Pork Tenderloin with Pan Sauce

Hello again, and thanks to all who have checked out my blog so far. I have gotten some really great feedback that let me know at least a few people are checking out (and enjoying) my posts! I have a pile of new recipes sitting on my kitchen table, so I decided to try one out today.

I don't always have the foresight to plan my meal very far ahead (if I remember to take something out of the freezer in the morning for dinner that evening, I'm lucky). As of late I have been trying to plan my meals two weeks at a time and make my grocery list accordingly. Most of the time (on previous occasions) I go to the grocery store with a vague idea of what I want to make, buy a bunch of random stuff and then not have any real coherent plans for said "stuff". Then when it comes time to make something, even though I have tons of food in the house I can't think of/find anything to cook. So, my planning has become key in a) not wasting food b) having an idea of what to make each night.

So back to my recipe at hand, one from my "meal plan"; Pork tenderloin with pan sauce. I love pork tenderloin, as it is generally very easy to cook. I used to put a dry rub on it and bake it in the oven. I've found of late it's been a little dry, and while the outer crust is delicious, the inside is still rather plain. So when I saw this recipe was a marinade and a sauce, I though "Bingo"! Now, this does require a bit of pre planning, and a little work either the night before you plan to make this (or if your like me, and leave things to the last minute, the morning of). So you've been forewarned, pull out the pork tenderloin now!

Ingredients:

Marinade
1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 soy sauce

1/4 red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 - 2 tbps Worcestershire sauce

1 - 2 tbsp fresh parsley (I didn't use this because I didn't have it on hand and I'm not a huge parsley person)

2 tsp dry mustard

Freshly cracked pepper to taste

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 lb pork tenderloin

Pan Sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock

2 - 3 tbps of pork marinade

1 - 2 tsp of butter

Directions:

Basically all you need to do is mix all of these ingredients together, pretty easy hey? But before you do that, just a note for a few of the ingredients; use real lemon juice. I know you can just buy one of those lemon shaped plastic things full of lemon juice, but real lemons are super cheap and have so much more flavor. I don't even own one of those fancy citrus juicer things, I just squish it with my hands. Takes 5 seconds (just watch out for seeds, don't want those in the food).

Also, buy a pepper mill. That powdery stuff you put in a pepper shaker is really not even the same as cracked pepper. Fresh cracked pepper is so much better, so much more flavor. Then you can just buy a big container of mixed peppercorns, and refill your pepper mill as needed. My hubby is a pepper nut, so trust me on this one.

Lastly, use real garlic. It doesn't say "garlic powder" for a reason. I used to never use real garlic, I'd use garlic powder, or you can even buy those jars of minced garlic, ready for use. Please don't. I go through usually a whole bulb of garlic a week (we like garlic). I still am not really very good at mincing garlic, I can manage it, but it does take me some time. I use a garlic press. I know some people frown at these because it is not as gentle as properly mincing but I saw, fresh garlic is better than no (or fake) garlic!

So now that you have your yummy (fresh) ingredients, mix everything together with a wisk, or better yet put everything in a blender. If you use a blender it will help emulsify everything together. Basically what this means is that things that don't normally mix together (oil, and most other liquids) will be blended together so they appear as one liquid. After time they will separate out again, but not before you've used it (if using same day). Put 2 - 3 tbps of the marinade in a separate dish and pour the rest of it into a plastic bag (or airtight container). Put the pork tenderloin in the marinade and pop it into the fridge until your ready to cook it (at least 3 - 4 hours).

When you get home from work (or whatever you choose to do while everything marinates) turn your oven on to 350 degrees. While you are waiting for that to preheat place a skillet (one that you can also put in the oven) on the stove over medium-high heat, and once it is hot (place a drop or two of water in the pan, if it sizzles, it's hot enough) place the tenderloin in the pan. Sear it on all sides (just browning it for a couple minutes on each side). Your going to want tongs for this, tongs are your friend. Once you have seared the meat pour the marinade into the skillet, and place everything in the now preheated oven.

Cook the meat for 20 - 30 minutes and check the internal temperature to make sure it is at 150 degrees (another very useful kitchen tool, meat thermometer). If it's not quite there give it another 5 - 10 minutes. Once it is done take it out of the pan and place it on a cutting board, or serving plate and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. Seriously. You can't skip this step just because you are impatient. If you do all of the delicious juiciness will run all over your counter and you will be very sad.

I have the perfect job for you while the meat is resting! Place the skillet you cooked the pork in on the stove over medium heat and add the 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Stir with a wooden spoon to get all of the  browned bits from the pan. Add the small amount of marinade, that was put aside earlier, to the skillet and let everything boil down for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the butter (or margarine), remove from heat and stir until melted and distributed evenly in the sauce.

Now you can slice the pork, pour the sauce over top and serve!

Source: Modified from Chef Mommy Pin It