Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Jerez-Cranberry-Chipotle Sauce

Why a Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Jerez-Cranberry-Chipotle Sauce? Growing up in Mexico, if I were to walk in the house and saw my family preparing pork, I knew we were celebrating something special. That's just the way it was. You already know, because I've mentioned it here many times, we celebrated a lot! Serving up a special pork recipe was how our family said thanks and gave back to our loved ones. So when I think of festive holiday dishes today, my mind always leads me first to pork tenderloin, or a spiral ham, or pork chops, or even carnitas.

Thanks to the great folks at DiMe Media and the National Pork Board for making this festive holiday post possible. As always, my opinions, comments and love for my family's holiday traditions are my own.

In addition to all that, we like to stuff things in Mexico, too, especially during the holidays, it gives us the chance to present our families with an extra special blend of delicious flavors for celebrations. So when it's stuffed and it's pork, it's like a double celebration!

Stuffed pork tenderloin is one of my family's traditional holiday dishes. And I'm so happy to say that this recipe will be featured on Pork Be Inspired.com as one of their “Porksgiving” recipes, because serving it really is the perfect way of saying thanks and giving back to those we love.

It's a new twist on the dish, combining the traditional Thanksgiving ingredient, cranberry sauce, with the smoky, spicy chipotle pepper we love so much in Mexico. All together, it just adds up to one beautifully festive dish and it looks great on a holiday table. It's inspiring to create new, fun, easy to cook, and amazingly tasty dishes with fresh pork, and I hope you will be inspired to create your own recipes, too.

One last thing I wanted to mention before I share this recipe with you. One of the under-appreciated benefits of cooking with pork is that it cooks quite quickly. This is true, of course, all year round and makes for easy meals that are ready in minutes. During the holidays, it is especially beneficial when oven space and time is at a premium.

Makes 10-12 one inch slices.
Prep time 15 minutes
From Start to Finish: 1 hour 20 minutes

For the Pork Tenderloin

1 pound pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 cup finely chopped sweet onion
3 fresh dill sprigs, finely chopped
3 fresh parsley sprigs, finely chopped
30 roasted salted almonds, roughly chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste

For the Jerez-Cranberry-Chipotle Sauce

1/2 cup Jerez or Sherry
3/4 cup cranberry sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 chipotle adobado pepper, (find this in a can in the Hispanic product aisle at the supermarket)
Salt to taste

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F

Place pork tenderloin on a flat clean surface. Carefully insert a long knife in one end of the loin like a skewer, twist the knife to create a small cavity, repeat on the other side. (See photo). Set apart.

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a medium pan, add onion and cook until soft and starting to change color. Turn heat off.

Combine onions, dill, parsley, almonds, and golden raisins. Salt to taste. Blend well.

Stuff tenderloin with onions mix, using your fingers to push the filling all the way into the meat.

Season generously every surface of the pork tenderloin with salt pepper and garlic powder.

Heat the other tablespoon of olive oil in a pan big enough to contain the whole pork tenderloin. When oil is hot, carefully sear all surfaces of the pork. It will look like this:

Place seared tenderloin, uncovered, in a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F. Decrease to 350 degrees F, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 15-20 minutes more, or until the interior of the meat reaches 155 degrees F. Remove from oven, keep it covered with the foil, and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

While tenderloin is still in the oven, prepare the sauce.

In a small pot, combine Jerez or Sherry, cranberry sauce, balsamic vinegar, and chipotle pepper. Mix until well blended and heat at medium-high until sauce boils and starts to thicken. Reduce temperature to simmer and reduce sauce to a thick consistency, this will take approx 20-25 minutes. Salt to taste. Strain the sauce with a sieve and set apart.

Now, after having taken the tenderloin out of the oven and letting it rest for 10 minutes, slice it into 1 inch thick rounds and serve with sauce. That's it!

Visit Pork Be Inspired for more festive pork recipes to try and share with your family.

Enjoy!

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Silvia Martinez

Silvia started bilingual website Mama Latina Tips in 2009 to connect and share her stories, recipes and culture with readers. Silvia loves dancing, cooking, watching movies, reading, throwing Mexican parties and spending time with family and friends. Silvia is the winner of The Great American Recipe.

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