Love Me Tenderloin: Pork Tenderloin with Seasoned Rub

Last weekend my husband accompanied me on a grocery run. While I perused the fresh vegetables he found himself a pork tenderloin and told me that he really wanted me to make one. During the 15 years of my life that I ate meat, I don’t recall ever eating pork tenderloin, and subsequently have nothing to reference it too. My husband, however, gets to enjoy it frequently at my sister’s house. She has a killer pork tenderloin recipe that my husband just loves. While I was prepared to use her recipe for this experiment, my husband told me he was craving a pork tenderloin with a crust. My sister’s recipe uses a glaze, so I did a quick search and made an adaptation of Ellie Krieger’s pork tenderloin with a seasoned rub.

Making this recipe was a joint effort. My husband took care of the pork, while I did all of the ingredient prep work and made the pan sauce. He loved this pork recipe. It cooked perfectly, and while the pork was moist and pan sauce wasn’t needed, it was a nice touch. I served this for him with some broccoli and fingerling potatoes. (After removing the pan sauce from the skillet, I added some olive oil and butter to the pan, sautéed the fingerling potatoes, and then finished them off with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.) I think we will have to try my sister’s glaze recipe sometime, but this one is definitely a keeper!

Pork Tenderloin with Seasoned Rub
(Adapted from Ellie Krieger)
Ingredients
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt
1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, smashed
For Pan Sauce:
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450°F.

In separate bowl mix dry ingredients such as garlic powder, oregano, cumin, coriander, thyme and salt. Stir mixture with a fork until all the ingredients are well combined and they form a seasoning. This will be used as a rub to ensure the pork is well seasoned throughout. Sprinkle the rub over the tenderloin with a dry hand, then rub the pork with the seasoning over both sides of the meat, pressing gently so the seasoning adheres well to the tenderloin.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and heat. Add the garlic cloves and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute. Put tenderloin in the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, searing each side using tongs to turn the meat. (When garlic cloves begin to burn, remove immediately from pan.) Transfer meat to a roasting pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, keep the skillet over medium-high heat and deglaze the pan with the white wine and chicken stock. Using a wooden spoon, scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in Dijon mustard, and allow sauce to simmer for 5 minutes. When pork is done cooking, add any remaining juices from roasting pad to sauce.

Slice pork and serve. Drizzle with pan sauce, if desired.