Even though I have been absolutely swamped for the past two weeks, I was looking forward to coming out of my forced hiatus from Eliot’s Eats to at least participate in Secret Recipe Club for May.
This month, I was assigned Josie’s Kitchen. Josie was born in the Dominican Republic but now resides in New York City. Her earliest foodie memory is of watching her mom cook. Josie’s site is full of recipes and foodie adventures around NYC and beyond.
Josie describes herself and her food outlook as follows:
I live with my love, the irishman, in a beautiful sunlit apartment in new york city. as a result my cooking has now a latin and irish twist… so you could say it is lirish? larish? latish? – we’ll work on that. anyway, i figured, since i love cooking it was about time i started saving my recipes somewhere safe… you know, like the internet. so here we are.
I vote for “Latish.” 🙂
So in honor of Josie’s memories of her mom’s cooking, I decided to pick a recipe from her heritage, Dominican Sazón. According to Josie, this seasoning or marinade plays a big part in Dominican cooking. Sazón is quite versatile and can be used “to marinate meats and as a base for rice, beans, vegetables and soups” and her “grandma also uses this when she steams vegetable for an extra kick of flavor.”
This is an easy marinade to whip up and it makes the entire kitchen smell great. I followed Josie’s recipe pretty much to the letter except I threw everything in a food processor. For her original post and recipe, click here.
Josie’s Family’s Sazón Recipe
3 c. fresh cilantro (about two bunches), washed and roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 T. dried oregano (I used Mexican.)
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 head of garlic, each clove peeled and smashed
2 T. white vinegar
1/4 c. of waterPlace all ingredients in a food processor.
Pulse until mixture is pureed. (I left it a bit chunky.)
Store in refrigerator until ready to use.
As soon as I read Josie’s recipe, I immediately thought, “PORK!”
I poured about one cup Sazón on pork tenderloin and let it marinate for about four hours in the refrigerator.
We then smoked it on our vintage grill for about four hours at 250 degrees. Again, it smelled wonderful while it was cooking.
It was delicious and it reminded us a bit of our Pork Tenderloin with Tomatillo Sauce, but this is BETTER!
Thanks for this great marinade, Josie! I can’t wait to stir this in with some rice or pour it over some steamed green beans!
It is a bittersweet time for Secret Recipe Club. The founder, Amanda, is stepping aside. I just want to say thank you, Amanda. Thanks for having the vision to start SRC. I know you must be so proud of your baby and being able to see it morph into a blogging phenomenon. I suggest we all stop by Amanda’s many great sites and leave her some blogger love to thank her for all her hard work: Amanda Formaro, Amanda’s Cookin’, and Crafts by Amanda.
Amanda will continue to be a member but she is passing the torch to April from Group D. Again, thanks Amanda and thanks to all hosts: Jane, Suzanne, Angela and April. Please stop by their respective sites and give them some comments and cudos.
For my previous SRC posts, click here.
Comments & Replies
22 responses to “Pork Tenderloin with Sazón for May’s SRC”
Wow, that looks delicious. It’s so cool that you chose a recipe that matched Josie’s heritage. I’d want to take advantage of her heritage and food knowledge in that area too. The Sazon looks absolutely amazing and as though it paired perfectly with your pork.
This has all my favorite ingredients, it must be delicious. SRC is one awesome blogging group. We do have great leaders. Thanks to them.
And have a great week!
Perfect choice!!! Looks awesome with the pork. We’ll have to try this soon 🙂 BTW- your wild ginger/onions are pickling in the fridge…
I vote for “Latish” also! I confess to using Sazon Goya instead of making it. Like how you used Mexican oregano! After reading this recipe I can’t help but think why don’t I make my own?
Eliot … Wow, sorry to hear about SRC … By the way, though, you have been nominated for my NEW Food Stories Award for Excellence in Storytelling. Check out my site for the details (foodstoriesblog dot com).
Nice to see your posts again my friend 😀
A great choice bursting with flavour!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
So glad I found your blog via SRC – this looks wonderful!!!
I’m glad you took a break from your hectic schedule to share this SRC pick with us. It sounds fabulous..I haven’t eaten sazon before…but the flavors must make a fantastic marinade! Wonderful SRC post!
Man this looks good!!!! So glad you made this! So glad to be in the SRC club and to meet great foodie bloggers like you!
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What’s For Dinner
Dont you love SRC. I love pork. I think I will try this recipe. gosh it looks good.
I’m always struck by your thoughtfulness when you write posts for the clubs you’re in, always thanking the creator and hosts. So I give kudos to you for that! 🙂 This marinade sounds really good and I love its versatility. The pork sounds perfect! Glad to see a blog from you and hope you’re not working too hard.
I love trying new recipes for pork tenderloin! This is on my hit list!
This dish looks perfect!
I’m counting the days until I can join SRC. I’m sorry it won’t be under Amanda. But, nonetheless, it will be fabulous!
And it’s nice to “see” you again. I hope you crawl out of the busy world soon!
What a great SRC pick! This is such an interesting dish, and I love all the fresh flavors in it. Thanks for sharing it, and welcome back from hiatus!!!
O yes…with lots of cilantro! The pork must be really good.
I bet this pork became really delicious with this seasoning! Looks scrumptious!
what a delicious sounding dish! i definitely need to try this!
What a great pick for SRC! Your selection is just perfect and looks so tasty. Glad to be part of SRC group C with you
Wow! That is my kind of seasoning, with all those whole fresh ingredients. After bringing my fiance to the US for the first time last year (from Australia), he was so enchanted by the Latin flavors – he would absolutely love this.
Sazon reminds me so much of our trips to the Caribbean, where we’d have delicious peas and rice with pulled pork. When we asked for the secret recipe, they’d all say “It’s Sazon!” Can’t tell you how many boxes my mom came back with that summer 🙂
Hi Eliot!!
You have a great site! Will definitely be coming back. I love how SRC brings us together like this. I am so glad you liked the sazon. The pork looks amazing! I love this sazon, it makes everything taste delicious 🙂
Thank you so much for your kind words, I think I like “LATISH” too hehehehe!
Hope you are having a great week!
Josie
Yum!! This looks amazing. I’m just in the process of booking a trip to the Dominican right now and this has me super excited about what other neat dishes I will get the chance to try while we’re there. Great choice for SRC!
This looks amazing Eliot and don’t you just love when you can puree in the blender? Life made simple.