Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Easy Blackberry BBQ Sauce

One of the great things about pork tenderloins is that they usually come in packs of two.  This gives you the freedom to try them two different ways, either side by side or on two different nights.   
  • Cook two at the same time but use two different seasoning rubs.
  • Roast one and grill one.
  • Slice one up for stir fry strips and cut the other into pork medallions.
  • Use one for kabobs and use the other for pork pinwheels.  
I used one the other night for grilled pork tenderloin with cheese grits.  That one took a long time, mostly because of the time required for slow cooking real grits. 

But the night I did this one I was short on time and took a lot of short cuts but the end result was still tender and rocked the taste buds. 

Served with honey baked beans and brown rice.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Easy Blackberry BBQ Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients
  • 1 ea pork tenderloin, silver skin removed
  • 2 1/2 tsp BBQ rub*

For the Easy Blackberry BBQ Sauce
  • 1/2 cup blackberry preserves, SEEDLESS*
  • 3 oz BBQ sauce*
  • 1/4 cup chicken stock
  • 1 Tbsp hot sauce
  • 2 cloves roasted garlic*
  • 1/4 tsp BBQ rub
Instructions
  1. Preheat charcoal grill to 350f (medium) to 400f (medium hot) set up for direct heat.  
  2. Season tenderloin with the BBQ rub and place on grill.  You are going to cook it until it hits an internal temp of about 140f.  This will take about 20 minutes, rotating 1/4 turn every 5 minutes, but go by temps, not time. 
  3. Meanwhile, mix the BBQ sauce ingredients in a blender or small food processor and combine with several pulses until well blended.
  4. Heat the BBQ sauce mixture in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. When the tenderloin hits an internal temp of 115-120 (about 15 minutes after you first put it on the grill), brush it with some of the bbq sauce on all sides.  
  6. Turn the pork every few minutes once you glaze it so the bbq sauce doesn't burn.  
  7. When the pork reaches an internal temp of 140f, pull from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes.
  8. Slice and serve drizzled with additional bbq sauce.  
Notes
  • I used Draper's All Purpose Rub, one I really like for it's general purpose use.  If you don't have a commercial bbq rub on hand, you could do a quick mix of 1/2 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp season salt, 1/4 garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp brown sugar.
  • Trust me on the seedless blackberry preserves or jam.  The seeds will be gritty and ruin the texture of the sauce.
  • I used Draper's Smokin' Sauce.  You can use any bottled sauce but go for one that isn't so sweet because you are adding the sweet blackberry preserves to it.  You don't want candy, you want savory and sweet.
  • We usually have roasted garlic on hand.  If you don't, you could chop two cloves and saute 2 minutes in 1 Tbsp butter. 
Perhaps the one downside to pork tenderloin is it's odd shape.  It has a rather round end, a middle that can be flat, and a tail end that tapers off to nothingness.  That's an equation for uneven cooking when cooked whole.  
Who are you calling "irregularly shaped"?!?!  Have you seen a mirror lately, Pear Butt?
A quick remedy for that is tucking the tail under the thin end and tying the tenderloin like a roast.  That evens the flat part out by pulling in the sides and makes the skinny end as thick as the "thick" end.

I feel all tied up in knots.
Short cuts aren't so bad when you use quality brands.  
It's been said a million times, but don't sauce your meat until the last few minutes.
This was good with the sauce cooked onto it without any extra sauce.
But a little extra never hurt anyone.
 [Standard Disclaimer]  In the strictest terms of the FTC disclosure requirements, I should tell you that I got those two tiny jars of Loveless Cafe's Blackberry Preserves at the Food Blog Forum conference in October.  They were in a goodie bag so they had no clue who was getting them.  I could have been a vagrant for all they know.  And Shane Draper did give me a Christmas present gift pack of his rubs/sauces but if I have to disclose that then I will also disclose that his rubs (#3) and sauces (#2) both got top 3 finishes for the best of 2011 from Scott Roberts during the BBQ Central Radio Show last week.  While I'm mentioning all the free stuff or compensation I've received, I once opened a box of cereal and got one of those toy scuba divers that swam when you put baking powder in it.  No, that didn't have anything to do with this post but I thought I would add it and see if I could get the Guiness World Record for the longest FTC required disclaimer ever.  I wonder if the award is one of those toy scuba divers that swim when you put baking powder in it.  I have to go....it's bath time. 




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