The Home Cook: Peking Pork Tenderloin

Grilled meats are a big hit at our house...good, tender juicy bits of grilled pork are especially popular with me. As the granddaughter of two cattle ranchers, beef is not a "special" food for me...not at all. Pork on the other hand was always a rarity growing up, there by training me to prefer a well cooked piece of pork tenderloin to a well cooked hunk of beef sirloin strip. Blasphemy, I know; most people think I'm crazy but my tastes are what they are. So a few weeks ago when this recipe for Peking Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Sauce turned up in my in box from Better Homes and Gardens I marked it as a "to try" recipe. I'm so glad I did...the meat turned out wonderfully flavored and was bliss on a plate. I modified the recipe a bit, ie: using the dijon sauce as a brush on glaze instead of a side sauce, but I liked the flavor it added to the pork. I also used half a tenderloin (1 lb.) because it's just Tim and I. Of course I also learned that if you try and photograph a hunk of glazed pork tenderloin before carving it up, it will look incredibly gross...therefore I should take pictures of the meat sliced before we eat the whole thing.

Original Recipe and Photo Courtesy http://recipes.bhg.com

Peking Pork Tenderloin

2 lb. pork tenderloins
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/3 cup bottled stir-fry sauce
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
3 Tbsp. bottled stir-fry sauce
2 Tbsp. Dijon-style mustard
1 tsp. cooking oil

Sprinkle meat with onion powder. Place in a shallow tupperware. Pour the 1/3 cup stir-fry sauce over meat. Sprinkle with pepper. Cover and chill for 1-1/2 to 4 hours or overnight.

Shortly before grilling, in a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, the 3 tablespoons stir-fry sauce, mustard, and oil. Divide sauce; cover and chill half until serving time.

For a charcoal grill, arrange hot coals around a drip pan. Test for medium-high heat above the pan. Place pork on grill rack over drip pan. Cover and grill for 30 to 35 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of tenderloin registers 155 degrees F, brush tenderloin with remaining half of dijon sauce several times during cooking. If you are not using a drip pan watch the flame carefully as it can burn the dijon sauce if it flares up. (For a gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium-high. Adjust heat for indirect cooking. Grill as above.)

Remove meat from grill. Cover with foil; let stand for 10 minutes before carving. (The meat's temperature will rise about 5 degrees F during standing.) Cut meat into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Serve with reserved sauce on the side.

Happy Thing: It's Monday...of a TWO day work week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!