Herbes de Provence Grilled Pork Tenderloin

The sixth in my Grilled Pork Tenderloin Series. Friends just got back from a wine cruse on a river in France and brought a present, a pack of Herbes de Provence.  The classic French herb mixture was just setting there on the counter saying "us me". So I did.

I have not been a big user of spice mixtures, preferring to mix my own. But this is a classic, not something McCormick make up. I always think of chicken and pork when I hear the name so I had a pork tenderloin left over from a two pack that I had used Marlow's rub on earlier this week.

I found a recipe at Tablespoon which I cut down to make it "cooking for two" friendly. I did leave out the garlic powder just because I wanted to see what the spice would taste like by itself. It was great but some garlic would have made it even better. I added the garlic back into the recipe.


Rating:

I will add garlic next time.

Notes: I did a brine since it fit my schedule today. If you don't brine, you will loose a little moisture and tenderness but it should still be great.
I also add the plastic wrap trick. I like to give a rub have some time to flavor the meat more. Somewhat like brining, I'll do it if I have time.
If you just cleaned the tenderloin, rubbed on the spices and then cook immediately, I believe it would still be great. Just not quite as great.

Printable Recipe

Tools: Clean gas grill

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin
1 T Herbes de Provence
1/4 t salt (eliminate if you brine)
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t olive oil

Brine
2 cups cold water
2 T salt
1 T sugar

Instructions:

1) Trim pork tenderloin including any visible fat and silver skin.

2) If brining: Mix brine ingredients in 1 gallon zip lock bag and submerge tenderloin. Place in medium size bowl will help keep the pork covered with brine. Refrigerate for 1-3 hours. Remove from brine.

3) Rinse tenderloin and pat dry. Brush with 1 t olive oil.

4) Mix Herbes, garlic powder and salt (if not brining). Hand rub mixture covering the entire tenderloin.

5) Wrap tight with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

6) Preheat grill on high, clean and oil grates. Then decrease temp to medium high.

7) Place meat over direct heat. Flip every 5-6 minutes until temp is 160.
8) Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Herbes de Provence Grilled Pork Tenderloin

by DrDan at 101 Cooking For Two August 22, 2010

A classic spice combination creates a wonderfully classic grilled dinner.

Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin1 T Herbes de Provence1/4 t salt (eliminate if you brine)1/2 t garlic powder1 t olive oil Brine (optional)2 cups cold water1 T salt1 T sugar

Instructions

1) Trim pork tenderloin including any visible fat and silver skin.2) If brining: Mix brine ingredients in 1 gallon zip lock bag and submerge tenderloin. Place in medium size bowl will help keep the pork covered with brine. Refrigerate for 1-3 hours. Remove from brine.3) Rinse tenderloin and pat dry. Brush with 1 t olive oil.4) Mix Herbes, garlic powder and salt (if not brining). Hand rub mixture covering the entire tenderloin.5) Wrap tight with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.6) Preheat grill on high, clean and oil grates. Then decrease temp to medium high.7) Place meat over direct heat. Flip every 5-6 minutes until temp is 160.8) Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour 5 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 1 hour 30 mins Yield: 2 servings

Updated

April 23, 2011