Since the restaurant closed I've been able to do 'Sunday Dinners' whenever I please. Which means they've been happening less frequently on Sundays...but today I was in the cookin' mood and I had a wee little pork tenderloin in the fridge, some potatoes in the pantry and a good ol' fashioned can of peas just calling my name.
In defense of the peas, I love them canned. I do not love them frozen. And seeing as I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my first CSA box of the season, it had to be canned.
Okay, back to the tenderloin.
My favorite way to prepare pork is to pair it with a sweet(ish) glaze or sauce. Also, I have seasonal allergies (stay with me here). Like, my- head- is- going- to- explode- from- the- intolerable- pressure- and- all- I- want- to- do- is- pull- the- covers- over- my- head- and- burrow- deeper- into- my- bed- allergies. So A good friend of mine suggested I get myself some local honey to combat the allergies. Every morning while the coffee is brewing a psych myself up to take a teaspoon of honey straight up. I shudder and choke as the nasty stuff slips slowly down my throat. Kitchen immunotherapy (sort of like bathroom surgery), if you will. You see, I hate honey so I'm scheming up a way to get the stuff into my system without provoking my gag reflex. And the idea hits me to make a glaze for the pork with the local honey. Kill two birds with one stone! Only, I didn't know, in order for the honey to work as an antidote is has to be raw; uncooked. Frig.
Well at least the pork was killer.
Here is what you will need:
1 boneless pork tenderloin
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
2 TBSP white wine vinegar
3/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 TBSP Honey
1 TBSP fresh or dried parsley
a pinch or two of dried thyme
2 TBSP freshly chopped green onion or chives
2 TBSP evoo
My tenderloin was only 10 ounces so I just eyeballed the ingredients for my sauce. Taste as you go, if you want a more subtle mustard flavor adjust the honey and vinegar amounts.
Start with the tenderloin, mine was really well trimmed but you may need to remove the silver skin (the tough membrane that covers the top of the loin) from yours.
The secret to a really good sear is pat the meat down with a paper towel to wick away the moisture, then salt and pepper and set aside while you prepare the glaze.
In a small bowl mix together the mustard, honey, white wine vinegar, parsley, thyme and green onion. Now taste it and adjust to your liking.
In an oven proof saute pan (you'll be going from stove to oven back to stove) on med-high, heat up the olive oil
When its hot, place the tenderloin in the pan
and sear each side for about 30 seconds
until its nice and golden brown on all sides.
Remove pan from heat and baste the meat with the glaze.
Make sure you use it all, brushing all sides then cook in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the tenderloin reaches and internal temperature of 145 degrees.
When the tenderloin is finished cooking remove it from the pan and let it rest on a cutting board for about 10 minutes.
While the pork is resting deglaze the pan. I don't have a photo of this step, sorry. There was a toddler having a melt down and a husband just getting home from work and, well, it slipped my mind. To deglaze take the saute pan with all the drippings and honey glaze and place it on the stove on medium heat. If you have a open bottle of nice white wine, you can use that, if not just use water. Pour the water/wine into the pan and with a wooden spatula or spoon scrape the fond (the caramelized bits of meat and sauce) from the bottom of the pan and stir adding enough water/wine to make a thin sauce to pour over your meat.
Just like so...
Pair it with a yummy green salad...
...mashed potatoes and peas and viola! Sunday dinner.
In theory now I would sit down with my husband and son and we would talk about how Chris's games went and the art project we worked on while daddy was working. Liam would eat his mashed potatoes and peas and push the pork around his plate after at least, giving it a try and then deciding he didn't care for it...
In practice, everything is on the table and were just sitting down to eat when I realize there are no serving spoons so I jump up to grab them, then Liam is spitting out his mashed potatoes into his hands and wringing his hands together then shaking them over the table spraying mashed potato bit and repeating the "S" word over and over because he doesn't like the texture. I jam a forkful of food into my face and chomp as I wipe his hands clean of potato. He refuses to try anything else on his plate and proceeds to cry when Chris and I make him sit with us at the table because DAMNIT this is SUNDAY DINNER! I munch a bit of salad and jump up from the table to microwave some leftover noodles and corn for Liam. By the time I get back to the table my plate is cold but at least Liam is eating something. Finally after a few fork fulls of noodles and corn we are defeated and let him down to go watch Thomas the train while we eat our thoughtfully prepared, yet cold dinners.
Just a day in the life.
Enjoy the pork Y'all.
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