Pork Tenderloins

I previously mentioned the Nook in St. Paul, MN on Hamline Ave formally known as Caspers' and Runyons' Nook. The first time we went there in pursuit of the deep-fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwich my camera malfunctioned--I forgot my &%#@ memory card! The second time we went on a Saturday night a few weeks ago the place was closed because of Mike's wedding (one of the owners). We tried again last Saturday with success. We got a free round of drinks for us missing out the night of Mike's wedding from the other owner, Ted.

The name fits the place. It is small, very small. You step in and face a small "J" shaped bar and then one row of tables along one long wall terminating at some video games on the back wall. There is a pool table somehow jamb in the back. The sign on the woman's restroom says to knock because the lock is broken. It was broken last month. The kitchen is a cubby space just off the bar. The walls are decorated with signs and memorabilia such as a Monroe High School athletic letter sweater from 1945. Though small there are ample TV screens including one large flat screen at the front viewable from anywhere in the place. The bonus was the Twins were pounding KC that night. The place dates back to 1938. The current owners are two young guys who bought the place in 2003.

Hamburgers are the Nook's specialty. They regularly receive best in the Twin Cities or St. Paul in media polls. They seem to be in a three way battle with Matt's and the 5-8 Club in Minneapolis for the best Jucy Lucy. But I was there for the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. I reported the first one was average. I must say this one was above average and can compete with the best. The ambience of the place, of course, always helps the palate.

The Nook is the neighborhood bar/grill every neighborhood probably wished they had but few do.

We had to drive 30 miles one way. Our guests with us came from further away--New Zealand.

The Nook Interior looking toward the front


The Nook Outside


The Nook Deep-Fried Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich


The Nook was added to http://www.porktenderloinsandwich.com The pursuit is building with over 40 deep-fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches.

A new post by Davyyd, in search of the ultimate Pork Tenderloin sandwich, is always a welcome event. Somehow or another, I find it adds legitimacy to, and justifies, my analogous search for the ultimate hot dog.

Besides, insofar as obsessions are concerned, the Maltese Falcon was already taken.
The Bear

Well it is time for a new post. Tonight I have guest pictures from a high school classmate of mine (Steve S) now living in Southern California. He sent me these pictures of the Top Hat, Ventura, CA deep fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. I can't claim to have tasted this one but I know a lot of Californians formerly from the Midwest would love to know about this. The Top Hat is a street shop that will soon be displaced by a condo development. The good news is it is going to be moved down the street and stay in business. The tenderloin sells for $3.49.

The Top Hat Deep Fried Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich


The Top Hat

I will be hitting the road today in the campervan but will be sampling only my very own breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches. I pre-made enough for a camper rally and will be frying them outdoors Saturday.

This weekend I made a half dozen tenderloins in the pine woods of northern Minnesota. It was a small group of B Campervan enthusiasts that got together in the campground. Since we had electrical hookups I took the deep fryer and made the Saturday night dinner for the group. Deep fried breaded pork tenderloins of course.

This was the first tenderloin out of the fryer


This is the pine forest get together with our B Vans in what was billed as the informal Mini Minne No-Frills B Van Rally

The BFPT looks good, quite professional. Did you use the Nick's Kitchen recipe? Were the reviews complimentary? Was the flavor heightened by the great outdoors?
The Bear

Screenbear,

Of course I did the buttermilk marinade. In fact I pounded them and put them in the marinade on Wednesday night expecting to bread them on Thursday but did not get to it until Friday afternoon. So it got an extra day of marinade. I breaded them and put them away in the fridge until Saturday. Plenty of time to tenderize. Reception was postively unaminous. My wife said it was my best yet. Judge for yourself...

Rally members eating tenderloins


Breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches in a campground might be a first ever. I would venture to say so in Minnesota but might get a rebuttal in Indiana or Iowa. Generally in Minnesota it is the fresh catch fish that gets fried in the woods.

