Small town flavor. Big town taste.
Ever had the urge for a pork tenderloin sandwich, but didn’t want to leave the comforts of your home to go in search for this sandwich. Coupon Geek has the perfect option for you! Go and check out the easy step by step directions to making the perfect pork tenderloin sandwich and impress your family. They may never want to go out to eat again!
Today we would like to take a few moments to salute television’s biggest fan of bacon and everything else pork, Homer J. Simpson.
Ok, so he doesn’t know that pork comes from pigs, but he sure has eaten a lot of it and is quite possibly responsible for keeping all of Springfield’s invisible hog farmers afloat. And since so many pork lovers tune in to watch their kindred spirit, we’re pretty sure Homer’s eating habits are the reason for the show’s success.
Since Homer doesn’t know the most basic thing about pigs and pork (one becomes the other) we’re guessing he’s not up on other facts of modern hog farming either. Like how pigs are raised in state of the art barns that provide a stable climate year round and protection from predators and disease, or that they eat feed that has been specially formulated to meet their needs at every stage of growth. He probably also missed the memo announcing that pork is leaner than ever and that pork tenderloin is just as lean as skinless chicken breast. But we can forgive him for not knowing all that as long as he remembers farmers are doing what’s best and keeps right on eating pork!
So, Homer keep baconing up your sausage, ordering your smiley-face breakfasts with bacon noses, bacon hair, bacon mustaches, five o’clock shadows made of bacon bits and bacon bodies, and enjoying the wonderful, magical animal that gives you pork, bacon and ham, and we’ll keep watching your show for another 20 years.
Today is the most important day of the year. It is a day to stay home from work. It is a day of celebrating with family and friends. It is bigger than Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year’s and the Fourth of July combined. It is a day to honor the reason there can be delicious bacon and pork chops and swine inspired doo-dads and even a nation of Porktastic. My fellow Porktasticans prepare yourselves because today is National Pig Day.
My friends, we will be grilling, baking and slow roasting all of our favorite forms of pork throughout the day, not to mention watching our favorite famous pigs like Babe, Porky, Gordy and Miss Piggy. So come party with us! We’ll be easy to spot since we’ll be the ones decked out head-to-toe in true pig style – nose, ears and of course curly-q tail.
But, if for some crazy reason your boss won’t let you off to celebrate this holiday of holidays, we have a few ideas to help you take the party to work with you:
Have a Porktastic day holiday and be sure to tell us how you celebrated National Pig Day by emailing stories or pics of your celebration to Mr.Oinkers@gmail.com.
At Porktastic we’re usually so consumed with our favorite form of sustenance that we often fall behind on what’s hip and now. So when we took a giant leap for Porktastic kind and checked out The Food Channel’s Top Ten Food Trends for 2010 we were shocked and pretty proud to find out that we were already doing them all!
1. Keeping It Real
Scientists may be making meat in test tubes, but around here we’re all about the real thing. Recipes like Pepper Pork Chops turn simple everyday ingredients into delicious homemade meals in minutes.
2. Experimentation Nation
It’s all about trying new things and what’s more Porktastic than that? In the past eight months we’ve introduced you to new ways to have your pork on the go, bacon gumballs and jelly beans, and the Porktastic Nine. If you haven’t tried all of these yet, what are you waiting for? Get out there and experiment!
3. More in Store
Porktastic is when every grocery store has every ingredient you need, for every recipe, right where you expect it to be. And what about those recipes that call for special cuts of meat no one knows? What is a paillard anyway? Well many grocery stores are bringing back the butcher who can help put these meat mysteries to rest and package pork to your exact specifications.
4. American, the New Ethnic
You’ve always heard that America is one big melting pot of cultures, well now so is our food! We’re taking food ideas, flavors, and techniques and combining them to make something that is totally American like this Crispy Oriental Pizza.
5. Food Vetting
In case you haven’t noticed, more people are getting their food from the grocery store and less are growing it themselves. This has led to wanting to know where your food comes from, which contrary to popular belief, isn’t just from the grocery store. Pork today is safer and healthier than ever. Thanks to new technologies farmers can raise pigs indoors, protecting them from disease spread by birds, rodents and bugs. The barns provide a stable environment so the animals don’t have to deal with weather extremes – would you want to stand outside during snow storms, scorching heat or thunder storms? Didn’t think so. Pigs are also getting more individual attention and diets designed for the highest level of nutrition at each stage of their life on farms that are owned and operated by families. With all these improvements, today’s pig farms may not look like Old MacDonald’s, but they are making it possible for you to enjoy food that is among the safest in the world.
6. Mainstreaming Sustainability
Sustainability is the buzzword of the year, but farmers have been focusing on sustainability from day one. They grow the crops that feed the pigs that make the poop that feed the crops – it’s all a big cycle. A healthy environment is key for productive land to grow the crops that feed the pigs that feed us. Why would farmers want to mess that up when they’re living on the same land and eating the same food?
