This recipe from Epicurious includes the tenderloin recipe from The Book, and a bonus salad.
This was an incredibly easy and delicious way to prepare a pork tenderloin. It took almost no forethought because it’s based entirely on pantry staples. Chances are I wouldn’t even have to go out to get the tenderloins. I’m liable to have a couple in my freezer at any given time because they vary so wildly in price. Sometimes you can pay $13 per loin, and then have them go on sale for $3.50 the next week. Steaks are like that too, but it always puzzles me.
The pork is browned with a dry rub of salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, and then covered with a brown sugar, garlic, Tabasco mixture and roasted. The browning opens up the flavours of the dry rub, and then the brown sugar coating melts into a spicy garlic glaze. The glaze helped keep the pork juicy and tender, and added deep molasses and caramel flavours. I was worried that it would end up too sweet (1 cup of brown sugar for 2 tenderloins), but it didn’t end up tasting candied at all.
This disappeared within minutes of putting it out, and got rave reviews. I loved that the recipe provided big flavours and an attractive presentation for hardly any time effort or energy. Island Pork Tenderloin, you’ve earned your 5 mushrooms.
3 replies on “48. Island Pork Tenderloin p.475”
I was wondering how spicy you would consider this? My mom can’t handle spicy at all, so I thought about leaving out the Tabasco. Would that work?
Thanks for your help!!
Tasha
It’s been a while, and my tolerance for heat is pretty high, but I certainly don’t remember it being over the top hot. You could safely replace the tabasco with vinegar, and I’m sure it would still come out wonderfully. There’s some chili powder in the spice rub as well, which you might want to omit. Smoked paprika might make an acceptable substitute. Good luck!
This is my all time favorite recipe and I don’t even usually like pork! It is so good- Don’t worry about it being spicy or too sweet- it is a perfect combination for anyone!