This past grocery shopping trip I picked up a pork tenderloin, not exactly knowing what I wanted to do with it, but figured it would be a nice long roast I could start before my daughter's dance class and come home to dinner already cooked. Or maybe turn it into a crock pot meal. Well, a beautiful pork butt was put in the crock pot on Monday and the lazy mother than I am, it wasn't clean by today (Wednesday) so the tenderloin needed an alternative. A quick search online for a new recipe produced quite the variety of options. Decisions, decisions, what to do, how to play? School bus was coming and I had very little time to get to dance once it did... so off to the pantry I went to find what I could to toss in, cover and drop in. Results were real good and the kids gobbled it up, with dipping sauce and all!
Ingredients
2lb pork tenderloin
salt
pepper
spicey brown mustard
honey
brown sugar
Remember, I don't measure, just toss it all in until it tastes right to you. Heavily salt and pepper the pork. In a bowl, combine the dijon mustard, honey and brown sugar. Equal parts mustard and honey, then add brown sugar to make a thick paste. Once combined well, smother pork well and coat all sides. Place into baking dish and cover with tin foil.
Now, since I was leaving the house early, I decided to use the timer function on my awesome ovens. I set the oven to start at 4:30 and cook for an hour at 350 degrees. Placed the pork in the oven and headed off to grab the kid and get to dance. After which... I stopped at a friend's house to pick up the other kid and we gabbed for an additional hour before I made it home. Of course by then, the oven had long turned itself off. Take note here, the pork was already in the oven as the oven warmed up to 350 and stayed in the oven until it was almost completely cooled down. I am attributing the juiciness and tenderness that resulted to the cool down extra hour. Checked the pork once I got home and it was at a PERFECT 165 internal temperature. The mustard/honey/sugar paste had cooked down to an awesome juice, so I basted it a few times and let it sit while making sides.
Sides, I chose a boxed shells and white cheddar and then made candied carrots. Yep, more brown sugar. There's where the sweet tooth came in! I had also mentioned carrots in conversation earlier in the day, so they were on my mind. So what are candied carrots? Carrots with brown sugar and butter, in a saute pan, cooked until tender. That easy. And I use frozen carrots, just easier.
Not a single picture did I take, sadly. Never even crossed my mind until we sat down to dinner and the kids gobbled up the pork.
