okay, this came out amazingly. i ended up marinading the roast the night before, and i think letting it sit for a full 24 hour really made it tender and juicy. the orange flavor in this is subtle, but it makes the recipe sweet without relying on a sugary taste. the tenderloin i used was 1.2 pounds, and a cooking time of 45 minutes at 350 degrees was perfect. this served 4 people when sliced up.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon chili oil (or sub your favorite hot sauce, Crystal anyone?)
4 large cloves garlic, minced
zest and juice from 1/2 orange
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
few dashes nutmeg
1 teaspoon dried parsley/oregano/thyme – pick your favorite or whatever you have laying around
1-2 lb pork tenderloin
place all ingredients into a large ziplock bag, seal it, and squish around to mix. now stick your finger in and taste it. if you don’t like it then add something to fix it. too salty? add more juice, oil, or mustard. too sweet? add more hot sauce or a little soy sauce. SIDE NOTE: be cautious about adding oil and/or soy sauce to marinades. in my opinion this can make them taste crappy quickly. soy sauce often gives it too much salt and will cover the other flavors, not to mention gives the impression that you dont really know what youre doing. oil can quickly dilute the flavors, or make it taste, surprise, oily. also, i dont believe oil helps with the marinade process – acids are what help to tenderize meat. when all else fails i would add some booze (red wine, vodka, rum, whatever) or vinegar. better to err on the bitter side than too salty, in my humble opinion. these things work especially well if you find yourself needing a more liquidy marinade.
throw your pork tenderloin right in the bag, its a great way to marinade if your meat fits in the ziplock. marinade as long as possible, preferrably overnight.
place pork in a shallow pan into a 350 degree oven, cook until done. you should cook pork until the center reaches 160 degrees, but i dont have a meat thermometer so i mostly guess. 45 mins to an hour should be sufficient for a 1 – 2 lb roast, but hold off on cutting a slice off to check if its done as long as you can. that lets a lot of juice leak out. i guess a thermometer would work best. while the pork is cooking, take the leftover marinade from the ziplock bag and pour into a sauce pan. you can get creative here. i typically add a little butter, maybe some broth, or if you really want a lot of sauce to go around, add a little store bought envelope of gravy mix with some water. cook until thickened. for this particular sauce, i added 1 tablespoon of butter and the zest and juice from the other half of the orange, and simmered until it was reduced to a thick sauce.
be sure to let your roast sit about 10 mins before slicing. slice and serve with sauce.
this particular pork roast i served with creamed corn, garlic mashed potatoes, and a cranberry pie for dessert (recipes can be found on this page). super tasty.
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