Recipes by Zola - Pork Tenderloin with a Secret Cheddar Onion Ring Crust

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Pork Tenderloin with a Secret Cheddar Onion Ring Crust

Zola Gorgon

Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard...

Necessity is the "mother of invention." At least it was for me.

The other night I wanted to make a breaded pork tenderloin. When I went to the grocery store, I picked up a plump, fresh pork tenderloin and the potatoes and vegetables for my side dishes, perfectly confident that I had the bread crumbs I was going to need to coat my tenderloin.

Who doesn't have bread crumbs in their cupboard? Bread crumbs are one of those things that seem to multiply in my cupboard. I'm one of those people who buys the tubular cardboard containers of bread crumbs. I have the Italian-flavored ones, the plain ones and I usually find out when I need them that I have an extra half-empty container of each and even a full, back-up or two of each flavor.

Not this particular evening. I was in our Chicago condo, which you've heard more than once is not as large as our Madison home so it has fewer cupboards. I had no idea I had no tubular containers of bread crumbs. So, there's always Plan B. Just go the old-fashioned route and make your own bread crumbs, right? Again, not this time. No bread. None. No bread in the bread drawer. None in the refrigerator. None in the freezer. Nothing that even resembled bread. When you're trying to do the low-carb thing like me, you might not even have an English muffin around. But this night I had a hankering for a breaded pork tenderloin and I was not to be denied!

Not often do I have to go to Plan C. Good cooks know they can always go for crackers and potato chips, nuts or even cereal for "crumbs." We can grind up just about anything in our handy-dandy food processors. When I was rooting around in my cupboard deciding which crackers were going to be my "victims" and destined to be ground up in my processor, I came across my "goldmine"! I literally chirped "Ah HA!" Cheddar-flavored fried onion-rings were right in front of my eyes!

These were the new flavor of those little fried onion rings that traditionally people put on that famous green been casserole. These came out just in time for Thanksgiving or Christmas (I'm not sure which) but, as soon as I saw them, of course, I had to pick up a can and have them around "just in case." I had moved them around the cupboard several times while I desperately searched for the bread crumbs, never seeing the wonderful prize before my eyes. In my need for Plan C--the "mother of invention"--my new inspiration flashed before me. Crush the onion rings and I'd have a new flavor sensation to coat my pork tenderloin! Lest I go too far with my new idea, I tempered myself by mixing it with cracker crumbs and you now get to enjoy my result.

And enjoy we did, so I hope you do too.

Pork Tenderloin with the Secret Cheddar Onion Ring Crust

1 cup crushed crackers (You choose the flavor of your favorite cracker.)
1-1/2 cups crushed cheddar-flavored fried onion rings (O & C is one brand or the regular flavor will work fine.) (I didn't put these in the processor. I just sort of rough-smashed them.)
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 pork tenderloin
3 Tbl Dijon mustard
1 large egg, beaten
Olive oil spray

Mix your crushed crackers and smashed onion rings together on a large flat surface. Mix your parsley and your Parmesan on another flat surface. Beat your egg and pour it on a dinner plate. Spread the tenderloin all over with the mustard.

This is going to be a slippery job, but pick up your mustard-coated tenderloin and roll it in your beaten egg. Then roll it in the cracker crumbs/onion crumbs and then the Parmesan/parsley mixture. Pat the mixtures into the tenderloin gently, coaxing the stuff to adhere. You can go back and forth a couple of times to get as much as possible of the stuff to stick as you can.

When you've gotten as much as you can of the crunchy stuff and the cheese to stick, spray the whole thing with olive oil and put in your roasting pan. Roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes until your roasting thermometer reaches 165 to 170 degrees. This will leave the meat slightly pink and still moist inside.

Let the meat rest for 5 to 10 minutes outside of the oven before you slice it. Carefully take it out of the roasting pan and be sure to slice it with a very sharp knife. Slice in one-half to one-inch slices. The crust will tend to slide off, so be careful. If it does come off in parts, don't be dismayed. It still tastes great and, if you serve with mashed potatoes, you can just sort of stir the bits of coating around and it mixes into the potatoes just fine.

This dish serves two and doubles very easily. If you want to serve six you might be able to get away with two tenderloins, depending on how large they are and how large a portion of meat you want to serve.

Enjoy!

This news arrived on: 03/07/2005

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