I have never made pork tenderloin, even though it is one of L.'s favorite dishes. I found this recipe for a pork tenderloin with arugula endive and walnut vinaigrette in the March issue of Gourmet magazine (which is dedicated to French Bistro cooking - one of our favorites!!!). Since I was not working yesterday, I decided to make a special dinner for L.
I was a bit nervous for some reason. Maybe because it was my first time or maybe because it is one of L.'s favorite meals or maybe because he talks about how great his mother's tenderloin is. Not sure why, but I was a bit nervous.
After I laid out all the ingredients, I even read through the recipe, which is something I never do - I usually pull everything out and just start cooking. This quick read through definitely put my mind at ease and I was excited at this point, this would be easy and I was confident very good. L. poured a brandy and relaxed and I started doing what I do best, cook. The recipe was really easy, you sauté the pork with a little olive oil and then put it in the oven to continue roasting. While it is cooking you make a salad of Arugula (I used spinach, mishap at the market) and endive. After the porker is done, you make a really nice caramelized vinaigrette using the pan juices, some red wine vinegar, toasted and crushed walnuts and garlic - the garlic really gave this vinaigrette a great deal of flavor with the pork and the salad, together.
I was so happy, my tenderloin came out ultra moist, you did not even need a knife to cut it, and it was very flavorful with the salad and the vinaigrette. L. did say it reminded him of pate, maybe because the pork was so fresh? Or maybe he is use to his mother's recipe. Regardless, I am not afraid anymore and we will be eating the "other white meat" more often!
