BBQ and the Fair

The fair—a place where you can go to enjoy the sun, pet farmyard animals, see the latest new contraption, and gouge yourself on fatty, fried foods. This years new rave was fried kool-aid which looked like a donut hole plastered in red food colouring. Instead of trying that, the husband tried the fried oreos. They came out as large, fried balls and despite the look, amid the deep fried batter, there was an oreo lodged inside.

Other than the food, the fair was fun. I always enjoy seeing the 4H animals and wandering around aimlessly through the booths. We ran into family members–twice–even with this crazy hordes of people. It’s always nice to see the fam.

When we got home, I started to work on our meal for the night (recipes bellow). We had a lot of catching up to do in the Game of Thrones, so I wanted to make something with that theme. In the end, it didn’t have anything to do with GoT, but it came out great anyways.

Pork Tenderloin with a Black Raspberry Serrano Chili Sauce

Oreo Log Cake

The Tenderloin was adapted from this recipe here

The Brine for the pork:

1/4 cup kosher salt

3 cups water, warm
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup ice cubes
2 pounds pork tenderloin, skin removed
olive oil
black pepper

Dissolve the salt in the 3 cups of warm water. In a gallon-sized plastic bag, place pork and all other ingredients, including the water with salt within. Brine for exactly 20 minutes no longer!

Make your sauce while you’re waiting for this to brine.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 to 2 Serrano chilies, seeded, minced
2 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup seedless black raspberry preserves
1 1/4 cups wine, preferably Merlot, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Add the butter to a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once melted, add the Serrano chilies and garlic and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the black raspberry preserves and 1 cup wine and combine well. Simmer until reduced by half. Add the cornstarch to the remaining 1/4 cup red wine in a small bowl and mix well. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the pan and cook for 5 to 6 minutes more.

Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry. Rub the pork with the olive oil and season with 1 teaspoon salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium heat.

Add the pork tenderloin and cook for 6 minutes on each side, browning evenly and the internal temperature registers 135 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Evenly spread 1/4 cup of the glaze over the pork. Cook for an additional 4 to 5 minutes.

Slice the pork, arrange the slices on a serving platter and serve with remaining warm glaze.