Bourbon Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Apricots

Want to hear something depressing? Summer is more than halfway over. Labor Day is only a few weekends away. Soon weekends spent on the beach will be replaced by...

oh wait.

Weekends at the beach will be replaced by drinking at fabulous bars on the water, like Boat Basin and the Frying Pan. Since the weather will be cooler, I will no longer sweat just sitting in a chair like I have every time I've gone to my favorite bars down the shore (see The Parker House and Union Landing). Trust me, no one likes sticking to a plastic chair because they are sweating so much. It's just NOT CUTE.

In addition to not sweating through my clothes at a bar, my dad will no longer sweat through his shirts as he stands by a 400 degree grill on a 95 degree day. Not that he would be willing to do anything BUT stand at the grill on a summer weekend. Let's be honest--the reason he likes to be the grillmaster is because he can stand around drinking beer. While he is grilling, he has a tong or other utensil in one hand, and a beer in the other. Which leads to the question...how hard can it be to grill if you literally only use one hand?

I'm not the only one who has noticed this trend that cooking = hard work and grilling = talking and drinking. A couple of weekends ago, my brother came down the shore with his girlfriend and one of his friends and went to a local bar for happy hour. When we were getting ready to head inside from our requisite 5:00 p.m. porch happy hour, I texted him that we were about to start cooking. I kid you not, mere seconds later, my dad's phone beeped...with a text from my brother telling him  "wait for us to start grilling, we want to stand around and drink beer with you."

So basically, while my mother and I slaveeee away in the kitchen, chopping and oiling and marinating, my dad stands outside with his dog and contemplates the meaning of the world. Well, this recipe turns the tables. There is almost nothing to do in the kitchen once your pork is marinating, so ladies...grab a couple of brews, take a break from the kitchen and stand outside and stare at the meat with the men. Once you see the (booze-filled) ease of cooking, you'll be duking it out to decide who mans the grill.

Bourbon-Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Apricots
based on this recipe

Ingredients

Pork tenderloin
1/4 c. bourbon
1/4 cup soy sauce
Spoonful of brown sugar
1 inch ginger root, peeled and chopped
Olive oil

2 apricots
Butter, melted
Brown sugar

Directions:

Pork

1. Two-four hours prior to cooking (post-beach and pre-happy hour?), make your marinade. In a large ziplock bag, combine bourbon, soy sauce, brown sugar and ginger root. Put your pork in the bag and place in the refrigerator.

2. About 30 minutes before you plan to cook, remove the pork from the fridge and allow the meat to come to room temperature.

3. Grill your pork until cooked through (about 15-20 minutes). 

4. Once the pork is on the grill, create your sauce. Dump the leftover marinade in a sauce pan and put on the stove top over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce by about a third--it is essential to bring to a boil as the marinade was touching raw meat.

5. In the last five minutes of grilling, put your apricots on the grill.

Apricots

1. Cut your apricots into eight chunks, removing the pit.

2. Brush the cut sides with melted butter and sprinkle on brown sugar.

3. In the last five minutes of cooking the pork, add the apricots to the grill. Turn constantly so that the apricots do not burn. 

To Serve

Place your sliced pork on your plate. Drizzle the bourbon sauce over top. Eat the apricots on the side (yum!) We loved the apricots so much we've decided that our new favorite dessert is grilled apricots/peaches with vanilla icecream. Yes, we are healthy, but OMG they are to die for!