The Moveable Feast Food Blog

The Moveable Feast is a Personal Chef Service that serves the Hampton Roads area of Southern Virginia. This blog is an extension of my web site www.themoveablefeastpcs.com and will go into more details about food and any food service industries. Any pictures and or recipes that are published here are all the property of The Moveable Feast unless otherwise noted.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Herbed Roasted Pork Tenderloin (no recipe needed)
I was looking through some old pictures that I had taken for the blog which I never posted. I found this series of pictures that would fit in with the KIS theme from the other day. I use recipes once to see how it works, then rarely after that. I know that some of you out there in Blogland need to/have to have a recipe. Believe me, I understand but you need to break out of your comfort zone and try something without a recipe to build up your confidence. Here is the perfect "recipe" for your "no recipe" meal.

I am a huge fan of pork tenderloin. I could care less about "The Other White Meat" campaign. I just love the stuff and it's extremely easy to play around with. So many herbs, fruits and flavors go perfectly with pork. So let me show you how easy it can be.

Take one naked pork tenderloin (not packaged with any of that disgusting marinade) and clean it up. By cleaning it up I mean, to cut off any unwanted fat and silver skin. You can either use a boning knife (I never use this) or a chef's knife (more my style) or a paring knife (easy for little hands) to get the silver skin off.
The silver skin can keep any marinades or seasonings you use on the tenderloin from penetrating it and leaving fabulous flavors behind.

I used whatever I could find to put on the tenderloin to make any coating on the outside stick.

I am a mustard lover from way back when. My dad introduced me to mustard and the lesson continues to this day. At any given time I have at least three different kinds of mustards squirreled away in the refrigerator or the "back-up" stash in the pantry.

I took some mustards and mixed them up on a plate. I then rolled the tenderloin in the mustard making sure it had a healthy coating. Next, I rolled the tenderloin in every herb both fresh and dried that I had in the house.
I had a huge bundle of fresh parsley left over from a client's cook day and chopped that up too. Everything was mixed and again laid on a plate for easy rolling.

After the tenderloin is coated, I then took about 2 TBS of olive oil and put it in a hot skillet. I seared the tenderloin on all sizes and popped it into a 450 degree oven in the same skillet I seared in. I set the timer for 10 minutes, tested it for doneness and decided it was a bit too pink and left it in for another 10 minutes. I like my tenderloin slightly pink on the inside. Here are the results. I also cooked some saffron steeped couscous and some garlic sauteed green beans to round out the meal. Pretty tasty for little or no effort and no recipe.


Cook's Note: As Ilva noted in her comment to me-this pork is too rare for anyone to safely eat. I cut open the tenderloin and saw how pink it was, took the picture and then put it back into the oven for yet another 10 minutes. Sorry-I should have noted that when I posted the picture. I looked through the photo files and I only took pictures of the pork this rare. It made a great picture, but not so safe for eating.

9 Comments:

At 8:30 AM, Blogger Ilva said...

This is my type of recipe! I get a bit nervous when I cook with a recipe and I make a huge effort when I have to write down the recipes I post on my blog! It's so much better to rely on your instinct and own capacity! I want to try this but I wnated to ask you who know a lot about hyiene, is it ok to eat pork that is as pink as it is on your pic? Or is it the photo that is misleading? I have always been told not to eat it too pink...

 
At 11:45 AM, Blogger Steve Wasser said...

Actually, even though that pic is a bit rare, the pork industry has made great strides in the last twenty years to clean up pork. Pork that is farm raised in the US is now fairly safe to eat cooked at slightly lower temperatures than the dry-hockey puck blaze we've been taught all our lives. The unfortunate byproduct of this is the meat is much leaner, eg: less flavor. But hey, that's what the herbs are for!

 
At 12:12 PM, Blogger vlb5757 said...

Steve-I totally agree! I love my pork medium rare but this was just a tad too rare. I eat steaks rare and hamburgers medium and I love over medium eggs but since I do cook for the public I try to adhere to most of the temperature standards set forth by the NRA (National Restaurant Assoc.) I teach ServSafe classes and have to teach the cooking temperatures as it is spelled out in the book. The Health Dept is a bear to tangle with! While I have to teach those standards, I do what pleases me at home!

PS. I love your Podcast. And you thought by not leaving an E mail I wouldn't know who you are! lol! See, we out here in Blog and Pod land do pay attention!

 
At 2:34 PM, Blogger Michelle said...

Okay, I admit, I'm one of THOSE people, but I am leaning less and less on recipes as I go! I love pork tenderloin too, and actually I just made lamb chops this weekend (testing for Easter, though I'm going to do your recipe on that day) slathered in whole-grain mustard and sprinkled with chopped fresh rosemary, and it was yummy! I've also learned to like my pork a bit pink too. Now, how are those weeds coming?

 
At 3:23 PM, Blogger vlb5757 said...

I am super proud of you Michelle!! I knew you would know who I was talking about! LOL! You are such a smart cookie!

Mustard, rosemary and pork tenderloin are like this really great marriage of flavors. Raspberry and Tarragon are also a really good combination with the pork tenderloin. I like to make rosemary potatoes with them as a side dish. Gotta love those carbs!

Weeds? What weeds? lol! I got a new mailbox today that locks, did two loads of clothes, got bad news from the CPA, vacuumed, baked and balanced my business checking account. The weeds are gonna have to wait. I wish I could have a sheep in my back yard.

 
At 7:42 AM, Blogger Deetsa said...

Mustard fan here too. Particularly fond of whole-grain. My Ben doesn't like pork loin or chops very much. Do you think that this recipe might change his mind? Or do you suggest another dish with pork?

 
At 1:10 PM, Blogger vlb5757 said...

Nerrisa-I think that you might be able to do this very same thing to a boneless chicken breast. Just be sure that you don't under cook it as much as I did the pork the first time. Mustard and chicken go well together too. I love a cream based mustard sauce to use for either the pork or chicken.

Thanks for for stopping by and leaving a comment. I never know who is out there just reading and never leaving a comment! It's great to see new readers as well as my faithful buddies, Ilva, Michelle and Melissa! Thanks for the support!!! Oh, yes and let's not for Steve Wasser.

 
At 12:00 AM, Blogger Steve Wasser said...

Hey, you listen to the podcast! That is very cool.

 
At 10:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

FYI - I noticed that 1 person mentioned rare burgers. Please keep in mind that regular cuts of meat, like a roast or a steak are perfectly safe to eat rare, as long as the surface bacteria are burned off on a grill for a few minutes. However you should never eat ground meats anything less than done, meaning no pink. The reason being that bacteria cannot pennetrait beyond the surface of meat. When it is ground however, this bacteria is spread throughout the meat product. Cooking meat is all about killing off pathogens. That is what makes it potentially unsafe. Happy grilling!

 

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