Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Sauce: Oven-Baked in Foil
There is a very small part of the carcass that is the most tender and juicy meat of all. Filet mignon is cut from it: a very thin cross-section from the very center of the tenderloin. Literally one piece. This part is called the tenderloin. It is a small cut at the back of the loin, the most prized and most expensive part of the carcass. It is essentially a single muscle, or part of one, and this muscle does almost no physical work, so it is not saturated with blood. This piece is cut out of the larger loin section, hence the name. The best tenderloin is beef, although connoisseurs claim that the flavor and tenderness of a cooked tenderloin depend more on the cooking method than on the kind of meat.
Here it has become customary to call any lean boneless meat tenderloin: the two long strips cut from a pig or cow carcass along the spine. That is not quite accurate, more of an everyday name. A steak, for example, is made from strictly defined meat cut from a precisely known part of the carcass, and nothing else. The rib eye steak comes from the fatty part near the shoulder blade, the chateaubriand from the thick end, and the porterhouse steak from the loin.
Tenderloin is a rather expensive product, so it should be cooked carefully and sensibly. In the vast majority of cases tenderloin is fried or roasted. Boiling or braising tenderloin is very tricky, and there is no need for it anyway: it tastes better seared.
I am often surprised by tenderloin recipes that recommend marinating the meat. Pork tenderloin is juicy and tender on its own; it needs no marinade, and in my opinion a marinade actually does it harm. What's more, however you cook tenderloin, it is worth searing it well first, until golden brown, so that all the meat juices stay inside during further cooking. But, again, that is just my personal opinion.
Seared or roasted tenderloin is usually served with various sauces, simply poured over the slices, but I would not braise tenderloin in sauce. Tenderloin should only be roasted or seared, then sliced across the grain (this is important) and topped with sauce. It can be served hot or cold.
Even though only a little of this meat is cooked, tenderloin can become the highlight of the feast. And it is best eaten before the drinks start flowing, while you can still enjoy its flavor, before your taste buds are lost in the bliss of Olivier salad and a glass of ice-cold aperitif.
Ingredients
10-15 slices
- Pork tenderloin 400 g
- Garlic 1 clove
- Red wine 200 ml
- Pitted cherries 100 g
- Olive oil 1 tbsp
- Starch 1 tsp
- Spices: black peppercorns or a peppercorn mix, bay leaf, saffron or marigold, oregano, savory, salt, mustard seeds, coriander seeds to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- To keep all the flavor and juices of the tenderloin inside instead of letting them evaporate during cooking, we sear the tenderloin in olive oil until golden brown. Pour olive oil into a sauté pan and heat it until it gives off its characteristic aroma. As soon as the oil starts to crackle slightly, put the tenderloin into the pan.
- Wash the meat beforehand and pat it dry with paper towels. You can trim off excess fat, if there is any. Nothing else needs to be done. Simply sear the tenderloin on all sides, turning it often. Searing takes about 15 minutes.
- While the meat is searing, prepare the spice mix. Do not use ready-made blends or ground spices. All spices should be whole (pepper, coriander, mustard) along with natural unground dried herbs (oregano, savory, saffron). By the way, the spice set is to my taste, so feel free to improvise, but remember: everything in moderation. Take all spices in equal parts. In total you should get about half a tablespoon of the spice mix.
- Put all the spices and salt (to taste), except the bay leaf, into a mortar and grind them a little to get a coarse mix.
- Transfer the seared tenderloin from the pan to a plate and sprinkle it with the spice mix.
- Whatever sticks to the meat stays; discard the rest.
- Next you will need kitchen foil. Tear off two pieces and stack them together. Place the spice-coated tenderloin on the foil. Put 2 bay leaves and one unpeeled garlic clove on top of the meat.
- Wrap the tenderloin tightly in foil. Put the wrapped tenderloin in an oven preheated to 180 °C. The pork tenderloin bakes for 35-40 minutes.
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the pitted cherries in it. By the way, frozen cherries work perfectly.
- Pour a cup of red wine, dry or semi-dry, into the pan. Add sugar to taste, nutmeg and a pinch of ground black pepper. Simmer the cherries over low heat (uncovered) for 10 minutes, until the alcohol evaporates.
- Pour diluted starch into the sauce in a thin stream, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens.
- Add sugar to taste right away, as much as you like. Pour the finished sauce into a sauce boat and let it cool.
- Once the oven time for the pork tenderloin is up, cut the foil open on top so that the tenderloin lies in a foil “boat”. You can remove the garlic and bay leaves. Raise the oven temperature to 220 °C and put the meat back in the oven for 10-12 minutes.
- Slice the finished pork tenderloin across the grain (these slices are often called medallions) and arrange them on a plate. Top each slice of meat with a cherry from the sauce.
- Whether to eat the dish cold or hot is up to you. Pork tenderloin is good either way. You can serve the sauce on the side in a sauce boat or pour it generously over the tenderloin.
| Yield: | 10-15 slices |
| Calories: | 180 kcal per 100 g |
| Prep: | 20 mins |
| Cooking: | 50 mins |
| Ready in: | 1 h 10 mins |
| Category: | Main Dishes |
| Cuisine: | European |
| Rating: |
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4.4
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