Even Emeril Needs a Brush Up: Grilled Pork Tenderloin

It is not infrequently that I’m asked to donate a cooking class to some good cause. I try to focus on a food-specific organizations (Slow Food, Food Bank), organizations that promote health, and local groups (schools). I've always preferred donating talents to money, as I seem to have more of the former.

But sadly, as my business grows, I’ve been less and less inclined to promise that I will be teaching the classes I donate, because my travel schedule has been hectic. Home Made Simple has me happily shooting Season 3 in Chicago – I’m thrilled to be here, but it makes teaching home cooking classes back in Manhattan difficult.

But for some reason, when I recently donated a class to the Food Bank, they were almost insistent that I teach the class I donate. So I hemmed, and hawed and finally gave in. It’s for a good cause after all. Since I donated myself, I was put in a special auction, one that was shouted by an auctioneer instead of silently described. It was called Soul Kitchen.

As it was described at the event:

SOUL KITCHEN: Thom Filicia, the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" with the eye for design, will give your kitchen the once-over twice, to help detect flaws and make you a man (or woman) with a plan. The Electrolux Group built a custom orange stove-Molteni stoves are designed to meet the demands of the world's greatest chefs. Stunning Veneta Cucine kitchen cabinetry and counters from Chelsea Fine Custom Kitchens will give you the kitchen you've always dreamed about, staring into showrooms like Holly Go-Lightly. OXO GOOD GRIPS Cooking and Entertaining package contains many of the tools you need to create and serve culinary masterpieces and enjoy additional kitchen improvement products from Home Depot and IKEA. So all this work is not just for show, the host of the TLC program "Home Made Simple" Allison Fishman, has donated a private Manhattan or Brooklyn-based cooking class for up to two students, taught by her, from the Wooden Spoon. You now have no excuse not to, well, cook.

Not bad, right? I felt honored to be on such a lineup (batting cleanup, I might add). So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that the person who donated $21,000 to the organization for the package was none other than Emeril Lagasse!

Does Emeril really need a class from me? I ate at his flagship NOLA back in ’94, and I assure you, this man can cook. Forget about the bamming, and the producers asking him to pander to a certain demographic; I’d be humbly honored to just sit in his kitchen and watch. This man has forgotten more than I’ll ever know.

So what gives? Well, we do what we can with what we’ve got, and now and then we get the change to do some good and make a difference. I donated my time, and Emeril donated a whole lot of money. We both gave back to an industry we love, in the ways we were best suited.

Herb Grilled Pork Loin
This is an incredibly delicious dish that couldn't be simpler. A quick meal, based on little things I could pull from around the garden and fridge. Use the pork for Cubanos the next day. Mmmm.

2 pork tenderloins, trimmed of excess fat and silver skin
6 large sprigs rosemary, leaves roughly chopped
4 sprigs thyme, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt

In a large plastic bag, add pork, rosemary, thyme, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, and crushed red pepper flakes. Massage marinate into the pork, squeeze all the air out of the bag, and seal it. Let pork sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.

Heat grill to medium-high. Season pork well with salt. Grill on all sides, 5 minutes per side, about 20 minutes total (cook until internal temperature of pork is 135 to 140 F). Let rest 5 to 10 minutes, then slice thinly. Serve warm.