Recipe Friday - Father's Day Picnic

Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Barbecue Sauce

Sauce:
2 bacon slices, finely chopped (I used 4 slices. Mmmm...bacon)
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard
5 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Pork:
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon salt (double this)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
Cooking spray

1. Prepare grill.

2. To prepare sauce, cook bacon in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat 4 minutes or until almost crisp, stirring occasionally. Add chopped onion to pan; cook 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add mustard and next 5 ingredients (through 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin) to pan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 4 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally.

3. To prepare pork, combine brown sugar and next 7 ingredients (through red pepper) in a small bowl, stirring well; rub mixture evenly over pork. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155° (slightly pink), turning once. Let pork stand 10 minutes. Cut pork crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

Verdict: Yum. I was a little bit worried about the tenderloin, because all the spices turned into a black crust on the grill. But it turned out to be a yummy spice crust, rather than a burnt crust. I probably cooked them just a little bit too long, but better a dry tenderloin than getting worms, right? (As it turns out, that's pretty unlikely, but I needed an excuse for overcooking, ok?) The sauce was decent (despite being day-glo orange), but I thought it was a little bit too sweet for my tastes. I like smoky barbecue sauces much better. Although I will admit that it was much better when we had leftovers the next night. Perhaps I should make the sauce a day or two before next time? If I already had the sauce, or (heaven forbid) used a bottled sauce, then the tenderloin would have been a super quick, super easy, super cheap meal. And when you consider it in that light, this was a huge success.

We had it with my sister's excellent potato salad and delicious peaches. It was a perfect summertime picnic. B seemed to enjoy it, but I forgot to ask his detailed opinion. So B, comment please.