Post Birthday Dinner

The day after Dear Husband’s birthday I made his birthday dinner.  We went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants on his actual b-day so he got two great meals in a row.  Lucky us!

Our menu:

Grilled pork tenderloin, roasted corn on the cob, watermelon w/ mint, green salad and apple pie.  Oh yum!

This may sound like a lot of work but actually it wasn’t.  Well, the pie was time consuming and maybe I’ll share that recipe with you another day.

For now I’ll tell you how to do the corn and pork tenderloin.

Start with making a brine for the pork.  In a glass baking dish combine about 1/4 cup of course salt and about 3/4 cup of brown sugar.  Pour 3 cups boiling water over that and stir until dissolved.  Add 3 cups of ice to cool it down then add the tenderloin.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour (turning the pork half way through).

While your pork is soaking up all that salty goodness you can get your corn ready.  Peel back the husk but don’t remove it but do remove the silk.

Put the husk back in place as best you can and soak the corn in a large bowl of water, or the sink (completely submerged) for 10 to 15 minutes.

While the corn is soaking it’s time to make the glaze for the pork.  You will need fresh rosemary, peach preserves and your favorite deli mustard.

Chop the rosemary (about 3 Tbs.) and combine that with 1/2 cup each of the preserves and mustard.  Set half of that aside to use while you’re sitting down eating and the other half will go on the meat once it’s on the grill.

When the grill is nice and hot and you’re ready to cook dump the brine and wash off the tenderloin then pat it dry with a paper towel.  Dump the water from soaking corn.  Transfer everything to the grill. Slather the pork with a think coating of the peach mixture…the more the better.  Grill until internal temp reaches 140 degrees, about 20 minutes.  The corn should take about the same time, maybe a little more.  You will need to turn both corn and pork after about 10 minutes making sure to add more peach glaze.

You can’t believe how amazing roasting corn smells.  Removing the husks can be a little tricky as the corn is pretty hot so you’ll need a kitchen towel or use your apron (assuming you’re wearing one).  Slather with butter.  You’ll never want to eat corn any other way again.

You’re family will thank you.