The holidays are coming! The holidays are coming! OMG...the HOLIDAYS are coming!!!
Are you already starting your Christmas shopping, or jamming out to Mariah Carey's Christmas album or quite possibly are you putting out your holiday decorations and perhaps planning your Thanksgiving menus or plans? The annoying Black Friday ads are haunting my inbox and telling me to start shopping on Thursday at 6pm! But isn't that when the holiday eating is still happening? I don't understand the mentality of Black Friday anymore. It's so sad when the stores are not closed on my most favorite eating holiday of the year. Everyone deserves to eat a little turkey in peace right?
I have done absolutely nothing for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I barely survived Halloween, and I'm still avoiding the half-full bucket of Halloween candy that's still in my house. I am still working on my Fall bucket list of things to-do (now renamed winter bucket list). I am really excited to have Elena and Emilio take pictures with Santa, take some updated family pictures, eat a big slice of pumpkin pie, drink a couple apple or pumpkin ales and cuddle up to a fire when the cold weather hits. It was 85 degrees yesterday in SoCal and I kept seeing posts about first snow of the season. Not here.
Let's get to the good stuff, and how I have to prepare toddler friendly meals that appeal to Elena and making sure we eat plenty of veggies. I will tell you that dinner is sometimes the hardest meal for Elena. One day she will love green beans and eat all of them on her plate, and the next day she won't have nothing to do with the green beans and throws them off her plate. This wonderful and healthy meal easily came together with minimal effort. The beauty of this dish lies within the mustard sauce, and it adds a certain creamy tang to the simple pan-seared pork tenderloin. Pair it with your favorite sides like mashed potatoes and green beans, you will have a hearty meal without breaking a sweat.
Pan-Seared Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce
Adapted from The Barbee Housewife
ZipList Add Recipe
{Printable Recipe}
Ingredients:
- 1 pound pork tenderloin
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chicken stock or chicken broth
- 1 heaping tablespoon whole grain dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- chives or green onions for garnish if desired
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large oven-safe skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the pork tenderloin generously with the salt and pepper, making sure to coat the entire tenderloin. Use more salt and pepper if needed. Sear the pork for a few minutes on each side, until it is golden brown.
- Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the pork reaches 145 degrees internally. Whenever I cook meat in the oven, I like to place a leave-in meat thermometer. I highly suggest this one from OXO.
- Remove pork from oven and place meat on the cutting board, and cover with aluminum foil and it allow it to rest while you prepare the mustard sauce.
- In the same skillet, heat the the butter over medium heat. When the butter has completely melted, add the flour and whisk together for about 1 minute. Pour in the wine and whisk constantly until the mixture has thickened, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock/broth, and mustard. Stir until the sauce has thickened to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and lemon juice and heat until warmed through.
- Slice the pork tenderloin into 1/2 inch pieces and serve with the pan sauce on top. Garnish with freshly chopped chives or green onions.
Review: Highly enjoyable and a few pantry ingredients made this meal come together wonderfully. I have learned that no snacks before dinner for Elena is the trick on making sure she eats her meal. Sometimes a snack 3 hours before will fill her up. So I just give her a half cup of milk instead. It's been working so far, and my little foodie is munching away.
You think this picture is a bit much for Emilio's Master Junior chef application? I think not.
