Pork Tenderloin with Dijon-Panko Crust #recipe by @Leslie Karst

Pork tenderloin is delicious when properly prepared, but because of its low fat content, can be dry and tasteless if overcooked. The trick to this recipe is to use a thermometer (either an insta-read, which you poke into the thickest part to test the meat as it’s roasting, or one that’s oven-safe and sits in the meat as it cooks) and to take the roast out as soon as it registers 145 degrees F. (The pork will continue to cook a bit after removed from the oven.)

Pork Tenderloin with Dijon-Panko Crust

Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin (mine was 1.65 pounds)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons brown sugar

¼ teaspoon granulated garlic

4 tablespoons panko

4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Pat the tenderloin dry with paper towels and sprinkle all over with the salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, vinegar, sugar, and garlic until smooth.

Heat a skillet (cast iron works great) over high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the oil and once it's shimmering, gently lay the tenderloin the the pan. When nicely browned, flip it and brown the other side.

Place the browned pork in a baking pan and smear all over with the mustard sauce.

Sprinkle with the panko, then drizzle with the rest of the olive oil. 

Roast until the internal temperature registers 145 degrees (see note above about thermometers), then immediately remove from oven. Mine took about a half hour to roast, but the time will vary, depending on the size of your tenderloin and how long you pan-fried it before roasting.

Remove the tenderloin from the roasting pan to a cutting board (otherwise the hot pan will cause the meat to keep cooking), covered loosely with foil to keep warm. Let it rest five-to-ten minutes (to allow the juices to be reabsorbed into the meat), then slice and serve.

🍋 🌿 🍷

 

The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst learned early, during family dinner conversations, the value of both careful analysis and the arts—ideal ingredients for a mystery story. Putting this early education to good use, she now writes the Lefty Award-nominated Sally Solari Mysteries, a culinary series set in Santa Cruz, California. 

 

An ex-lawyer like her sleuth, Leslie also has degrees in English literature and the culinary arts. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai‘i.

Leslie’s website
Leslie also blogs with Chicks on the Case
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Praise for Leslie's most recent Sally Solari mystery, the Lefty Award-nominated MURDER FROM SCRATCH:

“Karst seasons her writing with an accurate insider’s view of restaurant operation, as well as a tenderness in the way she treats family, death and Sally’s reactions to Evelyn’s blindness.”

Ellery Queen Magazine (featured pick)

All four Sally Solari Mysteries are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.

 

Dying for a Taste, A Measure of Murder, and Murder from Scratch are also available as AUDIOBOOKS from Audible!