I have officially embarked on a quest to find an above average BPTS in the southwestern United States. My first stop was at the Iowa Cafe in Mesa, AZ. Eeeh, not too impressive. Small loin, looks like it was frozen then deep fried. Not what I expected from a place that touts Home Cooking.

Know of a place that serves up a mean Pork Tenderloin Sandwich in AZ, NV, UT, CA or NM, let me know !

quote:

Originally posted by desertdog

I have officially embarked on a quest to find an above average BPTS in the southwestern United States. My first stop was at the Iowa Cafe in Mesa, AZ. Eeeh, not too impressive. Small loin, looks like it was frozen then deep fried. Not what I expected from a place that touts Home Cooking.

Know of a place that serves up a mean Pork Tenderloin Sandwich in AZ, NV, UT, CA or NM, let me know !

Good luck! I had a good one a few years ago at the CA State Fair. But I've been there a few times since and couldn't find them.

quote:

Originally posted by desertdog

I have officially embarked on a quest to find an above average BPTS in the southwestern United States. My first stop was at the Iowa Cafe in Mesa, AZ. Eeeh, not too impressive. Small loin, looks like it was frozen then deep fried. Not what I expected from a place that touts Home Cooking.

Know of a place that serves up a mean Pork Tenderloin Sandwich in AZ, NV, UT, CA or NM, let me know !

There is the Top Hat in Ventura, CA reported here and the...

http://www.hashhouseagogo.com/gallery/gallery1_1.html in San Diego. There is also a restaurant that serves them in Las Vegas.

Speaking of state fairs, I went to the Minnesota State Fair and found one deep fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. Two other places listed pork tenderloin but one place really called it a pork pattie and the other place, a BBQ stand, called it a shaved pork tenderloin. So this is the one I had from the Jurassic stand on the north end of the fair across the Pet Center.

thanks for the tips! I get out to San Diego quite a bit, I'll have to get by the Hash House and give it a spin. I can imagine Minnesota is a target rich environment for the sandwich. My brother lives in Red Wing, but I rarely ever get up that way (I have an aversion to Mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds.)

If you are ever in Tucson, Wags is supposed to be a legitimate contender for the Pork Tenderloin Sandwich as well as for their Maid-Rite(Loosemeats)Sandwich. My Mom eats there quite a bit, give it the thumbs up.

Info:

Wags Family Restaurant — 4026 E. Grant Road. "Iowa style" diner serves up everything from griddle cakes to pork tenderloin sandwiches. Breakfast and lunch only. Tucson casual. 323-2345. $ C

I need some help. I will be going to Chicago on a one day business trip in about 1-1/2 weeks. I will be in the south side McKinley Park neighborhood and will be flying in at Midway Airport. What I would like to find is a luncheon restaurant that serve the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich that will be near that area. Suggestions welcome.

I have been trying for at least a week to remember the brand we used in NE that was so tasty.....WELL, it was Harkers.
We deepfried ours, served on a toasted bun, w/mayo, Letuce, tomato, onion, dill spear and steak frys on the side.
Damn they were good....easy to over cook and turn into cardboard...but when they were cooked correctly YUM!

Hello to all of you Pork Tenderloin Fans,
I grew up eating Pork Tenderloins that were very thin, crispy and very big. I’d like to add them to my menu but I can’t figure out how to get them thin enough to make them the dinner plate size I’d like to sell. I’d like to stay away from pounding them out by hand if that’s possible. Is there a hand crank or electric machine that will do the job? If so what’s it called and can you give me a step-by-step run through of the process? Thanks for your help.
Jack@DrofBBQ.com

Jack,

Tenderloins come different ways. The less than average are usually commercially prepared by a food supplier so you take them out frozen and drop them in the deep fryer. Some actually take the time to hand pound them flat, marinade, and bread them fresh. It would take too much time to do that per order so you do have to prep in advance. There are machines that flatten tenderloins. The uniformly thin platter size I see must come from a machine. When I try to flatten them that thin I usually disintegrate the meat. Yes, I tried. It would also take forever if you took the extra care not to smash them to smithereens. The Brickyard Crossing Restaurant in Speedway, IN uses the machine. They demonstrated it in an episode on the Food Network's Food Finds show after they went through the ritual of hand pounding with the show's host. It kind of looks like an old fashion washing machine wringer. I would think if you had a high volume business it would be a nice way to go. I would check restaurant equipment supply houses in Indianapolis, IN or Des Moines, IA for starters.

