Honey Dijon Pork Tenderloin

Well just how busy have we been since the new year—very busy! So busy that we're just now posting the first part of our traditional new years meal. We decided that we wanted to make a traditional southern new years meal with pork, black-eyed peas, collards and cornbread. Easy right? Well the meal proved to be quite the task and took about 21/2 hrs to complete but was well worth it in the end. So tonight I'll review the pork we had – which was pretty amazing. I mean it's hard to not like a well-cooked pork tenderloin but this marinade, which you later cook down to a sauce, was exceptional. Modified from Cooks.com. I started by marinating the pork for around 4 hrs even though it said you only needed 30 minutes – I hardly think this is enough time to marinate a tenderloin. Next I moved to the grill and utilized my remote thermometer to perfectly cook this pork. After cooking down the marinade and serving atop the sliced pork we were thoroughly pleased with the results.

I read that the origin of eating pork on the New Years Day is to symbolize progress. So far it seems to be working. I, Michael, recently took a new job. Hopefully that will not be the end, hopefully this forward progress will continue all year long. I'll post about the beans and the collards tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a great new year.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs. boneless pork loin roast
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. rosemary leaves, crushed
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 c. beer or ginger ale
• 1/2 c. dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. garlic powder

Directions

1. Place pork in heavy plastic bag. 
2. Combine remaining ingredients; pour over pork. Seal bag. Marinate in refrigerator 1 hour. Preheat grill.
3. Remove pork from marinade. Place over drip pan filled with 1 inch of water on grill. Grill, uncovered, or bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes per pound or until 160 internal temperature, basting occasionally. 
4. Simmer any leftover marinade 5 minutes. Serve with roast.