April 29, 2020

Mother’s Day Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Name: Mother’s Day Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 2 pounds pork tenderloin; ¾ teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove garlic; ½ teaspoon onion powder or about ½ a medium onion; 1 teaspoon dried rosemary or about 4 sprigs fresh rosemary; 1 teaspoon dried thyme (less if you have ground thyme) or about 4 sprigs fresh thyme; salt and ground black pepper to taste; 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard; 1/4 cup olive oil; 1/4 cup soya sauce

Guest Blog Author: Colin Martin

Hey guys! You can prep the protein for dinner anytime, but there’s a few days on the calendar when it’s definitely on you. Mother’s Day is one of them. Grilled pork tenderloin has become a favourite of mine. Done right, you get a flavour bomb of juicy, lean pork in your mouth. That’s right, lean. Picky meat eaters are fans of tenderloin since it’s not a fatty cut. The biggest thing to get right is not to kill it a second time. The pig’s dead. You don’t have to cook the life out of it.

Marinades are easy. Dump some stuff together and away you go. I like to use a blender if I’m using real herbs, onions, and garlic because you can omit the chopping and mincing by blending it all. If there’s nothing to chop, I’ll just throw everything together in a marinating dish or bag and mix it in there. I’m a fan of resealable bags as you can use less marinade to keep the meat well surrounded.

I forgot to get more garlic when grocery shopping. Yup, I have that job right now since students get extra PC Points at Real Canadian Superstore on Tuesdays. Using garlic powder keeps this recipe easier, but I generally try to use garlic cloves whenever possible.

If using dried spices, measure them and put them into the bag along with salt and pepper. Add the tenderloin so that it holds up the bag while adding liquids. Really, you could add the tenderloin at the beginning. Add the mustard, olive oil, and soya sauce. (If using fresh ingredients, toss everything into a blender (not the tenderloin!), blend, and put into the bag with the tenderloin. Using fresh herbs tends to make the marinade a ghastly green.) Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Shake until the ingredients are well mixed. Refrigerate, preferably at least a day.

20 – 30 minutes before grilling, remove the tenderloin from the fridge. Spray the barbeque grill grates with a high heat cooking spray. Pam Grilling works well. Preheat the barbeque to around 450°F. Start barbequing, turning the tenderloins every five minutes or so. This will cook them through without turning the outside to charcoal. I keep the barbeque temperature between 400 and 500°F and find it takes 30 – 40 minutes. USDA and Health Canada don’t agree on minimum internal safe temperatures for pork. Health Canada says 160°F whereas about a decade ago, USDA lowered it to 145°F. I think most people agree that 145°F is sufficient. Don’t go over 160°. You’ll dry the poor cut out. Our family likes a medium-well, somewhere around 155-160°F. Having a digital instant-read thermometer helps me with this. We got this one a few years ago and love it. If you buy it through this link, it helps us out. Thanks! After the pork has reached desired temperature, remove from the grill. Let it rest for a few minutes before slicing. Enjoy!