Roast Pork Tenderloin with Plum Barbecue Sauce

This pork recipe was really good! The sweet barbeque sauce goes really well with the pork. The only bit of trouble I had with this one was being able to find the cloves at the end to fish them out of the sauce. I mean, c'mon, how are you supposed to see those little cloves in a dark purple sauce? Other than that, this was a really great recipe. I served it with rice and Lemony Cucumber Salad.

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Plum Barbecue Sauce
Cooking Light July 2011

Asian spices give this barbecue sauce a complex flavor, which enhances the sweet-tart flavor of the plums. Once it's cooked, set aside 2 ½ cups sauce to serve with the pork, and use remaining to baste as it cooks.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 3 ounces pork and about ⅓ cup sauce)
Total: 1 Hour, 5 Minutes

Sauce:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon black pepper
⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 whole cloves
1 ½ pounds black plums, quartered and pitted
1 star anise

Pork:
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons canola oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add sugar and the next 10 ingredients (through star anise); bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes or until plums break down and sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Discard cloves and anise.

2. Preheat oven to 450°.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle pork evenly with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Add pork to pan; sauté 7 minutes, turning to brown on all sides.

4. Transfer pork to a foil-lined jelly-roll pan; coat with ½ cup plum sauce. Roast pork at 450° for 15 minutes. Remove pork from oven. Turn pork over; coat with an additional ½ cup plum sauce. Roast 10 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in thickest portion of pork registers 155°. Remove from pan; let stand 10 minutes. Slice crosswise. Serve with remaining plum sauce.

Amount per serving
Calories: 378
Fat: 10.3g
Saturated fat: 1.6g
Monounsaturated fat: 5.6g
Polyunsaturated fat: 2.4g
Protein: 25.2g
Carbohydrate: 50.7g
Fiber: 4.7g
Cholesterol: 62mg
Iron: 2mg
Sodium: 417mg
Calcium: 22mg

BigFlavors Rating: 4 Stars