Pork Tenderloins

I just finished our breaded pork tenderloin dinner and I am ready to take on all comers. I think I figured out the secret for a superb tasting tenderloin and I owe it to Jean Anne Bailey, owner of Nick's Kitchen, with an assist from the Brickyard Crossing and a little of my own.

For starters I bought a fresh pork tenderloin and cut as much of the fat out as I could. I tried two different butterfly cuts and then just pounded a chunk without butterfly cutting it. The butterfly cuts tended to elongate on me no matter how I cut them. Pounding a chunk came out rounder. I wanted a thickness of about 3/8 inches. The picture is a pounded chunk to 3/8 inches. In the future I'll keep it simple and just pound chunks about 2-1/2 inches long.

I created a marinade consisting of buttermilk, eggs, flour, a tablespoon of dry mustard, a pinch of salt, pepper, garlic powder and Emeril's Original Essence seasoning. I let the tenderloins marinate overnight. Both Nick's and Brickyard say to use buttermilk. The overnight came from Nick's Kitchen. I think buttermilk is the secret. It transforms the tenderloin.

This time I breaded the tenderloins with Panko Japanese Bread Crumbs. I put the crumbs in a pan, put the tenderloin straight from the marinade on the crumbs, fluffed some crumbs on top and pressed the tenderloin into the crumbs until it was thoroughly coated. The Japanese bread crumbs is a Brickyard suggestion. The Japanese bread crumbs have a lightness and fullness similar to processed saltine crackers but seem less bland to me.

I deep fried at 360 degrees F a little over 3 minutes or until golden brown. This is the result. My wife thinks it is the best she has tasted.

Davydd's Home Tenderloin 3/12/2006

I updated my pork tenderloin sandwich web site yesterday...

http://www.porktenderloinsandwich.com -- 26 sandwiches in all.

Note a new easy to remember URL address to get there. Also, I separated out a pork tenderloin sandwich tutorial with complete recipe on a second page that can be found at...

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

Thanks, Uncle Vic...now I have to give you an encore. This is the big hangover sandwich I ate for myself Sunday. I actually made six. Two I froze unfried and one I fried but set aside for a later lunch with a microwave rejuvenation (hopefully). Three of them we ate, mine, my wife's and my sister-in-law's.

So without much more adieu, here is the encore sandwich that is bound to make you salivate.

Home Hangover

Those are nice looking sandwiches, Davyyd. Will you be opening a Davyyd's Kitchen anytime soon?
The Bear

ScreenBear,

Not likely at all. This is just for fun. Where I work (not in the restaurant business)they are starting to call me "Davy Hammerbutt", the "Johnny Appleseed" equivalent for spreading this hammered pork butt sandwich. My previous nickname before I started this crazy activity called a hobby was Davy the Hammer for my...um uh...leadership style.

I work for a fairly large corporation and in large corporation there are always groups that form to promote workplace fun. In our department the committee decided to have a show your hobby exhibit. When asked, I begged off and said I ate my hobby (without blaming my dog). Then I relented and put together this board.

Tenderloin Collage

I just had the privilege of watching the full 16 minute video of Jensen Rufe's "In Search of the Famous Indiana Hoosier Deep Fried Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich". "(1999, 16-minute video documentary) isn't as much a celebration of this odd local high-calorie delicacy as it is of the proud purveyors who serve them. Through interviews with tavern owners, cooks and waitresses, we gain a glimpse, via its food, into what life in Indiana is all about." Mr. Dave's in North Manchester, IN, the Mug'n'Bun in Speedway, IN and the Gnaw Bone Food & Fuel in Brown County, IN were the featured tenderloin spots. Nick's Kitchen got a brief outside cameo shot of the front. A distilled online version that captures the essence of the full video can be found at this site:

http://jensenrufe.com/documentaries/

It is definitely worth watching. I have the online short version on my iPod to show local restaurants.

Iowans don't despair. I will be checking out your best this summer.

I have had Pork Tenders all over, and the Best was a sandwich at
"Pug Mahons" on the edge of downtown Billings, Montana.
Pug's sandwich is thick in comparison to most tenderloin sandwiches.
In Montana they usually call them pork chop sandwiches.
He cuts them fresh every morning about 3/4"thick, they are nicely breaded and very tender. They have an ambitious menu at Pugs, he also serves a great smoked Prime Rib.

quote:

Originally posted by mhill95

I have had Pork Tenders all over, and the Best was a sandwich at
"Pug Mahons" on the edge of downtown Billings, Montana.
Pug's sandwich is thick in comparison to most tenderloin sandwiches.
In Montana they usually call them pork chop sandwiches.
He cuts them fresh every morning about 3/4"thick, they are nicely breaded and very tender. They have an ambitious menu at Pugs, he also serves a great smoked Prime Rib.

