Citrus Roasted Pork Tenderloin Recipe

A Simple AND Delicious Recipe for Roasted Pork Tenderloins

Cookbook Challenge #3

Let's take a look at this incredible recipe for roasted pork tenderloin with Citrus Sauce. 

It's been a while since my last Cookbook Challenge Recipe, and I apologize but I've had a lot going on around here since I posted my last recipe. I hope you are all going through you cookbooks that may be collecting a little dust on your bookshelf and finding some fun new recipes to work on.  I did with this one.

I defrosted a couple of pork tenderloins and was looking for something "quick and easy" to prepare with them.  I started leafing through a bunch of my cookbooks until I found one that looked interesting.

I have no idea where I purchased this cookbook, but it is the companion to Chef Brehier's PBS cooking series, Incredible Cuisine back in 1998 for Time Life and was their best selling cookbook for two years. Although Amazon doesn't stock his cookbook, it is available from one of their "sellers" at greatly reduced prices.

I have not cooked from this cookbook in a long, long time, but I remember when I did the recipes were easy to prepare and the dishes were always delicious.  I'm sure I thought to myself that I need to cook more recipes from it, but then put it back on the shelf and forgot about it.

Not sure how my kids would like the tangy citrus marinade, I decided to just marinate one of them and roast the other with just a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  Turns out I could have marinated both tenderloins because the kids enjoyed both.

I say this is a quick and easy recipe, and it is, but you do have to allow time for the meat to marinate. Chef Brehier says at least 4 hours. I served the pork with rice and steamed asparagus, but mashed potatoes and any of your favorite vegetable side dishes would be great too.

There were a couple of procedures described in Chef Brehier I wasn't sure of so I adapted it so it made more sense to me. This recipe is worth a try.

Marinating the pork tenderloin

Sear the meat in a large fry pan or roasting pan

Cutting up the tenderloin into medallions to serve

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

Citrus Roasted Pork Tenderloin Recipe

Adapted from Chef Brehier’s PBS cooking series, Incredible Cuisine

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6 - 8 servings

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons orange zest grated
• 1 teaspoon lime zest grated
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped
• ½ teaspoon pepper freshly ground
• 2 pork tenderloins about 1 pound each with fat and sinew removed
• ⅓ cup orange juice fresh would be nice
• ¼ cup lime juice fresh is a must
• ¼ cup sherry
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin

Instructions

• After you have prepped all the ingredients (called mise en place), combine the garlic, orange & lime zest, rosemary and pepper in a small bowl. Use this to rub all over the tenderloins.

  By the way, I like to rinse the tenderloins first with cold water and dry completely.
• Make the marinade by combining the orange juice, lime juice, sherry, honey and vinegar in a container large enough to hold both tenderloins. Cover, stick in the refrigerator and marinate for at least 4 hours.
• Preheat your oven to 425°F.
• Chef Brehier suggests roasting the tenderloins in a roasting pan which makes sense, but I decided to use my large fry pan. No particular reason but I thought it would be easier to brown the pork in.
• Heat the pan on medium-high heat and when hot, add the oil and brown the pork on all sides.

  Chef Brehier says to "drizzle 2 tablespoons of the marinade on the tenderloins" and roast in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes.
• You then turn the meat over and "baste with more marinade" and continue roasting for 5 more minutes or until the meat has reached the desired internal temperature.

  Don't overcook - use a meat thermometer!
• I bet some of you are asking if it is safe to use the marinade the pork was in. I'm not sure. I did it this way and didn't have a problem with it because the oven is very hot but for those of you not comfortable doing it this way, you can:

  Reserve a little of the marinade before adding the pork.

  Use just a little olive oil to drizzle on the meat.

  Bring the marinade to a boil in a saucepan before using it to baste the meat.
• When the meat is done, transfer to a cutting board, cover it with aluminum foil and let it rest for 5 minutes. Be sure to take the resting time into account when determining the internal cooking temperature.

  Check out my article called How Do You Know When The Meat Is Done. It talks about resting.
• Slice the meat into ¼ inch medallions and serve with your side dishes.

Notes

I'll be trying more recipes from Chef Brehier's Incredible Cuisine because they always turn out great. I wonder if I can get him to do a Novice to Pro Chef Interview with me? That would be a lot of fun.