Mustard-Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce

   

    

Roast pork tenderloin always sounds so fancy to people, but it's really a very easy and quck meal to make, even on weeknights.  Just brown the meat in a pan and roast in a hot oven until it reaches 160 degrees.  After you've prepared this a few times, the challenge then becomes to do it a little differently each time.  Mustard is a go to for lamb, and can also go onto pork.  The flavor left is not "mustardy," but does enhance the meat and help whatever herbs you apply stick.  The easy herbs are any of the herbs de provence combination, either those premixed, or thyme, rosemary, etc.  I keep an herb garden for just such purposes.  But, seeking something more, I found this recipe from Martha Stewart's The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook:  The Original Classics.  Her recipe envisions a blackberry-mustard sauce.  I did go as far as adding blackberries, but I did follow her suggestions to add coriander, cumin and ginger to the spice rub mixture.  While my proportions below are not as agressive as Martha suggests, it still came out as a very tasty mid-week meal.  I also like to brown my tenderloin before roasting, which Martha has yet to discover.  I browned the tenderloin first and then slathered it with Dijon and the spice mixture before roasting.  Feel free to reverse the order and let me know how it works.  Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1  1 1/4-pound pork tenderloin

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp flour

Directions:
Preaheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and brown the tenderloin on all sides.  Meanwhile combine all of the spices, salt, pepper and sugar.  Remove the tenderloin to a cutting board and brush 1 tbsp of the Dijon onto the tenderloin.  Sprinkle the spice mixture onto the tenderloin and press to make it stick.  Return the tenderloin to the pan and roast in the oven.  Cook until the pork is 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 15 minutes or longer.  Transfer the cooked tenderloin to a cutting board and cover with foil to keep warm.  Return the pan to the stove top over medium heat and add the wine, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan to deglaze.  Reduce the wine a bit and then stir in the stock, reducing it by half, about 8 minutes.  If a thicker sauce is desired, mix the flour and 1/4 cup of water in a bowl and whisk into simmering stock.  After a couple minutes more, whisk in the mustard.  Slice pork into medalians and serve with sauce.