Tenderloin

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Big_Del

Assistant Cook
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
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13
Was going to try a recipe for beef tenderloin I saw on the greatest show on Earth (Good Eats), but wasn't going to fork out nearly $12/pound!

Can pork tenderloin be subbed for beef tenderloin (will cook all the way through, not just to medium-rare)?

Chris
 
Not knowing what the recipe is, cannot really comment.

But beef and pork tenderloin, and we do love both, are very different.

If you post the recipe I am sure the very kind folks on this site will give you great advice.
 
Where do you find it for $12 a pound? The last I bought was nearly $30!

It's perfectly safe to eat today's pork while still pink but the flavors are so completely different it wouldn't be the same dish. That isn't to say it wouldn't be very good.
 
They really require different cooking techniques because pork tenderloin is so much "narrower". A good thing to do with PT is to marinate it in say, a soy/teriyaki marinade for an hour. Then in a cast iron or un-non-stick oven proof skillet, sear it on all sides. Put it in a 400* oven for about 15 minutes more. Let rest. The internal temp should be 145*--NO more!!
Beef tenderloin fluctuates in price a lot but I have never seen it at $30 even at Whole Foods. Sam's and Costco have good prices. It goes up around holidays. I usually pat about $8.99.
 
Beef and Pork loins taste different but I have supsatuted pork tenderloin for catering jobs because of the cost and they loved it. I use a jerk seasoning and serve it with sauted onions and a fruit chuttney.
 
Well, the recipe is steak poivre, I think. It's really quite easy. Salt up the 1.5" thick steaks on each face and then "dredge" (not really the technique, but I can't think of any other way to put it) each face on very coarse cracked peppercorns. Lube your pan and cook on both sides. Then there are directions for a pan sauce. Return the steaks to the pan and cover in the pan sauce. Serve.

Sam's had whole beef tenderloin for $12.99, but the smallest package topped out over 5.5# and $75 is a whole lot of money to plunk down like that. At $8.99, it would still be alot, but a big special occasion would warrant it.

If my wife sees pink anywhere near pork, she runs to the microwave. We had to stop giving the kids strawberry milk one time...lol! My wife likes her steaks well done, while I prefer mine medium rare (and have eaten pork and chicken done this way, but that wasn't completely on purpose).

Anyway, Good Eats had an episode on tenderloin ("Tender is the Loin") and it just looked to good to not investigate.

Thanks for all the help!

Chris
 
You don't have to use tenderloin steaks for steak au poivre. Any good steak will do. Actually, I'd prefer a sirloin strip for this dish - more beef flavor to stand up to the peppercorns.
 
For steak au poivre, pork and beef are not interchangeable, IMO.

They taste too different.

You may not need an entire tenderloin if you are going to cut it into steaks. What will you do withthe excess? Maybe just buy individual steaks.

PLus ...

If you are cooking your meat to well done, it's probably not worth it to pay big bucks for filet mignon. Try a NY strip or other cut, as Andy says.
 
jenny,

Eventually, the entire tenderloin would be eaten. I happen to be a big fan of beef.

My wife's steak would be well done. The kids' meat would be medium and mine would be as close to medium rare as I can get it.

The recommendation for the entire tenderloin was that it tends to be much much cheaper to buy cryovac-ed whole as opposed to already cut. The whole monsters come packaged right from the factory, so there is less knifework going on to jack the prices up on.

I will stick with beef for this recipe, though.

Chris
 
As has already been said, pork is not a good substitute for beef.

However, you could make a pork au poivre and it would taste great. It just won't taste like beef.
 
I entirely agree with jennyema and Andy, you probably do not want the tenderloin if you are making the steak well done.

To me the advantage of the tenderloin is that is just that, tender. And I have never had a well done steak that was that. Think there are better tasting cuts than the tenderloin anyway. So why pay the freight of tenderloin when you are not getting the benefit?

Agree with Jennyema that pork and beef tenderloins are quite different, and I love the pork. But again we are on the pink side of pork tenderloins. (As a kid both our parents used to cremate, there really is no other work for it, pork. It was tasty but did not like the toughness. Believe you can eat it on the pink side with no ill effects when you buy if in the supermarket. And pink pork tenderloin, yumm).

Have been thinking about it, and am not totally sure pork tenderloin au poivre would be all that bad. Jennyema is always right on, but we might just give it a try. But there are so many other dishes we want to try.

Too many recipes and so little time. Drat.
 
I cook pork very often in Beijing because Chinese pork is of excellent quality and inexpensive.

I like it cold for sandwiches. I wrap it tightly in foil with a tsp of evoo and bake it for 1 hour at 375 F. There is a delicious 3 or 4 Tbsp of gravy retained in the packet.

I also like Bourbon Maple Pork.

Combine 1/4 cup Bourbon, 2 Tbsp Maple syrup, 2 Tbsp tomato ketchup and 1/4 cuo water. Mainate the tenderloin overnight in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Cut the pork into thick slices and BBQ 6 minutes each side, or alternatively broil for the same time until cooked through and no pink remains.
 
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