Pork tenderloins wrapped in bacon

Serves 4

Sauce on Main's chef and owner Shawn O'Leary grills his bacon-wrapped pork. Home cooks will find it easier to brown the meat in a skillet and then finish cooking it in the oven. Pork tenderloins are usually sold two to a package, but they're often different sizes. If one is done before the other, pull it from the oven and keep it warm.

1	pound (16 strips) thick-sliced smoked bacon, at room temperature
2	pork tenderloins (2 pounds total), trimmed of excess fat
	Salt and pepper, to taste
2	tablespoons canola oil

1. Set the oven at 375 degrees. Lay 8 slices of bacon on a cutting board so the strips are touching. Set 1 tenderloin across the bacon in the middle of the slices. Fold the bacon strips around the tenderloin and secure with toothpicks. (Pin the toothpicks flat and close to the meat.) Repeat with the remaining bacon and tenderloin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. In a heavy 12-inch skillet with a heatproof handle and high sides, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the bacon-wrapped tenderloins, toothpicks down. Cook without disturbing for about 4 minutes or until the bacon at the bottom is browned.

3. Using tongs, give the tenderloins a quarter turn and brown the next section for about 4 minutes. Do this two more times, turning the meat and cooking the bacon for a total of 16 minutes. Spoon off some of the fat as the bacon renders.

4. Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook the tenderloins for 6 to 10 minutes longer or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part reaches 145 degrees. Remove the skillet from the oven and transfer the tenderloins to a cutting board. Let them rest for a few minutes.

5. Remove the toothpicks and cut the meat into 1-inch slices.

Adapted from Sauce on Main