I’ve long since given up on predicting DC weather.  On my way to work yesterday it was snowing.  Lunch it was cold and raining.  Going home it was warm.  Sooo, grill out?  Yup, grill out.  I’ve been itching to play with our underused gas grill for a while now, so I’ll take the excuse.  Pork, starch, and open flames is a really fucking beautiful thing.  This dish isn’t too involved either.  The marinade is good to go after 15 minutes and the veg and yams just need a coat.  Easy, slam dunk and ready by Top Chef.

1 whole pork tenderloin (about 1 lbs.)
1 lbs. of yams or sweet potatoes
10 scallions, root trimmed
olive oil (enough to coat the pork)
1 Tbls. brown sugar
little splash wine vinegar
big pinch cayanne pepper
big pinch salt
pinch nutmeg
pinch dried thyme
black pepper

Start right off throwing the olive oil with the vinegar and all the spices in a bowl with the tenderloin and leave it be.

Get out a large pan half full of water and bring to a boil.  Take your yams and cut them into half inch slices.  Once the water is boiling with a touch of salt add as many yams that will fit without any breaking the surface.  Let that simmer away for about 5 minutes or so, or basically till the yams are a little tender but still firm (al dente is the word i’m looking for?).  The goal is to make the grilling process a bit faster and make sure the yams are moist and tender.

Strain the yams and place them with the scallions.  Given both a good coat of good XVOO and salt/pepper.  Grill time.

I used a gas grill so cooking times and handling will vary.  Start off with your tenderloin right in the middle of the heat.  I love a good char on my pork so med-high heat is ideal.

After about 10 minutes I flipped the pork and added the veg.  Again cooking times are going to vary.  I did mine for about 5 minutes each side.  With veg your looking for color and char.  If you’ve got a healthy set of grill marks on your yams it’s time to flip.  Whatever works.

TIP: if you really want to gauge the temperature just touch the meat. If it's giggly like jello it's still pretty rare. If it's firm like a stick it's really well done. I like tenderloin medium - slightly medium rare so I'm looking for a slight give on the meat but not too firm.

Another 10 minutes of the pork cooking away and you should be ready to take it off the heat and let it rest for about 10 minutes or so to let all those amazing juices and flavors re-moisten the pork.

Once the veg is ready and tenderloin has rested slice medallions, knife, fork, plate, wine… why are you still reading? Go!  Cook!