Hello everyone,

With the weather finally getting nice,, barbecue season is just around the corner. John and I have just inherited a barbecue, and we are both excited to start barbecuing as much as we can. Look forward to some of our/John’s best barbecue recipes once the season gets rolling.

Unfortunately, barbecue season is not quite here. So sorry to get your hopes up. Yes, some of us will go outside in the winter and brave the cold in order to make their favourite delicious barbecue creations, but others (such as myself) generally prefer to use alternate cooking methods that keep us nice and cozy and most importantly, not outside. For me, this means lots of crock pots, stove-top stew-like dishes and of course the classic comfort of oven- roasted meat. This week’s recipe is a lemon herb baked pork tenderloin. Marinaded in a classic combination of herbs, garlic and lemon juice, Cooked to medium-rare perfection, who knew this often maligned meat could be so tasty? John and I had it for lunch today, and served it with roasted acorn squash topped with butter and brown sugar, as well as steamed broccoli tossed in parmesan cheese. John gave me an extra hug for this one.

TIPS:

– Use a meat thermometer for best results, to get the thickest part of the pork tenderloin to 137F. If you have a meat themometer, start checking the temperature at 15 minutes every few minutes. If you do not have a meat thermometer, be sure to roast the pork for at least 20 minutes to be safe.

– Fresh herbs are always best, but I used dried today and it turned out just great.

-This recipe also makes a great marinade for grilling!

Ingredient I can’t live without:

LEMONS
I always have a bundle of fresh lemons in my fridge. You never know when you will need lemon juice for a marinade or salad dressing. I also like to start every day with a large glass of water with half a lemon squeezed into it. This wakes me up faster then coffee, a perfect morning pick-me-up!

Herb of the week:

ROSEMARY
A wonderful compliment to chicken, pork or roasted vegetables. Rosemary is a frequent ingredient in many of John’s barbecue rubs and sauces, so be sure to have it in your spice rack if you hope to try some of his barbecue recipes in the next while!

Thanks to John again for providing the photo, as well as his aesthetically pleasing food arranging skills.

Hopefully this delicious pork tenderloin recipe will help you get through that final push of winter!

Bon appetit,

Julie

Click here to view printable Word version of recipe:
Lemon Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin

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Lemon Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin

INGREDIENTS:

– Zest of one lemon
– 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3-5 lemons
– 1/4 cup olive oil
– 6 cloves minced garlic
– 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 2 tsp dried)
– 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 tsp dried)
– 2 tsp dijon mustard
– Salt
– Pepper
– 1 or 2 pork tenderloins

DIRECTIONS:

• Combine first 7 ingredients into a marinade, and marinade the pork in a large zip lock bag. Turn to coat and squeeze out the air. Marinade for a few hours, but the longer the better – overnight if you can. Move pork around in marinade periodically if possible.
• Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• Remove pork from bag and season meat with salt and pepper. Sear the porkloins on each side at a medium high temperature.
• Line a baking pan with tin foil and place porkloins on pan.
• Roast the tenderloins for 15-20 minutes. Pork should be approx. 137F in the thickest part. The thick part of the tenderloin will be pink, while the thin end will be more well done.
• Place tenderloin on platter and cover in tin foil, allow the meat to relax for 10 minutes before serving.
• Serve by cutting into medallions.