Instructions

1. MARINATE: Trim the pork tenderloin of any loose pieces of fat and remove any silver skin you can see on the surface of the meat. (Here’s a quick video on how to do that). Place the trimmed pork tenderloin into a freezer bag and add all of the marinade ingredients. Massage the marinade through the bag so that the ingredients are evenly combined and the meat covered. Carefully fold the bag over from the bottom to push out as much air as possible, rolling the tenderloin so that all of the meat is in contact with the marinade. Seal the bag, pop it on a plate and refrigerate the marinading tenderloin for 3 hours or up to overnight.
2. DRY: When you’re ready to cook, remove the tenderloin from the marinade and pat it dry with some paper towels. We don’t want the meat to have too much moisture on the surface as that will prevent getting a nice sear, so I like to let the patted dry tenderloin sit out on a plate at room temperature for about 15 minutes before cooking. Discard any excess marinade.
3. SEAR: Preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C. Heat a 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, then add the lard or fat of your choice: you want enough to coat the pan generously so that you can baste the meat later. When the fat is hot, add the pork tenderloin to the skillet and sear it until every side of the meat is a nice golden brown and the center of the meat is 90 F / 32 C when measured with a meat thermometer at it’s thickest part, about 10 – 12 minutes. Baste the meat with the fat in the pan each time you turn it and make sure to reduce the heat a little if the fat ever gets hot enough to spit or the meat is starting to blacken rather than brown.
4. BAKE: Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer it to the pre heated oven. Cook until the center of the tenderloin reaches 130 F / 54 C at its thickest part, about 10 – 12 minutes. Transfer the meat to a chopping board to rest for an additional 10 minutes before slicing and serving.