Michelle's Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider Jus

Michelle? I heart you!

This is the first, of which I hope to be many, of Michelle's Je Mange la Ville recipes that I've tried. Yesterday, I spent the whole day baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book: BAKING: From My House To Yours (reviews coming soon!) and watching scary/Halloweenie type movies and then preparing this amazing dinner for the two of us.. all the while the house rocked to some severe winds. Which was quite mild to Saturday's weather in which we encountered gray skies, wicked winds, hail, freezing rain and even a smattering of snow while we both cowered under the blankets all day. Gah. Yesterday was definitely a fantastic day in comparison. =)

I only changed one part of her recipe (imagine that!) in which I did not roast my tenderloin with the rosemary, only because Hubbs isn't a fan. But the rest of the recipe was followed to the T and it was fanfarkintabulous! I was a little shocked when I first tasted the jus for seasoning as it was very concentrated after it had reduced - it was pretty sweet but also very tart (and my cheeks are puckerin' as I type this). But when paired with the tender and salty pork it was amazing! Apples and pork go so well together, but I rarely cook with apples so we don't get this flavor combo often. I've cooked a pork tenderloin in a pear/port wine/mustard sauce before and that was fantastic as well, but nothing like this jus that I agree with Michelle, could be drank with a freakin' straw it's so good.

I'll include my picture of last night's wonderful dinner.. but will direct you to Michelle's site for the recipe and to see her step by step instructions (including photos!) on how to make this meal. It's the perfect Autumn dinner and I really recommend trying it. =)

Michelle's Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider Jus

Copied verbatim from Michelle's Je Mange la Ville

2 cups apple cider
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
3/4 cup chopped onion
6 whole allspice
3 large fresh thyme sprigs (or a big rosemary sprig, which is what I used)
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 12-ounce pork tenderloins, well trimmed
Olive oil
2 Rosemary sprigs
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper

Mix first eight ingredients in medium saucepan. Boil until mixture is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 30-40 minutes. Strain, pressing on solids to extract liquid. Discard solids. Return liquid to saucepan and boil until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the butter and season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slather pork with olive oil, salt and pepper generously and coat with the minced garlic and rosemary.

Brown on all sides in a oven-proof pan. Finish roasting in the preheated oven, 20-22 minutes or until the pork reaches 145 degrees.

Cover with foil and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Pour any pork drippings from the rested meat into the cider sauce. Then slice and serve with the sauce drizzled over the top. Deee-licious.

He wasn't in the mood for any other veggies I had on hand, so we just went with carmelized roasted sweet potatoes - simply made by tossing the diced potatoes with a little kosher salt and olive oil, then roasting alongside the tenderloin. I flipped them half way through, and when the tenderloin was done and sitting on my counter for 10 minutes to rest, I sprinkled the potatoes with a little brown sugar and put them back in the oven until the sugar melted (about 10 min.).. yum! :D