Pork tenderloin, strawberries & endive...

Tried my hand at a simple pork tenderloin the other day. I know, I know... who doesn't know how to make pork tenderloin? It's so easy it practically makes itself; but I want to share the trick I used to make it moist and juicy. It was quite possibly the best piece of meat we've ever eaten.

• Take your pork tenderloin and season it with salt, pepper, and Goya Adobo seasoning.
• Place a tablespoon of butter and a dazzle of olive oil in a non-stick pan. Get it nice and hot.
• Place the pork tenderloin in the pan and brown each and every side of it.

Searing every side of the pork will seal in the juices when you cook it in the oven. I used tongs to hold the pork upright while I seared the ends too. It really makes a difference in the tenderness of the meat.

• When searing is complete place the pork into a roasting pan, cover, and bake at 375 for about 20-30 minutes...you need a meat or candy thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat. There's no getting around this. Don't second guess the internal temp. It's the only way to make sure you get a perfectly cooked dish.
  


• Check the pork at 15 mintues and again at 20 and 25 minutes. You want to check the internal temperature of the meat to see when it reaches 150 degrees. Once it hits 150 turn the oven off and take the pork out and let it rest on top of the oven (in its pan).

Let the pork rest. This allows the juices from the pork to retreat into the center of the meat. So don't cut it right away. Let it rest. You can serve it warm or let it cool and serve it that way too. I served this pork tenderloin with a mustard sauce that I concocted from ingredients on hand. You can use sour cream instead of yogurt but I like the sweetness of the yogurt so that's what I used. I also plated it with a bed of endive and fresh strawberries. You can't believe how well all of these flavoürs work together! The bitterness of the endive is cut nicely by the sweetness of the strawberries; both make for a cool and refreshing chaser when eaten with the pork/mustard sauce.

Udo's Mustard Sauce

• 1-2 tablespoons of whole grain mustard
• 1-2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
• 2-3 tablespoons of vanilla flavoured pro-biotic yogurt
• 1/2 tablespoon of light mayo
• water or chicken stock or pork juices to thin out the sauce

Just add all ingredients into the pan you used to sear the pork and stir with a wooden spoon until a sauce forms. All measurements are to taste- so experiment with your own. Also, it smells really strong when you make it but when you drip a teeny bit over the pork and endive it's very subtle and not at all overpowering. The sweetness of the yogurt balances the tartness of the mustard just like the strawberries and the endive work together to create the same effect. It's a really clean and palatable dish.

Enjoy! XoxoOX <3>Üdo