If they call them pork chop sandwiches they are more than likely a pork chop. They are different. Anyway, to get a new page started we need a picture. Right? So I sacrificed and went to the re-opened for the season this month the old-fashioned Minnetonka Drive In with the speaker order phones and car hops. But since it is still in the 30s with snow on the ground we opted for take out rather than chow down in the pickup. Here is the start of a new year at the drive in.

Minnetonka Drive-In 3/2006 Tenderloin


It is already added to my growing gallery of breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches at:

http://www.porktenderloinsandwich.com

quote:

Originally posted by mhill95

"If they call them pork chop sandwiches they are more than likely a pork chop. They are different."

Tell me the difference.

Gladly. To start here is a site that explains the pork loin cuts in great detail.

The Cook's Thesaurus Pork Loin Cuts
http://foodsubs.com/MeatPorkLoin.html

Hormel has a site that describes their products in detail as well. The following two sites describe the pork tenderloin and the pork chop.

Hormel Pork - Tenderloin
http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=34&id=309

Hormel Pork - Chops
http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=34&id=306

My own findings are from experimentation and can be found here.

My Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich Tutorials with Recipe
http://web.mac.com/davydd/iWeb/Site/BPT_Tutorial.html

If you had a sandwich that was 3/4 inches thick and described as a pork chop sandwich it was most likely a pork chop as cut to that thickness. It would not have been a tenderloin though a pork chop sandwich can taste great. The tenderloin is leaner, pounded and tenderized, fried relatively fast because it is thin after pounding and will overhang the largest bun. My taste tests of the loin cuts are pork chops chewiest and least tender, pork loin cuts as more tender and pork tenderloin as the most tender and leanest cut. The tenderloin has a melt in your mouth taste that a pork chop does not have. But they all taste good mind you. A 3/4 inch thick pork chop could never look like the sandwiches described as pork tenderloins on my photo page: http://www.porktenderloinsandwich.com It would have had to been a huge hog.

Maybe not all of those sandwiches were true tenderloins on my web page. One was definitely a pork fritter (made up patty from parts), some were pounded out pork loin cuts including one of mine described in the tutorial, and many may have been pre-prepared and delivered to the restaurant for frying. I found there is hardly a discernable difference between pork loin cuts and pork tenderloin cuts but a definite difference from a pork chop cut even though they all come from the loin of the pork. I also know from my own experience and tasting in restaurants it is in the preparation that separates the good from the average. Note I did not say bad.

Hope this helps.

Prior to discovering this site about a year ago, I had never heard of BPT's although I'd been using pork tenderloin (pounded thin) for years as a substitute in recipes calling for veal scallopini.

For my first attempt at the sandwich, I used pork loin. Pounded to about 1/2 inch, I let it soak overnight in the seasoned buttermilk and used homemade bread crumbs. I fried it quickly in an inch of canola oil, and served it on lightly toasted hamburger bun with mayo, mustard, thin-sliced sweet onion, and lettuce. The results were judged to be very good.

For my second attempt I used pork tenderloin pounded to 1/4"-3/8", skipped the marinating step altogether, and lightly coated with seasoned flour, dipped in egg-wash, and covered with Panko crumbs. Again, fried quickly in a little less canola oil, and served with the same roll and toppings. The results were judged to be excellent and that's the method I've stuck with.

I really don't think the buttermilk marinade is worth the extra time and expense. Perhaps, if using a cut of pork other than tenderloin, it's more of a necessity but, for now anyway, I'm satisfied with the results I've been getting.

A couple months ago I found a local sport bar/restaurant that offers BPT sandwiches. This is the only time I've
ever seen it on a menu here in Florida. It wasn't bad, but not the real thing.
Anyway, thanks for turning me on to this taste treat. They've become a regular item on our home menu and I think they'll remain there for a long time. pb

In times past, I have spent quite a bit of time in Iowa. They pride themselves on porkchops.

I was in Cedar Rapids and the restaurant I visited was downtown and had really thick chops. The butterflied them and served them grilled.

I have grilled them before but never with the same results.

