Name: Tremendous Pork Tenderloin
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 (1.25 to 1.5 lb) pork tenderloin; 1.5 tsp kosher salt; 1 tsp black pepper; 1 tbsp neutral oil; 3 tbsp pure maple syrup; 2 tbsp Dijon mustard; 1 tbsp whole grain mustard; 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped; 1 garlic clove, minced; 1 tsp apple cider vinegar; 1 tbsp unsalted butter

Tremendous Pork Tenderloin

Prep

10m

Cook

20m

Total

30m

Bigly says

Pork tenderloin. Pork tenderloin! The most underrated cut in the entire pig — and I would know, I've been eating pigs longer than most people have been driving cars — and yet, somehow, every dinner party I go to, somebody puts a tenderloin on the table that looks like a sad gray log washed up on a beach. Sad. So sad. We can do better. We WILL do better. Today.

Sit down for this one. The tenderloin is small, it is lean, it cooks in TWENTY MINUTES, and it tastes like the angels themselves had a meeting and decided humans deserved a treat. The catch — and there's always a catch, the universe is a stingy place — is that the same leanness that makes it cook fast also means it goes from juicy to jerky in about ninety seconds. You blink, you scroll, you check the score of the game, you've ruined dinner. Eyes on the meat. Eyes on the thermometer. That's the deal.

A guy named Ramón taught me this method. He worked the line at a roadside place outside Tucson that no longer exists — bulldozed for a parking lot, a TRAGEDY, the sandwiches alone deserved a historical marker — and Ramón sold me on the sear-then-roast technique. Crank a pan. Brown the loin on all four sides. Slide it into a hot oven. Pull it at 140. Rest it. Slice it. That's the recipe. The maple-mustard glaze is mine, I added that, Ramón would tolerate it but he wouldn't endorse it. He was a purist. I am not. Beautiful.

Ingredients

1 (1.25 to 1.5 lb)pork tenderloin(trim the silver skin or curse it forever)
1.5 tspkosher salt
1 tspblack pepper
1 tbspneutral oil
3 tbsppure maple syrup(grade A dark — the cheap stuff is corn syrup wearing a costume)
2 tbspDijon mustard
1 tbspwhole grain mustard
1 tbspfresh rosemary, finely chopped
1garlic clove, minced
1 tspapple cider vinegar
1 tbspunsalted butter

Steps

1
Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C). Position a rack in the middle.
2
Trim the silver skin from the tenderloin: slide a thin knife under it at one end and slice off in long strips. Discard.
3
Pat the tenderloin completely dry. Season all sides generously with salt and pepper.
4
In a small bowl, whisk maple syrup, Dijon, whole grain mustard, rosemary, garlic, and apple cider vinegar.
5
Heat the oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sear the tenderloin on all four sides, about 1.5 minutes per side, until deeply golden.
6
Brush half the maple-mustard glaze generously over the seared loin.
7
Transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast for 10-14 minutes, depending on thickness, until the internal temperature reaches 140°F (60°C) at the thickest point.
8
Remove the skillet. Brush with the remaining glaze and dot the butter on top to melt.
9
Tent loosely with foil and rest for 7-10 minutes. The temperature will carry over to 145°F.
10
Slice across the grain into 1/2-inch medallions. Spoon any pan juices over the slices and serve.

One more thing

Slice it on the bias, fan it out on the platter, drizzle the pan juices over the top. People will think you spent two hours on this. You spent twenty minutes. That is the secret, the unfair advantage, the cheat code — and I'm handing it to you for free. Pair it with roasted potatoes or a sharp greens salad. Whatever. The tenderloin will carry the meal on its back. Tremendous.