Rosemary and Cinnamon dry-rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Tonight that lovely husband of mine requested pork tenderloin for supper but I was bored with the 'usual' way of cooking it. So instead I decided to try something new, and not only did it taste amazing, it was easy to make and made my house smell amazing as it cooked!

First, here are a few tips to help with the prep work.

Mincing Garlic - when you need small bits of garlic, it's important to help the flavours really come out. One great way to fully bring out the garlic flavour (and will also assist in peeling) is to press the garlic cloves with a flat large knife 'squishing' it before you slice it. As you press the flat part of the knife into the garlic, press harder into the blade edge and slide it across the garlic. Once it's 'squished', then you can mince the pressed garlic into fine pieces and the flavour will really come out.

Take main peel off garlic and using the flat side of a large blade press into the garlic and slide across flattening the clove.

The flattened cloves

Diced into small chunks

 Prepping Pork Tenderloin: although pork tenderloin is a lean cut of meat, you'll likely notice that there is a silver coating on parts of the tenderloin. This part will make the meat less tender and more difficult to eat, so you want to make sure that you remove that first. It can be a bit difficult to do, so here is a tip! Using a sharp knife cut approx 1" into the silver coating creating a little tab. Holding onto that tab with one hand, pull it upwards and follow it along with your knife, slicing off the silver part.

Also, you might notice that your pork tenderloin is thick at one end and narrows down towards the other end. When cooking, this will make one side cook faster and then dry out before the other end has a chance to cook. When roasting, fold the narrow end under creating a 'double width' and allow for more even cooking times on both sides.

Rosemary and Cinnamon Dry-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

- 4-6 cloves of garlic, pressed and minced

- 1 tbsp cinnamon

- 2 tbsp rosemary

- 1/2 tsp sea salt

- 2 medium sized, prepared pork tenderloins

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees and set rack in the middle.

2) Mix together dry ingredients on a plate and roll pork tenderloins on it, covering them on all sides.

3) Put in roasting pan (if elevated from the bottom of the pan, put approx 1" of water at the bottom of the pan to help keep the meat from drying out during cooking)

4) Roast for approximately 75 minutes (juices should run clear). Wrap ('tent') tenderloins in foil for approximately 15 minutes to allow it to rest and for the juices to settle.

5) Slice into 3/4-1" thick pieces and serve with a plate of veggies :)