February 4, 2013 | 0 Comments

Pork tenderloin with maple whiskey sauce

Pork tenderloin. The most understated of meats.

Oft overlooked in favour of the ubiquitous chicken breast, it is a leaner piece of pork that acts as a sort of culinary blank slate, so great are the possibilities to coat its juicy flanks.

It can be seared, roasted, braised – even thrown into the slow cooker to make pulled pork, sans all of the fat. Or, it can be baked in the oven and draped with a sweet and savoury maple whiskey sauce.

I spied this Maple-finished Crown Royal at the liquor store and beelined for it. I love anything maple, and I do enjoy the occasional tumbler of CR. In the Soph n’ Stuff household it is only around during the Christmas holidays, but I thought an exception could be made in case of Maple. At first I had only culinary things in mind. The sauces I could make! The ice-creams! But then I tried it on its own and was quite pleased. It’s like having whiskey and pancakes at the same time. Yum!

As you can see we enjoyed most of the bottle. Naturally, my mind then drifted to pork. Pork and maple are indelibly married in my books.

I served this pork with a cauliflower puree and steamed veggies. Have you tried cauliflower puree in place of mashed potatoes? I am obsessed with this right now. Actually, I only realized after making cauliflower puree for the first time that I really love the flavour of cauliflower, but I’m not really a fan of its texture in its whole form, which is why I’ve always kind of avoided it. Not anymore! And for a carb addict like me, liking the low-carb option almost as much as the carb-addled potato is a big deal.