I stopped by Williams Sonoma earlier this week to pick up a new set of steak knives. But I don’t think I’ve ever walked into Williams Sonoma and only purchased the one thing I was going there to purchase. It’s not unusual for something like steak knives to also lead me to sea salt, placemats or a teapot. I’m not even going to try to justify this habit. It just is what it is.
On this particular visit, one of my unplanned purchases was barbecue sauce. Williams Sonoma is selling a new product called Smoky Bacon Barbecue Sauce. From the Williams Sonoma website: “Balanced by garlic, tangy cider vinegar, spicy jalapeño and paprika, Smoky Bacon’s tender hand-cut chunks of wood-smoked bacon imbue chicken, pork and beef with hearty flavor.” How could I resist?
I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer that I needed to use soon. So I decided to marinate the tenderloin with the barbecue sauce for Sunday night dinner.
To prep the tenderloin, I put it in a glass baking dish, sprinkled some sea salt on it, and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then I coated the meat with the barbecue sauce. Depending on how much you want the taste of the barbecue sauce to penetrate the meat, you could let it marinate in the refrigerator for up to a day. I prefer the flavor to be more subtle myself, so I only let the tenderloin sit in the sauce for about 30 minutes before putting it in the oven at 325 degrees for 60 minutes. 30 minutes into the cooking process, I applied another coat of barbecue sauce to the meat. After 60 minutes, the meat had reached a desired internal temperature of 160 degrees. I removed the dish from the oven and let the meat cool for a few minutes before serving.
The smokiness of the bacon and the tangy flavor of the barbecue sauce perfectly complemented the juicy pork tenderloin. You could also cook the tenderloin on an outdoor grill to give the meat an extra smoky flavor.