Steve Can Cook: Pork Tenderloin

Yuengling pairs with everything.

As opposed to some of my past cooking exploits, this meal actually came out perfect, despite the lack of a good oven. The picture can be a bit deceiving, just because I’m using a semi-low resolution camera phone, but that’s not burn marks on the top – it’s herbs and spices. Oh, la and LA, as a wise man would say.

My “recipe” is actually pretty simple, if you want to steal it. In a small bowl, add about a teaspoon each of ground black pepper, garlic, rosemary and maybe parsley and paprika, if you want some color. I usually add about two teaspoons of salt to the mixture, whether it’s regular kosher salt, garlic salt or some other variation.

From there, add just enough olive oil to make all of the dry ingredients wet, for lack of a better definition. Mix in the bowl, so that you essentially have a paste, and split the bowl’s contents into two equally-sized portions. Use one portion on the top of the roast, one on the bottom. (If you have an especially fatty roast, then you might not want to coat the fat-side as much, since that’ll have a delicious flavor on its own.)

Since I’m just a single dude, normally I also do my best to portion the roast beforehand. Obviously, I’m not going to eat a three-pound roast on my own, so I’ll usually split it into three or four parts to eat over the week or so that the meat is fresh. I don’t really like to freeze it though – I feel like the flavor gets affected when you freeze and then thaw X weeks later, so that’s only a last resort for me.

Final tips – An internal thermometer is a must, especially since they’re only like $15. I got one three years ago, and no other cooking device has helped me as much as that. You want one of the probe kinds, so that you can leave it in while the meat cooks. Also, remember that the USDA changed its temperature guidelines! Unless you have a desire for dry pork to tip into apple sauce, it’s done when hits 145 degrees.

And final finally, you absolutely want to let it rest for 10 minutes! I never used to do this when I was in my early 20s, being an impatient man, but those few additional minutes of heat collection and rest really do help out the flavor.

So ends the random cooking tips from the guy who mostly just writes about video games and his cat.