Iowa does porkchops very good.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I thought that pork tenderloin sandwiches were based on tenderized loin chops not tenderloins. On a TV show on Indiana foods they showed a place in Indy making the sandwich and it sure looked like they were using loins.

quote:

Originally posted by plb

I thought that pork tenderloin sandwiches were based on tenderized loin chops not tenderloins. On a TV show on Indiana foods they showed a place in Indy making the sandwich and it sure looked like they were using loins.

plb, The only show I am aware of was the Food Network Food Finds show called Racing Around Indiana. In that segment they featured the Indianapolis 500 Brickyard Crossing Restaurant and they definitely used pork tenderloin with a butterfly cut. I video captured the show, edited it down and transferred it to my video iPod.

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

In times past, I have spent quite a bit of time in Iowa. They pride themselves on porkchops.

For a very, very good reason. They slaughtter three times as many hogs as the next nearest state. You probably couldn't guess the next state. It is not Indiana or Illinois. Try North Carolina. Now why doesn't North Carolina go crazy over these sandwiches?

Here is the 1999 statistic I found online for hogs slaughtered:

1. Iowa 28.9056 million
2. North Carolina 9.7864 million
3. Illinois 9.1971 million
4. Minnesota 7.9400 million
5. Indiana 6.3268 million

quote:

Originally posted by porkbeaksFor my first attempt at the sandwich, I used pork loin. Pounded to about 1/2 inch, I let it soak overnight in the seasoned buttermilk and used homemade bread crumbs. I fried it quickly in an inch of canola oil, and served it on lightly toasted hamburger bun with mayo, mustard, thin-sliced sweet onion, and lettuce. The results were judged to be very good.

For my second attempt I used pork tenderloin pounded to 1/4"-3/8", skipped the marinating step altogether, and lightly coated with seasoned flour, dipped in egg-wash, and covered with Panko crumbs. Again, fried quickly in a little less canola oil, and served with the same roll and toppings. The results were judged to be excellent and that's the method I've stuck with.

I really don't think the buttermilk marinade is worth the extra time and expense. Perhaps, if using a cut of pork other than tenderloin, it's more of a necessity but, for now anyway, I'm satisfied with the results I've been getting.

Porkbeaks,

Now you have to combine the best of your two attempts. Marinade pork tenderloin in the buttermilk overnight and you reach an even higher plateau. The difference in your second attempt probably owed more to the pork tenderloin over pork loin and the Panko Japanese bread crumbs than the egg wash or marinade. The buttermilk overnight marinade definitely transforms the tenderloin. Interestingly, the day I tried the overnight marinade I watched an Emeril show where he did the very same thing for his fried chicken. It must be good. I enjoyed the professional reinforcement and the fact that the best tasting restaurant tenderloin out over over two dozen I had was from Nick's Kitchen where I learned the secret. Granted your second attempt was excellent and probably 99% of the restaurants do the same, I will in the future reserve the overnight buttermilk marinade any time I serve guests and for the holidays. It will now be my annual birthday meal along with mince meat pie. No cake.

I find this hard to believe.Not how to make them but the thread.I am a displaced indy guy for a long time to mich.I remember when I paid 25cent for a BPT and 5cent for a 8oz bottle coke.My biggest disappointment was nop BPT never even heard of them. So I like every other BPT lover out of region I suffered except when I went down home once in awhile. Last week I said self why are you so dumb make your own. Self said you do not have eqpt. or know how so I went out and purchased a deep fryer & cannola oil. I haven't seen anything on oil so I hope that was the right oil? I then got pork tenderloin, how in the world do you get such a big sandwich out of such a little piece of meat? It took some time but I found this site and thanks to Davydd I am ready to go forth and deep fry.

quote:

Originally posted by ent07

It took some time but I found this site and thanks to Davydd I am ready to go forth and deep fry.

Davydd bless you. Another soul rescued from tenderloin withdrawal.

Keep up the good work and your pictures too!!

Welcome and thank you brother tenderloiner ent07. Thank you too NebGuy. Spread the word to all and let all Hoosier expatriates know they too can get a taste of home.

ent07 you have the right oil in Canola oil. You want an oil suitable for high temperatures. Peanut oil, another high temperature oil, is a flavor favorite but is not as healthy and costs a tad over twice as much as Canola oil. You could use Crisco and lard too if you want to clog those arteries even more.

My wife thinks the main artery to my brain is already cloged. Wait until she hears my newest insperation. Reading 11 pages on the BPT I will take up the camera and have purpose to my life and find the best BPT in the wor well maybe 3 or 4 states around MIWE go just about every weekend and having great inteligence I never thought about looking. Davydd hasdone a great job but my travels go a little different way. We will see what will be.

ent07, if you want to continue to fry your brain try reading about 111 pages of pork tenderloin sandwiches at Trackforum.com. I think I joined in there at about page 93 and the discussion has been going on for 4 years just because they sell pork tenderloin sandwiches at the Indianapolis 500.

