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"OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-07-11 at 11:05 AM
This turn for the OTCC was a major challenge because of all the great recipes posted so far and I wanted to have something different. My first few recipe ideas went by the wayside as I realized they were too similar to others – had a Neapolitan homemade pizza recipe, but saw that Tummy had done a BBQ pizza one with many of the same ingredients for the handmade crust and also I had a “Son-of-a-Bitch Stew” one, an old recipe in honour of our recent trip to the Wild West in Alberta, but a Cowboy Stew had already been done. Anyhoo, hope you guys find this recipe to be enjoyable.


Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad

This should only take about 20-25 minutes from start to finish, depending on what you decide to add to it – I’ve given a couple of options below. Serves 4 people.

Ingredients:

4 large shredded carrots
2 green onions – thinly sliced
4 tbsp (1/4 cup) olive oil – will be divided
4 tbsp (1/4 cup) lemon juice – divided
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp honey - divided
1 tsp ground cumin - divided
1/2 tsp salt – divided
1 pound (450 g) pork tenderloin
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pepper

Optional:
Couscous (or basmati rice, depending on your taste preferences or availability in your area)
8-10 new potatoes
Kraft Sun-dried Tomatoes and Oregano dressing

If you’ve decided to make basmati rice instead of couscous or you’ve decided to go with the potatoes, they would need to be started first because of the extra time. Take that into consideration before you start the pork.

Let’s start with the carrot salad as it’s easy to make and can be set aside before starting on the main course.

Carrot Salad

In a large bowl, shred carrots and combine with chopped green onions, 2 tbsp of the olive oil, 3 tbsp of the lemon juice, all of the cilantro, 1 tbsp of the honey, 1/2 tsp of the cumin, and 1/4 tsp of the salt. Mix and then set aside.

Moroccan pork tenderloin

Cut the pork into eight 1-inch-thick medallions. Lay them out on a plate.

Reserve one tbsp of the remaining oil.
In another bowl, combine paprika, cinnamon, pepper and the left-over oil, lemon juice, honey, cumin and salt. When it’s well-mixed, sprinkle over the pork and ensure that both sides are covered. Use a spoon to lightly rub the sauce into the pork.

If you’re making the couscous, now’s the time to put it into boiling water just as you’re about to start the pork tenderloins.

In a heavy skillet, heat the reserved 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. Cook the pork tenderloins 3-4 minutes each side or until juices run clear when you pierce it with a fork.

Do a final stirring of the carrot salad and serve on a plate with the pork and couscous.

Optional – new potatoes:
Boil the new potatoes for 15-20 minutes until it is close to being soft.
Let it cool off for a few minutes, then slice each potato in half, lengthwise.
Mix in a bowl with enough sun-dried tomatoes and oregano dressing to coat it.
In a frying pan, place potatoes flat-side down and fry for about five minutes or until there is a nice little char pattern on it.
Serve with the pork and carrot salad along with the couscous.



All of the ingredients


The shredded carrots along with the prepared spices and vegs


Two choices for sides to go with the pork. The kids are usually fussy, so if I'm serving for them, they'd go for the basmati rice. I prefer the couscous as it matches the ethnic theme.


The carrot salad after everything's been added to it


The sliced pork medallions


After the sauce has been applied to it


Cooking the pork medallions


New potatoes being fried


Ta da. Overexposure of the camera flash hides the nice light char pattern on the pork.

Table of contents
Messages in this discussion
"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by qwertypie on 05-07-11 at 03:50 PM
WAHOO! Mr. Qwerty just coincidentally brought home a pork tenderloin and I am always at a loss what to do with those suckers.

Couscous eludes me (but makes for good spackle) so I think I'll use bulgar wheat instead.

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-09-11 at 08:49 PM
Bulgur works, whatever fits your taste buds!

Perfect, you've done the 'hard work' in getting the pork tenderloin - from there on, it's only a ten-minute process to get it whipped up onto a plate with the sauce and the sauteing of the pork.

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by qwertypie on 05-10-11 at 11:41 PM
Plating it now. Be back soon with the review

(The house smells wonderful)

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by qwertypie on 05-11-11 at 00:46 AM
OK, I wimped out a little and made basmati rice instead of potatoes or couscous/bulgar wheat. Sue me.

Sorry to say there was a major problem with the carrot salad. There was not nearly enough. Mr. Qwerty and I finished it easily with no left overs for the kiddies tomorrow (they are going to be ticked at us for sure). Next time I would double everything. Because our green onions had seen better days, I chopped up a little bit of red onion and it worked really well. The carrot salad improved it's flavour the longer it sat (not that it sat very long). Next time I will make it late at night and let it rest overnight in the fridge).

