Test Kitchen #3: Mexican Pork Loin

Last week's test kitchen was postponed as Dad was in Arizona visiting my sister, Christine, and his good friend Mehdi for his birthday. When he returned he brought me a salsa cookbook that he found in his travels. In keeping with the southwestern theme, I decided to try this recipe for a Mexican Pork Loin that I just got from a freelancer friend of mine, the fabulous Miss Jane.

The smallest pork loin I could find at the store was just shy of two pounds, which would be a lot of food for a two person lunch. But when Matt decided to work from home on Tuesday, and with Mom off from school for winter break, I suggested maybe a dinner test kitchen would be a good idea. More test subjects equals more opinions. It may come out good this time, but I'm always interested in how to tweak it for the future.

Jane's recipe uses couscous instead of rice and I used a different frozen vegetable, but other than that it was just as delicious as she said it would be. These are the ingredients and steps as we prepared it, but feel free to add more beans or get crazier with the spices. I played it safe with the spices for the first time out, but I would kick it up more in the future. The wonderful thing about Mexican food it's very forgiving and open to endless varieties.

Mexican Pork Loin

Ingredients: (Serve 4)
2 pounds Pork Tenderloin, cut into one-inch chunks
2 limes or bottled lime juice
2-3 cloves of garlic
Dash of cumin and cilantro
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
Chili powder (sprinkled to coat meat)
Sprinkle of salt & pepper
1 16oz. can of Black Beans, drained & rinsed
1 package of SteamFresh Southwestern Corn
1 cup uncooked Texmati Red & Brown rice
(Needs 45 minutes to cook, see package for directions. Makes 3 cups cooked.)
1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese

Suggested Garnishes:
Salsa
Sour Cream
Scallions

1. Place chunks of pork loin into a bowl and squeeze the juice of two limes all over. (If using bottled juice, 2 Tablespoons equals about 1 medium lime.)

2. Add minced garlic, dash of cumin, and sprinkle of cilantro.
Coat meat lightly with chili powder and a little salt and pepper.
Marinate for at least one hour in the fridge.

3. In large skillet, combine 1 cup of dry rice with 2 1/2 cups of water and a teaspoon of butter. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 more minutes. Fluff with a fork.

4. While the rice is simmering, in another large pan, heat oil and add meat, squeezing a little more lime juice over the top.

5. Stir until almost cooked through, add the black beans and let cook in with the meat. Lower heat to simmer so the beans don't get too mushy and the meat doesn't get tough. Add parsley.

6. When there is about 10 minutes left on the rice, microwave corn for about 3 minutes. (About 2 minutes less than the bag instructs)

7. Once meat is tender, add corn, cover and simmer for a few minutes. You can judge the tenderness if a wooden spoon easily cuts through the meat and there is no pink left in the center.

8. When the rice has been removed from the heat, stir in shredded cheddar cheese until a little sticky.

9. Portion rice out evenly into 4 bowls. Pour meat mixture over rice.
Garnish with your choice of sour cream, salsa or scallions.

The Verdict and Ideas For The Future
Everyone liked this dish quite a lot, but next time I would definitely make more rice. Dad and I thought 3 cups of cooked rice would be plenty, but it barely divided into four bowls. Mixing the cheese into the rice was also a big hit, leaving people wanting seconds that were sadly not there to offer. I can see why Jane's son likes it so much. The garnish of scallions and salsa also topped everything off nicely, gluing all the flavors together.

I've made the Texmati rice many times and the only difference here was the size of the pan. Dad didn't have two large pans and we chose the larger to cook the pork, so the rice ended up in a smaller pan. I think this difference made the rice absorb the liquid unevely and made it kind of mushy. I also remembered at the last minute that I usually cook the rice in chicken broth instead of water to infuse some flavor, which it was kinda of missing.

Everyone really liked the pork and it was surprisingly tender which was such a relief. I don't have a ton of experience cooking pork and was really nervous that it would be tough, which is another reason why I thought this would be a good one for Dad and I: safety in numbers. (Or as Dad would say, if it comes out bad, you have someone else to blame.)

One suggestion was to make the pieces a little smaller. I personally would marinate the meat longer because I felt that the flavor hadn't reached the inside of the meat sufficiently. It would be interesting to see how this would work with the pork in slow cooker all day with the spices and then shredded up. Like a Mexican pulled pork over rice instead of a sandwich. Mom also thought you could have eaten this dish with small hard or soft tortillas, making your own tacos.

Dad wanted some diced onions, or maybe some celery, cooked in with the meat and the beans, but it was too far along by the time we came up with that idea. There's always next time. Either way you tweak it, we've found a new family dinner recipe and I fear cooking pork just a little less than before. ¡Excellente!