Curried Raspberry Catalina Pork Tenderloin

I will be working Valentine’s Day evening so I made a special little dinner for hubby and me last night.  Every three or four months, Safeway sells Hormel Pork Tenderloins on Fridays for $5.  These weight about 24 oz.  These usually sell for $10.99!  I NEVER buy them at that price, but I do get several when they are on sale.

I like to play around with what I do with the tenderloins and never seem to make them the same way twice.  This time I decided that I wanted to make something with a Valentine theme.  I couldn’t come up with any way to make the meat pink so decided I would try red.  I used black raspberry jam since that is what I had open in the fridge.  My red is very dark.

This is just a take-off of the apricot jam/Catalina or Russian dressing/onion soup mix chicken recipe.  I used raspberry jam and the ingredients that go into a homemade Catalina dressing recipe.  I make my own onion soup mix so used that, and I added curry powder just because I like it.  I liked the sauce with 1/2 c. sugar, but some may not like it as sweet so start with 1/3 c.

Pork tenderloin cooks quickly so this was on the table in about an hour.  Be sure to use a foil-lined baking pan for this for easy clean-up.

As usual, I had no sunlight by the time this was cooked, so the photo was taken today and is the piece that was left over so no pic of the whole tenderloin.

Curried Raspberry Catalina Pork Tenderloin
1/3 to 1/2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
dash paprika (smoked if available)
1/4 t. chili powder
1/2 t. celery seed
1/4 t. dry mustard
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 to 1 t. curry powder
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/3 c. ketchup
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 envelope dry onion soup mix (or make your own)
1 c. raspberry or black raspberry jam
1 24 oz. boneless pork tenderloin
1-2 T. vegetable or olive oil

In a medium saucepan combine sugar, salt, paprika, chili powder, celery seed, dry mustard, garlic powder, curry powder, vinegar, ketchup, vegetable oil, soup mix and raspberry jam.  Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to thicken, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Watch carefully and stir often.  While sauce is cooking, brown pork tenderloin on all sides in hot oil.  Place in a foil-lined baking dish.  Place part of the sauce in a small bowl and brush onto the meat.  Roast meat at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes, basting with the sauce every 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove from oven when temperatures reaches 155 to 160 degrees.  Let stand at least 5 minutes before slicing.   Leave sauce on very low heat and allow to thicken to desired consistency, stirring often.  Serve sauce to spoon over slices of meat.  Makes 4 generous servings.  This turned out pork that was very juicy and flavorful.