Back in the Kitchen: Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Gravy

Does anybody miss Mama Mash’s Monday Meals?  I know I do.  She’s on a bit of a blogging hiatus, but I wanted to post about a recipe that I made this weekend that I think was pretty fabulous.  Julie has been so sweet in helping me learn to cook–from giving me suggestions for meal plans to answering my silly cooking questions on Twitter–that I wanted to make her proud with my new-found cooking skills.

You all remember my complaints about my cooking frustrations?  (Hello, burnt roux, anyone?)  Well, one of the Christmas gifts Mr. DIH got for me was a cooking class at our local Central Market grocery store.  I have to say, the class was fantastic!  I had a blast and I learned a ton.  Plus they served wine during our cooking lesson so that was fun too.

Anyways, the class I took was all about sauces and stocks.  And yes, I conquered the roux.

We also made a fabulous mushroom gravy with roasted pork tenderloin and I went ahead and made it this past weekend.  By myself!  Not only was it tasty, but it was so easy too!  So now I want to share it with you.  Please, make this.  Now!

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Gravy

Tenderloin Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin

1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced

salt & pepper to season

oil for sauteing

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Take your tenderloin and cut off any silvery skin on it.  Then, cut several small slits on one side and insert sliced garlic.  Season all sides generously with salt and pepper.  I prefer Kosher salt because it sticks better.

Ok, now here’s a cool trick I learned.  If you already knew it, why didn’t you tell me?  But I digress…

If you want to make your pan non-stick (without actually using a non-stick pan, something I try not to use in my kitchen), heat the skillet over medium-high heat.  Once the skillet is nice and hot, then heat your oil.  I never knew that this simple trick would prevent the meat from sticking.  I always heated the oil with the skillet but now I know better!

Add just enough oil to coat the pan.  One the oil is hot, place your meat in the pan and sear each side, about a minute or so.  The idea is to just get it nicely browned, not to cook it.  Once you are finished searing, transfer the tenderloin to an oven safe dish, such as a glass casserole pan or rimmed baking sheet.  Roast for about 15 or 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 140 degrees.  It took about 20 minutes in my oven.

Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

The mushroom gravy can be found here.  Here are my notes on it.

• The gravy can be easily halved.  I found that half was enough for us and we ate it 2 nights in a row.
• I substituted arrowroot powder for the cornstarch, but in my class, our instructor used a demi-glace instead of the cornstarch-water mixture.  I couldn’t tell much of a difference in flavor.
• Definitely try to use mushrooms other than white.  The flavor is amazing.
• If you have leftover sauce, it’s delicious on chicken or even on pasta.  Toss the pasta with butter and garlic powder and spoon the sauce over the top.
• The sauce can be prepared up to a day ahead and I found it tasted better the second day after the flavors had a chance to meld together.

I served this dish with roasted broccoli and red onions.  Simply take a head of fresh broccoli, wash and dry thoroughly.  Cut the broccoli into bite sized pieces and place on a rimmed baking pan.  Add sliced red onions and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss with salt and pepper and place pieces of fresh garlic on top.  Roast in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  {Recipe adapted from here.}

Let me know if you try this.  I hope you enjoy it.