Pork Tenderloin with mushroom spice rub and roasted tomatillo and mushroom sauce

NOTE: we posted the roasted tomatillo and mushroom sauce as a separate recipe.  You need to make it, too, for this dish to be complete.  The sauce is worth it, which is why we though it was worth posting separately.  Try it with something else and let us know how you used it.

This is a favorite we've made a few times from Mark Miller's Indian Market Cookbook. The tomatillo-mushroom sauce is awesome.  We like it spicy, and it is definitely hot, but you may want to dial it back a little if you don't appreciate the chipotle heat.

This is a little on the complicated side, but once you do the prep work, it comes together quite nicely, and we think it's worth it.  Unique and beautiful flavors going on here.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ lbs. pork tenderloin, fat and silverskin removed.
  

Pork marinade:

• 6 cups water
  
• 1 ½ cups sugar
  
• ¼ cup  salt
  
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  
• ½ tablespoon ground cumin
  
• 1 tablespoon crush bay leaf
  
• 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, toasted in a skillet for 1 minute, and ground
  
• 3 tablespoons chile flakes
  
• 4 whole allspice berries
  
• 4 cloves
  
• 1 stick cinnamon
  

Dry spice rub:

• 1 ½ tablespoons filé powder
  
• 1 ½ tablespoons mushroom powder (see directions)
  
• 3 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
  
• 2 tablespoons chile molido (or other pure red chile powder)
  
• lemon zest from 3 lemons, minced (about 1 ½ tablespoons)
  

2 cups Roasted Tomatillo and Wild Mushroom Sauce (see additional recipe)

• ½ cup clarified butter (ghee)
  

DIRECTIONS

Mix together all the marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Add the tenderloin to the marinade.  Make sure the liquid covers the meat.  Refrigerate in the bowl, covered, overnight. 

Prepare the tomatillo-mushroom sauce.  Reheat in a saucepan when ready to serve the pork.

Prepare the dry spice rub.  (Mushroom powder can be prepared by grinding dried mushrooms in a spice grinder or coffee grinder with a rotating blade.  Grind until very fine.) Combine all the ingredients for the spice rub in a mixing bowl.

Remove the pork tenderloin from the marinade, pat dry with paper towel, and dredge with the spice rub, coating all surfaces.  Let the tenderloin sit until it reaches room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 325°F.  Heat the clarified butter in a sauté pan or skillet, and sear the tenderloin over medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes until browned, turning often.

Transfer to a roasting pan and cook in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes for medium doneness. Remove from the oven and allow the tenderloin to rest for 5 to 8 minutes.

Slice the tenderloin on a bias (at a slight angle) and serve on the warm tomatillo-mushroom sauce.