You know you want this....

Anyone else remember the Coke commercial that had that song in it? How many of you can still sing it word for word? Lol. As advertising goes, that one was classic.

I have been a fan of Coca-Cola for just about my whole life. Oh yeah, I cheated every once in a while and tried “that other brand” but I always came back to Coke. It was always a very brief, based on desperation sort of flirtation. The other colas seriously don’t measure up for me. I remember one day, my brother Steve and I were downtown (from Chicago originally remember) and there was a stand set up to do blind taste tests of Coke and ahem… THAT brand. We both tried it and Coke won with no problem.

So when Kara from Coca-Cola contacted me a while back and asked me if I would like to recreate one of their delicious chef recipes that they have up on
My Coke Rewards , I was totally thrilled. I had seen many recipes over the years using Coke as an ingredient, but to be honest, the idea always seemed strange to me. Not anymore. I won’t say that I will suddenly have up 400 recipes utilizing Coke, but you’d darn well better believe that I will recommend trying it in this one. Even though I put my own twist on this recipe, Chef G. Garvin is still my new hero when it comes to pork tenderloin.

So what have I made you ask? The original recipe was Pork Loin With Coca-Cola BBQ Sauce. That sounded good…all the ingredients (besides the Coke) were things I used in cooking anyway but I wanted to spin this a bit differently. And oh my, was this delicious. The first words out of my husbands mouth were “oh sh**, this is good!”. Compliments galore indeed:-P if you are a meat eater, you’ll love this. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, still try the BBQ sauce from this recipe. It is beyond amazing. Sweet, spicy, fruity, a little teeny bit tart. You can find the original recipe from Chef Garvin at the above link. Mine is different but the integrity of the original recipe is still the same. I added some pineapple chunks, some curry paste, used a mix of pineapple and orange juice and subbed red pepper flakes for the jalapenos and I seasoned the pork itself differently. So try his if that tickles your taste buds, mine if you want the spin off 🙂 His is Happy Days, mine is Laverne and Shirley 😛

Pork Loin With Coca-Cola BBQ Sauce

• 2 1 pound trimmed pork tenderloins (mine were closer to 1.5 lbs each)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt free Cajun seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• Coca-Cola BBQ Sauce-
• 2 tbsps canola oil
• 2 tbsps minced garlic
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 finely chopped shallot
• 1 tbsp red curry paste
• 3 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup orange-pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup Coca-Cola
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp liquid smoke
• 1 cup pineapple tidbits
• To Serve-
• Good quality hamburger buns
• sliced sweet onion
• sliced tomato
• romaine lettuce

1. Start by mixing all the seasoning for the pork. Rub the pork well with some olive oil then rub it all over with the seasoning mix.
2. C’mon… rub better than that. Get your hands dirty…
3. Place on a medium hot grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the temp registers at about 135 degrees. At that point, start basting with the bbq sauce, rotating the meat to help caramelize the sauce and make it stick. Cook until the meat reaches an internal temp of 145 degrees, then remove from the grill and set aside to rest before slicing.
4. The original recipe just has this being served with sauce on it and sauce on the side. I went a step further, sliced this up and served it on buns. It is oh so tender, oh so flavor filled
5. For the BBQ Sauce-
6. Add the canola oil to a medium saucepan. Add in the garlic, onions, shallots and curry paste. Saute until the onions are softened and tender.
7. Add in the remaining ingredients except for the pineapple chunks. Simmer over medium low heat for about 20 minutes. Add in the pineapple pieces and simmer for another ten minutes, stirring frequently

Compensation was provided by Coca-Cola, but Coca-Cola is not a sponsor, administrator, or involved in any other way with this post. All opinions expressed are my own and not those of Coca-Cola.