Whiskey-Soaked Pork Tenderloin

Because I write about American whiskey, I have had many occasions to sample food recipes that use whiskey as an ingredient.

Some work better than others.

Pork tenderloin, I have found, seems to lend itself very well to whiskey flavors. Here is a recipe I made this past weekend. We wanted to have a holiday meal that was special and festive without having any of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes. This fit the bill.

Two whole pork tenderloins (1 to 1½ pounds each)
1 ½ cup bourbon whiskey
1 ½ cup orange juice
5 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Crushed red pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Mix ingredients (except the meat) together. Reserve one cup of the liquid for sauce and use the rest as marinade. Pierce the meat with a fork and marinate it for at least one hour. Longer is better.

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees and roast the meat, uncovered, for 1¾ hours. Baste occasionally with the reserved marinade.

In a saucepan, boil the reserved marinade until it is reduced by about half. Serve as a sauce.

Let the meat rest for at least ten minutes after removing it from the oven. Cut into slices ¾” to 1” thick.

One note: I didn't actually use bourbon. I used Rittenhouse Rye BIB.

I served the meat with a salad of baby spinach with hard boiled egg slices and a hot bacon vinegar dressing, and sliced boiled potatoes using the same dressing (i.e., hot German potato salad). The bacon was from Meacham's, in western Kentucky, which has a great smokey flavor.

The meal was a great success.