Blackening Spice Rub on Pork Tenderloin

So of course with a new grill, that means that I had to break it in properly and how better to do that than to use a rub on one of my favourite cuts of meat.

Pork tenderloin is a cut of meat that lots of people overlook.  It is a lean cut in the vein of a chicken breast and when cooked properly will produce a very succulent main dish with a lot of good flavour.  Best of all, they are fairly cheap as meat goes, the two that I've cooked here came in a single package for about $6 and one is more than enough to feed both my wife and I.

One of the first things I noticed in Guy Fieri Food: Cookin' It, Livin' It, Lovin' It was an intriguing recipe for a spice rub with the instructions to "...try using it on anything that you'd like to Cajun-ate." and being a fan of spicy and bold flavours it just had to be one of the first recipes for me to try.

Since it is out of a fairly new and readily available book, I don't want to give away the exact recipe but the rub is made up of:

• Salt
• Granulated Garlic
• Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
• Ground White Pepper
• Onion Powder
• Ground Cumin
• Cayenne
• Paprika

 I also decided to serve it with some sliced potatoes and rainbow carrots on the side.

Peeled and sliced potatoes wrapped in tinfoil with some butter, salt, and pepper.

Peeled and sliced rainbow carrots with some butter, salt and pepper.

I just wrapped the veggies up tight so that the butter and moisture could steam them and tossed them on the grill pre-heated on high and let them ride for about 20-25 minutes with the lid down.

I rinsed and patted dry the tenderloins before applying the rub.

I had the spice rub mixed up ahead of time as it can be stored for up to six months and I didn't need it all for the tenderloins.

Once they were ready to go, I put them on the grill over high heat to give it a little sear for 4-5 minutes.

Everything hanging out on the grill.

The Blackening spice doing its job and providing some nice grill marks on the tenderloin.

Tenderloins are round(ish), so it helps to think about them as  having four sides when grilling them, after searing the tenderloin, I turned the grill down to a medium heat and cooked it for about 5-7 minutes per side.  The pork will continue to cook a little as you let it rest under some foil after taking it off the grill so don't cook it too much before removing it from the heat.

The final product all plated up with a little extra garnish.