Tired of Turkey?

I know it sounds sacrilegious to most of us, but there are some people out there who, gasp, don’t like turkey—not even on Thanksgiving. Rather than berate these people for their food preferences, let’s see what we can come up with to accommodate their tastes. If you are tired of turkey, why not try this recipe for maple-glazed pork tenderloin with apple compote? It’s so easy to make that you could even cook it in addition to roasting a turkey on Thanksgiving.

Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
3 tbsp. maple syrup
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. rosemary (dried)
¼ tsp. thyme (dried)

1. Whisk all the wet and dry ingredients for the marinade together. Pour over a pork tenderloin that is approximately one pound, and allow it to marinate in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

3. Place the tenderloin on a rack in a shallow pan and cover loosely with foil. Bake for 20 minutes.

4. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

5. Remove the tenderloin from the oven and cover loosely with foil. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Apple Compote

3 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 oz. spiced rum
Pinch of salt and pepper
Pinch of cinnamon

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.

2. Add the shallots to the oil and sweat for about one minute.

3. Add the diced apples and toss with the olive oil and shallots.

4. Stir in the salt, pepper, and cinnamon.

5. Pour in the shot of spiced rum.

6. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Allow it to simmer for at least ten minutes, or until soft.

If you’re not planning on enjoying this tasty tenderloin for Thanksgiving, I recommend serving it with roasted red potatoes with garlic and rosemary and green beans with shallots.