Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin

We rarely eat beef or pork, so surprisingly this just happens to be one of my favorite entrees.  I especially love it as a holiday choice when you're going to be having a large crowd and want an extra meat choice.  Outside of the sweet tender pork with an incredibly delicious creamy mustard dipping sauce, the real beauty of this dish is that you have to make it a day or two ahead....a life saver when your kitchen time is filled to brim with a bazillion other things to do.

The recipe came from a woman I worked for at a restaurant in Minnesota.  It wasn't on the menu, but she would make it for catering events and served it to her employees at a Christmas party.  The recipe below is how she originally printed it and it serves quite a large group as it uses either a four pound pork roast or four (one pound) tenderloins.  Since generally there are just the two of us, I just use one tenderloin.  So, I'm listing the recipe as she gave it to me with the quartered-portion recipe amounts in parentheses.  However, for the maple-mustard sauce I cut it in half (also in parentheses).  I have never made this using the pork roast (only the tenderloin) so I cannot say that the roast is as wonderful as the tenderloin.

If you're looking for a special dinner to make, I hope you'll keep this in mind.  Seriously, it's so nice making something in advance and being able to simply pull it out of the fridge and have dinner ready.  It is served slightly chilled or at room temp so make it a day or two ahead and use the time to set a pretty table and make a simple side dish....nothing fancy as you'll want this entree to shine.

MAPLE GLAZED PORK TENDERLOIN (amounts in parentheses are for using one pork tenderloin) Full recipe serves about 16, one tenderloin serves about 4

Glaze:
1/2 cup (2 Tbsp) vegetable oil
1/2 cup (2 Tbsp) finely chopped onion
2 cups (1/2 cup) real maple syrup (not breakfast syrup)
1/2 cup (2 Tbsp) cider vinegar
3 Tbsp (3/4 tsp) Dijon mustard
2 1/2 Tbsp (1/2 Tbsp + 3/4 tsp) Coleman dry mustard
1 tsp (1/4 tsp) black pepper

1 (four pound) boneless pork roast or 4 (one pound) pork tenderloins

Maple-Mustard Sauce:
1 cup (1/2 cup) half an half
3 Tbsp (1 1/2 Tbsp) Coleman dry mustard
1 Tbsp (1/2 Tbsp) flour
1/2 cup (1/4 cup) real maple syrup
1/2 tsp (1/4 tsp) salt
2 (1) large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup (2 Tbsp) cider vinegar
2 Tbsp (1 Tbsp) Dijon mustard

To make the glaze:
Whisk together oil, onion, syrup, vinegar, Dijon, dry mustard, and pepper in a medium saucepan.  Put on moderate-high heat and boil, stirring occasionally.  Boil about 20 minutes or until reduced to 1 3/4 cup (scant 1/2 cup for one tenderloin).  Set aside half of the glaze for later.  You can refrigerate, but you will need to microwave for 10-15 seconds when ready to use again.

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Dry the pork off with paper towels and remove the silver lining and as much fat as possible.  Brush the glaze over the pork.  Place the roast in a roaster lined with foil.  Roast for 30 minutes brushing with glaze at 15 minutes.

Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees.  Bake for 15-30 minutes more or until  meat reaches temperature of 155 degrees.  Brush with glaze every 10 minutes. (NOTE: If just using one tenderloin, start checking the temp after the first 30 minutes....mine was done at that time.)

Remove the pork from the oven and cool to room temperature, wrap in foil and refrigerate until well chilled. 

When cooled, slice the meat as thin as possible (an electric knife works wonderfully).  Spread one side of each slice with reserved glaze and press the slices back together, reforming the roast or tenderloin.  Rewrap the fork in foil and refrigerate overnight.

To make the maple-mustard sauce:
Mix the half and half and the dry mustard in a medium pan.  Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes to soften the mustard.  Whisk in the flour, syrup, salt, egg yolk(s), vinegar, and Dijon.  Cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a full boil and thickens.  Boil for one minute, whisking constantly.  Remove it from the heat and place it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly on the mustard.  Refrigerate.

This mustard sauce will keep for several weeks.  Stir before using.  Serve at room temp.

One hour before serving take the roast out of the refrigerator and bring to room temp.  Place on serving platter and serve alone or with your choice of buns or bread with the maple-mustard sauce.