Oink oink tender-loink! Secrets to a flawless, juicy, pork tenderloin.

Pork can be a very tricky protein to cook, especially if you strive to achieve juicy and tender meat but at the same time have a constant fear of under-cooking your meat and risking getting bad infections as a result. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has decreased the minimum required internal temperature of pork from 160 F to 145 F due to increased new production methods that reduce risk of pathogens. So no need to freak out at the pinkish color! It's safe to eat! The key to success is brining the meat ahead of time. I wanted to keep this pork tenderloin simple to really bring out the natural pork flavors. For my next experiments, it'll be more infused with some sauce/stronger marinade. The purpose of this test was to see how brining works and to see how this method of cooking the tenderloin would fare.

Brine:
1) Mix 4 cups of cold water with 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1 tbsp of salt.  Stir until completely dissolved.
2) Pat dry a nice hunk of pork tenderloin.
3) Allow the meat to brine in the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours, or overnight.
4) When you are ready to cook the meat, take it out of the brine and rinse thoroughly.  Then pat completely dry.

Cook:
1) Start with a cast iron pan or grill pan and bring it up to a high heat.
2) Add generous amounts of olive oil to the pan along with garlic and fresh thyme.
3) You may choose to season your pork with additional herbs, but you do not need additional salt since you already brined your pork.
4) Quickly sear each side of your pork for 30 sec to 1 min on each side.
5) Insert a meat thermometer.  Preheat your oven to 350F.
6) Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until your pork reaches 140F internally.
7) Remove the pork from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.  The internal temperature must reach a minimum of 145F for it to be safe to consume!  This temperature will yield a nice medium-rare/medium center.

Internal temperature reached about 150 F after resting