(Pork Tenderloin) with Port Wine Sauce | CI
Ingredients
- FOR MEAT:
- 4 center-cut tenderloin steaks about 1 inch thick
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- FOR SAUCE:
- 2 shallots minced
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- ¾ cup red wine ruby port (see note)
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Directions
- If cooking with tenderloin: Pat steaks dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook steaks until well browned and meat registers 125 degrees for medium-rare, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to platter and tent with foil.
- Add remaining tablespoon oil and shallots to empty skillet and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste and cook until beginning to brown, about 1 minute.
- Stir in port, broth, and thyme and simmer, scraping up any browned bits with wooden spoon, until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Off heat, whisk in vinegar, butter, and any accumulated steak juices. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over steaks. Serve.
Notes
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Beef tenderloin has a soft, tender texture, but can often taste bland. We set out to create a pan-seared beef tenderloin recipe that delivered juicy, flavorful meat and a quick, restaurant-style pan sauce. Instead of red wine, using port in this sauce adds a rich sweetness. While tawny and vintage port are fine, we preferred the sweeter and typically less expensive ruby port. A bit of balsamic vinegar adds a kick of acidity to the port wine sauce that goes well with the pan-seared beef tenderloin. We made sure the pan was properly preheated before adding the steak—cooking in a pan that isn’t properly preheated leads to steaks that overcook before they develop a good crust. We heated a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat with a little vegetable oil until the oil smoked (the smoke indicated that the pan was hot enough).