I always think of pork as “the other white meat”. I did some searching on the web today to see if pork really is considered a white meat. It’s actually a red meat … the article I read said pork is a red meat and called it “pink”. I did read, however, that some cuts of pork are just as healthy as skinless chicken breast. One of those is pork tenderloin. This is great news, the news I was looking for. Dennis and I enjoy pork tenderloin. Kylie, not so much. Let’s just say she’s not a real lover of pork. So, when I cook pork for us, I adjust what I’m making for her.

I love the flavoring of citrus with jalapeños on any type of meat. Tonight, I decided to make that the main flavoring for our pork tenderloin tacos.

After unwrapping my tenderloin, I rinsed it in cold water and patted it dry with a paper towel. Patting your meat dry will help it to sear better. Once the meat was rinsed and dried off, I began to put together my spice rub. Kosher salt, pepper, dried oregano, cumin, crushed red pepper flakes and onion powder made up my spice rub for the pork.

I browned the pork on all sides on my cooktop before transferring it to the slow cooker. This took about 7 minutes.

My crockpot has an insert that can be used for browning meat on the stove and then placed directly back into the crock pot base. This is really quite convenient. I love my crock pot and recommend it to people all the time. It is by All-Clad and can be found at Williams-Sonoma or Sur la Table. I’m sure you can find it on amazon.com as well.

While the pork was browning, I zested one orange and two limes. I then squeezed the juice out of them in my citrus juicer. I found this at Crate & Barrel, but you can find one very similar on amazon.com.

My orange and limes were quite juicy. Look at all that juice I got out of them!

After I was done juicing my orange and limes, I added 1/4 cup of olive oil to a large measuring cup. (You’ll want to use a larger measuring cup because you’ll be adding to the olive oil). After I poured the olive oil into my measuring cup, I added 1 cup of orange marmalade. To that, I added most of the zest from my orange and limes, 4 cloves of minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. I added the juice from my citrus and whisked everything together.

Next, I took any zest that was left on my cutting board and drizzled it on top of the pork. I then poured the olive oil, juice and garlic mixture over and around the pork, placing fresh sliced jalapeños over the top of the pork (seeds removed).

I set my crock pot to cook on high for four hours. I then went upstairs (laundry called … doesn’t it always? It seems to be the never-ending task) for just about a half an hour and was amazed at how good the house smelled after just turning the crock pot on.

I removed the pork from my crockpot when the time was up and let me just say, it shredded beautifully. The meat turned out perfectly tender and flavorful. I spooned some of the juice in the pan over the meat before shredding and serving.

I’m serving the tacos on corn tortillas and for toppings I’m using shredded cabbage, sour cream and shredded sharp white cheddar cheese, along with sliced green onions. Of course, a little salsa will make an appearance as well.

The tacos were fantastic. Dennis couldn’t stop talking about how much he enjoyed the pork. Thank you, Dennis! This is why I enjoy cooking as much as I do. He’s a wonderful husband and makes a fabulous audience and guinea pig. He loves to try my new recipes and for that, I am so thankful.

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin, rinsed and patted dry
• 1 orange, zest and juice
• 2 limes, zest and juice
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 2 jalapeños, sliced (seeds removed if you wish)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup orange marmelade

Directions

1. Rinse and pat dry pork tenderloin.
2. In a small glass bowl mix salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, onion powder, and red pepper flakes. Rub onto pork.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and brown pork on all sides. Place pork into crock pot or place crock pot insert back into base of crock pot.
4. Zest and then juice the limes and orange.
5. In large glass measuring cup, add 1/4 cup olive oil. To the olive oil, add orange marmalade and whisk together. Add juice of limes and orange to measuring cup.
6. Place minced garlic into measuring cup, along with zest of limes and orange and red pepper flakes. Whisk again.
7. Pour over and around pork, adding jalapeño slices on top of tenderloin. Set crock pot to high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris