Have you ever pulled a pork roast out of the oven, anticipating a flavorful, moist entree but instead were disappointed by a dry, tough cut of meat? Me too. This happened quite often before I started using a thermometer. Now I ALWAYS use one, sometimes two, if in doubt. With roasts, it’s important to take it out of the oven 10-15 degrees below the intended temperature because it will continue to cook with the residual heat. You want to make sure you let the roast rest at least 20 minutes, loosely tented with foil. This will allow the cooking to finish and the moisture to redistribute back into the meat fibers which allows for a juicier roast. With large roasts, I rest it for 30 minutes. That’s how you make a juicy roast.
Honestly, when I get a roast just right, I feel like a grown up cook. Somebody who can pull out a roast from the oven and serve to guests, without worrying of course whether I am serving shoe leather. I used to worry about stuff like that but if you use a really good thermometer and let the meat rest, you won’t have to worry about that anymore. Another great roast recipe is my Roast Beef recipe which yields a robust, juicy entree, again utilizing the thermometer and allowing ample time to rest (this allow the juices to redistribute back into the meat fibers). This roast is good enough for Christmas Dinner!
And the flavor…
This pork tenderloin roast is flavored with a Caribbean inspired glaze. We also eek out extra flavor by developing a fond in the pan, you know, the brown tasty bits left over after searing meat, that’s like sauce gold. We will use the glaze and fond to make a beautiful sauce that the pork will bake in. We start on the stove top and end in the oven. It’s really simple and cooks up pretty quick.
The glaze is sweetened with molasses, pineapple juice and prunes, and balanced with lemon juice and rum. The result is a juicy roast that is full of flavor and Caribbean character.
Bon Appetit!
Ingredients
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 Tbs dark molasses
- 3 Tbs spiced rum
- 1 cup of pitted prunes, chopped
- 2 pork tenderloins
- salt & pepper
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 2 Tbs vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Mix first five ingredients, set aside in a medium bowl.
- Pat the meat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dust generously with corn starch.
- In a pre-heated, oven safe skillet or dutch oven over medium heat, add oil and sear pork tenderloins on all sides, remove from pan and set aside.
- Lower heat to low and add glaze, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon and deglaze the pan. Bring to simmer, add pork back into pan, roll pork in glaze to coat all sides, and bake at 400F on a middle rack until pork temperature reaches 140F. Anywhere between 15-30 minutes depending on how thick the roast is and your oven.
- Remove from oven, tent loosely with foil and rest 20 minutes.
- Slice and enjoy!
