Earlier this week I mentioned that I got porked by ex#2 and that soon I would be sharing all the details with you. In honor of National Pork Month – Costco and the National Pork Board have teamed up to get you inspired. And to help you get inspired they have given some Costco Cash as a giveaway!

But first, I have to share with you the amazing pork recipe my ex husband created for National Pork Month.

Let me back up a bit, my ex husband is brilliant in the kitchen. He can make the most delicious meals out of the most mundane ingredients. When my ex gets his hands on leftovers they become a thing of beauty and a treat to the pallet. Why he doesn’t have his own cooking show I will never know.

When I was asked to participate in this contest I was excited because even though I can’t cook meat AT ALL, I knew my ex could and would. He loves foods, and loves preparing it almost as much as he loves eating it. I might not be able to convince him to install the porch light (like he said he would three years ago) but I knew I could get him to do some cooking without twisting his arm.

We started with the meat. I chose a beautiful pork tenderloin from Costco with the help of one of the butchers there. Claude, the butcher, was able to locate two unseasoned pork tenderloins in the back. They always keep the good stuff in the back so if you don’t see what you want when you go to the meat counter at Costco be sure to ask their helpful butchers. They will find just what you need. Claude was so helpful he even let me go on my way shopping and then located me with the meat. Great service is still out there, which is why I love Costco. I managed to pick up two beautiful pork tenderloins for $19.00, I was very pleased.

Since we only needed one of the tenderloins (they were both huge) I froze the other one right away.

My ex had decided on a Greek influenced recipe and sent me on a mission to find the necessary ingredients. Minnesota doesn’t have huge population of Greek people and there aren’t many Greek restaurants in my area. I suppose I could have traveled all the way to Minneapolis but that would mean I’d have to leave St. Paul and as you know, I’d rather not. I did find some tzaztiki sauce and some spicy feta sauce at Dino’s as well as some awesome salad dressing so I grabbed those and headed on home.

The recipe is really easy but has to be done in a couple of steps so the meat can marinate and soak up all the wonderful flavors.

First the meat was butterflied and placed in a pan. We used a glass pan but it doesn’t really matter. You will want to either line the pan (which we didn’t) or use a non stick pan because the pan will get pretty messy.

For the marinade:

Zest and juice of two lemons

5 cloves of garlic pasted in salt (basically this means you sprinkle about a tsp of kosher salt on to the garlic and mash with a spoon until it turns into a paste)

1/2 cup olive oil

Mix it all together and then drizzle over both sides of the meat. Really work the garlic mixture into the meat. After you’ve gotten the meat good and wet cover it with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to soak up all the garlic goodness.

While the meat is marinating you can prepare the stuffing for the pork.

Pork Stuffing:

one bag pre washed and cut spinach (9 oz)

one clove garlic, minced

Lemon juice from one lemon (no zest)

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Spicy Feta Sauce from Greek restaurant

Saute the spinach, in the olive oil, lemon juice and salt an pepper until it is wilted and looks like something the cat threw up, drain. Cover and refrigerate until the next stage.

We let the pork marinate for overnight but it doesn’t have to be that long. The longer it marinates the more flavor it will have.

Prepare the meat

Spread the spicy feta sauce on the meat and then layer with spinach stuffing. Roll the meat up like a jelly roll, securing with butcher’s string.

Sear  the meat in olive oil until there is a nice brown crust around the tenderloin. Place the meat in the pan and cook in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of at least 145 degree. (Did you know the meat council recently lowered the temp that pork needs to be cooked to? It used to be 160 but now it can be as low as 145 degree which makes for a much more moist and juicy piece of meat. And everyone likes their meat moist and juicy, right?

I know I do.

When the meat has reached the desired temperature remove from the oven and rest for at least five minutes. Cover with foil if you like but it isn’t necessary, the meat will actually continue cooking so the foil isn’t necessary.

The ex topped the meat with tzatziki sauce and served with flatbread. A rice pilaf and a simple greek salad including kalamata olives (next time get the ones without the pits so we aren’t both picking crap out of our mouth while at the dinner table), tomatoes, English cucumber and feta cheese, made the meal complete.

The meal was amazing. The pork was juicy, the lemon and garlic flavors came through without overpowering the meat. This is my new all time favorite pork recipe and I am sure I can convince my ex to prepare it again.

The ex said the next time he prepares this meal he will pound out the tenderloin. More to make the meat thinner and easier to roll than to tenderize it. The meat didn’t need tenderizing.

Tell me what your favorite pork recipe is for a chance to win $25 Costo cash!

For extra chances:

Like me on Facebook

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I want to give a huge thank you to my ex husband for doing all the work. There is no way I could have made this meal and not had it go seriously wrong. The whole process was a lot of fun and even though the daughter didn’t care much for it we still had a great time making this dish. Thanks Sweetie, you’re the best!

Full disclosure, I am working with Costco, the National Pork Board and TheMotherhood and have received a stipend for this post, though all thoughts and opinions are my own.