Nice to have but not necessary- a garlic press (if not, mince the garlic with a knife)
- an apple corer
- a silicone brush
- a meat thermometer
The recipe
Heat oven to 425 F/220C.
6 Tbsp/90 mL melted butter
2 Tbsp/30 mL liquid honey
1 Tbsp/15 mL cider vinegar
1/2 tsp/2 mL salt
1/2 tsp/2 mL pepper
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 cooking apples, cored and cut into chunks
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tsp/5 mL oil
2 pork tenderloins
In a large bowl, mix the butter, honey, vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic.
Remove about 1/4 of the mixture and set it aside.
Add the apples, sweet potatoes and onions to the bowl.
Toss to coat evenly.
Transfer to a casserole dish.
Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, brush the pork with the remaining butter/honey mixture.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Place the pork in the skillet and cook it until it is until brown all over (about 3 minutes per side).
When the 20 minutes is up, remove the casserole dish from the oven.
Place the pork tenderloins on top of the apple mixture.
Bake, uncovered, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 160F/71C (about 40 minutes).
Substitutions
- Use any vinegar in place of the cider vinegar.
Ideas for making this recipe your own
- Could you add some other fruits or vegetables to the mix? How about pears, or a plain white potato or two?
Tips
- You can use either yellow or orange sweet potatoes - or one of each.
- For a vegetarian dish, just leave out the pork! The vegetables and apples are delicious on their own.
- The only tricky part of knowing how to cook pork tenderloin is knowing when it is done. Pork tenderloin cooking time is about an hour - but not exactly. If you don't have a meat thermometer, in order to ensure that the meat is safe to eat you'll have to keep cooking the meat until it is no longer pink inside. However, by that time it may be overcooked! You really should get a meat thermometer!
- Even liquid honey will solidify over time. To soften honey, just place it in a glass mug or jar and place the jar in a pot of very warm water until the honey softens.
- When the cool vegetables contact the warm butter mixture, the butter mixture might solidify. That's OK! Just carry on. Be sure to scrape all of the butter mixture into the casserole dish. It will soon liquify in the hot oven.
Menu suggestion
This is a complete meal! Serve this dish with just a green salad.
Now that you know how to cook pork tenderloin, you might also like to try these other pork recipes:
