Recipes

/

Home & Leisure

Seriously Simple: Roasted pork tenderloin makes a delicious weeknight meal

By Diane Rossen Worthington, Tribune Content Agency on

Pork tenderloin, the long cylindrical boneless cut from the loin, lends itself to different flavors and cooking techniques. You can either roast the pork in the oven or grill it on the barbecue. I am partial to cooking this for weeknight dinners when I want lots of flavor and have little time. This is a favorite Seriously Simple cut since it cooks in a short time with tasty results.

These tender pork tenderloins are bathed in a fragrant Asian mix of ingredients. You'll find hoisin sauce and sesame oil available in the Asian section of your market. Serve this with parslied couscous with zucchini and carrots (recipe below) to soak up the sauce. To drink? To balance the sweetness in the glaze, the best wine choices are zinfandel, pinot noir or syrah.

When discussing pork recipes, I always urge home cooks to look for kurobuta pork at fine supermarkets or meat markets. Kurobuta (Japanese black hog) pork, bred from Berkshire stock, is prized for its dark meat and rich flavor. And it's worth the extra price tag. American kurobuta pork is lean, yet still has small, fine streaks of marbling that produce a sweet, tender and juicy result.

While many recipes suggest cooking pork to an interior temperature of 160 F, I have found that is a simply too high. The pork should be slightly pink and at 145 F for optimum flavor and texture. Trichinosis, a parasite found in pork, dies at 137 F, so cooking past that temperature should assure you that your dish would be both safe and delicious. Remember that the meat will continue to cook another 5 degrees after you take it off the heat so don't overcook it. Serve this warm or chilled.

Roasted Glazed Pork Tenderloins

Serves 4

 

For the marinade:

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

...continued

swipe to next page

 

 

Comics

Mike Du Jour Steve Kelley Lisa Benson Poorly Drawn Lines Peter Kuper Pickles