I have a major sweet tooth, and because of that I am a sucker for a savoury dish with a bit of sweetness. My mom first started making a dish similar to this after taking a cooking class in Charleston, South Carolina. We’ve played around with it over the years and it's now a staple of our family’s dinner repertoire. Grape jelly seems a little weird to put into a dinner dish, but the key to this sauce is adding in any pork juices and mustard that are left on the pan after the meat rests. The savouriness of the pan juices balance the cloying sweetness of the preserved jelly.
Spring is the perfect time to serve this dish, with seasonal asparagus roasted on the side.
Pork Tenderloin with Grape Sauce
45 mins
Ingredients:
Roast pork:
2 pork tenderloins
4 tbsp of grainy mustard (my favourite is Maile Old Style Dijon Mustard)
Kosher salt and pepper
Grape sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of concord grape jelly (I use Welch’s)
¼ cup of water
2 tbsp of low-sodium soy sauce
Perfect roasted asparagus:
1 bunch of asparagus
1 tsp of olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
½ lemon
Pork method:
Preheat oven to 400F
Prepare your pork tenderloins: clean off any excess fat and remove the silver skin if not already cleaned (I run a paring knife against it to pull it off). Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Generously season each tenderloin with kosher salt and pepper (I use about a ½ tsp per tenderloin).
Rub 2 tbsp of grainy mustard onto each pork tenderloin.
Roast in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until a meat thermometer reads 145F.
Remove from oven and cover with tinfoil while it rests. This is a great time to pop in some asparagus in the oven (method below).
When you remove the pork to slice, pour the juices and mustard that remain on the baking tray into the sauce you’ve prepared (method below).
Sauce method:
Heat a medium sauce pan to medium heat with olive oil. Saute the onions until they become transparent (5-7 mins).
Add in the minced garlic and continue to saute until fragrant. Add in the grape jelly, soy sauce and water, scraping the bottom of the saucepan to ensure everything is lifted.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer while your pork is cooking.
Before serving, add in the pork juices and mustard from the baking sheet to finish the sauce.
Asparagus method:
Trim the ends of your asparagus to remove the tough parts. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.
Turn the oven up to 425F once the pork is removed and bake the asparagus while the pork is resting (15 mins).
Remove the asparagus from the oven and squeeze the juice of ½ a lemon over top.
Serve the pork, asparagus and sauce with mashed potatoes.