Cinco de Mayo had food bloggers sharing lots of tasty Mexican recipes, including my Cinco de Mayo Pasta. The Wine Pairing Weekend (#winePW) crew was no exception, but hold the tequila for us! For this month’s #winePW, Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva asked us to pair wine with Mexican food. So I decided to serve up Spanish wine for pork tacos.
These pork tacos start with grilled pork tenderloin in a cilantro lime marinade. I like pork many ways, but pork tenderloin is definitely my favorite. It’s especially good in the this marinade, and of course grilling is great for most meat. Pork tenderloin is no exception.
Grilled onions and peppers and some diced avocado also get set out on the make your own taco bar here along with the pork. Things get topped off with a chipotle cream. Yum!
Wine pairing: I’m impressed to see that at least one of our #winePW bloggers has found Mexican wine for their pairing. When I have Mexican, I tend to think of wine from South America or Spain. I went with Spain this time.
I used this event as an excuse to pick up a bottle of Petalos Bierzo, which I’d enjoyed some time ago. The wine is 100% Mencia grapes, a Spanish varietal typically found in the northwestern part of the country, including the Bierzo region. This bottle is the 2011 vintage.
I got lavender on the nose of the Petalos Bierzo along with a taste of big berry fruit and a bit of leather. The wine softens in the glass, and has a bit of spice. The wine is big enough to stand up to the meaty pork tacos, and some subtlety that works with the other flavors in the taco. A winning wine pairing for pork tenderloin tacos!
Recipe card
Pork Tenderloin Tacos
Pork Tenderloin Tacos feature grilled pork tenderloin served with grilled onions and peppers topped with chipotle cream.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin, about 12–16 ounces
- 2 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 to 4 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 2+ tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup bell pepper, mixed colors preferable, chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce
- 1 avocado, diced
- 4 tortillas
- refried beans (optional)
Instructions
- Make the marinade: Combine the garlic, ¼ cup olive oil, lime juice, cilantro and red pepper flakes in a bowl.
- Add the pork tenderloin and the marinade to a large plastic bag. Gently turn the bag to get the pork well coated with the marinade. Place the marinade in the refrigerator to marinade for 1 to 4 hours depending on how much time you have.
- Start the cooking by preheating a grill to medium high.
- Place the pork tenderloin on the grill.
- Grill the pork for 8 minutes on one side, the flip to grill on the other side. Check for doneness after 15 minutes. The pork should take 15 to 20 minutes to be cooked properly. When the pork is done, remove from grill to rest on a platter.
- Toss the onion and peppers with 1 tablespoon olive oil, then spread the onion mixture into a grill pan or basket. Place on the grill around the same time you start the pork. Stir occasionally. When the onions have begun to brown and soften after 10 to 15 minutes, remove from grill. Scrape the onion mixture into a serving bowl.
- As the pork and onions cook on the grill, combine the sour cream with adobo sauce.
- Slice the pork, and put on a platter to serve.
- Set up a make your own taco bar with the tortillas, pork, onion mixture, avocado, and chipotle cream. People can come through and take a modest portion of each item to make their own pork tenderloin taco. You can add refried beans for people to have on the side or add to their taco. Enjoy with a Spanish red wine!
Be sure to check out the great pairings from all the #winePW bloggers!
Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Cam has prepared “Dry-Rubbed Tri Tip Roast with Halter Ranch’s 2011 Cotes de Paso”
Cindy from Grape Experiences “Wine and Dine for #winePW: Matanegra Vendimia Seleccionada 2010 and Queso Fundido”
David from Cooking Chat is pairing “Spanish Wine for Pork Tacos”
Jennifer from Vino Travels mixes it up with “Mexican meets Italian: Fish Tacos with Stemmari Sparkling Grillo”
Lori from Dracaena Wines “Mexican Musings on #WinePW”
Martin from Enofylz Wine Blog “Chicken Pipian Verde, Mexican Quinoa and the Devil’s Collection White”
Michelle from Rockin Red Blog “Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with #WinePW”
Nancy from Pull That Cork “Spicy Chicken Salad with Guacamole and a South African Rose for #winePW”
Confessions of a Culinary Diva shared Wines from Guadalupe
Join us at 11 am ET/8 am PT for a live twitter chat on Saturday May, 9th by using the hashtag #winePW. Stay tuned for more details about the next Wine Pairing Weekend event on Saturday, June 13th.
Wendy, A Day in the Life on the Farm
I went with a Spanish wine a well David, Your pork tacos look lovely.
Michelle Williams
I have never had Mencia; sounds delicious. I love pork tenderloin; great pairing.
Cooking Chat
Thanks Michelle. Mencia is worth trying, nice robust red.
Lori
We really have to break out of our habits. We are such US wine consumers. We do venture into Argentina and NZ but I am looking forward to learning about more wine areas through #winePW
Jennifer Martin (Vino Travels)
I’ve never had pork tacos and these look delicious. I would think the same thing and go for a spanish wine ; )
Cooking Chat
I liked your fish taco idea too!
Christy @ Confessions of a Culinary Diva
That is a winning combination! Love pork tenderloin, and it makes an exceptional taco. The Chipotle cream really makes that dish sing!
Thanks for participating this month – hope your baseball game was successful!
Cooking Chat
Thanks Christy! And yes, great game–my sons team won a dramatic come from behind game and he pitched great.
Martin D. Redmond
I’ve had that Mencia a few times. I really enjoy it. Great pairing too!
Cooking Chat
Thanks Martin, it is a good one!
Sarah
That marinade sounds wonderful! Great pairing!