Braised Pork Tenderloin with Fennel Pollen and Herbs

Day to day dinners can get a little mundane adding to your super busy schedule.  Kids have homework, dogs need walking, houses need cleaning and oh yeah, then you’ve got to eat.  Sometimes its really easy to get pulled into the take out food solution. At first this seems like a good idea, but afterwards you are on the couch with a food bomb sitting in your belly, unable to get up.  What you need are good dishes, good ingredients, lean and healthy meals that don’t take too long to throw together.   The lean meat in this case is pork tenderloin.

We began with two Pork tenderloins, about a pound each. You can also do this with 1 tenderloin, depending on how many mouths you have to feed, four in my case.

You will need a solid, ovenproof skillet.

Rinse and dry the tenderloins well.

Preheat the oven to 400° degrees °F.

Chop the herbs well,  I use fresh sage leaves, thyme leaves and rosemary.

Chop two to three large cloves of garlic.

Season well with salt, black pepper and my favorite “Fennel Pollen”, about two to three teaspoons.

The Fennel Pollen is magic fairy dust for pork.  It’s not ground fennel seeds,  Its much more delicate and hard to describe.  It’s Umami.  The two that I use are Fiore Di Finoccio from Panzano, Italy (Available online), and the Domestic brand, Pollen Ranch Spices (found in specialty gourmet shops).

Once seasoned, heat the skillet to medium high, then add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

Lightly dust the pork with flour on all sides and place into the hot skillet.

You want a nice browning to occur.  Sear on all sides. The herbs, garlic and flour will adhere to the skillet and create a nice “Fond”.   This crust, so long as it isn’t burned black, will be heavenly.

Once browned, about 10 minutes or so, pour in 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine or sherry to deglaze the pan.  Make sure to turn the heat off while pouring the wine in, you don’t want a fire in your kitchen. Then return the heat to medium high while scraping all of the browned bits off of the skillet.

Turn the Pork around in the sauce and place the entire skillet into the preheated oven.

After 15 minutes in the oven, turn the pork over, and let cook for another 10-15 minutes.  You can slice one open to check for doneness prior to removing.

Slice in to 1/2 inch sections, smother with the sauce and enjoy.