Mom's Pork Tenderloin

Every Thursday night my mom makes dinner for us, my brother and his family, and my grandmother.  Sometimes other family (cousins, my sisters when they're here) joins us and sometimes some of us can't make it, but it's an ongoing thing.  We all look forward to family dinner and it's a highlight in our week. My girls are so excited to play with their two cousins and see Grammy, Papa, and Great-Grammy.  It's great for me after a day of work to know I don't have to make dinner or do dishes and to just sit and enjoy a fantastic home-cooked meal.

My mom's meals have all sorts of side dishes.  Last week we were eating our pork tenderloin, some green beans with browned butter, and an awesome salad.  All of sudden, my mom jumped up and pulled two huge pans of sweet potatoes and potatoes out of the oven that she had forgotten about.  Then, there were coffee and brownies.  At my house, I serve some sort of vegetable OR salad but if you get 2 side dishes, you're lucky.  I'm telling you, it's amazing.

This pork tenderloin recipe is terrific.  My husband doesn't prefer pork and I pretty much never make it at home but we all (even the littles) really enjoy it when mom makes this.  She serves the honey mustard sauce in little individual sauce dishes (like you'd use for soy sauce if you were having sushi) by each plate.  The recipe is easy to half if you're not serving a crowd.


Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Honey Mustard Sauce (serves 8)
originally from Cooking Light

3 T mustard seeds
1 T fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. crushed red peper
Two 14oz pork tenderloins
salt and pepper
1/2 c. grainy Dijon mustard
1/4 c. traditional Dijon mustard
1/4 c. honey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a mortar, lightly crush the mustard and fennel seeds with the crushed pepper.  Season the pork tenderloins with salt and pepper and then roll them in the crushed spices to coat the tenderloins.

Roast the pork tenderloins for about 20 minutes, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each tenderloins registers 145 degrees.  Transfer to a cutting board and let them rest for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the mustards with the honey and season with salt and pepper.  Slice the pork 1/2 inch thick and serve with the honey mustard.