Italian Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Crabapple Mustard Glaze

Pork tenderloin is one of my favourite dishes to make.  The meat is mild, tender and cooks up very fast in the oven.  Hubby and the children really enjoy it.  This is one of my quick and easy recipes that can be comparable to a restaurant meal.

Super easy recipe!  I trimmed all the connective tissue and fat from the meat, massaged the pork tenderloins with olive oil, rubbed the herbs and seasonings into the meat and threw it in the oven for 30-40 minutes.  I use the same ingredients for roast beef too, but somehow it tastes completely different. 

This recipe was inspired by Pioneer Woman's Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Preserves.  She uses the French Herbs de Provence.  I can't get that here in my little rural BC town, so I improvised.  Being a mother of three little monkeys, I'm getting really good at it!  

Instead of French herbs, I used Italian seasoning (I think it is a blend of oregano, basil, rosemary and thyme).  I got it in the bulk section of my grocery store.  Instead of salt and pepper, I sprinkled Montreal Steak Spice since it has salt, pepper, garlic and other spices.  For fun, I also sprinkled some Old Bay seasoning.  I saw it at my local supermarket and bought it out of curiosity.  

This is a forgiving recipe and I don't measure my ingredients.  I just sprinkle the ingredients on top until it "looks good".  For my children's sake (when they read this entry in a few years), I should put approximate amounts!

The glaze is my creation. I used homemade crabapple jelly but any preserves will do. I will try apricot next. The crabapple jelly is very sweet, so I only used 1/4 cup.  I thought it would be a variation of the popular pork/apple combination.  I kept tasting it and adding ingredients until it was yummy.  I added a bit of thyme, a bit of balsamic vinegar and a few small squirts of mustard.  Boiled it up and thickened it with a slurry of cornstarch and water.  In the end, it tasted a lot like Asian sweet & sour plum sauce!  The children, especially my 3 year old, loved the pork and glaze. 

Italian Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Crabapple Mustard Glaze

2 Pork Tenderloins

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (can use more or less)

1 tsp Montreal Steak Spice

2-4 Tbsp Italian herb seasoning

sprinkle Old Bay seasoning (optional)

Glaze

1/4-1/2 cup preserves (I used 1/4 cup crabapple jelly. Will try apricot next)

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp thyme

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp mustard (yellow or Dijon)

1/4 cup water + 1 Tbsp cornstarch 

Preheat oven to 425F.  Trim the outer fat and connective tissue from the pork tenderloins..  Drizzle and massage pork tenderloins with extra virgin olive oil.  Season with Montreal Steak Spice and then rub with Italian seasoning.

Place the pork on a rack or pan and roast in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes (I needed 30-40 min) or until no longer pink.  Remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.

While the pork is resting, combine preserves, water, thyme, mustard  and vinegar in a small pan and bring to a simmer.  To thicken, make cornstarch slurry (water and cornstarch) and mix it in the simmering sauce.

Slice pork and spoon the glaze over the meat.  

- Adapted from Pioneer Woman's Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Preserves

Everyone enjoyed this dinner.  I am in awe that 3 year old LOVED this!  

Enjoy!