By Spring. The crawfish season opens and with it, the seventh year of documenting what happens when you stand at a pot and feed a family and write it down. Seven years. A biblical number. The number of completion. In the Bible, God rested on the seventh day. I am not God and I am not resting. I am standing at a pot with a wooden spoon and a beer and a twelve-year-old son who is telling me the water needs more garlic, and he is right, because he is always right about garlic, and the rightness is the seventh year speaking through him.
Fifty pounds. The standard. Rémy at the helm. The driveway full. Carl at the door. The same. Always the same. And the sameness is not boredom. The sameness is the sermon. The sameness says: I will be here next year. And the year after. And the year after. The crawfish will come back. The pot will fire up. The cayenne will burn. The beer will be cold. The neighborhood will gather. And the man at the pot will be older by one year and wiser by one boil and the boil is the lesson and the lesson is: show up. Keep showing up. The roux doesn't care about your problems. The roux just turns. Turn with it.
There’s no crawfish on a Tuesday in February, and some nights the neighborhood doesn’t fill the driveway — but the lesson from the boil doesn’t wait for May. Rémy taught me that early: bold spice, good company, something worth gathering around. This Caribbean-spiced pork tenderloin is what I reach for when I need that same energy on a smaller scale — the cayenne still burns, the sweetness of the peach salsa earns it, and whoever’s at the table knows I meant it when I fired up the pan.
Caribbean-Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Peach Salsa
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin, trimmed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and diced (or 1 1/2 cups frozen peach chunks, thawed)
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (for salsa)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 425°F. Let the pork tenderloin rest at room temperature for 10 minutes while you prepare the spice rub.
- Make the spice rub. In a small bowl, combine cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme, salt, and black pepper. Stir well to combine.
- Season the pork. Pat the tenderloin dry with paper towels. Drizzle with olive oil and rub the spice mixture evenly over all sides, pressing gently so it adheres.
- Sear the tenderloin. Heat an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the tenderloin for 2—3 minutes per side until a dark, fragrant crust forms, turning to brown all sides, about 8 minutes total.
- Roast. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and roast for 15—18 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 145°F.
- Rest the meat. Remove from the oven and tent loosely with foil. Let rest for 5—10 minutes before slicing — this keeps the juices where they belong.
- Make the peach salsa. While the pork rests, combine diced peaches, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and salt in a bowl. Stir gently and taste for seasoning.
- Slice and serve. Cut the tenderloin into 1/2-inch medallions and arrange on a platter. Spoon the peach salsa generously over the top and serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 285 | Protein: 36g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 420mg