Kellie's Kitchen: Island Spice Pork Tenderloin

Before trying this recipe, my opinion on pork tenderloin was, ehhh.....it's okay. This recipe totally changed my outlook...this is now by far by new favorite pork tenderloin recipe! The sweet and spicy combination of the rub and glaze add an amazing flavor to the pork.

This is casual and easy enough for a weeknight meal at home, but it's also impressive and tasty enough to serve to company. This one's a keeper (and I've made it several times)! I know that the USDA says to cook pork to 160 degrees, but don't believe them....They also say to cook steak to 145 degrees which is a sin (medium-rare is around 130 degrees)! By serving your pork tenderloin at around 150ish (pork is actually safe once it reaches 137), you will ensure that you have a juicy flavorful meat instead of a dried out tenderloin.

Ingredients:

For the spice rub:
2 tsp. kosher salt (I used coarse sea salt)
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 pork tenderloins, about 2-2½ lbs. total (I just made 1 pork tenderloin that was a little less than 2 lbs.)
2 tbsp. olive oil

For the glaze:
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tbsp. (2-3 cloves) finely minced garlic
1½ tsp. Tabasco sauce (Sriracha sauce would also be good here!)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Stir together the spice rub ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the mixture over the pork tenderloin.

Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Place the tenderloin in the skillet and brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes total. Remove from the heat, leaving the pork in the skillet.

Stir together the brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco in a small bowl until blended. Spread the mixture evenly over the tops of the tenderloin.

Place the skillet in the preheated oven and roast about 20 -30 minutes (depending on the size of your tenderloin) or until an instant-read themometer inserted in the center of each tenderloin registers 145˚ F. Loosely tent the skillet with foil and let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving (After letting the pork tenderloin rest, mine was right over 150 degrees which was perfect...Don't cook your pork tenderloin to 180 like they told you to do in the old days or it will be dried out!).