Pork tenderloin with orange and fennel sauce

Name: Pork tenderloin with orange and fennel sauce
Total time: 4500 s
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups pure, no pulp orange juice; 1 thumb-sized nub ginger, peeled and sliced thinly; 1 tsp fennel seeds; Juice of 1/2 lemon; 1 pork tenderloin, about 650-750 g; Rind of 1 orange, finely grated; 1 heap tbsp cold butter, unsalted

Robert Gonzal @robert

Vancouver BC

Pork tenderloin is a great ingredient. It's inexpensive, so it doesn't blow up your grocery budget (not a small thing these days). One or two loins easily satisfies several people. And, cooked properly, it's a succulent and juicy cut of meat. It also has a relatively neutral flavour, which means you can jazz it up pretty much any way you want. Spices, herbs, and fruit all work. I chose the latter two for this dish, and made a glaze/sauce from everyday orange juice spiked with a spoonful of fennel seeds. Sweet, tangy, with a slight herbal warmth. Nice.

Robert Gonzal @robert

Saved

Ingredients

1 hr 15 mins

2 servings

2 cupspure, no pulp orange juice
1thumb-sized nub ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
1 tspfennel seeds
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1pork tenderloin, about 650-750 g
Rind of 1 orange, finely grated
1heap tbsp cold butter, unsalted

Saved

Steps

1 hr 15 mins

1

Pour the orange juice into a pot and add the ginger. Put the pot on medium heat and bring to a light simmer. In a separate small pan, toast the fennel seeds for about 1 minute on medium heat until fragrant, then add them to the pot of orange juice. Continue simmering until reduced by about half and slightly thickened. This will take about 20 to 30 minutes.
2

Strain the sauce to remove the fennel seeds and ginger. Wipe out any residue from the pot and put the sauce back in. Add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Put the pot on low heat to continue reducing slowly.
3

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Trim your tenderloin and season it with salt and pepper. Add a splash of veg oil to a large pan on high heat and sear the tenderloin until browned on all sides.
4

Separate about 1/4 cup of the orange sauce for basting and brush a bit of it over the tenderloin. If your pan is oven-proof, put the meat in the oven. If not, transfer the pork to a baking sheet first. Roast for about 25 to 30 minutes, until a thermometer poked into the thickest part of the loin registers 145 F. Baste regularly. Once at temperature, remove the meat from the oven and let it rest, loosely tented, for at least 15 minutes.
5

Your orange sauce should be reduced and thickened to a maple-like syrup by this point. Stir in the orange rind. Take the sauce off the heat and whisk in the butter. Check and adjust the seasoning as needed.
6

Carve the pork into 1 cm slices. Drizzle with a bit of the sauce, and serve with the remaining sauce on the side.