Michigan is closer to Indiana. That's the mother load. Minnesota is closer to Iowa, the other pork zealot state, and I haven't even begun to mine that state yet.

Finally! I just learned today my favorite downtown Minneapolis Pub, Lyon's Pub, that I have been touting, cajoling, hoping, praying...will have a new menu Monday with a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. They will also add a pulled pork sandwich and a BBQ pork sandwich to the menu. Pork in a big way. Their standard pork tenderloin will come with a BBQ sauce and melted cheddar cheese. Oh well, I guess that's what they think will sell. The last time we ordered without cheese and the BBQ sauce on the side which I used for my fries. I assume this is what the sandwich will look like. It is a previous sandwich I had there. Encore presentation...

Still mining Minnesota for pork tenderloin sandwiches and found another one. Bear with me. I know of only about two other places I haven't been to before heading to Iowa and back to Indiana. Those were famous last words. I bet there are dozens more in the out lying areas.

This is Alleygators, a bar, night club, restaurant and bowling alley combination in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The tenderloin was tasty. It was not pounded down to spread much beyond the bun thus was nearly 1/2 inch thick. It is served with red onion and lettuce and your choice of fries, chips or cole slaw for $7.25. Our group of four had three of them. Our daughter opted for grilled chicken. The lone guy by himself at the next table looked over and then ordered one. I would bet he might have not ordered one had he not seen ours.

Without much more ado, Alleygators breaded pork tenderloin...

Lyon's Pub did come out with their new menu Monday 4/10/06 and did include the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich as permanent fare. This might be a first for downtown Minneapolis which I can now have a pork tenderloin sandwich whenever I feel like one. Since we got there right after the start of the luncheon hour we may have ordered the first ones. They were a little over cooked. It may take them some time to get them down pat. Well persistence paid off. Now on to tackle a few more restaurants.

Here are the particulars...

Lyon's Pub New Menu 4/10/06 Pork Tenderloin Sandwich


Lyon's Pub New Pork Tenderloin Sandwich served with fries

quote:

Originally posted by Davydd

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

In times past, I have spent quite a bit of time in Iowa. They pride themselves on porkchops.

For a very, very good reason. They slaughtter three times as many hogs as the next nearest state. You probably couldn't guess the next state. It is not Indiana or Illinois. Try North Carolina. Now why doesn't North Carolina go crazy over these sandwiches?

They're too busy barbecuing them?

BTW, I want to come to Minneapolis to your pub! I love Fish&chips also!
Cathy

Cathy,

As much as I hate to say it they Lyon's Pub has not perfected the pork tenderloin sandwich yet. You are better off stopping in Indians and checking them out there starting with Nick's Kitchen in Huntington or maybe another dozen excellent places.

But if you do come to Minneapolis, the Tavern on Grand (Avenue) in St. Paul, MN is the consensus best for the Walleye sandwich or entre. I would give a thumbs up to the Twin Cities Grill in the Mall of America as well. But if it is just fish and chips you want you might find better on the east coast.

If you must see them...

http://www.porktenderloinsandwich.com

I have just about wrapped up the Twin Cities breaded pork tenderloin sandwich pursuit and will be on to Iowa and Indiana in May. The latest is Porky's on University Avenue in St. Paul, MN. Porky's is billed as a drive in but no longer has car hops or ordering from your car other than a McDonald's like drive up window. There is no inside dining so you do have to eat in your car. This place used to routinely get drive in of the year awards from local weeklies and their pork sandwich called a Pork Cutlet got best sandwich of the year award by Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine in 1997. Maybe it was better back then. The sandwich though called a "pork cutlet" is a pounded and breaded deep fried pork sandwich probably from a pork loin cut. It is served on heavily buttered toast. This sandwich is by no means anywhere near the best even in the Twin Cities. In fact it would rank down toward the bottom of my list. But, one must be satisfied to at least know. At $2.89 it was the least expensive.

If you want a true old fashion drive in experience in the Twin Cities there is still the Peppermint Twist in Delano, MN and the Minnetonka Drive in in Spring Park, MN.

Here is Porky's sandwich. If they won't call it a tenderloin neither will I.

What the hell is the curly fried thing alongside it?

Looks like an octupus trying to get out of the box!

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

What the hell is the curly fried thing alongside it?

Looks like an octupus trying to get out of the box!

Onion rings!

As easy as these things are to make, I am amazed that this current thread is now at 11 pages. Is it that, or is the thrill in finding places that serve them? An innocent question, as no retail establishments serve the same within any reasonable distance from me.