It was Battle of the Grilled Tenderloins day! I had my hubby pick up “one” tenderloin, totally spacing the fact that they always come in a package of two! So, instead of freezing the other one, I decided to go ahead and grill them both, knowing that one would not last long anyways! 😉
Instead of doing them both the same, I took advantage of the opportunity at hand and decided to create two different rubs with two different complimenting sauces! MUCH more fun and interesting! 😉
This was the first one, which Tom loved so much that he ate HALF of a tenderloin in one day!! I do not know where that man puts it all!
This one also ended up being his favorite of the two. (I actually preferred the second one which I’ll share soon.)
I didn’t really have a plan to start, it was a gorgeous day outside, I was in the mood to grill, so it was another “raid the pantry” and “clean out the fridge” kind of adventure! Some of the best creations come from what you already have and put to good use! 😉
I had dried basil leaves from my herb garden, so that’s pretty much where I started with the rub including the basics such as seasoned salt, pepper and garlic powder. But I always enjoy a little kick in the trunk, too, so I added a bit of creole seasoning for a bit of heat! This turned out to be a VERY good start!!
I wrapped that baby up and popped it into the fridge to let the dry rub do it’s magic! I ended up marinating it for 8 hours, but you can marinate it overnight if you’d like. The longer the better, I say!
While the tenderloin was coming to room temp and the grill was heating up, it was time to come up with a mop sauce! One of the best fancy mustards I’ve ever tasted was one that I had purchased at a gift shoppe back in Indiana in an Amish tourist town called Shipshewana that was a basil-flavored whole grain mustard. We had a nice jar of whole grain mustard, so that was going to be the base since I had added basil to the dry rub!
Knowing that the dry rub had a little kick, I wanted to add a little sweet, too! To get the whole “umami” thing going! 😉 I spied a jar of peach preserves in the fridge begging to join in! 😉 I wanted double the trouble, so I also added just a little chipotles in adobo sauce to make sure it had enough of a kick. 😉
These flavors all REALLY played nicely together and it’s now my hubby’s favorite one to date! Though if it were a “contest”, I would say that I preferred the second one, but they were BOTH true winners! I was very relieved to say the least! It’s not easy coming up with your own recipes from scratch, and I’m always a bit nervous cooking pork tenderloin due to how easy it could be to overcook, which is a fatal mistake. It truly does kill it. I haven’t managed to do that yet, so watch your timer and keep a close eye on it and you’ll be just fine. 😉
I hope you try this while the grilling season is hot and the air is crystal clear and crisp! Pork tenderloins are pretty inexpensive, and remember, you do almost always get TWO of them! So it really makes for a nice meal for a large family! You can easily serve this on Football Sundays, too! Sliced thinly and piled onto dinner rolls with a slice of your favorite cheese make for fantastic sliders! 😉 Welp, that’s all for now,play nice with the other kids, look both ways before you cross the street, and I’ll see you all tomorrow! Take care! ~Kelly
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Whole Grain Mustard & Chipotle-Peach Mop Sauce
Ingredients
Dry Rub:
Wet Mop Sauce:
Instructions
Karen
Tuesday 23rd of September 2014
What a fabulous autumn recipe Kelly and as usual such lovely images too! Karen
Kelly
Wednesday 24th of September 2014
Hi ya, Karen! :D Thanks for stopping by! Miss talking with you! And thank you! This is my hubby's favorite one to date! :) So fun and easy to make, too. :)