The pork was so easy to do. Mr. Qwerty had bought a boneless pork roast so I sliced about half of it into 1 inch chunks. It fried up very quickly. An excellent way to stretch a roast.

The ony thing I would try differently would be to let it marinate awhile longer. The flavour was mild and subtle, everyone adored the pork.

And now I am off to clean the bathroom because Sammo Whammo Blammo absconded with the honey and decided to coat the walls and floor.

Thanks Pepe for another winner of recipe. I never know what to do with the pork roasts that Mr. Qwerty is fond of bringing home and this will definitely be made again.

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-11-11 at 07:30 AM
Great that it worked out for you!

I agree that it probably would work out well to let the sauce marinate on the pork for a while - one of the key benefits of this recipe is that it's so easy to use for a quick weeknight meal and is a favourite of ours because during the week, neither of us feel like making anything complicated ... so this recipe is nice for a meal that isn't something crappy like Kraft dinner or pancakes for the little kids, but doesn't require a major process in the kitchen.

If you've got the time, it'd be worth seeing how the flavour works after a few hours marinating in the sauce.

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by qwertypie on 05-11-11 at 09:15 AM
or pancakes for the little kids,
LOL - We did that Monday with ham steak and scrambled eggs. Littlest DD still thinks having breakfast food at night is a special treat, oldest DD is on to me.

To everyone else - Pepe is right, this is a really quick, yummy meal. It is mild enough that the kids loved it but spiced enough to make it tasty for the gr'ups. This is going to become a regular at our house.

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by Tummy on 05-09-11 at 09:49 AM
Pepe - I can't wait to make this. In particular the carrot salad. I have a whole row of carrots coming up in the garden and this sounds so fresh and easy!


Floating my cares away with Agman - 2011

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by Puffy on 05-09-11 at 09:37 PM

Beautiful pictures!



"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by Tummy on 05-11-11 at 10:42 AM
Score! I bought pork tenderloin for 1.99 a lb last night. Cheaper than lean ground beef! Making this Saturday.


Floating my cares away with Agman - 2011

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-11-11 at 04:39 PM
Lucky you. We spent $5.99 a pound for our tenderloin last Friday - and that was considered to be a sale price.
"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by Tummy on 05-12-11 at 05:39 PM
Yowsa! That's how much we spend for T-bones.


Floating my cares away with Agman - 2011

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-12-11 at 06:37 PM
Well, we don't have too many farm animals around here who practically serve as neighbours. *grin*
"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by Tummy on 05-13-11 at 09:25 AM
You don't know what you're missing! My "neighbors" leave me fresh manure for my compost pile.


Floating my cares away with Agman - 2011

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by MKitty on 05-11-11 at 02:28 PM
that looks totally awesome! Will definately try this



Summarized by the Capn!

"YUM YUM YUM!"
Posted by frodis on 05-12-11 at 02:48 PM
Pepe, this is delicious. Thank you for this recipe!

I made the pork last night (I did not have carrots so I didn't try the salad yet, but I do plan to because it sounds very fresh and delicious.)


I didn't have a pork tenderloin, but I did have a small pork roast, which I sliced into thin cutlets. It worked perfectly.

(I'm trying not to shop until the weekend which is why I'm using up freezer stuff and why I didn't just go buy carrots.)

I put the sliced up pork into a large Ziploc bag with all of the seasoning ingredients (the oil, paprika, cinnamon, salt, pepper, cumin, honey, lemon juice.) Note: I did NOT tweak the ingredients! Just the method. I'm a big fan of "throw it in a Ziploc and smush it around" method.

I did let the pork slices sit in the spice mix bag in the fridge for about a half hour before cooking.

I sauteed the pork cutlets in peanut oil because it just seemed to fit.

My daughter proclaimed these "the best pork chops ever" and coming from a 4 year old who adores pork chops, that's very high praise. The 2 year old loved it as well.

Mr. Fro also thought it was delicious and had several cutlets.

I adored this. I actually snuck a leftover pork cutlet out of the fridge this morning and ate it cold, like a cookie. VERY delicious.

I actually think that when I do make this again (and I will) and I make the carrot salad along with it, that if I sliced the leftover pork cutlets into strips and added it to a lettuce cup with some of the carrot salad, that it would make an excellent lettuce wrap. MMMM. Mouth watering.

