Tortilla-Crusted Pork

I found this one while looking for low-carb recipes on myrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

• 2 Pounds Pork Tenderloin
• 1/2 cup finely crushed blue-corn tortilla chips
• 1/2 cup finely crushed tortilla chips
• 1 Tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salsa

Directions:

1. Remove silver skin from tenderloin, leaving a thin layer of fat covering tenderloin.  Cut tenderloin into 1-inch thick medallions.
2. Combine blue-corn tortilla chips, tortilla chips, ground pepper, chili powder, salt, and cumin into a bowl. 
   
3. Brush pork medallions with 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil and dredge them in the tortilla chip mixture, pressing mixture into all sides to thoroughly coat.
4. Cook pork medallions in remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat for about 6 minutes on each side, or until done.
   
5. Serve with salsa.

Step-by-step

1. I didn’t know exactly what “silver skin” they were talking about.  At the time, I just trimmed off what looked like big fat deposits, so according to this site, which actually explains about trimming pork tenderloin, I probably covered all the bases on that one.
2. No problem here.  In the future, unless I’m fixing this for a special occasion, I’ll probably just just use all regular tortilla chips instead of going out of my way to buy the blue ones.  I guess they taste a little different, but I think I’ll take my chances since they’re more expensive and I then end up with two big bags of opened tortilla chips instead of just one.  Granted, they also make the finished product prettier, but I can get over that.
3. I finally bought a basting/pastry brush.  I’ve gotten around it on a couple of recipes before, but since it keeps coming up, I went ahead and got one.  In this case, I didn’t want a thick layer of oil, so the brush was definitely worth it.
4. Something I like about pork medallions is that they’re a bit like the Oral B Indicator tooth brush.  I know the recipe says 6 minutes, but you can tell just by looking how far the pork has cooked just by looking at the side as it turns from pink to white.  I just let it get white halfway up, then flip it over and let it finish.  Easy, breezy, beautiful.
5. Since there are just two of us, I usually make a recipe twice off a single tenderloin.  The first time I made this, I forgot about the salsa.  They were still good, but when I served them with the salsa the second time, they were much better. 

Verdict:

I’m starting to really like pork tenderloin.  This is the second recipe good recipe I’ve found using pork tenderloin.  I’m so used to just cooking with beef and chicken, but I’ve always liked pork chops, so finding another way to add pork back onto the menu in new and different way is strangely exciting. 

I have another recipe for pork tenderloin that I like better, but this one is definitely a keeper.  The tortilla chips in the coating added a crunch, while the spices and salsa gave it just enough of a flavorful kick.