Rainy Day Roast Pork Tenderloin

Since today is Sunday...and it's raining...and I don't feel like standing in a down pour to bbq, I thought today would be a perfect day to cook this pork tenderloin for supper.

I love this cast iron cooking pot...it's made in France by "Staub" and worth the money (don't ask me how much...James bought it for my birthday and has mentioned a thousand times that it was expensive!) This pot is heavy which is excellent for heat distribution and cooks a great roast, stew, baked beans...your culinary life is an open road with this handy pot! You can also use a small roasting pan or even a baking pan with foil as your "lid".

Pork tenderloin is a lean cut of meat with very little fat, so you do not want to trim any off that is there but do trim off the thin silver skin that may be on the roast. This roast is approximately one and a half pounds.

Peel back the silver skin and carefully trim away with a sharp knife....taking care that you do not sever your hand because that would simply be tragic!!

Next, preheat your oven to 400 degrees, rub olive oil over the roast and please disregard the fact that my salt and pepper shakers do not match...Martha Stewart would be appalled!

Season the pork with salt and pepper to taste.

On top of the stove, melt about one tablespoon of butter or fat in your roasting pan on medium/high heat. You can wrap your roast in bacon but since I didn't have any, I browned my roast in good ole bacon fat ( I keep a jar of it in my fridge to add goodness to all!) If you are concerned about heart health, you may want to skip this step!

Brown roast on all sides...(don't burn yourself on the splattering fat)

After meat has been browned on all sides...remove it from pan and set aside.

Chop one small onion and mince one clove of garlic...

...and saute in roasting pot for about two minutes or until onion is tender.

Next pour in about two cups of beef or chicken broth...I'm using beef...cause that's what I had!

Put the meat back into the pot with sauteed onions, garlic and broth and arrange about 4 (peeled and halved) potatoes and 3 or 4 (peeled and chopped) carrots around the roast.

Put in your preheated oven (400 degrees), uncovered for about 35 to 45 minutes...If the roast is done (cooked to medium, a meat thermometer will read 160 degrees f) but the vegetables still need a few minutes, remove roast to a plate and leave vegetables in the oven until tender.

Once the meat has been removed from the roasting pan to a plate, cover with aluminum foil...this is called "tenting" and it allows the meat to rest and retain all of it's juices.

Remove potatoes and carrots from roasting pan and transfer to an oven safe serving dish...put in oven on low to keep warm while you make the gravy. Put the roasting pan with the meat juice/broth mixture back on stove and turn to medium heat, adding about 1 cup of red wine..bring to a boil then let this simmer for about five minutes.

Next, whisk one tablespoon of flour into the liquid working quickly to blend the flour in completely...at this point, the mixture will become very thick...the flour will act as a thickening agent for your gravy. Slowly pour 1 cup of water into the thick mixture, quickly whisking as you pour to incorporate the water and eliminate any flour lumps ( I didn't take a photo of this step).

For extra flavour, I added one package of beef gravy (25g pkg.) mix to my homemade gravy...Gordon Ramsey would hoof me out of his kitchen for using that, but I'm pretty lippy myself...besides, he's not here! (if the meat I am cooking doesn't have a lot of fat to create juices and brown bits in my roasting pan, I like to add the gravy mix instead of bouillion cubes...I find them a bit too salty...Pour gravy mix into pan and whisk in one more cup of water until smooth...

Simmer until thickened to your taste and remove from heat.

Remove roast from tented plate and carve meat into thin slices...

Serve with your roasted vegetables and gravy...Sunday night supper is served! We're kickin' it old school tonight!

Roast Pork Tenderloin

pork tenderloin (approx. 1 1/2 lbs.)

olive oil to rub on roast

salt and pepper to season meat

1 tbsp. butter or fat for browning meat

4 medium potatoes

3 or 4 large carrots

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic minced

2 cups of beef or chicken stock

For the gravy

1 pkg. beef gravy mix (25g. pkg.)

1 cup red wine

1 tbsp. flour

2 cups water, divided

Method

1. Trim silver skin from meat then rub with olive oil...season with salt and pepper to taste.

2. In a roasting pot/pan on the stove top, melt 1 tbsp. of butter or fat on med/high heat and brown meat on all sides...remove meat from pan and set aside on a plate.

3. Add 1 small chopped onion and minced garlic to pot and saute until tender (about 2 min.)

4. Pour in 2 cups of broth, put meat back into pot and arrange vegetables around the roast. Roast meat, uncovered, in a 400 degree (preheated) oven for approx. 35-45 min. or until meat is done (160 degrees on meat thermometer).

5. Remove meat (leave vegetables, if they still require more cooking) and tent your roast on a plate using foil.

6. Remove vegetables (when done) from pan and transfer to an oven proof dish and leave in a low temp. oven to keep warm while you make gravy.

7. Put your roasting pan back onto the stove top and turn to medium heat...add in 1 cup of red wine and bring to a simmer for 5 min. Whisk in 1 tbsp. flour and add 1 cup of water whisking until smooth. Add one package of gravy mix and 1 more cup of water whisking again, until smooth...simmer until thickened to desired consistency.

8. Slice meat and serve with vegetables and gravy...enjoy!