When I attended the cooking class last week with Phillis Carey, my friend Linda and I weren’t all that “wowed” by this recipe. But a few days later, at home, with a thawing pork tenderloin on hand, rather than go hunting for a different preparation, I made this anyway. At the class, Linda and I both liked the sauce (and Phillis said you could also serve it with turkey). The pork I was served at the class was a bit overdone. Pork tenderloin is a very finicky piece of meat. It has to be cooked “just right,” or it’s almost unpalatable. There’s so little fat in the meat, you can’t do much to retain moisture so it’s vitally important it be removed from the oven before it goes over the hill to dry.
Phillis’ recipe says to oil, herb coat the meat, marinate it for an hour or overnight, brown the tenderloin in a bit of oil, and finally roast at 400 F. Well, I’d just gotten through reading an article in Cooking Light about pork, and it said tenderloin should be roasted at 500 F. So I went with the higher temp. It took 20 minutes, and I didn’t even brown the meat first (too lazy). The sauce came together relatively quickly. FYI: I combined all the sauce liquids in the pan (the original recipe says you do it in two steps) and added the grapes partway through. Then added the Morello cherries at the end just to heat through. My sauce was a little thin, so I ended up adding a butter/flour roux (a tiny bit) to thicken it up a bit.
According to the Cooking Light story, pork tenderloin should be served at an internal temperature of 155 F. So, using a probe I removed the meat at 150 F. and let it sit for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving. It had reached 155 in the ensuing minutes. The meat was pink throughout – every inch of it was faintly tinged pink. Perfect. As moist as tenderloin can be. And the sauce was a really delicious complement to the pork. Not so overpowering that you couldn’t taste the meat, but tasty enough on its own that you wanted more of it with every bite. And the recipe still isn’t a “wow” recipe, but it was very good.
The grapes are cooked. I happened to have had some extremely large red seedless grapes (another reason why I wanted to make the recipe). I cut them in half and they were nicely cooked at about 25 minutes in the broth. They were removed while I finished up the sauce, then added them back in with the Morellos. Morellos are a very tart red cherry. Until Trader Joe’s started carrying them in a jar, I don’t think I’d ever heard of them. You probably could make a dessert with them, but the sauce was a great use for them. Trader Joe’s has had them on the shelves for several years, so I guess other people like them too.
My recipe below shows most of the changes I made to the recipe. Be sure to use a regular pan (not a nonstick) to brown the meat. Only a regular pan will create the little brown bits (called fond) on the bottom of the pan, that you want added to the sauce for extra flavor. Using a nonstick pan is much harder to get that meat caramelization anyway. I also didn’t have any rosemary, so used sage and thyme for the herb rub.
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Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Cherry, Grape and Wine Sauce
Recipe: Phillis Carey, cookbook author and instructor
Servings: 6
FRUIT SAUCE:
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup beef broth — low-salt, if possible
2 cups dry red wine
1 1/2 cups red grapes — small size, if possible, seedless
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup Morello cherries — canned, drained
PORK:
2 pounds pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary — minced, or fresh sage
1 tablespoon fresh thyme — minced
1. SAUCE: In a large pot boil both broths and red wine until reduced by about two thirds, about 30-45 minutes. During last 30 minutes add the grapes, reduce heat and continue simmering until sauce has begun to thicken (about 3/4 cup total liquid). Remove grapes and set aside once they’ve become plump (you don’t want to cook them until they’re mushy).
2. PORK: Trim the pork of all visible fat and remove silverskin; brush with olive oil. Sprinkle the chopped herbs all over the pork (roll in it if needed); wrap in plastic wrap and let stand at least an hour, or refrigerate several hours or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 500. Remove pork from refrigerator at least 30 minutes ahead of baking. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Heat 2 T. oil in a large (not a nonstick) skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and sear until brown, about 8 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Reserve skillet.
4. Transfer pork to a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet and roast for 18-20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches about 150. Remove from oven, allow to sit with a piece of aluminum foil tented over it, until the temperature reaches 155, about 8 minutes. (While it’s baking proceed to step 5 to finish sauce.) Slice on the diagonal and serve on piping hot plates with sauce over the top.
5. FINISH SAUCE: While pork is baking add the sauce to the skillet you browned the pork in. Bring it to a simmer, scraping up any pan brown bits. Simmer until thickened. If the sauce is not thick enough, combine an equal amount of softened butter and flour (about a tablespoon each), mix and mash with a spoon until all the flour is thoroughly mixed in, then gently add a few bits of this to the sauce. It may require you to mash with a whisk or flat spatula to distribute the butter without lumps. Add just enough to thicken the sauce to your liking. Add grapes and drained cherries to the sauce and heat through. Add any pan juices from the baking sheet you used for roasting the pork. Spoon sauce over pork.
Per Serving: 354 Calories; 11g Fat (30.4% calories from fat); 38g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 98mg Cholesterol; 364mg Sodium.
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