"RE: YUM YUM YUM!"
Posted by qwertypie on 05-12-11 at 03:31 PM
I was thinking the same thing. It would make excellent wraps, but I don't think we would have leftovers. I guess I could reserve some of the pork right away.
"RE: YUM YUM YUM!"
Posted by frodis on 05-12-11 at 03:45 PM
Or do two tenderloins at once! For some reason they're on sale here a lot as buy one get one free - which is really the only time I buy them.

I usually have an idea for one and then the other one sits in the freezer until the memory of whatever I did with the first one fades away so that I can do it again.

"RE: YUM YUM YUM!"
Posted by samboohoo on 05-13-11 at 09:27 AM
Pffft. You didn't have carrots? Like you would have actually used carrots for the carrot salad.


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"RE: YUM YUM YUM!"
Posted by frodis on 05-16-11 at 01:41 PM
To be perfectly honest, I thought about substituting corn for the carrots.

(I do think that would be tasty and I still had a bit of frozen sweet corn from last year's CSA.)


A Mmmmmmmoonie plate special!

"Sweet Paprika Help!"
Posted by samboohoo on 05-16-11 at 01:19 PM
Was anyone else unable to find this?

Any suggestions for substitution?

Two stores, and can't find it. I was happy to re-find the Kraft Sundried Tomato dressing. It's one of my favorites, and our regular store no longer carries it.


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"RE: Sweet Paprika Help!"
Posted by frodis on 05-16-11 at 01:39 PM
Did you find any paprika at all? I wouldn't use sharp or hot, (or half-sharp) but would probably try smoked paprika in this recipe.

You could leave it out altogether. There are a lot of spices in this dish and while the paprika is a good flavor I don't think you'd miss it too much.

Or, you could use a mild chili powder. It would be a little different (smokier, and lots of chili powders contain cumin which is also a separate ingredient here) but it would probably still be good.


A Mmmmmmmoonie plate special!

"RE: Sweet Paprika Help!"
Posted by samboohoo on 05-16-11 at 02:52 PM
I have regular. I saw some smoked, but it was more than $4. I saw a suggestion elsewhere about adding a little sugar.

I'm also going to be using regular red potatoes instead of new. I already had them and wasn't going to spend $4 just for new.

I've become cheap lately about food, but I just hate wasting it.


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"RE: Sweet Paprika Help!"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-16-11 at 03:13 PM
Regular potatoes would be fine instead of new potatoes - to get the same effect, just chop up the potatoes into, maybe, 1 inch by 1/2 inch cubes.

And, to tell you the truth, I use regular paprika most of the time for this recipe as I often don't have the sweet paprika as I live in a somewhat "redneck" area and the store near me typically doesn't have all of the spices and international flavours that I'd find in a more frou-frou neighbourhood or in the big city of Toronto. With the small sample in this recipe, you won't notice a huge difference in flavour.

"RE: Sweet Paprika Help!"
Posted by samboohoo on 05-16-11 at 03:56 PM
Every time I don't find something I shake my fist at the ceiling and say, "More buying power, my big toe!" LOL.

Our favorite local grocer sold out last year to Giant, which promises more buying power. Sometimes the realization of that really stings because it's sometimes crap they buy more of. For instance, you can either buy Lea & Perins Worcestershire Sauce or Giant. Lee & Perins is too expensive, and Giant is blah. Same with hot cocoa. They've stopped carrying several things I used to buy. It sucks, but they are actually cheaper than the Food Lion or Kroger.

That's right American friends, someone is cheaper than Kroger - at least on much of what I buy.

We have local or specialty places around town, but they aren't convenient.


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"RE: Sweet Paprika Help!"
Posted by frodis on 05-16-11 at 03:15 PM
I would say, just use the regular. There's already honey in the seasonings so you probably don't even have to bother with sugar.


One of my resolutions was to waste less food, so that's why I'm limiting my shopping to once a week. I'm a classic impulse buyer, so even if I run into the store for just one thing, I end up buying other stuff. We end up with stuff we can't use up quickly enough. (10 for $10 yogurts, things like that.)


"RE: Sweet Paprika Help!"
Posted by samboohoo on 05-16-11 at 03:52 PM
This past Saturday was my quickest weekly trip to the store ever. I thought it would be my cheapest. I thought wrong. I am still wondering how I spent $95.

The pork tenderloin was on sale, so I was super excited.

I have wasted too many yogurts recently as well, so I've stopped buying for now. I've also done a much better job of just saying no - even to those impulse buys.


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"RE: Sweet Paprika Help!"
Posted by weltek on 05-18-11 at 10:35 AM
Ditto. Our cupboards and freezer are full and it's an easy way to cut spending for a few months til we are cleared out. We have a freezer full of beef and a lot of chicken, so I don't really need to buy meat. Thus, I'm thinking of trying this with chicken or even burger...I know, weird.


