Recipe for pork tenderloin features barbecue sauce with Dr Pepper

The mantra “low and slow” comes from the way authentic barbecue is prepared. Low heat, slow cooking.

And on the weekends, I love nothing more than to spend the whole day smoking a large piece of pork or beef, lazily watching and waiting for it to become meltingly tender.

But when time is of essence, I fall back on my “barbecue quick fix” — grilled pork tenderloin glazed with my Dr Pepper barbecue sauce. Making the Dr Pepper sauce doesn’t take very long and I often make it ahead of time on the weekend. That way, when the Monday-through-Friday dinner bell rings, all I have to do is grill and glaze the tenderloin.

If you are surprised by the Dr Pepper part, don’t be. There is a long tradition of cooking with soft drinks on the competition barbecue circuit and some “legends” credit it as the secret to their success.

When I first got into barbecue, I was intrigued by the use of soft drinks as a sweetener. I figured it was used because there was always a Coke or Pepsi near the pit master and it’s an easy and inexpensive addition — just open and pour. And it makes sense. Traditional — not diet — soft drinks are mostly sugar and can easily replace white and/or brown sugar in a sauce. But the cola sauces fell flat on my palate.

As a life-long fan of Dr Pepper, I felt that was a better choice, offering more complexity and deeper flavour. It didn’t take long for me to try it, and as soon as I did, I fell in love with both the flavour and the fun of it. Besides tasting great, people get a kick out of the unexpected addition of Dr Pepper.

Over the years, I’ve made the sauce mostly for slathering on baby back ribs. But it wasn’t until a few months ago that I tried it on pork tenderloin. The great thing about tenderloin is that it is quick and easy to grill and, if you season it right, the lean meat has the texture of a great bite of a baby back rib.

I prepare the meat very simply with my tried-and-true barbecue grilling trilogy of olive oil, salt and pepper, then grill it using the combo method. It works by searing the tenderloins over direct heat, getting great grill marks, then moving the meat to indirect heat and brushing it with the sauce. This method is a bit different than my traditional tenderloin method, but it really gives the meat that slow-cooked flavour in a short amount of time. The exterior gets nicely glazed and has time to become slightly burnished and caramelized without burning.

Any time you brush a sweet sauce on food, you have to watch the heat level because sugar burns very quickly. The basic rule of thumb is to only brush with sauce during the final 10 minutes of cooking. Because pork tenderloin takes just 20 minutes over direct heat, we lower the heat and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, brushing it every so often with the sauce.

Leftover barbecue sauce is great for pulled pork sandwiches, chicken, shrimp, hot dogs, barbecue pizza, burgers or baked beans.

Pork Tenderloin With Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce

Makes 6 servings

For the sauce:

4 tbsp (60 mL) butter

1 large yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup (250 mL) ketchup

3 tbsp (45 mL) tomato paste

12 oz (355 mL) can Dr Pepper soda

1/2 cup (125 mL) cider vinegar

1/3 cup (80 mL) Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar

2 tsp (10 mL) ground ancho chili powder or New Mexican chili powder

1 tsp (5 mL) white pepper

1 tsp (5 mL) kosher salt

For the tenderloins:

2 pork tenderloins (about 21 oz/ 600 g)

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper or your favourite barbecue rub

In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add remaining sauce ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes. Continue cooking until sauce begins to thicken, about another 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

Let sauce cool for about 10 minutes or until it is warm but no longer hot. Using an immersion or traditional blender, puree sauce. Let cool and, if not using immediately, pour into a clean glass jar. The sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated for 2 weeks.

To grill pork, heat grill to medium.

Wrap tenderloins in paper towels to remove any surface moisture. This will help you to get great grill marks. Brush dry meat with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Place meat directly over heat to sear. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once or twice, or until you get good grill marks.

Switch to medium indirect heat and move meat to centre of cooking grate and cook for 30 to 35 minutes total, turning once during cooking and brushing with barbecue sauce every 5 to 7 minutes until tenderloins are done and sauce has created a glaze. Using a meat thermometer, make sure the tenderloins read 145 F (63C) at the thickest part.

Remove tenderloins from the barbecue grill, let them rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice on the bias.

Approximate nutrition per serving: 470 calories, 14 g fat, 42 g protein, 43 g carbohydrates, 1 g fibre

The Associated Press

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