Balsamic and Garlic Grilled Pork Tenderloin. Simply Awesome.

This Week In Food: Balsamic and Garlic Grilled Pork Tenderloin...Folks, this dish is simply awesome.

It's grilling season!! My favorite thing about grilling season, aside from the delicious grilled dishes, is that part of the cooking responsibility falls to my husband. Sometimes it's nice to share the workload! So, in honor of everyone's grills making back out onto decks and patios and balconies everywhere, I thought I'd share this scrumptious little ditty. We made it for the first time this past weekend when we had guests, and everybody raved. It is our new favorite pork tenderloin recipe. It is stunningly simple and absolutely fantastic. And, really, that's all you need to know. Try it. Trust me.

photo from kitchenconfidante.com

Balsamic and Garlic Grilled Pork Tenderloin*

4-5 garlic cloves, finely minced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

2 pork tenderloins (about 1 1/4 lbs each)

Stir together minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil in a small bowl. Put the pork tenderloins in a dish. Spoon the mixture over the pork tenderloins and use your hands to rub it all over the pork. If you have time, marinate it for 1 hour, up to overnight. If not, don't worry it will still be fantastic. (We grilled the pork immediately after putting the balsamic and garlic marinade on it-- no marinating time at all-- and it was delicious!)

Preheat your grill. Sear the tenderloins on high heat for one-to-two minutes on all four sides, then lower heat to medium-high and grill tenderloins over indirect heat for about 20 minutes, rotating the tenderloins periodically, until the internal temperature is about 135 degrees. Remove the tenderloins onto a plate and tent with foil. Let them rest 5-10 minutes (internal temp should rise to over 140 degrees and tenderloins will be just a little pink in the centermost slices), then slice the tenderloins in half-inch slices and serve.**

I served this with oven-roasted red potatoes and steamed, buttered green beans. The oven-roasted potatoes were 50 shades of awesome too...so here's a bonus recipe:

Oven-Roasted Rosemary Red Potatoes

3 lb bag of small, red new potatoes

olive oil

coarse salt

black pepper

fresh or dried rosemary

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with sides with foil. Spray foil lightly with cooking spray. Wash potatoes and cut into one-inch size pieces. Put clean, cut potatoes into large bowl. Drizzle potatoes with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add rosemary. Using clean hands, toss the potatoes with the olive oil and spices until well coated. Pour potatoes onto lined, greased baking sheet. Bake 20-35 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender and lightly browned (the longer you leave them in the more browned and "crispy-outside/tender-inside" they will get). Enjoy!

Until next time, I bid ye good grilling.



*adapted from www.kitchenconfidante.com
**note: the specific grilling instructions are from my husband, who has truly perfected the art of grilling pork tenderloin over the past few years...he is a master at it!