Guest Blogger: Jaren Rabe

When Kelsey asked me to be a guest blogger I was so excited because:
 1.) I have always wanted my 15 minutes of fame and
 2.) I love to cook!

Unfortunately, a lot of the recipes I try changing to be my own end up being mediocre so I never make them again. This recipe, my fans, is not one of those. Yes, I called you guys my fans because you will be once you make this dish. It is just a little spicy, uses fresh ingredients and tastes amazing.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro Rice

Roasted Pork Tenderloins

(This is based off of a recipe by Alton Brown. I changed some
ingredients/measurements and the method used to cook it.)

2 whole pork tenderloins, approximately 2 lbs)
2 limes, zest finely grated
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup honey (the bottle shaped like a bear is usually the best choice)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can of chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions (Exactly as I did.)
Trim the pork tenderloins of any excess fat and silver skin. I've
never worked with pork tenderloin that wasn't already prepped for me
so this was super nasty and hard for me to do. The "silver skin" is
the worst part. Wash your hands 4 times after doing this and sanitize
counter twice because raw meat is gross and could poison your family.

Zest the limes. Make sure you zest the top layer of your thumb off
while doing so. The tears, skin and blood add to the experience and
flavor.

Place the zest, lime juice, honey, salt, adobe peppers and minced
garlic in a bowl and stir until honey is not in big globs on the
bottom anymore. Pour the entire marinade mixture into a 1-gallon
resealable bag. Add the pork tenderloin to the bag and seal, removing
as much air as possible and place the bag into another resealable bag
and then place that bag into a bowl and place it in your fridge. The
double bagging + bowl means no raw meat contamination inside your
fridge which could also potentially poison your family. Marinate in
the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, rotating the bag halfway through
the time.

When it is about an hour away from being ready to cook, start the rice!

Cilantro Rice

(This recipe is based off of a recipe by Aida Mollenkamp. I also
changed some things, so I am giving you my version.)

Ingredients:
About 2 cups packed cilantro leaves (I used 2 "bunches" from the store.)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 medium serrano chile, halved lengthwise and seeded
3 1/3 cups free range chicken broth (free range because it makes you
feel better about killing chickens.)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 minced yellow onion (medium sized)
2 cups jasmine rice
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Combine cilantro (I cut off most of the stems but don't worry about
having them in there), garlic, chile, and 2 cups broth in a blender
and process until smooth; set aside.
Be careful not to get the serrano chile juice onto your zested thumb.
If you happen to get some in there anyways, do not put your hands over
your face in pain because then your eyes and thumb will be on fire.
But I digress.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When it
shimmers, add onion and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add rice
and salt stir to coat in oil and cook until rice becomes opaque, about
2 minutes.

After the rice is opaque, dump everything + the rest of the chicken
broth into a rice cooker and push "white rice" button. If you do not
have a rice cooker, this is what Aida tells you to do:
Carefully pour the cilantro mixture and the remaining 1 1/3 cups broth
into the rice and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce
heat to low so rice is at a simmer. Cover and cook until rice is
tender, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let rice rest covered for
5 minutes.

If you are awesome and have a rice cooker like me, just walk away and
get the pork out of the fridge while your rice cooks itself. Preheat
your oven to 350 degrees. Put both tenderloins and all the marinade
into a casserole dish and place in preheated oven for 35 minutes.
Check it after 35 minutes and if it does not register 140 on a meat
thermometer or look done when you cut into it, put it back in for 10
more minutes. After it is done, cut it into slices and let it sit in
the marinade and soak it up while you stir up the cilantro rice.
Garnish the pork with the fresh cilantro before serving and add a side
of black beans if you are feeling up to it.

My husband said it was his favorite meal of all time so I took a
picture of his plate to capture the moment. I didn't realize I would
writing the blog on this recipe so I apologize for the crappy phone
picture. Trust me, it tastes WAY better than this picture looks!

Editors Note: Jaren, it looks delicious! Shush your mouth!