My expertise is dining, tasting and trying to perfect them for my personal consumption. For a step by step run through my home amatuer (not professional) tutorial can be found at

http://web.mac.com/davydd/iWeb/Site/BPT_Tutorial.html

I'm not a fan of the thin and crispy dinner plate kind but I will eat them. That seems to be the Iowa way. The Indiana way is bigger than the bun, but thicker with more attention to the flavor of the breading. At least that is what I have observed so far. Most of the Minnesota ones I have tried are the commerically prepared frozen.

quote:

Originally posted by Davydd

Jack,

There are machines that flatten tenderloins. The uniformly thin platter size . The Brickyard Crossing Restaurant in Speedway, IN uses the machine. They demonstrated it in an episode on the Food Network's Food Finds show Looked like an old fashion washing machine wringer. I'm not a fan of the thin and crispy dinner plate kind but I will eat them.

David first thank you for taking time to answer my question.
Now another question: Do you know what the machine is called? Would a cuber work?
Looked like an old fashion washing machine wringer, that’s what I kept thinking about and the thought was wow an old fashion washing machine wringer would be perfect. LOL You know, I have a friend that has a cuber and I’m going to try it Friday or Saturday. I don’t care what it cost I want one. Of course I suffer from Stainless Steel disease. If it’s made of stainless steel and should be in a restaurant I’ll buy it. LMAO but it’s true. Do you know the name of the restaurant (city & state )that they video taped the show in? Hell I’ll call them.
Jack

Brickyard Crossing Restaurant is on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, actually in Speedway, IN on 16th Street. It is part of the Inn there. Here is the web site.

http://www.brickyardcrossing.com/hotel/

I have no idea what the machine is called.

Davydd "Try the Brickyard Crossing Restaurant Indianapolis Motor Speedway"

Well I called them and they use a cuber or did use a cuber. But they said they found a supplier that could supply them already very thin and now, all they do is streatch them by hand before breading. They just pull it from to differant sides by hand after they flour them and before they dip them into the egg batter. Then into the cracker crumbs and straight into the deep fryer. So I'll try that methoid. Did the flour-egg-cracker crumbs help anyone? I hope so. Davydd your process and pictures were very well done you should get another gold star for that one. And thank you for your help
Jack@DrofBBQ.com

Jack, you need to use a cuber to make them big as the plate. Plus the marinating them helps also. Overnight is good longer is better.It makes the meat more tender and then you can press it easier in the cracker crumbs. If you want to talk about it email me and we can set something up. Jean Anne

Jean Anne,
What a great conversation and congratulations on your web site and your restaurant. For those of you that haven't been to Jean Anne's site or restaurant here is the address.www.nickskitchen.net . If I were going to visit and got to meet Jean Anne I just say hello Nick LOL. To be the original home of the deep fried pork tenderloin is pretty impressive. You should write to the food network and tell them to come do the show from your place. Thanks for your help it was a delight. to talk to you today. You can bet if I get anywhere close to Huntington, Indiana, I'll go out of my way to visit you.
Thanks again
Jack

Try this place for making a suggestion. It is the Travel Channel "Taste of America" show looking for suggestions. I already made a plug for Nick's Kitchen. Pile on the topic of Breaded Pork Tenderloins about 4 threads down on the list right now. I didn't start it but am trying to keep it alive. It has almost 900 reads in a slow forum.

http://community.discovery.com/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/599102695

Davydd,
Im trying one of your tenderloin recipes tonightHope it turns out as good as yours

thanks,Polly

Davydd,
Oh my god,my breaded tenderloins turned out great!
Best ive ever had at home.So tender so tasty. THANKS AGAIN!



