Pork Tenderloin with Honey Mustard Pan Sauce

I love Pork Tenderloins, not only because they taste so darn good, but because they cook up very quickly. I can have two of them on the dinner table in less than an hour, which includes making this delectable Honey Mustard Pan Sauce.

I found the recipe on a great blog called Oui, Chef by Steve Dunn. Steve completed a 2-year professional hiatus during which time he indulged in his "long held passion for cooking by moving to France to study the culinary arts" and immersed himself in "all things French." He's a comical writer and a Foodie Dad who wants to teach his kids how to cook excellent food. His photography skills aren't bad either!

Okay, let's cook:

First let me ask you - do you cook with Shallots? They have the most amazing flavor that some describe as a cross between onions and garlic. I think they have a kind of smoky quality as well. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Buy some the next time you see them at the grocery store - they last for months!

The sauce is easy to make.  Simply saute the shallots and garlic together for a minute.

Then add the tomato paste and continue to saute until the paste starts to caramelize.

The last step is to add the remaining ingredients, stir to combine, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the mixture reaches a nice sauce consistency.

It's really good.  I hope you'll give it a try.

Pork Tenderloin with Honey Mustard Pan Sauce

makes 6 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 pork tenderloins, trimmed (1 to 1.25 pounds each)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tablespoons minced shallots

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 2 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 1/3 cups chicken broth

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F. 

2. Trim excess fat and silver skin from tenderloins; dry well and season well with Kosher salt and pepper.  Note: if the small ends of your tenderloin are thin, you may want to tie it like I show in this post. 

3. Heat a large oven-safe frying pan on high heat until very hot (really good quality cookware is a must).

4. Sear all sides of the tenderloins in olive oil until they have a nice brown crust all over (brown equals flavor!!).

5. Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and roast for about 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 145F.

6. Remove the pan from the oven; place tenderloins on a cutting board, covered, to rest for 10 minutes while you make a sauce in the same pan.

To make the Honey Mustard Pan Sauce:

1. Return the pan to the stove top over medium heat, add the garlic and shallots and cook until the aroma dives you bonkers (about a minute). 

2. Add tomato paste, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. 

3. Saute until tomato paste starts to caramelize a bit - don't let it burn, just brown slightly. 

4. Add mustard, honey, vinegar, thyme, salt, pepper, and broth. 

5. Be sure to scape up all the flavor from the bottom of the pan. 

6. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.

7. Slice pork diagonally into medallions; serve with generous amounts of sauce.

Note

• Steve's version called for only one tenderloin, but I found the recipe make enough sauce for two.

adapted from The CIA's Gourmet Meals in Minutes

Oven Roasted Hoisin Pork Tenderloin Strips

Here's my take on a nearly 40 year old pork dish from Gourmet Magazine. The original recipe called for basting the pork tenderloins with used marinade. That's a huge no-no today, so I've updated the cooking technique to meet our current safety standards. I've tweaked the ingredients a bit to better suit my family's taste as well. We loved it... hope you do too.

Oven Roasted Hoisin Pork

serves 4-6

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 pork tenderloins (approx 1 to 1.25 pounds each)

• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger (a bit more if you like a lot of heat)

• 10 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons Mirin (or sherry)

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

• 1-2 scallions, sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. To make the marinade mixture, whisk together the soy, mirin, sugar, honey, and hoisin (half of this recipe will be used to marinade the pork; the other half will be used later in the recipe.

3. Trim silver skin and any excess fat from tenderloins and pat dry.

4. Cut each tenderloin lengthwise, with the grain, into about 1-inch wide strips.

5. Pour half the marinade mixture over the pork strips and refrigerate for an hour.

6. After an hour, remove the pork from the used marinade; discard used marinade.

7. Place marinaded pork strips on a rack suspended over a shallow pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until pork is cooked through.

8. Simmer the unused reserved marinade and reduce slightly; brush several tablespoons of the reduced sauce onto the pork strips during the last 5 minutes of roasting.

9. Add the sliced scallions to the remaining unused marinade and serve as a dipping sauce.

Note

• Mirin is a Japanese sweet rice wine. It can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store.  The label will specify 1% or 8% alcohol - either will work in this recipe.