Looking Through a Glass Onion

We get all kinds of calls to the Relay customer service hot line. The reach of the Internet is such that anyone, anywhere, can find anything -- and when folks Google, say, Temeraire - Authentic Dijon Mustard - 30 oz. or the big bottle of Gold Medal Imitation Vanilla, 8 fl. oz. they find these not-available-everywhere items from the vendors in the Relay Family, like Foods of All Nations and Reid's Super Save. Of course, they simply click through and order it up! And we wind up on the phone explaining that Relay serves the C-ville-area only, that we don't (as yet) ship items, and that we are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. All in a day's work.

Today, A.J. called from the Catskills with a new twist. Said she held in her hand a bottle of Hanover Superfine Whole Onions, 15 oz. that had an expiration date on the lid that had been rubbed away so that the year was not clear. We chatted awhile. Seems A.J. makes a mean Spiced Pork Tenderloin, the leftovers of which she likes to toss in a skillet with these particular pickled onions. Get it all hot and steamy, she said, then stuff the mixture into half-a-pita. Pure heaven.

Of course, there was no way a jar of Superfine Onions at Reids would have any bearing on the jar she was holding in her hand. We thought about going into the intricacies of the Relay business model -- the baton-passing that our Operations-folk accomplish every day, the Internet, our vendor-partners who collect the orders we transmit. None of it answered her question -- and such complexity was inadequate to the task. Best keep it simple.

We chatted some more, discussing the general shelf life of pickled items, like onions. We even ventured that she ought to go ahead and use them -- which probably wasn't very prudent -- but seemed like the reasonable thing since the seal had not been broken and she'd picked them up within the last year. We gave her our email to let us know how it turned out.

A little later, A.J. sent an email with her recipe for Spiced Pork Tenderloin attached. She didn't say how the pita sandwich turned out. It's tempting to say you only hear about things when they go wrong -- especially in the Customer Service world -- but it was such a pleasure talking, it seemed like a risk worth taking.... Thanks for the call, A.J., you made our day!


A.J.'s Spiced Pork Tenderloin Recipe

1 T. olive oil

1 large garlic clove, mashed

¾ t. ground cumin

¼ t. ground cinnamon

¼ t. ground cloves

1 = ¾ to 1 pound pork tenderloin=======================

1/3 cup canned low-salt chicken broth

2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 450 degrees…Blend first 5 ingredients in small bowl. Sprinkle pork with spice mixture, salt and pepper. Place in 13x9x2 inch pan. Roast until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150 degrees F, about 20 minutes (maybe longer). Transfer pork to plate.

Add broth to pan. Set pan directly over high heat and bring broth to boil, scraping up browned bits. Simmer until pan juices thicken slightly, about 3 minutes. Slice pork into rounds, place on plates. Top with pan juices and cilantro…….ENJOY!!!