-A Tribetastic Creation

"RE: Sweet Paprika Help!"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-18-11 at 12:44 PM
I think it would go well with chicken. And as for burger? Why not? Experiment with different tastes and fillings - you could probably add a couple of ripe avocado slices to go with the sauce here and slather it on top of the burger, then top with some lettuce and even some shredded carrots. I'm sure it goes without saying, but leave the mustard and ketchup out of this one.
"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by Tummy on 05-16-11 at 02:45 PM
I was the opposite of Fro. I made the carrot salad but didn't have time for the pork this past weekend.

I had a girl's night at a friends house - she had her high school friend's visiting and Saturday night was the big get together. We had to wear hats(of course mine was a blinged out cowboy hat), learn to belly dance and line dancing and then played Donkey. Everyone brought something, so I made the carrot salad to go with her brisket. I had no left-overs. *pout It was a hit, so so fresh tasting.

I promise to make the pork this coming Saturday!


Floating my cares away with Agman - 2011

"On hold for a night"
Posted by samboohoo on 05-16-11 at 08:04 PM
So I was ready to come home and make it tonight and then realized it was supposed to be CiCi's Fundraiser Night for Conner's school. We do this about every six weeks - a portion of the sales go directly to the school. Moms not only get a night off from cooking, but we can mingle and talk while the kids hit the game room (or sit at the table and read). Anywho, I came home from CiCi's and made the carrot salad and then took Frody's method of putting the pork in a ziploc bag. I actually tripled the sauce for the pork to make sure I had enough. I felt like I had a lot of pork. Tomorrow night it will be a breeze!


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"Verdict!"
Posted by samboohoo on 05-18-11 at 10:14 AM
Very good! I may have overcooked the pork a tad. I was fine with it. DH prefers it a little less done. The only meat I like less than well is steak.

I fried the potatoes with onions. I didn't boil them first.

The carrot salad was surprisingly good to me, and I agree with Frodis about the idea of the lettuce wraps. I only had baby carrots. I did not shred them, I cut them into smaller strips. DH said it would have been better shredded. I made the carrot salad on Tuesday, so the flavors had a whole day to mix.


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by Penelope Le Pew on 05-18-11 at 03:57 PM
Hey honey, I'd like this dinner on the long weekend. Love tender pork and carrot salad.

See you soon! xoxo

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-21-11 at 08:04 PM
Dinner is served, m'lady. Come and get it.
"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by Penelope Le Pew on 05-21-11 at 08:48 PM
Thanks Pepe! Dinner was delicious!

Love you!

"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by arkiegrl on 05-21-11 at 03:41 PM
I cooked this for lunch today for my son, a friend of mine, and me. My son and my friend (Mr. "I will eat anything you put in front of me") would not try the carrot salad or the potatoes. I thought the potatoes were ok, but really didn't care for the carrot salad. The pork was really good, though, and I will definitely being making that again.
"RE: OTCC 2011: Moroccan Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Carrot Salad"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 05-21-11 at 05:29 PM
Not a surprise about the carrot salad... I've found that people either love-love it or they hate it, rarely a middle ground to be found. I don't like the salad myself (I'm known to be a finicky eater with vegs) but most in the family love-love it as it's an ideal complement to the pork.
"Carrot salad=Delish!"
Posted by weltek on 08-02-11 at 10:30 AM
I used my fancy new gift of a 3 in 1 peeler to julienne the carrots, and didn't have green onions, so just thin shaved and chopped some yellow onion.

I thought carrot salad was weird, because my in laws made it with a mayo dressing. This, however, was everything carrot salad SHOULD be! Fresh, savory, sweet...a perfect summer side! Thanks, Pepe!



-A Tribetastic Creation

"Clarification on ingredients"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 08-02-11 at 10:54 AM
Glad you enjoyed the salad!

Thanks for bumping it ... gives me a chance to make the recipes clearer as I realized from qwerty's turn on the OTCC that it would have been better to separate the two recipes instead of listing all of the ingredients together. A friend tried the recipe and reported that he had a little difficulty figuring out the exact fractions for each part as he had to work backwards from each part of the recipe to the total listed in the ingredients.

So... here goes:

Carrot Salad ingredients:
4 large shredded carrots
2 green onions – thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt


Moroccan pork tenderloin sauce ingredients:
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt

Also, it depends on the size of the tenderloin, I've found that bigger ones benefit greatly from a doubling of the sauce ingredients.