In cold weather, braised meat or a meat dish with accompanying sauce is the perfect choice, and this pork tenderloin recipe makes impressing your family or dinner date incredibly simple. Pork tenderloin is the most tender part of the animal — which makes your job easier — and I had the butcher at my local organic market cut it into 1/2-inch slices. Then just follow the recipe; prep time is 10 minutes and cooking time is 15 minutes. This recipe makes even a complete beginner look good! And, it’s easy to pair with wine (see below).
Pork Tenderloin with Red Grapes & Herb Cream Sauce
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme, crushed
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 to 1 1/2 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) Evaporated Milk
- 1 cup red seedless grapes, cut in half
Directions:
COMBINE garlic salt, rosemary, thyme and black pepper in small bowl. Sprinkle pork with half of spice mixture as shown above.
HEAT oil in large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add pork and cook on each side for 3 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Remove from skillet; set aside and keep warm.
REDUCE heat to low. Add flour, evaporated milk and remaining spice mixture to skillet. Stir to loosen brown bits from bottom of skillet. Cook for 3 minutes. Add grapes and cook for an additional minute until thickened.
PLACE pork on serving platter and top with sauce.
Wine pairing:
I am a Pinot Noir lover, which goes well with pork and works fine for this recipe. But to take the flavors up a notch, I paired it with a Rhone Red Blend. This is usually based on three grapes, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre (also known as a GSM) but can sometimes include other Rhone varietals. These blends are typically described as having blackberry, leather and pepper notes, and go well with juicy, gamey meats as well as French-style spice blends, especially rosemary.