Peppercorn Pork with Wine Sauce (CEIMB)

Tonight was the first time I ever made pork tenderloin.  I'm not sure what took me so long.  It's a lean, tender (obviously) cut of pork that is a great way to escape the blahs of repeated exposure to chicken breast.   It is packed with flavor of its own, but the recipe for this week's Craving Ellie in my Belly lends extra flavor from dijon mustard, pepper, and wine.  Absolutely delicious and elegant.

In Ellie's original recipe, you take a pork tenderloin and split it down the middle, not cutting all the way through, to make a wider, flatter piece of pork.  Since the tenderloin I bought was fairly small, I decided to cook it whole and cut it into slices after cooking and resting.  This means, of course, that it takes a bit longer to cook.  Below is my version, but if you want the quicker cooking version, check out the link above.

I also reduced the pepper a little bit, since we're not huge black pepper people.  Feel free to increase it if you're a fan of cracked black pepper.

We had ours with parsley potatoes.  It was a simple, yet far from ordinary meal.  I will definitely be making this one again!

Peppercorn Pork with Wine Sauce (CEIMB)

adapted from The Food You Crave

serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed of visible fat and silver skin

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Rub the pork loin with the mustard on both sides.  Sprinkle with pepper and a pinch of salt, and gently press in the spices so they adhere to the pork.  

2.  Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat.  When it's hot, add the pork tenderloin.  Cook for about 5 minutes on each side (all four of them) to brown, then loosely cover the skillet with foil to trap in the steam.  Cook for another 5 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the meat reads 155.  Remove from pan and tent the meat with the foil.

3.  Add broth and wine to the pan and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.  Cook until reduced by about half, 8-10 minutes.

4.  Slice the pork after it has rested (the time it takes to cook the sauce should be enough) into 1/4 inch slices.  Serve drizzled with the sauce.

Enjoy!

Note:  Be careful not to overcook the pork - it should still have a slight pink blush when you cut into it.