a four-inch section of tenderloin leftover. Not much, but I rarely throw anything away! I'm glad I kept it because today I needed a simple dinner to come together quickly for Handsome and me. I ended up doing two different things.

#1: I NEVER fix sandwiches for Handsome for dinner. He eats sandwiches every single day for lunch: I know the last thing he wants to see on his dinner plate is a square of bread staring at him. But ... he had Dairy Queen and ice cream for lunch, so I bent my rule a bit. His dinner was indeed a sandwich: sliced pork tenderloin, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, fresh spinach, and Swiss cheese. He loved it!

#2: I didn't want a sandwich. I made pasta with my portion of the pork tenderloin. I mixed angel hair pasta, spinach, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cubed tenderloin, freshly ground black pepper and feta cheese. I loved it!

I love taking bits of leftovers and remaking them into something delicious.

Perfect Bacon

Here's the secret to perfect, neat, easy-to-clean-up-after bacon:

Bake it in the oven.

Yep. That's the secret! The first step is to line a baking sheet (with sides) with aluminum foil.

Next, lay your bacon out side-by-side on the pan. You may not be able to fit all 16 slices on there. I just put the rest in the fridge for another day.

Place the pan in the (cold) oven. Set your temperature to 400. Allow the bacon to bake for about 15 minutes. From this point you'll need to watch it carefully. If you like limp bacon, 15 minutes is probably good. Otherwise, check it every 2 minutes until it reaches the crispy level you like best. Keep in mind that it will crisp up slightly after you take it out of the oven, so I usually err on the limp side to allow for that.

Remove the bacon from the pan to paper towels to drain. Blot off the excess grease with another paper towel. Voila! Perfect bacon.

I know -- that's kind of redundant, isn't it?

Now all you have to do is wait for the grease in the pan to cool, then carefully and loosely fold up the foil and throw the whole mess in the trash. It's a beautiful thing.

Sweet Italian Pork Tenderloin

I tend to make my own marinades a lot. The ingredients are always readily available and I can just throw in what I have using flavors I know my family appreciates. As long as you have the basic building blocks of acid, oil and seasonings, you're good to go. And most marinades are interchangeable with nearly any kind of meat you like. The recipe here works best with pork tenderloin in my opinion, but would probably work just as well with steak or chicken if you prefer.

Marinades are perfect for preparing meat ahead of time. When you grocery shop and find that a particular meat is on a sale too good to pass up, go right ahead and get some if you can. When you get home, whip up a marinade -- even something as simple as your favorite salad dressing -- and freeze the meat right in the marinade using a freezer bag . The next time you need a meal with very little prep time, you've got the main dish ready to go. Most meats thaw very quickly in a cool water bath, or at 30% power in the microwave.

1 pork tenderloin
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Whisk together all ingredients except tenderloin. Place tenderloin in a shallow baking dish. Top with marinade. Marinate for at least two hours. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Simply Six

This is the start to a category of posts that will feature recipes with six ingredients. In general, the ingredients are ones that I keep on hand at all times, or ingredients that I'll use in several recipes that week. To make things easier, water, salt and pepper won't count toward the six ingredient limit. Otherwise,  we'd end up with this every week:

water
pasta
chicken
salt
pepper
butter

Not a bad combo, but awfully plain! Besides, it's my game so I get to make the rules. First up, a favorite lunch of mine ...

Havarti Ham-wiches
4 slices shaved deli ham
1 English muffin, split
2 slices Havarti cheese
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (I always use olive oil mayo)
1 teaspoon honey mustard
1 teaspoon fresh thyme (use any herb you like, and use dried if it's all you have)
black pepper, to taste

Mix the mayo, mustard, thyme, and pepper in a small bowl. Spread on each muffin half. Layer on ham and cheese. Pop under the broiler for 5 minutes or so until the cheese is nice and bubbly. You're all set!