Polly

WanderingJew is most welcome to post his baseball roadtrip Smitty's tenderloin in this thread for the record.

You ask. You might not like what you get. Last week while I was bacheloring it when my wife was canoing up in the boundary waters with sister, cousin and daughter I decided I would try to make a plate size tenderloin for myself. I didn't want to waste a gallon of oil for one sandwich so I decided I would try to fry in an electric skillet. The skillet said it would go up to 400 deg. F. but after frying I doubt it could. OK, I pounded out the tenderloin until parts of it were almost paper thin. It got so big it was difficult to handle. I marinaded it overnight, breaded it and dropped it in the fryer. It just did not seem right. It was taking forever to fry. Since it was in a frying pan I had to turn it over. That's when the breading started to separate. The oil was just not hot enough. The loin did not really get all that crispy and the oil did not drip off well after taking it out of the fryer. Anyway, it did taste good but it was one gnarley looking tenderloin. It wasn't too much unlike the one I had at Brickyard Crossing in Speedway (no picture) and I now kind of know why. PS. I did clean up all my messes before the Mrs. came home.

Here it is for what its worth...

David, The thing that I see that could have made it stay together better is if you let it sit after you bread it for a few hours. {Now I have given just about all my secrets} JeanAnne

I made a one day down and back trip to Chicago Tuesday for the express purpose of troubleshooting a masonry wall leaking problem. I also got in an inspection of a 60,000 sf green roof we designed to see how it turned out. One must have lunch of course so I sought out a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich place naturally. In scouting ahead of time I knew of a few places but they would be quite a drive from my south Chicago location. The nearest bonafide Iowa looking tenderloin I could find was a 37 mile drive to the north suburbs. That was tempting but out of the question once we found ourselves standing still on I-55. Welcome to Chicago.

So I asked the local guy, the construction superintendent if he knew of a place. He thought of a few, called his secretary and had her call around to confirm. As it turned out there was a place not three blocks away from where I was. It was the New Archview Restaurant on Archer west of Damen. The New Archview ias an independent family owned restaurant that serves eclectic inexpensive food from breakfast to lunch to dinner including comfort food, sandwiches and entrees. It was a neighborhood place with tables and booths. The wait staff had that longtime employee look. You could tell many of the customers were regulars since they would come in stop at a table or two and say hi. The hostess guessed who I was when I came in and asked if their pork tenderloin was breaded. She must have been the one that took the secretary's call.

On the menu under sandwiches it was listed as a "hot pork tenderloin" and came with choice of potato. So I reconfirmed again with the waitress that it was indeed breaded and ordered it. First came out a regular bowl of split pea soup with croutons. It was part of the meal but it wasn't listed as such. That was a pleasant surprise because it was very tasty. Then the tenderloin arrived, open face over two slices of white bread sans crust, mashed potatoes and gravy slathered over. This seems to be the prevailing Bohemian style in Chicago. Petros on La Salle and Randolph in the Loop was the same. The Bohemian Crystal Restaurant in Westmont, a southwestern suburb, listed the same. The tenderloin was not overly large but was good. I knife and forked it in. That's my Chicago experience and here it is...

Everytime I look at the picture of the pan fried tenderloin, the one with the breading falling off, I can't get over it's resemblance (sorta kinda) to a soft shelled crab.

As I look at it, the claws are faced directly foward

Yeah, I failed every rorshach test I took. How'd you know?

Great pix of the tenderloin at Archview! That's pretty much the same as you will get all around Chicagoland at the independent restaurants, it wasn't until I went to college in Iowa that I had BPT in a sandwich form.