Yet another pork recipe ala Dan Bauer. I just love working with pork, it cooks up deliciously every time, and, especially with tenderloin, fairly quickly as well. The black beans are what I chose to “make this a meal”, but in reality, I had several sides as this fed me several days of a week.

I do this frequently–cook on a Sunday, then enjoy my spoils for several days the following week since a whole pork loin is way to much to tackle in one sitting (for a solitary single guy!). I am fond of citrus and acid, so I really think the beans were a nice compliment to the dish and I can say very confidently that you could serve this up very elegantly, in a way which belies the utterly simple nature of creating the dish, for yourself and guests. But, either method–cooking and saving or all-at-once–will work for you just fine. Brown rice is a good suggestion if you’re trying to round this meal out a little further.

1 pork tenderloin
Rosemary
Thyme
3 tbsp minced garlic
1 white onion, sliced

Preheat oven to 350. Salt and pepper the tenderloin in a shallow pan, then sprinkle with garlic, rosemary and thyme. Cooking time is about 45 minutes to 160 degree meat temperature. Work on your tarragon and black beans (below) in the interim. At about 25 minutes layer your onion slices over the meat, so that they retain a little crunch when fully cooked.

Tarragon Sauce
1 tbsp Tarragon
Cayenne Pepper (pinch)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
14 oz Chicken Broth
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste

Combine these ingredients and whisk over low heat frequently for at least 20 minutes. You could really opt to start this cooking before the pork to really achieve your best results due to the further reduction of the sauce. Please realize that butter is only going to make this sauce more delicious, and more cream will, too. You will have to experiment with your doses for best results, but even with the heavy cream this is still relatively healthy as-is, since you just aren’t getting more than a teaspoon or two on a reasonable (3-4 slices) portion. If you’re eating a lot more than that, the sauce really isn’t to blame! You could omit the cream for health, but you’re going to have more of a broth than sauce at that point, so do as you will.

Black Beans
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 green onions, diced
salt
pepper
lemon juice

Nothing difficult here. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and toss to coat. You just need enough lemon juice to coat, not to make a bath.

I’ll try to get a picture of this sometime. I had vowed to get more pics of the things I’m making, but my camera breaking foiled that intention for now…

1 Pork Loin
3-4 tbsp minced garlic
1 orange, sliced
1 large lemon, juiced
sprigs fresh thyme
sprigs fresh rosemary
Dijon mustard
Chardonnay
Dijon Caper sauce (below)
salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Brush pork loin liberally with Dijon mustard in a shallow roasting pan (about 2″ depth, 12″x18″).

Apply minced garlic generously to the surface on the meat. Mustard will hold some of the garlic on across the entirety of the surface, but not nearly as well to the lower half as the upper. So, concentrate the majority of the garlic onto the upper diameter. Brush another light coat of mustard on to cover any spots exposed during the garlic application.

Pour white wine into the pan to achieve about 1/4-1/2″ depth.

Salt and pepper the meat generously. Finely chop a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme and sprinkle over the meat.

Apply Orange slices generously over the meat. Drizzle slices with Dijon mustard, then finish with a couple spoonfuls of the white wine.

Bake ~1hr uncovered at 350. Baste once with lemon juice at about 30 minutes. Remove and rest before slicing. Serve slices with a ladle of Dijon Caper sauce.

Dijon Caper Sauce
1 stick butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
Pork drippings
4 tbsp capers, well-rinsed
salt/pepper

In a small pot, melt butter over med-low heat. Whisk in heavy cream. Add chicken broth. When you’ve got about 10 minutes left on the meat, add capers. When the meat is done and resting, pour juices off into your sauce and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste.