The Best Damn Pork You’ll Ever Eat

Ok, so before we get started, I’d like to welcome you to my first blog entry!  I decided to lead off with this recipe because it’s one of my absolute go-to’s that I make for me and my wife.  It makes a ton of food and you can eat off this all week in many different incarnations (sandwiches, soups, salads, etc).  Pork Tenderloin is also very low in fat, so it makes for an excellent source of lean protein (yay healthy stuff!) Speaking of healthy, you don’t necessarily have to make the veggies with it, but I think they’re a great complement.  To that point, I guess, you can just make the veggies and leave it at that…but I don’t suggest that.  You’ll be depriving yourself of too much deliciousness.

Full disclosure.  When reading my recipes, the majority of measurements I have for seasonings are estimates.  I flavor my food mainly by using The Force.  Jedis make terrible bakers.

I initially got the basis for this recipe from an article I read in Fine Cooking Magazine whilst searching for a good method for grilling Pork Tenderloin.  This 7-6-5 grilling technique with a quick brine is just perfect.  The pork gets a great crust from the high heat, but stays extremely juicy because of the brine.  So, without any further delay…let’s get cookin’!

PORK STUFF

• 1/2 cup Kosher Salt
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 4 cups Water
• 4 Pork Tenderloin (about 4 pounds total)
• Orange Maple Glaze (recipe below)
• 1 tsp. Seasoning Salt (I prefer Lawry’s)
• 2 tsp. Onion Powder
• 2 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 2 tsp. Dried Mustard
• 2 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper
• 1 tsp. Dried Sage
• Store Bought Mango Chutney (totally optional)

BRINE YO PORK

In a large bowl, mix salt and sugar with 4 cups of water until dissolved, and then drop (or carefully submerge) the tenderloins in that brine. Let soak for about 45 minutes.  In the meantime, crack open a beer and prep that tasty-ass glaze and oh so healthy veggies.

ROASTED VEGGIE STUFF

• 3 Zucchini
• 3 Yellow Squash
• 1/2 Onion
• 3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp. Dried Thyme
• 1 tbsp. Kosher Salt
• 1 tbsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tbsp. Fresh Ground Pepper

HOW TO ROAST ‘EM

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Cut zucchini and squash into chunks and dice up the onion. Transfer to a bowl. Toss veggies with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and thyme. Transfer the mixture to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil (if it can’t hold them all in a single layer, just use 2 pans). Roast for 15-20 minutes, tossing halfway through. Bam. Done.

ORANGE MAPLE GLAZE

• 1/2 cup Orange/Pineapple/Mango Juice (or just Orange Juice, whatever you’ve got on hand)
• 2 tsp. Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp. Maple Syrup (I prefer the Dark Amber variety #YOLO)
• 2 tsp. Rosemary (fresh or dried, again…whatever you’ve got on hand)
• 2 tsp. Dried Sage

Put all that stuff in a small saucepan and bring to a quick boil. Simmer until the mixture reduces by at least half, and starts to become kinda syrupy. Take off the heat and let that stuff cool down. Don’t want to rub that all over the pork while it’s hot. Your hands will thank you later. Speaking of the pork…I think it’s time to take it out of the brine. Make sure to rinse it well and dry with paper towels. If you don’t rinse it, it’ll be WAY too salty.

SEASON IT UP AND SLAP IT ON THE GRILL

Rub the pork all over (DIRTY!!!) with the seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic powder, dried mustard, fresh ground pepper, dried sage and the almighty glaze. Again, don’t go too heavy with the salt as the brine has pretty much done that for you already.  The Seasoning Salt is there just to give it a little extra kick of flavor.  Prep your grill by oiling the grates, so the pork doesn’t stick. Once you’ve done that, heat up the grill as hot as it can get (burners on high for about 10-15min), put on the pork, turn the heat down to a medium/medium-high temp, close the lid and grill for 7 minutes. After that, turn the pork over, close the lid, and grill for another 6 minutes. Don’t worry if the pork looks kinda charred. That’s just the glaze doing its thing (if it looks a little too dark for your liking, just turn the heat down a bit). Once the 6 minutes is up, turn off the heat, but keep the lid closed and leave it be for another 5 minutes. After that time, an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the thickest end of the tenderloin should read 145° to 150°F. If the pork is still not quite done, close the lid and let it continue to roast in the residual grill heat.

Once those delicious hunks of meat are done, move to a welled cutting board or any large plate/dish with sides and let rest for 5 minutes. Trust me, you’re gonna want to save the au jus.

Now that you’ve been patient, cut into that tenderloin and plate it up. Drizzle with the jus and top with Mango Chutney if you so desire.  Or don’t.  Do whatever makes you sit back and say, “holy crap, this is amazing”.

Now, you’re (presumably) gonna have leftovers, so up next, I’ll fill you in on a delicious (and easy) way to continue to enjoy this amazing piece of meat.