The Busy Gourmand

I developed this sauce as a way of quickly marinating, grilling and basting a pork tenderloin. It has just the right balance of sweet and savory and the whole thing comes together in a matter of minutes. If you are really in a hurry you can skip the marinating step.

1 pork tenderloin about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large spring of thyme
1 slice of bacon
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fold the thinner end of the pork tenderloin over making the whole tenderloin of relatively even thickness. Secure the fold with a tooth pick.

Remove the leaves of the thyme. In a small mixing bowl add the mustard, honey, oil, thyme and a bit of salt and pepper. Whisk together to create a smooth sauce. Brush the sauce over the pork tenderloin, using about half of the mixture. Secure the bacon around one end of the pork tenderloin and coil the bacon around securing the other end of the bacon to the other end of the pork tenderloin. You will not fully cover the tenderloin. Allow the tenderloin to marinate for about 20 minutes.

Heat a grill to medium high heat. Place the tenderloin on the grill. Depending on the thickness allow to grill from 7 to 10 minutes. You want to have some nice grill marks. Turn the tenderloin, baste with some of the remaining sauce, and allow to grill again for 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the loin from the grill and allow to rest under foil for about 5 to 10 minutes.

I find that one pork tenderloin will serve two of us. There is enough sauce here to baste and marinate two tenderloins.