Ingredients

Rice:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups white rice
• 2 pinches saffron or 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• Salt

Pork:

• 2 pork tenderloins, trimmed, about 2 1/2 pounds total weight
• 4 cloves garlic, cracked away from skin
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons anise seed
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 limes, zested
• 2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend (recommended: McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning) or coarse salt and pepper
• EVOO - Extra-virgin olive oil, or vegetable oil, to coat
• Optional garnishes: chopped mango or kiwi, or chopped cilantro and scallions

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat medium pot with tight fitting lid over medium high heat. Add oil and bacon and brown bacon. Add onions and peppers and sauté 5 minutes. Bring broth to a boil. Add rice. Cover the pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 15 to 18 minutes, until rice is tender.

For pork, cut 4 slits into each loin and nest garlic and bay into meat. Place meat on nonstick baking sheet. Combine the spices. Coat meat with oil. Rub spices over the pork tenderloins and place in oven. Roast meat 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Let juices redistribute, then slice and serve with soffrito rice and garnishes of chopped tropical fruit or chopped cilantro and scallions.

Black Bean Salsa

COMMENTS:

• Since there are only two of us, we make this recipe with only one pork tenderloin but we always make the full rice recipe.  It makes wonderful leftover for another meal.

• The other reason we like to make the full rice recipe AND the full Black Bean Salsa recipe is that we cube whatever pork is left over, mix it with the rice and heat.  Then we combine the Black Bean Salsa and, oh, what a treat!

• We make this recipe exactly as it is shown.  It is so perfect for us the way Rachael Ray does it, we never found a reason to change a thing!