7. Food With Benefits
I don’t know a food that has more benefits than pork! Six of the most common cuts of pork are 16% leaner and have 27% less fat than they did 20 years ago. And ounce for ounce, pork tenderloin is just as lean as skinless chicken breast. Pork is also full of protein and a great source of B-vitamins, phosphorus, zinc and potassium. In fact, cutting calories but including more protein (like six delicious ounces of lean pork a day) let you keep more muscle mass than just cutting calories alone. Plus higher-protein diets also help you feel fuller after meals so you’re not raiding the cupboard for sweets an hour later. Seems pretty beneficial to me.
8. I Want My Umami
Umami is that elusive fifth basic taste that makes our food delicious. Ok, so I still don’t get what it is, but this trend is basically mixing flavors and putting formal and relaxed together. And what is the king of this trend? Bacon! This meat candy has made its way into actual candy and desserts, like bacon baklava at Brown Hotel in Louisville, bacon flavored cupcakes in Chi-Town, bacon chocolate crunch bars in LA, and bacon brittle in NYC. We always knew bacon was special, it just took the rest of the world a little while to catch up.
9. Will Trade for Food
In a time where money is tight, people have brought back the ways of the early days of the old frontier. That’s right my friends bartering. People are using websites like Craig’s List to trade and sell everything, even pork. You heard right, pork. In fact, we just came across a Craig’s List ad where a guy was willing to trade a big ol’ hog roast shindig for a covered trailer. Hog farmers are taking the same cue and are looking to international trade as another market to sell their product. I guess you could say it’s working pretty well, since trade is one of the biggest things that has helped keep the industry alive amid all its economic hardships.
10. I, Me, Mine
It’s all about you. What you want – the size, the flavors, the ingredients. With pork it’s amazingly easy to get what you want. Pork goes well with most flavors so it can be a part of practically any dish and can be substituted into your favorite beef and chicken dishes almost seamlessly. The possibilities are bordering on endless.
Good news: it’s been two weeks and the Porktastic community is still committed to its “Eat More Pork” diet plan. This may not seem like long, but we’re betting most of you have already abandoned some of your New Year’s resolutions. Since the year is still young, we’re willing to share ours and the let you in on the force that has us hog-tied: the Power of the Pork Tenderloin.
Pork Tenderloin has the power to make eating healthy – gasp – exciting. Salad may be traditional diet food, but by adding a few slices of tenderloin, boring lunches went from lifeless to lively. And we actually felt full and satisfied afterwards, so we didn’t have to dig around in our desk for a smashed candy bar left over from Halloween.
Pork Tenderloin has the power to bring five star dining to your kitchen table. You don’t need reservations or a special occasion to live high on the hog. It’s so quick and easy to make something snazzy like Pork Mignon any day of the week that your husband may think he forgot something important – like your anniversary (we won’t tell if you want to take advantage of his guilt).
Pork Tenderloin has the power to make family meals affordable. We love pork tenderloin because you don’t need the budget of a small country to afford this prime cut of pork. We found that lots of tenderloins come two to a package, which feeds about six people – talk about a pleasant surprise. Porktastic people are thrifty people so money saving doesn’t stop there. We’re stocking up on pork tenderloin now, while it’s on sale, and freezing it (for up to six months) so we can bask in the Power of the Pork Tenderloin all year long. We’re just hoping our resolution lasts as long as the pork.
Often times standing in front of the meat counter in the grocery store is like going to a family party…
The pork chop you see behind the meat counter would probably suit Great Uncle Vern*, a true gentlemen. Both of them are classy and never go out of style. And there’s the pork tenderloin, which would invoke the appreciation of Cousin John, the one that runs marathons and always shows up everywhere in jogging shorts and a sweatband. The tenderloin is just as lean as a skinless chicken breast and so is Cousin John. Of course there’s Aunt Patty, the one you’ve never seen not wear a woolen sweater and horn rim glasses, but goes to the X games every year and you swear you’ve seen a tattoo of Leonard Skinner on her ankle! A usual combination, much like our Pork [and apple] Pie a la Mode.
Hmmm, not only are we really hungry after thinking about this but we’ve decided that our family is absolutely Porktastic, what about yours?
*Names have been changed to protect them from the pork enthusiast!
Listen up pork lovers! In case you haven’t seen it, there’s a NEW GIZMO on the block that allows grilling pork on the go. And, surprisingly, this is no joke…the Drive n’ Grill is the real deal. Here in Flavor Country we’re not only cautious behind the wheel, we actually savor our time with the Other White Meat. It prompts us to ask, “What’s the hurry? Pull over for pork!”
Right from the snout