Bourbon marinade for pork tenderloin

[Harry in WashDC]

Bourbon marinade and grilled pork tenderloin

 

Works with one or two tenderloins; will work with three if you have a glass lasagna pan

 

Times

 

Make marinade – 10 minutes including search for ingredients

Marinating – at least ½ hour up to two hours in fridge, turning occasionally

Grilling – up to 30 minutes but DO NOT OVERCOOK as it’ll get tough

 

Marinade:

 

1/3 cup bourbon (usually a 100 proof like EWW or JB BIB)

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup brown sugar

1 cup finely chopped onion (almost minced is OK)

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard (sounds like a lot but is not)

1 teaspoon Worcester sauce

 

Combine all but onion in a dish large enough to hold the meat. Stir and combine thoroughly.  Add onions and swirl.  Add meat and roll it around to get all parts wet.  Cover (plastic wrap ok) and stick in fridge for up to two hours, turning occasionally.  Proof over 110?  Cut the marinade time.

 

Grill the tenderloin over a hot fire with the lid up until the internal temp in the thickest part is NO MORE THAN 135 – 140F.  Choose you method – reverse sear, grill marks then four-sided flip, whatever.  Because pork tenderloins taper, I put the loin just off the edge of the coals with the thick end closest and the thin end maybe two inches off the edge.  Instead of four-side cooking, I turn it incrimentally and alot so it is uniformly brown but unmarked at the finish.  It is fussier but allows me to stay outside with the meat and sip all by myself while avoiding charred spots.  About the 15 minute mark, start checking temps throughout the length to be sure it all finishes at the same time.  Moving it over the coals or further off the coals works wonders for me in order to hit the 30 minute cook time so the meat finishes when the inside dishes finish (corn, cooked potatoes, carrots, whatever).  If somebody likes their pork well done, move the skinny end closer at the outset and cook it as though it is all one thickness.

 

Even when cooking for just us two, we cook two tenderloins.  Leftovers from the first and slices from the second work well in salads, sandwiches, or Sunday morning omelets.